Installing ComArchive

ComArchive must be installed on a Windows server with the following requirements:

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. We strongly recommend Windows Server 2019 or later.

  • .NET Framework 4.8 must be installed

  • .NET 8 Hosting Bundle and Dekstop Runtime must be installed (download them here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0)

  • 16 GB RAM, a large number of Exchange mailboxes might require more RAM for satisfactory performance

  • Minimum 2 processor cores, 4 recommended

  • Storage for search index and attachments. It is recommended to place the search index on the fastest storage available. Attachments can be located on slower storage like a network share.

ComArchive needs a database to store data. Microsoft SQL Server is required. ComArchive needs at least SQL Server version 2008 R2, but we strongly recommend using SQL Server 2012 or later. The SQL Server can either be an existing shared server or a dedicated install can be made on the ComArchive server

Installing ComArchive

  1. Go to Downloads and download the latest ComArchive installer

  2. Start the installer. It will check that the system requirements are met and will show an error if not, for example if .NET 8 is missing.

  3. After pressing Next the installer will ask for a service account. This will be used to run the four ComArchive service, the ComArchive website in IIS and connecting to the database, if using Windows Authentication.

    You can choose any username, but we recommend using Comarchivesysacc as we'll be using this username in other ComArchive documentation.

  4. You can now choose how ComArchive should connect to the database. We recommend using Windows Authentication using the service account specified in the previous step, but you can also choose to use SQL Authentication and then provide a username and password.

  5. You now need to select a database server and database name.

    If you provide the name of an existing ComArchive database, you'll be asked if you want to use this database. 

    If upgrading from a previous ComArchive version, the database will automatically be filled out and cannot be changed.

  6. If this is a new install of ComArchive you will be asked to specify where ComArchive should store file data. You need to provide two folders:

    • Attachments
      The attachments included in e-mails archived by ComArchive are stored on disk in this folder. You need a disk with plenty of space but it does not need to be particularly fast.

    • Index
      To search e-mails in ComArchive they need to be indexed. This search index is stored in a number of files on disk. It is recommended to place this index on a fast disk as the disk speed directly influences the speed of searching in ComArchive.

    If upgrading from a previous version of ComArchive this step will skipped since these settings are already stored in the database.

  7. You can choose to only install parts of ComArchive but unless you have need to do so, we recommend just using the default configuration and installing all of ComArchive.

  8. You can now press Install and let the installer do its work.

    Once the installation has finished, you must configure ComArchive so that you can start getting your e-mail organized. 

    Read more about configuring ComArchive to archive from Microsoft 365