Installation on Microsoft Windows
Overview
This guide covers the installation of CAST Imaging on Microsoft Windows. It’s intended for:
- Direct installation on Microsoft Windows
- new installations (for updates to existing installations, see In-place component update)
The installation package com.castsoftware.imaging.console includes an installation script (.bat file), various configuration files and the binaries themselves.
Warning
CAST does not support cross-platform installations, i.e. some CAST Imaging components on Linux/Docker and other components on Microsoft Windows, except where a PostgreSQL instance installed on Linux/Docker is being used with CAST Imaging installed on Microsoft Windows.Components and installation options
Available components
The following components are provided:
imaging-services
imaging-viewer
analysis-node
(does not include CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4)dashboards
(optional - not mandatory)Available in ≥ 3.3.x-funcrel
Installation methods
The installation is actioned via a script (.bat
file) which supports two deployment approaches and provides flexibility:
- Standalone mode (single machine)
- All components on one machine
- Ideal for POCs or testing purposes, or small production deployments
- Distributed mode (multiple machines)
- Components distributed across multiple machines
- Recommended for production environments
Installation commands and components
The installation script can be run with different options to achieve the configuration you require:
Install type | Command | Mandatory? | Configuration file | Components installed |
---|---|---|---|---|
Single machine | all |
N/A | config-all.conf |
All components - single machine installation scenario. If you choose this option, you must ensure that your machine has sufficient resources to run all components: see Requirements. Requires:
|
Distributed | imaging-services |
✅ | config-imaging-services.conf |
Requires:
|
Distributed | imaging-viewer |
✅ | config-imaging-viewer.conf |
Requires:
|
Distributed | analysis-node |
✅ | config-analysis-node.conf |
Requires:
|
Distributed | dashboards |
❌ | config-dashboards.conf |
Available in ≥ 3.3.x-funcrel
|
Note
- The database component is not included but at least one instance is required on your network to complete the deployment and must be installed separately, preferably on a dedicated machine. The instance must be accessible to all components over the internal network. Additional database instances can also be declared post install to load balance.
- CAST's on premises Extend Local Server (used where it is not possible to access CAST Extend over the internet) is not included and must be installed separately where required.
Requirements

Step 1 - Determine your installation method
- Standalone mode (Single machine) - connect to the machine and proceed to Step 2. Ensure that your machine has:
- sufficient resources to run all components: see Requirements.
- access to the database component
- an installation of CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4
- Distributed mode (Multiple machines) - identify which machine will run the
imaging-services
component (this must be installed first). Connect to this machine and then proceed to Step 2. Ensure the following:- all machines must have access to the database component. This is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine BEFORE you begin the installation.
- machines on which you are installing the
analysis-node
component require the CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4 component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately on the same machine BEFORE you begin the installation of theanalysis-node
component.
Step 2 - Download the installation media
Download the latest release of the installer and unzip it anywhere on your local disk. The following files/folders will be created:
tools
(folder)cast-imaging-install.bat
(file)cast-imaging-remove.bat
(file)cast-imaging-update.bat
(file)components-installers.zip
(file)config-all.conf
(file)config-imaging-services.conf
(file)config-analysis-node.conf
(file)config-imaging-viewer.conf
(file)config-dashboards.conf
(file)
( or ! or )
. The installer will fail to run if this is the case.
Step 3 - Configure your installation
*.conf files
Locate the *.conf
files at the root of the unzipped files. Open the files with a text editor and update the installation variables:
- If you want to install all components on a single machine, update only the
config-all.conf
file. - If you want to install components on separate dedicated machines, update the following files, depending on your installation scenario:
config-imaging-services.conf
config-imaging-viewer.conf
config-analysis-node.conf
config-dashboards.conf
Note
The same variables must be identical across all*.conf
files.
LICENSE_KEY and EXTEND_API_KEY variables
If you want to avoid having to manually input the global license key and the CAST Extend API key on first login to CAST Imaging (see below) use the LICENSE_KEY
and EXTEND_API_KEY
as explained in Microsoft Windows installation variables.
CAST_INSTALLATION_CONF Microsoft Windows system environment variable
By default, the CAST Imaging installer will store information/properties files related to the installation in the following folder on disk:
%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\CAST\.install
This information is re-used during in-place updates to a new release and during product uninstall. If you would prefer to store this folder in another location, you can set a Microsoft Windows system environment variable called CAST_INSTALLATION_CONF
on all machines where you will install CAST Imaging components and point it to a local folder of your choice:
Open firewall ports
- Distributed mode (Multiple machines) - you should ensure that all ports listed in Hardware requirements are opened inbound on the relevant machine to ensure that:
- your users will be able to access all CAST Imaging resources in their browser
- CAST Imaging components can communicate correctly with each other correctly
- Standalone mode (Single machine) - only port
8090
(TCP) should be opened inbound if you need to access CAST Imaging from another machine on the network.
