# Install Content Central

From setup.exe to a working login page — the all-defaults path where the installer does everything, the your-own-SQL-Server path where one Configuration Manager step remains, and the two things to change before anyone else logs in.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: system-administrator · Time: 45 minutes · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/install-content-central

**At the end of this guide Content Central is installed, its database exists, its services are running, and you've signed in — plus you've changed the one password every attacker knows and decided what to do about the demo data.**

Check [the system requirements](/content-central/administration/system-requirements) first. Then this splits into two stories, decided by one question: **will Content Central use its own bundled SQL Server, or one you already run?**

## The all-defaults path (clean server)

On a server with no SQL Server installed, the installer genuinely does everything.

1. Run **setup.exe** as an administrator (always setup.exe, not the MSI inside it — the bootstrapper is what handles prerequisites and, later, safe upgrades).

2. Leave **Install Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express (ADEMERO instance)** checked, and click **Install**.

3. Wait. The chain installs what's missing (.NET, IIS configuration, Visual C++ runtimes), installs SQL Express as a dedicated `ADEMERO` instance, **creates and provisions the Content Central database**, creates the storage folders, and starts the services and website — the step named "Provisioning the Content Central database" is the magic happening.

4. Browse to `http://localhost/ContentCentral` on the server.

**What you should see:** the login page, version number at the bottom. Sign in as `Admin` with password `AdminPassword`.

> **WARNING:** **Change that password before you do anything else** — it's the same on every fresh install, which makes it the best-known password in the product's world. While you're there: a fresh install also creates sample users and demo data (an Accounts Payable catalog with example documents) so you can explore immediately. Great for evaluating; remove or repurpose the demo accounts before real use.

## The your-own-SQL-Server path

On a server that already has *any* SQL instance, setup detects it, un-checks the SQL option, and deliberately stops short of provisioning — it can't guess your instance, credentials, or database name. IIS stays stopped until you supply them:

1. Run **setup.exe** and install as above (SQL checkbox stays unchecked).

2. When setup finishes, open **Configuration Manager** on the server and go to **SQL Settings**.

3. Enter your SQL Server and the database name, choose the authentication for the admin and user connections, and click **Test Admin Login**.

4. Click **Create/Update Database** — this is what actually creates the schema on your instance — then **Apply**, which binds everything, verifies it, and starts the services and website.

*[Screenshot: Configuration Manager's SQL Settings screen with the server and database entered and Create/Update Database ready to click]*

5. Browse to the site and sign in as above (this path skips demo data — you start clean).

## After either path: the first four moves

- [ ] **Change the Admin password**, and record the account in your team's password manager
- [ ] Open **Administration** > **System Health** — every check should read healthy; anything else names its fix
- [ ] Serve it properly: [set up HTTPS](/content-central/administration/serve-content-central-over-https) before real documents arrive
- [ ] [Schedule real backups](/content-central/administration/back-up-your-content-central-database) — the database *and* the document folders

## If the site won't come up

[The login page won't open](/content-central/administration/login-page-wont-open) walks the IIS-and-services checklist in order. On the your-own-SQL path, the most common cause is simpler: the Configuration Manager step (3–4 above) hasn't been completed, so the site was never started.

## What's next

- [Set up your first catalog, fields, and document types](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/set-up-catalogs-fields-and-document-types)
- [Serve Content Central over HTTPS](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/serve-content-central-over-https)
- [Upgrade Content Central](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/upgrade-content-central)