This blog lays out the steps to deploy Creatio locally on your Windows machine. Read on for step-by-step instructions.

Local Deployment of Creatio CRM

Obtain & Unpack Creatio CRM deployment files

1. Obtain the Creatio CRM deployment files from Creatio support. The CRM files will be sent via either a link to download a .zip file, or the .zip file will be sent directly to you.
2. Once you’ve acquired the Creatio CRM .zip file, if you’re using a Windows machine, right-click on the .zip file and select the Extract All option.
3. A new folder will appear in the same directory with the Creatio CRM files.

Deploy MSSQL Server & back-up Creatio database

1. In the root directory of the Creatio CRM folder, there is a db folder containing a single database file. 
2. Open MSSQL Server on your local machine.

In the Object Explorer on the left-hand side, right-click the Databases folder and select Restore Database.

4. In the Restore Database dialog box, use the Select A Page explorer to locate and select the General option and set the Source radio input to Device.

5. On the right side of the Device input field, there is a menu button denoted by three dots “...” 

6. Click on this menu button to open Select a backup device.

7. Click Add on the right-hand side of the dialog box to select your Backup Media.

8. In the Locate Backup File dialog box, use the file explorer column on the left-hand side, locate and select the database file from the db folder in the root directory of the Creatio CRM file folder and click OK. This will close the Locate Backup File dialog box.

9. Confirm the selected database file is populated in the Backup Media field of the Select Backup Devices dialog box and click OK.

10. In the Restore Database dialog box under Destination, name the database that will be created when the db file is restored.

Using MSSQL Server login credentials to connect the DB to the Application Server

1. In the Object Explorer, twirl open the Security folder.
2. Right-click on the Logins folder and select New Login.
3. In the Login dialog box, name the login username by filling out the Login Name input field.
4. Select the SQL Server Authentication radio input button and set the password by filling out the Password and Confirm Password input fields.
5. De-select the checkbox input: Enforce password policy.
6. In the Select A Page explorer on the left-hand side, select Server Roles.
7. The only necessary checkbox input to be marked is the public field. Ensure this field is checked.
8. In the Object Explorer expand the folder for the database created from backing up the Creatio db file.
9. Expand the Security folder and right-click on the Users folder. Select New User.
10. In the Database User dialog box, set the User Name and Login Name to the new user you created in previous steps. 
11. In the Select A Page section, select Memberships.
12. Set the Database Role Membership to db_owner and click OK.
13. The database setup is complete.

Download & Install Redis Server

1. In a new browser tab, navigate to the Redis Releases GitHub page and download the .msi file of the  latest release of Redis for Windows. At the time of the writing of this document, the current release is v5.0.14.1.
2. Once downloaded, install the Redis server with all the default settings.

Setting up the ConnectionStrings.config file (MSSQL Server)

1. Using a text editing application (NodePad++, VS Code, VS Studio, etc.), open the ConnectionStrings.config file located in the root directory of the Creatio CRM file folder.
2. The default Creatio database connection string setup uses Windows authentication to connect to databases:

3. In order to use MSSQL authentication, you must adjust the connection string to the following: (Remove the Integrated Security=SSPI; key-value pair)

