Example: Single-Instance Installation of M-Files

Note: This content is no longer updated. For the latest content, please go to the user guide for M-Files Online. For information on the supported product versions, refer to our lifecycle policy.

This is a short description of a basic M-Files installation to a single computer that, in this case, serves as both the server machine and the client. The purpose of this example is to provide the main steps of setting up the elementary components of an M-Files system.

Complete the following steps:

  1. Install the M-Files software as instructed in Installing the Software.
  2. Create a document vault as instructed in Creating a New Document Vault.
    Note, however, that with the evaluation installation option, two vaults are automatically deployed. Sample Vault contains a reference metadata structure and views for some common information management processes as well as sample files to help you to easily evaluate the search. My Vault contains the same metadata structure and views as Sample Vault but does not contain the sample content. You can use the structure of My Vault as a foundation for your purposes instead of creating a new vault from scratch. You can also restore the sample structure from the M-Files Server installation folder (C:\Program Files\M-Files\<version>\Server\sample\My Vault.mfb by default).
  3. Create a new login account to the server as instructed in Creating a Login Account.
  4. Create a new user (or multiple users) to your vault as instructed in Creating a User.
    Result:At this point, the following tasks should be completed:
    • M-Files Server, M-Files Admin, and M-Files Desktop have been installed.
    • There is a document vault on the server – either one of the vaults that come with the evaluation installation or one that you have created from scratch.
    • There is at least one login account on the server.
    • There is at least one user in your vault.
  5. Open M-Files Desktop Settings and create a connection to the vault as instructed in Adding a Vault Connection.
You should now have a vault on the M-Files server with a user whose credentials you can use to log in to the vault and start browsing the content with M-Files Desktop.