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Version: 7.3

contentACCESS prerequisites

Introduction​

The contentACCESS prerequisites page describes the hardware, software, and configuration requirements that must be met before installing and operating contentACCESS. It covers the general prerequisites for the contentACCESS archive server, as well as the specific requirements for optional components, including the search service, preview service, and the Exchange, File, and SharePoint archive servers.

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Important: As many computers undergo antivirus scans, it is strongly advised to exclude the archive storage from the antivirus settings. Otherwise, the scanning process may result in quarantine or removal of files.

If an item has been archived and is subsequently deleted or quarantined from the storage, it becomes unusable, leading to errors when attempting to open it. It is therefore recommended to configure an exclusion for the contentACCESS archive storage.

Learn more about adding an exclusion to Windows Security by referring to this article.

General prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed for the contentACCESS archive server.

Software requirements​

  • OS: Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2025
  • .NET Framework 4.8
  • IIS 8.0

Server roles and features​

1) IIS features

  • Management tools:
    • IIS Management Console
  • Application development features:
    • .NET Extensibility 4.8; .NET 9
    • ASP.NET 4.8
    • ISAPI filters
    • ISAPI extensions
  • HTTP common features:
    • Default document
    • HTTP errors
    • Static content
  • Performance feature:
    • Static content compression
  • Security:
    • Basic authentication
    • Windows authentication

2) .NET Framework 4.8

  • ASP.NET 4.8
  • WCF Services
    • HTTP activation
    • TCP activation
    • Named pipe activation

3) Database server

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Important: Configure SQL Database backups (you can also create an automated SQL Database backup if you wish) and storage backups to prevent data loss.

Supported database servers:

  • Product: MS SQL 2022, MS SQL 2025, or PostgreSQL + TimescaleDB (these are installed by the package if not already installed manually).
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Note: To use System Insights, you need SQL Server 2022 or later. If you prefer not to upgrade, you can switch to PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB. Without one of these options, System Insights will not be available on your system.

  • Databases: for contentACCESS, for Exchange, SharePoint.
  • User: SQL or Windows Authentication access, owner of the contentACCESS databases.
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Important: It is required to set the SQL Server as "Collation – Insensitive" (the used collation must be CASE-INSENSITIVE (CI)) for contentACCESS. The recommended collation is SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

4) Other requirements

  • Read/write access to the storage location for the configured user accounts.
  • .NET Framework 4.8 for the contentACCESS Outlook add-in.
  • Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime 10.0.60724 for the contentACCESS Outlook add-in.

Search server prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed if you would like to use the search service.

Software requirements

Preview service prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed if you would like to use the preview service.

Software requirements

  • .NET 9.0

contentACCESS Exchange Archive server prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed if you would like to archive emails with the contentACCESS archive server.

Software requirements

  • MS Outlook 2016 x64, MS Outlook 2019 x64, MS Outlook 2021 x64, MS Outlook 2024 x64 (Microsoft Outlook for Windows (new Outlook) is not supported)

Service user

contentACCESS MS Exchange services user rights:

  • Member of the local Administrators group and Distributed COM Users group.
  • Read rights over the Configuration Container.
  • Assign DCOM rights on Windows 2012 R2 and above:
    • Distributed COM Users – Local and Remote Access; Launch and Activation.

Supported MS Exchange versions

  • Exchange Server 2016
  • Exchange Server 2019
  • Exchange Online – Microsoft 365
  • Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE)

contentACCESS File Archive server prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed if you would like to archive the file system with the contentACCESS archive server.

Service user

contentACCESS service user rights:

  • Member of the local Administrators group and Distributed COM Users group.
  • Impersonation rights.

Supported MS Windows server versions

  • MS Windows 2012 R2 and above, all service packs

Other requirements

  • Read/write access to the source file systems for the configured user accounts.

contentACCESS Virtual Drive prerequisites

  • MS Windows 2012 R2 and above, all service packs.
  • Installed with a local administrator account.
  • .NET Framework 4.8.

contentACCESS SharePoint Archive server prerequisites​

The following prerequisites are needed if you would like to archive SharePoint data with the contentACCESS archive server.

Software requirements

  • SharePoint client-side object model (CSOM redistributable package – included in the contentACCESS setup)

Service user

contentACCESS services user rights:

  • Member of the local Administrators group and Distributed COM Users group.
  • Impersonation rights.

Supported SharePoint versions

  • MS SharePoint 2013/2016, all service packs
  • Microsoft 365, SharePoint Online

Other requirements

  • Read/write access to the source SharePoint sites/site collections for the configured user account.