4. Set the value for Data Source to the MSSQL instance name on your local machine.

5. Set the value for Initial Catalog to the target database name.

6. Set the value of the User ID key to the username of the login you created.

7. Set the value of the Password key to the password for that username.

Enabling required Windows settings

1. Make sure that you install the following components into the web server before you create and set up a website:
   •  For Creatio version 8.0.9 and earlier: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 component is required
   •  For Creatio version 8.0.10 and later: Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 component is required
   • Web Server IIS components.
2. Open the Start menu and search the phrase “turn Windows features on and off.”
3. In the Windows Features dialog box, enable the following:
   • .NET Framework 4.8 Advanced Services
     • ASP.NET 4.8 
     • WCF Services 
       • HTTP Activation
       • Message Queuing (MSMQ) Activation
       • Named Pipe Activation
       • TCP Activation
       • TCP Port Sharing
   • Internet Information Services
     • Web Management Tools
     • World Wide Web Services
       • Application Development Features
         • .NET Extensibility 4.8
         • ASP
         • ASP.NET 4.8
         • ISAPI Extensions
         • ISAPI Filters
         • WebSocket Protocol
       • Common HTTP Features
         • Static Content
         • Default Document
         • HTTP Errors
         • HTTP Redirection
       • Health and Diagnostics
         • HTTP Logging
         • Logging tools
         • Request Monitor
         • Custom Logging
       • Performance Features
       • Security
         • Basic Authentication
         • Request Filtering
         • IP and Domain Restriction

Modify Web.config

1. Download the PowerShell script: Machine Key Generator Script
2. Run the PowerShell console as an administrator and cd into the folder containing the script
3. Specify the path to the root Creatio directory in the PowerShell terminal and run the script. Example of the command to run: .\UpdateMachineKey.ps1 "[Path to the root Creatio directory]"

4. As a result, the script will generate a unique machineKey value in Web.config files located in the root Creatio directory and the Terrasoft.WebApp directory.

Adding an Application Pool

1. Open the Start menu and search the phrase “Internet Information Services.”
2. Go to the Application Pools section in the Connections area of the IIS control window.
3. Select the Creatio pool.
4. Select the Integrated mode in the Managed pipeline mode field.
5. Fill out the .NET CLR version field:
   • For .NET Framework: Specify “.NET CLR Version v.4.0.30319”
   • For .NET 6: Specify “No Managed Code”

6. In the connections navigation column, select the server name (name of your machine). Locate and select the ISAPI and CGI Restrictions option to check if the specified ASP.NET version is allowed.

7. In the Restriction field, ensure the Allowed status is set for the ASP.NET version.

8. While still on the server level, open the Handler Mappings to ensure all the required permissions are active.

9. In the Actions area, locate and select the Edit Feature Permissions option.

10. In the Edit Feature Permissions window, select all options (Read, Script and Execute).

11. While still on the server level, locate and select the MIME Types option.

12. In the Actions column on the right-hand side, click Add. In the File name extension input, specify .svg and in the MIME type input field, enter image/svg+xml to specify the MIME type of data that corresponds to the .svg file extension. Repeat the step for .json extension (application/json MIME type).

13. If the configuration is not available, click  Add… in the Actions area. This opens a new window. Specify .svg and MIME type of data that corresponds to this extension (Fig. 7) in the window. Repeat the step for .json extension (application/json MIME type).

14. Open the site by going to the address or using the Browse command. Make sure that the Creatio login page is displayed.

15. The default username should be set to Supervisor. Copy and paste Supervisor into the password input to login.

Set up application website in IIS

1. Go to the IIS control window, right-click the Sites folder, and select the Add Website option from the context menu.

2. Specify the name of the website, the path to the root folder that contains Creatio files, IP address and website port. The default website path is C:\INETpub\wwwroot. If needed, specify your own IP address.

3. For NET Framework only: Right-click the created website in the Connections area and select the Add Application option.

4. Enter the 0 application name in the Alias field. Specify the Terrasoft.WEBApp directory.

Creatio Documentation & Resources

NOTE: You must have an active account with Creatio Academy to access the Developer Environment Setup video, as well as other Creatio training videos and content.

Please note the System Requirements defined by Creatio here: On-Site Deployment System Requirements

Refer to this link in the Creatio Academy docs to see the general deployment steps: Creatio Academy | General Creatio Deployment Procedure

Additionally, a local instance of Creatio can be successfully launched by following this guide video provided by Creatio: Developer Environment Setup. NOTE: The versions of downloaded tools in this video are outdated. The current versions of these tools are denoted in the step-by-step guide.