# 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.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: system-administrator · Time: 5 minute read · Last verified: 2026-09-05

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

**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](/content-central/administration/install-content-central) for what the installer does with all of this.

> **NOTE:** 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](/content-central/administration/move-content-central-to-a-new-server) 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](/content-central/integrations/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.

## What's next

- [Install Content Central](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/install-content-central)
- [Back up your Content Central database](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/back-up-your-content-central-database)