Install Primentra

The installer sets up Primentra as a Windows service that starts on boot. It installs Node.js, registers the service, and adds a firewall rule for you.

Run the installer

1. Download the installer from your Primentra account at primentra.com/account, page Download. A trial downloads it from primentra.com/download.
2. Right-click the file and choose Run as administrator.
3. Accept the license agreement.
4. Choose the installation folder. The default is C:\Program Files\Primentra.
5. Choose the port. The default is 3001. The installer checks whether the port is free and suggests another one if it is not.
6. Choose how users will reach Primentra: Direct access on this port, which adds a Windows Firewall inbound rule, or Via IIS reverse proxy, which adds no rule and keeps the port internal.
7. Choose whether to create Start Menu shortcuts.
8. Click Install.
9. Leave Open Primentra in your browser checked on the last screen.

What the installer does

• Installs Node.js LTS when Node is missing or older than v18.
• Registers a Windows service named Primentra with automatic start.
• Writes service logs to {install folder}\logs\.
• Grants the service write access to the install folder.
• Starts the service and waits until /api/health answers.
• Opens http://localhost:{port} in your browser.

Which account the service runs under

The service runs as Local System (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM). The installer gives SYSTEM and LOCAL SERVICE modify rights on the install folder, so the service can write its logs and mds-config.json.

Primentra does not use this account for the database. It signs in to SQL Server with the SQL login in mds-config.json, normally primentra_svc.

To use another account:

1. Open Services, right-click Primentra and choose Properties.
2. On the Log On tab, enter the account and its password.
3. Give the account modify rights on the install folder. Also grant it on mds-config.json and mds-config.json.bak one by one, because Primentra closes those two files at each start and a folder grant no longer reaches them: icacls "<install folder>\mds-config.json" /grant "<account>:M".
4. Restart the service.

First-time setup

The first time you open Primentra in a browser it walks you through three screens.

The first-run setup wizard, connecting Primentra to SQL Server(click to enlarge)

1. On Connect to SQL Server, fill in the connection fields listed below.
2. Click Test connection. Wait for "Connection successful". If the test fails, the screen lists the checks to make.
3. Click Save & continue.
4. On Create database schema, click Setup database. Primentra creates all tables, stored procedures and indexes. This takes a few seconds.
5. Click Continue.
6. On Create your administrator account, enter your email, display name and password. Use Generate for a strong random password.
7. Click Create account & continue. You are signed in and land on the dashboard.

Connection fields

Check the scheduler job

setup-db-and-user.sql creates a SQL Agent job named Primentra_Scheduler. It runs every minute and does two things: it fires scheduled and trigger-based staging batches, and it applies your retention settings. Without it both fail silently — staging runs in Manual mode only, and nothing is ever purged.

You do not have to hunt for it. Settings › General Settings › Database reports the job after every setup run: a missing job gets an amber warning naming the script that repairs it.

To confirm it by hand, connect as a sysadmin:

SELECT name, enabled FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobs WHERE name = 'Primentra_Scheduler';

Make sure the SQL Server Agent service runs and starts automatically. The job cannot fire without it.

SQL Server Express has no SQL Server Agent at all. Setup reports this and continues. Schedule usp_Scheduler_Dispatch and usp_Maintenance_Cleanup from Windows Task Scheduler instead.

Next steps

• Create your first model and entities under Settings › Models.
• Add user accounts under Settings › Access Management.
• Configure SMTP under Settings › General Settings › Email so welcome emails and expiry alerts can go out.

Related

• Create Database & Service Account — do this first
• Health & Monitoring — confirm the service and schema are healthy
• Email & Notifications — SMTP and the Application URL
• Data Retention — what the scheduler job purges
• Troubleshooting — service, connection and setup errors