Here you can find the system requirements and instructions for installing the primedocs Windows client.

System requirements

Operating system

The primedocs client can be installed on the following operating systems:

• Windows 8.1 or higher (both 32-bit and 64-bit).

• Windows Server 2012 or higher (both 32-bit and 64-bit)

• Citrix XenApp/TS or Windows terminal server (version compatible from Windows 8.1 32-bit and 64-bit)

Supported Microsoft Office versions

primedocs supports all Microsoft Office versions from Office 2013, both in 32-bit as well as 64-bit. primedocs supports the earlier versions of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office for Windows until their end of life, i.e. until the end of the "extended support period" from Microsoft to the respective products.

.NET Framework

The primedocs Client requires at least the .NET Framework 4.8.

CPU and memory

It is recommended to use at least a CPU with 1.6 GHz and 2 cores.

At least 4 GB RAM should be used as working memory. Since primedocs integrates with the Office products and it is therefore likely that Microsoft Word, Outlook or Teams will also be running alongside primedocs, it is recommended to plan for at least 8 GB of RAM.

Hard disk storage

The software requires about 200 MB of hard disk space. The primedocs client also stores log files for error handling and settings and additionally creates a local cache for offline use. The size of the cache depends on the number and size of the templates.

Display resolution

The primedocs client requires a screen resolution of at least 1024 * 768.

Client authentication

"Software as a Service" option:

In the "Software as a Service" option, server-side components are used which forward the login requests to your Azure Active Directory. With this option, the two parameters ClientId and ClientSecret must be specified during installation.

OnPremises default option: (see OnPremises options)

In the default option, server-side components are used, which forward the login requests to your Active Directory. With this option, the two parameters ClientId and ClientSecret must be specified during installation.

OnPremises-"WithoutIdS" option: (see OnPremises options)

The "WithoutIdS" option requires that the primedocs Client and server are in the same domain or in a domain authorized via a position of trust.

32-bit or 64-bit

The primedocs installer is available in a 32- or 64-bit option. The required option is dependent on the Microsoft Office version used. If a 64-bit Office is used, the 64-bit primedocs version must be installed.

Ports & server connection

The primedocs client communicates exclusively via HTTP/HTTPS with the primedocs server. Thus, only port 80 or 443 is required in the default configuration.

MSI parameters

The primedocs MSI package contains the primedocs client and the Microsoft Office add-ins.

primedocs-specific parameters:

• APPLICATIONFOLDER: Installation directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\primedocs is default)

• INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUT: 1 / 0 for Yes or No

• AUTOSTART: 1 / 0 for Yes or No

• SERVICEENDPOINTURL: Service endpoint (can be overwritten via registry)

• ADDLOCAL: Features

  • WordAddInFeature: Word add-in for "classic" templates and snippets pane - if used, the CommonAddInWordFeature must also be installed!

  • OutlookAddInFeature: Outlook add-in

  • This list contains all Common Add-Ins (Modern add-in for PowerPoint/Excel/Word)

    • CommonAddInWordFeature: Word add-in for new template types - if used, the WordAddInFeature must also be installed!

    • CommonAddInPowerPointFeature: PowerPoint add-in

    • CommonAddInExcelFeature: Excel add-in

The following parameters are only required in certain installation options (e.g. installation on terminal servers) and are optional:

• DATAINLOCALAPPDATAFOLDER: False/True (must be True for network drives)

• CACHEFOLDER: Path, e.g. \\Share\... (with placeholders like %username% from environment variables etc.)

• SETTINGFOLDER: Path, e.g. \\Share\... (with placeholders like %username% from environment variables etc.)

• SHUTDOWNONDISCONNECT: true/false (if true: primedocs will be terminated when a connection is lost, for example when an RDP session is terminated.)

• TRYSYNCONLOGOFF: true/false (if true: primedocs will try to synchronize the last changes to the server on a Windows session logoff.)

• LOGFOLDER: Path for log files storage with NLog placeholders (see Layout renderers, Special Folder Layout Renderer and Environment.SpecialFolder Enum)

  • Examples: \\Share\..., ${specialfolder:LocalApplicationData}\Logs\primedocs

  • Caution: Access to environment variables as in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Logs is not supported by NLog – please use the "Special Folders" instead.
    Please note that ${specialfolder:LocalAppData} is not valid, because there is no special folder named LocalAppData. However, ${specialfolder:LocalApplicationData} is valid because there is a special folder named LocalApplicationData.

• ENCRYPTCACHE: false/true (false is default, if true: primedocs encrypts the offline cache. More...) (can be overwritten via registry)

• SILENTSSOAUTHENTICATIONTRYONSTARTUP: false/true (false is default, if true: When primedocs is started, a login attempt is made in the background, which works if automatic Windows authentication takes effect in on-premises environments with IdentityServer) (can be overwritten via registry).

• SILENTSSOAUTHENTICATIONTIMEOUTINSECONDS: (30 is default, timeout for login attempt in background) (can be overwritten via registry)

• ACCESSIBILITYFOCUSNONINTERACTIVEELEMENTS: false is default, if true: non-interactive elements (e.g. text elements in the Document Parameter) can be focused via keyboard and thus be captured more easily by screen reader software). (can be overwritten via registry)

• DEFAULTDATASOURCEID: Default is “empty” and the primary DataSource is automatically selected. If set: The DataSource with the selected ID will be used as the "starting database". (can be overwritten via registry)

• USELAZYLOADINGCACHE: false is default, if true: The synchronization only loads template and snippet data when the template or snippet is actively used. This mode assumes that the client always has access to the service. (can be overwritten via registry)

The following parameters are required in the "Software as a Service" option and in the OnPremises default option:

• AUTHCLIENTID: Client id for access to the primedocs authentication system (can be overwritten via registry).

