Installing the SMART Migration server for the IDE

This topic takes the SMART Migration IDE from nothing installed to a first start. The IDE connects to its sources from within SMART Migration, so there is no separate platform to connect.

Details to be confirmed

The installer's pages and the first-start dialog are not yet described step by step, nor the IDE's trial terms.

Check the prerequisites

A Windows machine or VM. See System requirements
A Windows service account to install and run SMART Migration with (recommended). Install and start SMART Migration for the first time with the account that will run the server as a Windows service: the database permissions then work without any manual setup. For a demo or test, any Windows account will do — accept the defaults.
- File shares: jobs run under the server's service account, so it needs access permission to every file share the jobs reference.
- High-security environments: the server can run under a separate account from the SMART Migration Windows UI.
An Entra ID app registration with a certificate for Microsoft 365 sources. See How to create and configure the app registration
A SMART Migration partner. The installer and the licence key come from your partner. Your partner provides both the free trial key and, later, the production key. See Partner role

Run the installer

SMART Migration has two components, the SMART Migration IDE and the SMART Migration server. One installer, setup.exe, installs both automatically.

Run setup.exe
Start setup.exe as an administrator: you must be a local administrator on the machine to run it. Sign in with the account described above. It also installs what SMART Migration needs (the Visual C++ runtimes, WebView2, the Access Database Engine 2016, .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0 and the ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server) when the machine has internet access. On a machine without internet access, install these components by hand before you run setup.exe: see Required components, automatically installed when there is internet access.
SQL Server Express 2025: keep or opt out
SQL Server Express 2025 holds the repository, where SMART Migration keeps its working data. Keep it selected for the simplest setup. If you opt out, you need a SQL Server you can connect to at the first start; see the first start below.
PostgreSQL: keep or opt out
PostgreSQL holds the BI data. For the IDE it is not required in any way — it is only a convenience, so leave it selected or not as you like.

How the server runs: embedded in the IDE — when the IDE starts, the server (flowserver.exe) starts with it in the same Windows session — or as a Windows service under a service account, which must then have access to the database. The IDE and the server may run under separate Windows accounts for extra security. For a first setup, run everything under one account.

First start

Start SMART Migration and choose the initial setup
Start SMART Migration with the account described under the prerequisites. Starting it with elevated permissions, as administrator, is optional: it is only required for the advanced setup of a Windows service to run the jobs (step 4). It asks which configuration to use, under Select initial setup. Choose Blank (No initial setup); the IDE needs no initial setup.
The Blank choice is a template with no ready-made setup, so you build your own setup in the IDE.
Connect the repository database
With SQL Server Express from the installer: nothing to do — the repository is connected automatically. The database is named SMARTMigrationBlank, and its files are in the folder %Public%\SMARTMigration_SQLServer.
With a SQL Server of your own (fully supported, but set up by hand): before the first start, create a database on the server and restore the template SMARTMigrationBlank.bak onto it. The file is in SMART Migration's program folder. Make sure the Windows account that runs SMART Migration — and the service account, if the server runs as a Windows service — has dbo access to the database, for example in SQL Server Management Studio. Then enter the server and database when SMART Migration asks.
Enter the licence key
Once the database is connected, a prompt appears. Enter the licence key.
If the machine has no internet access, use offline registration: choose Request offline key. Notepad opens with the steps to take to obtain your offline key.
Optional: run the server as a Windows service
This is not required. The server runs automatically inside the SMART Migration UI — the IDE, which is always available in every configuration, though not used day to day in a standard Nextcloud or Microsoft Teams setup. To run it as a Windows service instead:
1. Start SMART Migration with elevated permissions, as administrator — a Windows requirement, even when your account is a local administrator. If you did not start SMART Migration with elevated permissions, restart the program.
2. Open the Account module and its General tab.
3. Choose Windows service configuration in the ribbon bar and select Run the job server as a Windows service.
What happens: a native Windows service is created, set to start automatically. Windows manages it and it follows all Windows service requirements. Start and stop it in the Windows services administrator.
Important
The service account must have access to the database and to any file shares the jobs reference; see the prerequisites.