How To Topic

Installing the HotDocs Core Assembly Service

This document is a step-by-step guide to installing the HotDocs Core Assembly Service as part of an on-premise solution. You must complete each step in order when deploying the Assembly Service to your environment.

Prerequisites

• System Requirements for HotDocs Advance
• Configure SQL Server

Default Install Location and a Note on Logging

The default location for the Core installation is: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\HotDocs. The HotDocs Core Assembly Service uses Serilog for logging, and stores the logs in a folder named Logs (located at the install location). If you want to change the log settings, you need to update the Web.config file.

There is a separate location for the LegacyHostService logs.

Installing HotDocs Core Assembly Service

You can configure HotDocs Core Assembly Service to use an on-premise or a cloud database server. Either:

• Microsoft SQL Server – on-premise; this option uses an existing Microsoft SQL Server instance, installed on your own server.
• Azure SQL Database and Azure Storage Account – cloud; you must have an existing Azure subscription, an Azure SQL Database, and an Azure Storage Account.

Select the appropriate set of installation steps for the option you require.

The Core Assembly Service installer defaults to installing under the Default Web Site. In the event that no Default Web Site is configured, the installer creates a new site called "AssemblyServiceSite" under IIS. In order for this site to start you must manually configure the binding and Application Pool settings.

To install the HotDocs Core Assembly Service using Microsoft SQL Server (on-premise)

1. Locate the HotDocs Core Assembly Service installer, setupCore.exe in your files.
2. Right click the file and select the Run as Administrator option.
3. Review and accept the License Agreement terms.
4. Click Next.
5. Enter your license key; if you do not have a license key for the Core Assembly Service, please contact your HotDocs sales representative.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the SQL Server database option.
8. Click Next.
9. Select the database server you want to use for the Assembly Service.
10. Select the type of user the installer uses to connect to SQL Server and set up your database; either:
    • Windows authentication credentials of current user
    • Server authentication using the login ID and password below:
    • 1. Type the Login ID for the user you want to use to access SQL Server; this user must have dbadmin permissions for the selected server.
      2. Type the Password for the specified user.

The application does not store or use this information post database setup.

8. Click Next.
9. Type the Name of the database to create; this is the name for the database used by the Assembly Service. The default name is HotDocsAssemblyService
10. (Optional) Select the Specify custom locations... checkbox if you want to enter custom locations for data files and, log files. If you select this option you must enter the following information:
    1. Directory for data file – the default location of the Assembly Service database data files. This path is relative to the machine running SQL Server (e.g., \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL13.<InstanceID>\AssemblyServiceDBFiles – see Specifying File Paths for more information). This path needs to be accessible to SQL Server. If you do not know the location, contact your DBA.
    2. Directory for log file – the default location of the Assembly Service database log files. This path is relative to the machine running SQL Server (e.g., \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL13.<InstanceID>\AssemblyServiceDBFiles – see Specifying File Paths for more information). This path needs to be accessible to SQL Server. If you do not know the location, contact your DBA.
11. Click Next.
12. In the Windows identity field, enter the Windows user account that the Core Assembly Service will use to connect to the database server; for example, IIS AppPool\DefaultAppPool. This user must have a dbcreator role in SQL Server.
13. In the Application Pool field, enter the application pool under which the Windows Identity specified above runs.
14. Click Next.
15. Enter the following configuration settings for the Assembly Service:
    1. Assembly Session connection string – connection string to the Assembly Service's session database; by default, this string is provided for you, but may need to be edited for some custom installations.
    2. Assembly Storage connection string – connection string to the Assembly Service's storage database; by default, this string is provided for you using the database name set on the previous screen as the initial catalog value.
16. Click Next.
17. In the Allowed Domains field, type the domains allowed to connect to HotDocs Core Assembly Service, using a semicolon (;) character to separate the domains. For example, mydomain.com;myseconddomain.com;*.mythirddomain.com.
18. Click Next.
19. Click Set IIS Website; a new dialog opens.
20. From the list, select the IIS website under which you want to install Core and click Set.
21. Click Next.
22. Click Install; the installation process starts.
23. Click Finish.

HotDocs Core Assembly Service is now installed.

If something goes wrong during the installation process, or any time thereafter, you can use access the Core Assembly Service logs to help identify the issue. The logs are stored at the Assembly Service install location in a folder named Logs.

To install the HotDocs Core Assembly Service using Azure SQL Server (cloud)

1. Run the HotDocs Core Assembly Service installer, setupCore.exe.
2. Review and accept the License Agreement terms.
3. Click Next.
4. Enter your license key; if you do not have a license key for the Core Assembly Service, please contact your HotDocs sales representative.
5. Click Next.
6. Select the Azure SQL and Azure Storage Account option.
7. Click Next.
8. In the Azure SQL Connection String field, type the connection string for your Azure SQL Server.
9. In the Azure Storage Account Connection String field, type the connection string for your Azure Storage Account.
10. Click Next.
11. Type the Name of the database to create; this is the name for the database used by the Assembly Service. The default name is HotDocsAssemblyService.
12. Click Next.
13. Enter the following configuration settings for the Assembly Service:
    1. Assembly Session connection string – connection string to the Assembly Service's session database; by default, this string is provided for you, but may need to be edited for some custom installations.
    2. Azure Storage Account connection string – connection string to the Azure Storage Account you are using with the Assembly Service; by default, this string is provided for you, but may need to be edited for some custom installations.
14. Click Next.
15. In the Allowed Domains field, type the domains allowed to connect to HotDocs Core Assembly Service, using a semicolon (;) character to separate the domains. For example, mydomain.com;myseconddomain.com;*.mythirddomain.com.
16. Click Install; the installation process starts.
17. Click Finish.

HotDocs Core Assembly Service is now installed.

If something goes wrong during the installation process, or any time thereafter, you can use access the Core Assembly Service logs to help identify the issue. The logs are stored at the Assembly Service install location in a folder named Logs.

Installing Core without an internet connection

If you do not have an internet connection, the installer will prompt you to either:

• Install Core as a 30-day trial version; or
• Manually activate the license key

To manually activate the license, please contact HotDocs Support. Once the license is activated, you can continue to install the Core Assembly Service as usual.

If you install Core as a 30-day trial, you can upgrade the trial version to a fully-activated version by contacting support.

Next Step

• Configure the Core Assembly Service Application Pool