Keri is often asked the question: 'Can Doors.NET be used on a Virtual Machine and the short answer is Yes. Apart from the presence of a physical workstation running Doors.NET in a virtual environment is almost exactly the same as if it were being run on a physical machine.
2.0 Pre-Requisites
If the client is installed onto a different machine from the Application Server, the Application server needs to have a static IP address. we recommend using the Doors.NET client on the remote machine rather than using Remote Desktop to run the Doors.NET client on the VM.
3.0 System Requirements
The overall system requirements are almost identical to that if the software were to be used on a physical PC:
3.1 Communication Methods
Communication to the hardware must be via ethernet, not Serial or USB-Serial communications.
3.2 Supported Windows Operating Systems
The Virtual Machine must be a fully licensed Windows operating system that is supported by Doors.NET.
Windows Server 2019 (64-bit)
Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 R2 (32 and 64-bit) - (Up to Doors.NET 22SP1).
Windows Server 2008 (32 and 64-bit) - (Up to Doors.NET 22SP1).
Windows Server 2003 (32 and 64-bit) - (Up to Doors.NET 22SP1).
Windows 11 - Home, Pro and Enterprise
Windows 10 - Home and Professional (32 and 64-bit).
Windows 8.1 - Professional and Enterprise (32 and 64) - Up to Doors.NET 22SP1.
Windows 8 - Professional and Enterprise (32 and 64) - Up to Doors.NET 22SP1.
Windows 7 - Professional and Ultimate - (32 and 64-bit) - Up to Doors.NET 22SP1.
Note: Doors.NET is NOT compatible with any home or basic version of Windows (except for Windows 10). This is due to networking restrictions that are built into these versions.
The same host PC system specifications still apply as though the system were to be hosted on a physical workstation:
Windows must be updated with the latest security and .NET Framework updates.
These are the recommended minimum specifications to ensure optimum system operation.
Recommended PC Baseline Specs | Typical System < 100 Doors | Performance System < 100 Doors | Client and/or Gateway Only |
Processor | i3, 2.3GHz or better | i7, 2.6GHz or better | Dual core 1.6GHz or better |
RAM | 4GB | 8GB | 2GB |
Disk Capacity | 1TB | 2TB | 500GB |
Network Adapter | 10/100 Ethernet | 10/100/1000 Ethernet | 10/100 Ethernet |
Video Adapter | XGA | Dedicated adapter with >64MB RAM | XGA |
Note: You should consider upgrading from the listed recommendations if your system has a very large number of controllers or cardholders.
Keri recommends temporarily disabling any anti-virus software running on the host PC during installation of the Doors.NET software. It can be enabled once Doors.NET has been installed.
When installing the Doors.NET software the user should have full administrative rights. Once the software has been installed, the user who will be administering Doors.NET will need full admin rights to the Doors.NET program and also full read/write/modify permissions for the C:\Keri\DoorsNET local directory.
If installation will be on a Server operating system, it is strongly recommended that you have an IT specialist that is a Microsoft Certified Professional present during the install (as Server operating systems have unique requirements that certified professionals are trained to handle.
If the database will be located on a different machine, towards the end of the installation wizard you would select to install: 'Application Server Only'. Once installation is complete, you would then run the UpdateDHSDB utility on the physical machine that already has SQL Server installed. This utility can be found on the machine that Doors.NET was installed, in the following directory (C:\Keri\DoorsNET). The utility allows you to manually install the Doors.NET database and will also add the SQL user name and password that the Application Server uses to connect to the database.
Note: When Doors.NET software is updated you will also need to run the UpdateDHSDB utility on the database machine to also update the database.