Virtual Machine requirements for a dedicated HelpMaster Server

Configuring a dedicated HelpMaster VM server is highly recommended

HelpMaster Server

A dedicated server to run all of the Helpmaster modules is highly recommended as it makes administration, configuration, and upgrading much simpler as all of the HelpMaster resources are located on the same machine. This server may be hosted as a Virtual Machine in an on-premise server rack using VMWare, Hyper-V, or other virtualization technologies. It may also be hosted in the Cloud with Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google infrastructure.

The following minimum VM requirements are recommended:

Virtual Hardware requirements

Component Recommended Specifications
vCPU (Cores) 2 cores minimum; 4-8 preferred for concurrency (2 GHz each)
RAM 16 GB minimum (32 GB preferred)
Storage 350 GB SSD minimum (NVMe if possible; fast IOPS for SQL performance)
Network 1 Gbps NIC (standard for VMs; 10 Gbps optional for high throughput environments)
OS Windows Server 2019 or 2022 Standard
Backup/DR Daily VM snapshots + DB backup strategy

OS Software requirements

Microsoft .NET Framework: 4.8 or higher for all HelpMaster modules

Microsoft Edge WebView2 control: This component is used to render HTML, CSS and other web content within the Desktop edition of HelpMaster. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/ for further information about this control. Click here to download the WebView2 control runtime

ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle: This is required to host the HelpMaster Web Portal. Click here to download the ASP.NET Core 8.0 Hosting Bundle

Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Server v2016 SP3 or greater is required to host the HelpMaster database

Roles and Features

Web Server (IIS): This server role is required for the HelpMaster Web Portal. For full details of required components see the Installing IIS topic.

ASP.Net 4.8: This feature is also required for the Helpmaster Web Portal. See Web Server (IIS) above.

HelpMaster Module Requirements

HelpMaster Web Portal

Email System: The web portal requires the ability to send email. Due to the nature of this module only Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or SMTP over TLS is suitable for use.

Email Manager Service

Email System: If using Outlook with Email Manager for sending and receiving email, Microsoft Outlook 2016 Professional or higher only is supported. It is highly recommended that you utilise Helpmaster Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace integration with the Email Manager service.

Active Directory Service

Azure Integration: For EntraID user synchronisation see granting Graph API permissions.

Priority Manager Service

Email System: If using Outlook with Priority Manager for sending email, Microsoft Outlook 2016 Professional or higher only is supported. It is highly recommended that you utilise Helpmaster Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace integration with the Priority Manager service.

Automation Service (Triggered Events)

Email System: If using Outlook with Triggered Event Profiles for sending email, Microsoft Outlook 2016 Professional or higher only is supported. It is highly recommended that you utilise Helpmaster Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace integration with Triggered Event Profiles and the Automation service.

Crystal Reports

The executable (.exe) installer has the option of installing the run-time version of Crystal Reports. This component is required in order to run and view reports from the HelpMaster Desktop. You may also download the stand-alone Crystal Reports Runtime via the PRD Support web portal.

See also

Database and Reports Wizard

Hardware and Software Requirements - Microsoft SQL Server

Hosting ASP.NET Core 8.0 applications on Windows with IIS (Microsoft web page)