This guide will walk you through installing Checkbox 8 On-Premise on your server for the first time. If upgrading or patching, please follow the Checkbox 8 Upgrade Instructions instead.

Important Note: This document applies to version 8.4.0 or later. Please download a newer version from your customer portal if you use an older version.

Server/ Environment Requirements

Before you begin the installation, please make sure that your server environment meets the minimum system requirements for Checkbox 8. Updated requirements can always be found at our Help Center.

COMPONENT	MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System	64-bit versions of Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022
Web Server	Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 8.5 or higher with AT LEAST 4 GB RAM; Important:* check the IIS module requirements to make sure that you have the proper IIS components enabled on your server.
Database	Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or higher. SQL Server Express Editions also supported**
Cloud Hosting	Amazon EC2, Amazon Elastic Beanstalk, Azure Virtual Machines, and Rackspace Cloud Servers. Checkbox supports virtual machine environments on Microsoft Azure and Rackspace. Checkbox does NOT support Rackspace Application hosting tools.
Browser	Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 or higher; most recent versions of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari***
Privileges	Administrator access to Web Server and Database Server required for installation.
Disk Space	1GB for application installation and base database; Overall database size depends on the number of surveys, users, and responses.
Software	IIS Module Installation (URL Rewrite, ISAPI extensions & filters, ASP.NET 4.X and .Net Extensibility - see https://www.checkbox.com/support/technical-requirements/ for details) Dotnet Framework 4.8 (https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48) ASP.NET Core 6 Runtime and Hosting Bundle (https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0)
Email	Checkbox supports using SMTP or Amazon Web Services SES for sending system emails, including survey invitations.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Environment preparation

a. Configure IIS

Install Web Server
Install IIS and modules on the Windows Server
Click here to see details
1. Open Server Manager.
2. Click Add roles and features.
3. Click Installation type. Click Role-based or feature-based installation and then click Next.
4. On the Server Selection dialog box, click Select a server from the server pool. In the Server Pool list, select your server and then click Next.
5. On the Server Roles dialog box select, Web Server (IIS). If you are prompted to add additional features, click Add Features and then click Next.
6. On the Role Services dialog box, expand the Application Development node and select ASP.NET 4.6. If you are prompted to add additional features, click Add Features. Leave all other default role services selected.
7. On the Confirmation dialog box, click Install. Proceed through the Add Roles and Features Wizard. As the wizard runs, look through the list of installation items and verify that the following role services are included. These are the minimum requirements for Interaction Administrator Web Edition:
  1. Web Server
    - Common HTTP Features
      
      Default Document
      
      Directory Browsing
      
      HTTP Errors
      
      Static Content
      
      HTTP Redirection
    - Health and Diagnostics
      
      HTTP Logging
    - Performance
      
      Static Content Compression
      
      Dynamic Content Compression
    - Security
      
      Request Filtering
    - Application Development
      
      .NET Extensibility 4.x
      
      ASP.NET 4.x
      
      ISAPI Extensions
      
      ISAPI Filters
      
      WebSocket Protocol
  2. Management tools
    - IIS Management Console
Note: You may see other dialogue boxes appear as role services are installed. You may also be prompted for the location of the Windows 2016 Server installation media. When the wizard is complete, click Close.
Install URL-rewriter
Click here to see details
1. To install the Rewrite module, download it from here and restart IIS when finished.
2. Once done, you should see this icon included among the IIS modules.

b. Prepare Databases

Create an empty Account DB
SQL script example
```
CREATE DATABASE [cb8-account];
```
Create an empty Messaging DB
SQL script example
```
CREATE DATABASE [cb8-messaging];
```
Create an empty URL shortener DB
SQL script example
```
CREATE DATABASE [cb8-url-shortener];
```

Create new login

SQL script example

CREATE LOGIN CheckboxUser
WITH PASSWORD = 'StrongPassword123!',  -- Create strong password
CHECK_POLICY = ON;                     -- Enforces password policies
GO

Map the Login to a Database User

SQL script example

USE [cb8-account]
CREATE USER CheckboxUser FOR LOGIN CheckboxUser;
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_owner', 'CheckboxUser';
GO

