Table of Contents
Setting a process account for Fotoware services
21. September 2026
Table of Contents
While each application's service runs under the Local System Account, the Process Account is used to scan document folders, write and maintain indexes, handle FotoWeb requests, and perform similar tasks. In short, it's a common account that handles processing for all Fotoware applications on the server.
Choosing a process account
Note
This process account must be a member of the local Administrators group on the server it runs on. Learn why.
The first time you access Operations Center Settings, you must provide credentials for the Fotoware process account. However, if FotoWeb has been installed on the server, you will have already been prompted by the FotoWeb setup wizard to create a process account. To change the process account credentials, go to Operations Center Settings > General:
Process account implications for FotoWeb
If you specify a domain account and enter yourcompany.com, yourcompany.net, or similar using a suffix in the Domain field, you will not be able to use a trusted connection when connecting FotoWeb to the SQL database. This is because the SQL database stores Windows users using only the short form of the domain name, omitting the three-letter suffix (.net, .com, etc.), so the SQL server cannot find the user.
Note: As your FotoWeb site runs on Internet Information Services, the process account specified in Operations Center Settings will be used to power the FotoWeb application pool in IIS. Ensure that any password renewal policies in your domain do not affect the process account, as this can potentially lock out the process account and cause the Fotoware services on the server to stop. Additionally, if you change the process account in Operations Center Settings, you must manually ensure that the same account is set for the IIS app pool.
Using a domain account as the process account
Usually, when a Fotoware server is added to a domain, the local machine (System account) is automatically granted READ permissions for CN=Users in the directory. This is required to look up the appropriate AD account for the process account and to delegate the correct permissions for the process account on the machine. This means User Access Control can remain enabled on the server, as Microsoft recommends.
If the local machine (system account) does not have this privilege, the Fotoware services will not run, and it will be necessary to grant those permissions explicitly in the directory.