Table of Contents
Installing Fotoware On-premises Feature Release 20 and later from scratch
Complete installation guide for current releases.
11. September 2026
Table of Contents
Installing Feature Release 20 and later
Note
This article applies only to release Feature Release 20 and later. For Feature Release 19 and earlier, see Installing Fotoware On-premises (pre-FR20 releases) from scratch.
Starting with Feature Release 20, MongoDB must be installed separately. It is no longer included in the FotoWeb installer. Always keep your MongoDB version up to date to benefit from the latest security patches and improvements.
Follow these steps to install FotoWeb Feature Release 20 or later on a fresh operating system, such as Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025.
If you are upgrading to Feature Release 20 from an earlier version of Fotoware On-premises, see Upgrading to Feature Release 20.
Prerequisites
- Make sure the system and network requirements, as well as other settings, are met. For more information, see FotoWeb system requirements and Before you install FotoWeb.
- For installation on Windows Server 2025, the Web server role should be added manually via Server Manager before running the FotoWeb installer.
If you are installing Fotoware On-premises Feature Release 20 or later, see How to install Fotoware On-premises Feature Release 20 from scratch.
Install MongoDB
- Download the MSI installer of MongoDB (we recommend the latest available version) for Windows x64 from Download MongoDB Community Server.
- Run the MSI installer of MongoDB. Select Complete Installation and Install MongoDB as a Service. Keep the service name as
MongoDB.
-
Data Directory and Log Directory can be set to the default values or another location, not pointing to
c:\ProgramData\Fotoware. - If you set the MongoDB Windows service account to something other than the default Network Service, ensure it has full permission on the Data Directory and Log Directory.
- Finish the installation using the installation wizard.
- Open Windows Services, for example, from Control Panel > Administration Tools, and start the MongoDB Server (MongoDB) service.
- As a test, run the following command in the MongoDB shell or Robo 3T/Compass and ensure it outputs the correct version. For example,
8.0.6for version 8.
1 |
db.version() |
Starting the installation
- Download FotoWeb from the Downloads section of the Customer Portal and then double-click the installer. The installer may download additional required software before starting the FotoWeb installation, so an Internet connection is necessary when running an installer downloaded from the Fotoware website.
- Select Install.
- The installer wizard displays a welcome dialog box. Select Next to continue.
- It's always a good idea to review the release notes, as they contain information about new functionality, fixes, and known issues that may impact your workflow. Select Install to start copying files.
- When the file copy process is complete, the following dialog box appears. Select Finish. The FotoWeb Configuration Tool helps you to set the basic system preferences automatically.
Initial configuration of FotoWeb
After the installation, the FotoWeb Configuration Tool helps you to set basic properties for your system. These settings can be changed later in the FotoWeb configuration, if necessary.
The installation program places a shortcut to the FotoWeb configuration tool on your desktop. You can cancel the configuration now if you would like to set up FotoWeb later. However, you must run the configuration wizard before you can start using FotoWeb. After completing the configuration wizard, the shortcut disappears from the desktop, since all subsequent configurations can be performed in Operations Center Settings.
Select Next to proceed with the configuration, or Cancel to configure FotoWeb later. If you cancel, you can start the configuration tool later by double-clicking the Configure FotoWeb shortcut on the desktop.
User account settings
All Fotoware applications use a common background service account to handle client requests and interact with the server file system and network. Suppose another Fotoware server application has already been set up on your server. In that case, the process account is likely already set, and this step of the configuration wizard will be skipped automatically. For more information about the background process account, see Setting a process account for Fotoware services.
Note
If no process account has already been set in the Operations Center Settings, you must enter a username and password here. The credentials will be verified, so typing the wrong password several times could result in the account being locked out.
Site identification
The site identification consists of a site name for internal use only, a host name, and an IP address that connects the site to IIS and the rest of the world. The site name can be anything you choose as long as it consists of letters [A-Z], [a-z], and [0-9]. The host name must be the fully qualified host name, along with the IP address, as configured in the IIS website to which this FotoWeb site will be connected.
Selecting the IIS website
You must specify a unique website in IIS. The wizard displays all the websites that are available in IIS. Choose the website with the same host name and IP address as configured in the previous dialog.
Testing your site
After installation, you must start the FotoWeb service (use the Operations Center Status shortcut on the desktop). Remember to start the Index Manager service before FotoWeb.
You can then test the site by navigating to the FotoWeb site's address that you set in the configuration wizard (for example, http://yourfotoweb.com/fotoweb).