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Version: 7.3

contentACCESS setup package

Introduction​

The contentACCESS setup package provides a transparent and intuitive installation process for contentACCESS and its components. The installation can be performed in Basic or Advanced mode, both of which are described in detail in the Installation mode section.

This page describes the contents of the setup package, the components that can be installed, the prerequisites required to run the setup, and the deployment options available for the contentACCESS components.

Requirements to run the setup​

To run the contentACCESS setup self-extracting package, the following is required:

  • .NET Framework 4.8
  • Ability to run the setup as an administrator

Contents of the setup package​

The contentACCESS setup package includes the following sections:

  • Documentation – contains the contentACCESS manual, best practices for the software, and a link to the contentACCESS website.
  • Planning – contains links to hardware and software requirements and allows you to download the contentACCESS Analysis Tool. The tool is used to measure the performance of file shares to be archived and the speed of the desired target store. It can also analyze the files that will be archived, helping to define the correct file archiving strategy.
  • Tools – contains the Legacy MAM retrieve server setup and the Outlook forms used to transparently open archived email messages directly from Outlook. It also provides a download link for TECH-ARROW's WinShortcutter, a collection of small and useful utilities primarily focused on users working in a Windows-dominant office environment with weak MAC support. It is primarily used to open MS Windows shortcuts (.LNK).
  • Products – contains short descriptions of other TECH-ARROW software solutions: contentGATE, streamGATE, and officeGATE.
  • Installation – starts the installation process of the contentACCESS server and its components.

Components available for installation​

The following components can be installed from the Installation page of the setup wizard:

  • the contentACCESS server
  • contentACCESS Central Administration – the contentACCESS configuration interface available for system administrators and tenant administrators
  • Backup Administration for Microsoft 365 – the backup configuration interface available for system and tenant administrators. For more information about the backup solution, refer to the Backup Administration documentation
  • contentACCESS Portal – the archive user interface, also available to end users
  • Preview service – allows users to open a preview of files in the Portal, in addition to downloading them
  • Central login page – used to log in to the respective application with forms providers or third-party authentication providers
  • contentACCESS Web services (Proxy) – ensures a secure (HTTPS) connection between the user and the contentACCESS server
  • Virtual drive – a drive used to display the contents of the File system archive; it is also mandatory for retrieving archived files from shortcuts
  • Search service (legacy) – allows users to search in selected entities/folders using Elasticsearch 5.x. This component is included in the package only when updating from a previous (<6.0) contentACCESS version
  • Search service (V2) – allows users to search in selected entities/folders using Elasticsearch 8.x
  • SMTP server – a server used to process emails

In Basic mode, all necessary components are configured on a single page, while in Advanced mode, each component is configured on a separate page. These installation steps are explained in detail in the following sections.

Search service versions​

The Elasticsearch 5.6 version used by contentACCESS is outdated and no longer supported. The new contentACCESS comes with Elasticsearch 8.x, replacing the older version. The indexes of these two Elasticsearch versions are incompatible and need to be migrated.

contentACCESS can work in three search modes:

  1. Legacy mode – you can continue to use Elasticsearch 5.6 without any changes, but this mode might not be supported in future versions of contentACCESS. TECH-ARROW has no plans to develop or maintain this search engine.
  2. Migration mode – used when the user decides to switch to the new Search service (V2) and the indexes need to be migrated from Elasticsearch 5.6 to Elasticsearch 8.x. During the migration process, the Search server mode is set to Migration mode, and the two search services work together.
  3. V2 mode – contentACCESS works with Elasticsearch 8.x for indexing and search.

The search experience for end users does not change in any mode, and the migration of the search index is seamless for users.

The number of Search services included in the package differs depending on the installation type:

  • First install or update from version >6.x – the setup contains only the Search service (V2) component. For new installations, only the search in V2 mode (with Elasticsearch 8.x) is available. After installation, the new Elasticsearch runs as GATE.contentACCESS.Elasticsearch in the Services, and the Search service (V2) runs as GATE.contentACCESS.Search.Service (V2).
  • Update from version <6.x – the setup contains both Search services (legacy and V2), and both can be installed. The administrator can decide whether to search in legacy mode or switch to V2 mode, with two options: reset the index and build it on Search V2, or migrate the indexes. Index migration is performed by our customer service.

Component prerequisites​

The contentACCESS components have the following prerequisites:

  • Central Administration: Internet Information Services (IIS), .NET 4.8
  • contentACCESS Portal: IIS, MS Outlook 2010/2013 (64-bit version) or later, .NET 4.8
  • contentACCESS Proxy: IIS, .NET 4.8
  • Central login page: IIS, .NET 4.8
  • contentACCESS server: .NET 4.8, SharePoint Server Client Components SDK (for SharePoint processing), MS Outlook 2010/2013 (64-bit version) or later (for email processing)

These prerequisites, except for MS Outlook, are installed automatically by the setup package. If any problems occur during the automatic installation, the prerequisites must be installed manually.

SharePoint Client Components and the MS SQL server can be installed using the respective application file from the contentACCESS installation package library:

  • SharePoint Client Components: C:\TECH-ARROW\contentACCESS_Package\Setups\SharePointClient
  • SQL Server 2012 Express: C:\TECH-ARROW\contentACCESS_Package\Setups\SQL

Enabling Internet Information Services (IIS) manually​

If Internet Information Services (IIS) has not been installed automatically, the IIS features must be turned on in the Windows features:

  1. Open Server Manager.
  2. Click the Roles node.
  3. Click Add roles.
  4. Select Web Server (IIS) in the Select server roles window.
  5. Turn on the features listed in the table below.
CategoryFeatures
Management toolsIIS Management console
Application development features.NET Extensibility 4.8, ASP .NET 4.8, ISAPI filters, ISAPI extensions
HTTP common featuresDefault document, HTTP errors, Static content
Performance featuresStatic content compression
SecurityBasic authentication, Windows authentication

Also verify that the following features are enabled in Add roles and features:

CategoryFeatures
.NET Framework 4.8 Features.NET Framework 4.8
ASP .NET 4.8
WCF ServicesHTTP Activation
TCP Port Sharing

Deployment options​

The contentACCESS components can be installed:

  • on a single server;
  • in a cluster system, where multiple servers are installed on different servers and joined with one configuration database;
  • in a distributed environment, where one contentACCESS server is installed on one server and the components are distributed across different servers.

These components are described further in the contentACCESS components chapter. The contentACCESS installation process is described next.