Installation Guide
DS Server runs on your own infrastructure: on a Linux or Windows server, in a Docker container or in IIS. The Installation Guide takes administrators and developers from the download to a running server with a signed-in admin portal, and covers what comes after, from ports, logs and HTTPS to several servers behind a load balancer and upgrades to new versions.
The current release is DS Server 5.0.2, built with .NET 10. Its download archive DS Server 5.0.2.zip holds two builds of the same server: Core in the folder core, for Linux and Windows, and Classic in the folder classic, for Windows only. To evaluate DS Server without installing anything, use a Trial Token instead.
Choose an Installation
| Installation | Build | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Official Docker image | Core | You want a running server with one command, for example to evaluate DS Server |
| Your own Linux image | Core | You need a release or configuration the official image doesn't have |
| Your own Windows image | Classic | You need Windows containers and the formats or rendering of the Classic build |
| Manual installation on Linux | Core | You run DS Server with dotnet, usually as a systemd service |
| Manual installation on Windows | Core or Classic | You run DS Server with dotnet, as a Windows service or in IIS |
Core and Classic explains the differences between the builds, including the document formats that Core supports on Linux.
Where to Start
- Check the requirements of your build: the operating system, the .NET runtimes and, on Windows, the Visual C++ Redistributable and, if IIS hosts DS Server, the IIS features. See Requirements.
- Install DS Server in one of the ways above.
- Sign in to the admin portal with the user name
adminand the passwordadmin, and change the password. See Default Admin Password. - Register the server with your serial number. See Licensing.
- Create a security profile for your application and connect it. See Creating Security Profiles and Getting Started.
Find the Right Page
| If you want to | Read |
|---|---|
| Check the runtimes and Windows components each build needs | Requirements |
| Run the official image and keep its admin database on a volume | Installing with Official Image from Docker Hub |
| Build a Linux or Windows container image from the archive | Installing using Docker (Core on Linux), Installing using Docker (Classic on Windows) |
| Run DS Server as a systemd service, a Windows service or an IIS site | Manual Installation |
| Share security profiles between servers and set up sticky sessions | Multiple Servers with Load Balancing |
| Change ports, logs, the admin database path or other settings | Configuration |
| Serve DS Server over HTTPS with a certificate | HTTPS |
| Move an installation to a new release | Upgrading |
Pages in This Section
- Requirements: operating systems, .NET runtimes, Windows components and ports.
- Installing with Official Image from Docker Hub: tags, the first start, licensing and a volume for the admin database.
- Installing using Docker (Core on Linux): a Dockerfile for the Core build on the ASP.NET Core 10.0 image.
- Installing using Docker (Classic on Windows): a Dockerfile for the Classic build on Windows Server Core.
- Manual Installation: Linux with systemd, Windows with a Windows service or IIS, and the first sign-in.
- Multiple Servers with Load Balancing: cloned security profiles, authentication servers and sticky sessions.
- Configuration: hostsettings.json, appsettings.json, environment variables, logs, Admin.db and the folders of the installation.
- HTTPS: Kestrel endpoints with a certificate, in files, environment variables and containers.
- Upgrading: what to keep and the steps for servers, containers and each major version.