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.

To install the HotDocs Core Assembly Service

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 database server you want to use for the Assembly Service.
7. 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. Enter the following configuration settings for the Assembly Service database:
   1. Name of the database to create – the name for the database used by the Assembly Service; by default, this is HotDocsAssemblyService
   2. Database datapath – 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.
   3. Database logpath  – 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.
   4. SQL Server Login ID – This is the user that the service uses to connect to SQL Server. The user needs dbcreator permissions to the specified database; by default, if you're using IIS, this is often IIS AppPool\DefaultAppPool.
10. Click Next.
11. Enter the following configuration settings for the Assembly Service:
    1. Advance URL – enter https://servername/api/ as a placeholder value; this field  is not used in Advance installations.
    2. User Service Authority – enter https://servername/identity/ as a placeholder value; this field is not used in Advance installations.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
12. Click Next.
13. Click Finish.

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.

Configure the Core Assembly Service

Before using the Core Assembly Service, you must whitelist the domain under which it runs.

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to the Core Assembly Service installation folder; by default, this is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\HotDocs Core.
3. Edit the web.config file in a text editor.
4. In the configuration section of the web.config file, add an alloweddomain section as follows:
   

   <alloweddomains>
       <domains>
           <add domain="*.{domain}"/>
       </domains>
   </alloweddomains>

5. Replace {domain} in the example above with the domain you want to whitelist; for example, yourorganization.com.
6. Save your changes.

Next Step

• Configure the HotDocs Advance Installation