This topic lists the system requirements for the various M-Files components.
M-Files Desktop:
M-Files Server:
For data security reasons, we do not recommended installing M-Files Server on a computer that is also used as a Microsoft domain controller. However, M-Files Server can technically run on a Microsoft domain controller server.
Mac and Linux users can access M-Files via M-Files Web.
32/64-bit support
M-Files is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems. The 32-bit and 64-bit systems have separate installation programs.
The minimum requirements and recommended hardware setups for M-Files Server are listed in the tables below.
| Minimum requirements | |
|---|---|
| Processor | 1 processor with 2 cores (Intel Xeon or similar) |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Recommendation for up to 50,000 objects | |
|---|---|
| Processor | 1 or 2 processors with 4 or more cores in each (Intel Xeon or similar) |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage | RAID 1 or RAID 5 disks |
| Recommendation for up to 1,000,000 objects | |
|---|---|
| Processor | 2 or 4 processors with 4 or more cores in each (Intel Xeon or similar) |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | RAID 1 or RAID 5 disks |
| Operating system | 64-bit operating system |
| Database management system | MS SQL Server 2012, 2014, or 2016 Standard or Enterprise Edition |
| Recommendation for more than 1,000,000 objects | |
|---|---|
| Processor | 4 processors with 4 or more cores in each (Intel Xeon or compatible) |
| RAM | 32 GB |
| Storage | RAID 1 or RAID 5 disks |
| Operating system | 64-bit operating system |
| Database management system | MS SQL Server 2012, 2014, or 2016 Standard or Enterprise Edition |
M-Files Server can be installed either on a physical or a virtualized server, for instance using Hyper-V or VMWare ESXi.
The M-Files mobile apps support the following mobile operating systems:
| App name | Required OS version |
|---|---|
| M-Files Universal App | Windows 10 |
| M-Files Mobile for Windows Phone | Windows Phone 8.0/8.1 or later |
| M-Files Mobile for iOS | iOS 7.0 or later |
| M-FIles Mobile for Android | Android 2.3.3 or later |
For optimal user experience, consider using M-Files Web with Google Chrome and the M-Files Web browser plugin available in the Chrome Store.
The supported browser versions for M-Files Web are:
| Web browser | Recommended version | Operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Google Chrome (recommended) | Latest available version | Microsoft Windows |
| Internet Explorer | IE11 | Microsoft Windows |
| Mozilla Firefox | Latest available version | Microsoft Windows |
| Safari | Latest available version | OS X |
| Microsoft Edge (limited) | Latest available version | Microsoft Windows |
Metadata database
Consult M-Files Corporation for requirements and best practices in environments with more than 1,000,000 objects. Please also note that the hard disk space requirements for the metadata database highly depend on the complexity of the metadata structure as well as on the number of object versions in the database. The estimates above apply to typical document management use cases.
File data
M-Files uses a binary delta algorithm to process old versions of document files. This reduces the disk space consumption of old file versions considerably.
Administrators can free disk space by archiving or destroying old versions.
The following Microsoft SQL Server features need to be enabled if you wish to use Microsoft SQL Server as the M-Files database engine:
Instance features
Shared features