• AUTHCLIENTSECRET: Client secret for accessing the primedocs authentication system (can be overwritten via registry).

Other than that, the normal MSIEXEC command-line options apply.

Example (CMD) (installs all add-ins):

msiexec /qb /i "primedocs.Install(x86).msi" APPLICATIONFOLDER="C:\Program Files (x86)\primedocs" SERVICEENDPOINTURL="https://appurl/Service/primedocs.svc" AUTHCLIENTID="DefaultClient" AUTHCLIENTSECRET="GENERATED_PASSWORD" SILENTSSOAUTHENTICATIONTRYONSTARTUP="true" INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUT=1 AUTOSTART=1 /l* PrimeDocsInstall.log AddLocal=CommonAddInWordFeature,CommonAddInPowerPointFeature,CommonAddInExcelFeature,WordAddInFeature,OutlookAddInFeature

"Per-Machine" and "Per-User" installation:

The default installer is a "Dual-Purpose-Package" and can install primedocs both for all users on the machine ("Per-Machine") or only for the logged-in user ("Per-User"). In the default case, primedocs is installed for all users. The installation variant can be selected via the MSIEXEC parameter MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 or via the MSI interface.

Configuration values via the registry:

Certain primedocs configuration parameters are also searched in the registry – this is especially useful when using group policies.

The following parameters are searched as string values in the registry:

• ServiceAddress

• AuthClientId

• AuthClientSecret

• EncryptCache

• SilentSsoAuthenticationTryOnStartup

• SilentSsoAuthenticationTimeoutInSeconds

The process using the example of the "ServiceAddress":

String value "ServiceAddress" is searched among these keys (HKCU & HKLM):

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PrimeSoft AG\primedocs]
"ServiceAddress"="http..."

resp.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PrimeSoft AG\primedocs]
"ServiceAddress"="http..."

resp (suitable for group policies)

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\PrimeSoft AG\primedocs]
"ServiceAddress"="http..."

If the client finds this value, that one will be used instead of the ServiceAddress from the “primedocs.exe.config”. In order to be able to control these settings via group policies, Primedocs ADMX templates are available:

Single-Sign-On

In the OnPremises default option, the primedocs client can also automatically log on to the authentication system with the current Windows user at the first startup. For this, the MSI parameter SILENTSSOAUTHENTICATIONTRYONSTARTUP must be set to true. In order for the login data to be passed on automatically, the "host" must also be listed in the "Intranet Zone" of Internet Explorer.

This setting can be configured via a group policy under the following path:

User Settings -> Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Security Page

respectively.

Benutzereinstellungen -> Administrative Vorlagen\Windows-Komponenten\Internet Explorer\Internetsystemsteuerung\Sicherheitsseite

There the policy Site to Zone Assignment List must be opened and the following data must be stored:

Value Name: https://appurl/
Value: 1

The Value Name must correspond to the "Host" of the primedocs server, i.e. "https://servername/" of "https://servername/Service/primedocs.svc" is sufficient.

Afterwards the client should log in automatically.

Installation scenarios

The default settings of the primedocs installer aim at a “normal” installation on a system that can be started by one or more Windows users. Thereby, both the cache and the settings are stored in %AppData%.

Each primedocs client instance must get exclusive access to the cache for full functionality – if this is not the case (e.g. for some Citrix/Terminal server configurations) the location of the cache must be specified.

Default installation

No other parameters are needed, cache and settings are stored in %AppData%.

Recommended for:

☑ No roaming profiles stored on server side

Cache & settings locally

Both the cache and the settings can be stored in %LocalAppData% if this parameter is set:

DATAINLOCALAPPDATAFOLDER = True

Recommended for:

☑ Server-side stored roaming profiles

☑ %LocalAppData% folder which is not deleted

☑ User who is always logged in on the same machine

Cache in specific folder

If both %AppData% and %LocalAppData% are out of the question or if it there might be multiple primedocs instances open per user, this setting can be used to specify the cache location:

• CACHEFOLDER: Path, e.g. //Share/... (with Placeholders like %username% etc.)

Recommended for:

☑ Terminal Server installation with multiple open sessions per user

Prerequisite:

☑ Specified network drive that is always present and accessible

Settings in specific folder

The settings can also be saved in a separate folder, just like the cache:

• SETTINGFOLDER: Path, e.g. //Share/... (with Placeholders like %username% etc.)

Outlook: Disable "Roaming Signatures" Feature

There is an Outlook feature that synchronizes signatures between Outlook Windows desktops. This Feature is not compatible with primedocs signatures.

The following registry entry lets you deactivate the feature:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup]
"DisableRoamingSignaturesTemporaryToggle"=dword:00000001

Registry files for that matter:

Information from Microsoft about this feature:

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=60371

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/outlook-roaming-signatures-420c2995-1f57-4291-9004-8f6f97c54d15