USE [cb8-messaging]
CREATE USER CheckboxUser FOR LOGIN CheckboxUser;
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_owner', 'CheckboxUser';
GO

USE [cb8-url-shortener]
CREATE USER CheckboxUser FOR LOGIN CheckboxUser;
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_owner', 'CheckboxUser';
GO

c. Install Dotnet

ASP.NET Core Runtime
Click here to see details
1. Download ASP.NET Core Runtime Installer depending on your OS and processor architecture. For example:
2. Install ASP.NET Core Runtime package.
Hosting Bundle
Click here to see details
1. Download Hosting Bundle depending on your OS and processor architecture. For example
2. Install Hosting Bundle package
.NET Framework 4.8
Click here to see details
1. Download installer
2. Install the package

2. Tools preparations

Download and unzip Checkbox8 Installer
Download the license file
- Obtain a valid Checkbox 8 license file (.lic file). For trial customers, there is a 30-day license included in the trial download. Please download a Checkbox 8 license from your customer portal for licensed Checkbox customers.
Copy the license file to the following folders:
- {Unzip Folder}\Checkbox\api-core
- {Unzip Folder}\Checkbox\checkbox-service-core

3. Installation

Run the installer and follow the instructions.
Click here to see details

URLs + SSL

The Checkbox 8 On-Premises installer provides two options for installation:
- Option 1: A single URL and IIS website (default / recommended)
  This approach requires a single URL, e.g., [https://www.yoursite.com,](https://www.yoursite.com,/) and then installs each of the three applications in virtual directories/folders so that the result is that you have https://www.yoursite.com/api for the API, [https://www.yoursite.com/admin](https://www.yoursite.com/admin,) for the Checkbox admin app, and https://www.yoursite.com/surveys for the site used to take surveys.
- Option 2: Four URLs and four IIS websites.
  This approach requires three unique/valid URLs. Each Checkbox site is configured with the application in the root of the URL. This approach is generally helpful for scenarios where you'd like to install each Checkbox app on a different server or have more granular control over the settings or amount of system resources used by each application.
URL Shortener

Currently, the URL shortener is a feature only utilized by the SMS feature of Checkbox. The URL shortener will not be used if you are not using this feature. We want to expand what elements of Checkbox use the URL shortener over time, so you should still ensure that the URL you assign to the shortener is valid.

SSL

We highly recommend that you use SSL on your Checkbox sites. SSL cannot be used on only some websites - it is all or nothing.
Your initial username and password will be “admin” for both. This will be your System Administrator (super-user) for the account and should not be deleted. We strongly recommend changing the password as soon as possible.

4. Additional configuration (optional)

5. Test the Installation

Once the sites have been configured, the application should be available to access. You can navigate to the URL of your Checkbox Admin application. You should see a login page asking for a username and password.

Your initial username and password will be “admin” for both. This will be your System Administrator (super-user) for the account and should not be deleted.

Security Warning We strongly recommend changing the password as soon as possible. To do this, navigate to the main Contacts area and edit the admin user to change the username and password. Note that you should NOT change the User roles for this user.

6. FAQ

I see the error ⇒ share logs with support

Errors while installing ⇒ Check logs in {Unzip Folder}\Checkbox\installer\App_Data\Logs
Errors while using application ⇒ Check logs
1. API (by default C:\inetpub\wwwroot\checkbox\api-core\AppLogs)
2. Service (by default C:\inetpub\wwwroot\checkbox\checkbox-service-core\AppLogs)

Checkbox 8 - New Installation Guide

Server/ Environment Requirements

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Environment preparation

a. Configure IIS

Install Web Server

Install IIS and modules on the Windows Server

Install URL-rewriter

b. Prepare Databases

c. Install Dotnet

ASP.NET Core Runtime

Hosting Bundle

.NET Framework 4.8

2. Tools preparations

3. Installation

URLs + SSL

URL Shortener

SSL

4. Additional configuration (optional)

5. Test the Installation

6. FAQ

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