Content Central system requirements
What the server needs before you install — IIS, .NET, SQL Server, a 64-bit application pool — what the installer brings along itself, and the built-in health page that checks your environment for you.
By the end of this page you'll know what the server must provide, what the installer provides for itself, and where the running system tells you — continuously — whether your environment still measures up.
The server
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Windows Server (64-bit) with IIS | Content Central is an IIS web application. The setup bootstrapper can enable the required IIS features itself — run setup.exe, not the MSI directly, and it handles them |
| .NET Framework 4.8 or later | Installed automatically by setup when missing |
| SQL Server | Bring your own instance, or let setup install its bundled SQL Server 2022 Express as a dedicated instance (the option is pre-checked on a clean server and steps aside automatically when any SQL instance already exists) |
| 64-bit application pool | Required — Content Central's imaging and barcode components are native x64. The installer configures this; the health page warns if it's ever switched |
| Disk headroom | The system continuously checks for at least 1 GB free on the system and document-storage drives — treat that as a floor, not a target: documents, search indexes, and temp files all fail to write on a full disk |
Planning a new server or virtualization sizing? Requirements evolve with releases — confirm your specific configuration with support before purchase, and see Install Content Central for what the installer does with all of this.
SQL Server Express has its own database size limits. It's a fine starting point; growing installations typically move to a full SQL Server edition — the database migration guides cover that path when the day comes.
Client workstations
- A current web browser — Content Central is browser-based; there's nothing to install for everyday use.
- DirectScan Agent (only for scanning workstations): Windows 7 or later with .NET Framework 4.8 — the installer from your own server's Downloads page carries its one prerequisite along.
- Office add-in (optional): installers for 64-bit and 32-bit Microsoft Office from the Downloads page; Microsoft 365 organizations can deploy the web add-in centrally instead — see Set up the Office add-in.
The environment checks itself
After installation, Administration > System Health runs fourteen environment checks — database connection and version, document and index storage, working folders, application-pool architecture and mode, single sign-on configuration, licensing, and disk space — each with a plain verdict and a Suggested next step when something needs attention.
Make it your first stop after any server change (Windows updates, SQL moves, IIS edits): if the environment drifted from what Content Central needs, this page says so before your users do.
Success check for a new server: System Health shows Environment checks passed across the board. Anything else names its fix.