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Install in IIS

Pre-requisites​

  • Windows Server, with IIS (select the WebSockets optional feature when installing)
  • Your Cherwell database, restored to a Microsoft SQL Server instance (with Full Text Indexing installed)

(NOTE: The IIS server can be the same machine that you have Cherwell running on, but does not have to be. You don't even need Cherwell running anywhere at all -- Cortex has everything it needs to interpret the data in your database.)

Install​

1. Install Prerequisites (VERY IMPORTANT)​

  1. Ensure IIS is installed and has WebSocket support enabled. (Go to "Add/Remove Windows Features" and select "WebSockets" under the IIS optional items). IIS WebSockets support

  2. ASP.NET Core Module/Hosting Bundle

    This is a Microsoft-provided tool that allows IIS to run modern (.NET Core and .NET 5+) ASP.NET applications.

    After the installer finishes, restart IIS (you do not need to restart the whole machine).

  3. Make sure you have your SQL server connection information handy. This is the same information you used when you set up your Cherwell server and is NOT the Cherwell app server connection you use to set up your clients.

2. Download and install Cortex​

Pick the appropriate build for your system.

  • win-x64 - Self-contained build for Windows (does not require an installed .NET runtime)
  • net7 - Runtime-dependent build for any OS (requires an installed .NET 7 runtime)

Download the appropriate Zip file (registration required) to your IIS server. Inside the zip file is a single folder, which needs to be placed somewhere that IIS can access it. Common locations are C:\ and C:\inetpub\wwwroot. If you choose a different location, ensure that the user IIS_IUSR has read access (write access is not required, nor recommended).

3. Configure an "application" in IIS​

  1. Open "Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager" from the Start Menu.
  2. In the left side, expand the tree until the level below "Default Web Site" is visible.
  3. Right-click "Default Web Site" and choose "New Application".
  1. For Alias, enter "Cortex". This will make the application accessible at http://YOUR_SERVER_NAME/Cortex.
  2. Choose the Physical Path where you unzipped the Cortex files. This should be the level above wwwroot, typically named something like cortex-win-x64-v1.1.1. Configuring a new application
  3. Click "OK".

Configuration​

Three items need to be configured:

  • Database connection to a previously installed Cherwell database (See here for details on creating a connection string)
  • Your Cortex License "company name" and License code (NOTE: These are different from your Cherwell license)
  • Your desired authentication type (even if it's "none")

If you don't have a Cortex License, the software will run with result sets limited to 10 records.

Configuration Files​

Edit the file appsettings.json to fill in the following values:

{
  // ...
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "Default": "YOUR CONNECTION STRING HERE"
  },
  "Licensing": {
    "CompanyName": "YOUR COMPANY'S NAME HERE",
    "LicenseCode": "YOUR LICENSE CODE"
  },
  "Authentication": {
    "Type": "ONE OF: none, saml, keycloak",
    // ...
  }
}

After modifying this file, restart the application to apply the configuration.