Step 4 - Run the installation
Scenario 1 - Standalone mode (Single machine)
Open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator
) and execute the following command from the root of the unzipped files:
cast-imaging-install.bat package=all
On completion, check the status of the various Microsoft Windows Services, there should be 12:
Scenario 2 - Distributed mode (Multiple machines)
On each machine on which you want to install a component, ensure that you follow Step 2 and Step 3, i.e.:
- download and unzip the installation media on each machine on which you want to install a component
- ensure the relevant
*.conf
file on each machine contains the correct installation variables
Then open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator
) and execute the appropriate installation command on each machine for the component you would like to install. Ensure that the imaging-services
component is always installed first and is completed before any other components on other machines are installed:
cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-viewer
cast-imaging-install.bat package=analysis-node
cast-imaging-install.bat package=dashboards
Note
- You can install any number of the (
analysis-node
) component on dedicated machines to load balance your analysis requirements. - You must only install
imaging-services
,imaging-viewer
anddashboards
once in your network.
On completion, check the status of the various Microsoft Windows Services:
.conf file | No. of services |
---|---|
package=imaging-services |
5 |
package=imaging-viewer |
5 |
package=analysis-node |
1 |
package=dashboards |
1 |
Step 5 - Initial start up configuration
- When the install is complete, browse to the URL:
If you are using the machine on which the imaging-services component has been installed:
http://localhost:8090
From a remote machine on the network:
http://PUBLIC_URL:8090
- Login using the default local
admin/admin
credentials - Configure the Licensing strategy. Choose either a
Named Application
strategy (where each application you onboard requires a dedicated license key entered when you perform the onboarding), or aContributing Developers
strategy (a global license key based on the number of users):
Named Application
strategy to a Contributing Developers
strategy after having onboarded applications by changing the license key (see Manage your license keys), however, it is not possible to switch in the reverse direction, i.e. Contributing Developers
strategy to Named Application
strategy.
- Configure CAST Extend settings / Proxy settings:
LICENSE_KEY
and EXTEND_API_KEY
variables as explained in Microsoft Windows installation variables, then this initialization will not be displayed.
- Verify component availability via the following URL and ensure that you see at least one
analysis-node
,dashboards
andimaging-viewer
:
http://PUBLIC_URL:8090/admin/services
Step 6 - Configure authentication
By default, CAST Imaging is configured to use Local Authentication via a simple username/password system. Default login credentials are provided (admin/admin
) with the global ADMIN
profile so that installation can be set up initially.
CAST recommends configuring CAST Imaging to use your on-premises enterprise authentication system such as LDAP or SAML Single Sign-on instead before you start to onboard applications. See Authentication for more information.
What is installed?
The following Microsoft Windows services, set to start automatically and running with LocalSystem
:
Component | Service name | Port |
---|---|---|
imaging-services |
CAST Imaging Authentication | 8092 |
imaging-services |
CAST Imaging Console Service | 8091 |
imaging-services |
CAST Imaging Control Panel | 2381, 8098 |
imaging-services |
CAST Imaging Gateway Service | 8090 |
imaging-services |
CAST Imaging SSO Service | 8096, 9002 |
imaging-viewer |
CAST Imaging Viewer AI Manager | 8094 |
imaging-viewer |
CAST Imaging Viewer Frontend | 8093 |
imaging-viewer |
CAST Imaging Viewer ETL | 9011 |
imaging-viewer |
CAST Imaging Viewer Backend | 9010 |
imaging-viewer |
CAST Imaging Neo4j Graph Database | 6372, 7483, 7484, 7697 |
analysis-node |
CAST Imaging Analysis Node instance | 8099 |
dashboards |
CAST Imaging Dashboards | 8097 |
Note
- All Microsoft Windows services will be set to "Automatic" start. This means that they will automatically start up whenever the host machine is started or rebooted. However, since some Microsoft Windows services are dependent on each other, you may find that when you reboot the host machine, some services will have failed to start because a dependent service has not started quickly enough. See Services startup checker for information about a tool that will ensure your services are all running.
- All Microsoft Windows services will be set to use the
Local System account
unless you have specifically defined a dedicated user via the.conf
file using theSTART_AS_USER
,...START_AS_USER
,START_AS_PASSWORD
,...START_AS_PASSWORD
, see installation variables and Software requirements.
Uninstall process
The installation media contains a dedicated uninstaller script called cast-imaging-remove.bat
. To run the uninstaller, open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator
) and execute the relevant command from the root of the unzipped files to remove the required component depending on what is installed on the current machine:
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=all
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=imaging-viewer
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=analysis-node
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=dashboards
The relevant *.conf
files should contain the Installation variables that match the components you have installed.
DELETE_ADDITIONAL_DATA_FOLDERS
is explicitly set to either true
to force the removal of existing analysis data storage folders defined by the SHARED_FOLDER
, DELIVERY_FOLDER
and DEPLOY_FOLDER
variables, or false
to retain these folders. If you intend to perform a clean install you should set this option to true
.
cast-imaging-remove.bat
file.
The installer will remove all components and related Microsoft Windows Services, including the following database items (the uninstaller will use the *.conf
file to obtain details of the target database instance):
keycloak_v3
databaseadmin_center
schemaanalysis_node
schema
What is not removed?
- Any schemas associated with applications stored on your database instance(s), e.g.
<app_name>_local
,<app_name>_central
,<app_name>_mngt
. general_measure
schema (or equivalent name).- CAST Imaging Core, wherever this component has been installed. Use the
Add or remove programs
feature to uninstall. - CAST Storage Service, wherever this component has been installed. Use the
Add or remove programs
feature to uninstall.