This is an alternative installation method. Simul Documents is designed to execute within Docker and Windows Containers. This installation procedure is described here.

Windows Containers is a new technology and in some circumstances, it is more appropriate to install Simul directly on your server. The loss of application isolation can result in software conflicts and removes a valuable security layer but can have performance benefits.

If the regular install is causing issues, we recommend discussing the local install options with a member of the Simul Support Team.

To install Simul directly on the server as a set of Windows Services, select "Install Locally" from the following choices:

This will create the following Windows Services:

• navigate_next Simul.MongoDB (Database)
• navigate_next Simul.Redis (Session and Cache Management)
• navigate_next Simul.RabbitMQ (Message Queueing)
• navigate_next Simul.Nginx (Reverse Proxy and SSL Termination)
• navigate_next Simul.Core (Document Comparison and Merge Engine)
• navigate_next Simul.Web (User Interface and APIs for Microsoft Office)

Windows Firewall

Each of Simul's services will bind to a set of ports. By design, these will be available on your network to allow for high availability configuration of a Simul cluster.

You should ensure that all port access is prohibited except ports 80 and 443.

Permissions

Simul will automatically provision a service account for each Windows Service. This account will be granted read/write permissions to only the required resource for that service.

The accounts will not have access to your network resources. If you wish to store your documents elsewhere on your domain, you will need to swap the service accounts for accounts with the appropriate permissions. Please contact the Simul Support Team for details.

Third Party Software

Simul automatically installs all dependencies and third party software which it requires. It is therefore important you do not have conflicting versions of Node.js, RabbitMQ, Erlang, Redis and MongodDB installed

Compatibility

Simul’s local installation and docker installation are entirely compatible. All data is preserved, and you can change installation methods using the instructions below:

Docker -> Local

By default, if Simul can communicate with Docker on the local machine, it will attempt to install its services as Windows Containers. If you have already installed Docker as part of Simul’s process, it needs to be removed using the Docker-Remove.ps1 found under: C:\ProgramData\Simul\scripts.

Or simply run the following commands: Uninstall-Package -ProviderName DockerMsftProvider -Name docker
Uninstall-Module -Name DockerMsftProvider

This will remove the Docker service but leave all containers, configuration and data. You can now restart the Simul Enterprise Management application and will be presented with the two install options.

Local -> Docker

Inverse to the above, to remove the local install and switch to the Docker install, you can remove our Windows Services using the Simul-Remove.ps1 found under: C:\ProgramData\Simul\scripts\local-install. This will remove our Windows Services but leave all configuration and data. You can now restart the Simul Enterprise Management application and will be presented with the two install options.

Backup / Restore Scripts

Simul's backup and restore scripts are different for the local services than Docker containers. Any tasks scheduled to take backups will need to be updated as described below.

Docker

For Docker, running the following script does not require any input parameters and will backup Simul's database to the data directory you have configured: C:\ProgramData\Simul\scripts\Simul-Backup.ps1

Local

For local installation, you must sepcify a backup location when you run the following script: C:\ProgramData\Simul\scripts\local-install\Simul-Backup.ps1 -backupPath C:\Backups