

In line with our commitment to quality, we provide you with comprehensive support during your initial installation of Relativity.
Use the following instructions to install Relativity for the first time in your environment. These instructions provide you with the information necessary to install Relativity.
For instructions about how to upgrade an existing Relativity environment, see
Note: Relativity no longer supports Service Bus for Windows. RabbitMQ is now the only the message broker option available for use with Relativity.
Before you install Relativity, review the following information to confirm that your environment meets the installation requirements. Make sure that you created the directories as well as obtained the user names and passwords that the installer requires.
Note: We recommend changing the default password for the system admin account and the Relativity service account when you first log in to a new environment.
Please complete the following checks prior to beginning your upgrade to Server 2024.
Note: *Clients who have previously disabled Windows Storage Sense can now enable the feature because Relativity Server 2024 utilizes a new custom temp location at {drive}:\Users\{service_account_name}\AppData\Local\Relativity\TempStorage.
Secret Store is a required infrastructure component that adds a layer of security for Relativity secrets. A secret can be user credentials, a database connect string, an instance setting that contains confidential information such as your SMTP credentials, or a TLS certificate. All confidential information is stored in the Secret Store database that can be accessed only from authenticated servers.
Secret Store is required for installing or upgrading Relativity. You must install and configure Secret Store before installing Relativity on any other machines in your environment. You must also configure all machines to access Secret Store. For more information, see Relativity Secret Store.
Download the Relativity installer from the Relativity Community. To access these files, you must be a designated administrative contact for your company or receive permission from an administrative contact before the Community team will grant access to these files.
Note: If you want to set up a single-server installation of Relativity, change the setting for all applicable components from zero to one in the Feature Selection section of the RelativityResponse.txt file before running Install.bat. During a single server installation, the installer will not add any component that is not set to 1 for a new installation. Any feature set to zero in the RelativityResponse.txt file gets uninstalled if it detects a previous installation for that component.
A basic instance of Relativity requires multiple servers. You must configure two or more machines to fulfill the following roles:
Save the following files to the root directory of any server contributing to the Relativity environment:
start /wait "" "INSERT EXACT NAME OF RELATIVITY INSTALLATION FILE" /log InstallLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
You can pass in response file parameters on the command line during installation if you do not want your password information in a file stored locally on the machine hosting Relativity components. The command line parameters overwrite, or if left blank, insert the parameters that are in the RelativityResponse.txt file.
Use the following steps to enter parameters you do not want to include in the RelativityResponse.txt file.
start /wait Relativity.exe /log installLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt EDDSDBOPASSWORD=my_password
Note: If you do not have your password in the RelativityResponse.txt file and the password includes a space, you must insert quotation marks around the password if you opt to use command line input. The following example assumes that your password is: my password
start /wait Relativity.exe /log installLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt EDDSDBOPASSWORD="my password"
You can edit the Install.bat file in a text editor to alter the default behavior of the Relativity installer. There are four optional inputs:
start /wait "" "12.3.xxx.x Relativity.exe" /log InstallLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt /dryrun
start /wait "" "12.3.xxx.x Relativity.exe" /log InstallLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt /skipvalidations
start /wait "" "12.3.xxx.x Relativity.exe" /log InstallLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt /uninstall
start /wait "" "12.3.xxx.x Relativity.exe" /log InstallLog.txt /responsefilepath=RelativityResponse.txt /repair
An alternative installation method to using the Install.bat file is available in the form of a sample Windows PowerShell script. You can obtain a sample PowerShell batch script from your Relativity support representative. It contains default values for the various installer processes you can modify in a text editor according to your preferences. The sample script contains custom logic for basic input prompting, parsing, and status indication. The sample file is intended to be an example of a script that uses custom logic to drive the different installer behaviors. For example, the script prompts you to enter the location of the installer executable, but the script also contains default editable values for the RelativityResponse.txt file and log file locations. It displays any errors that occur and the last line in the most recent log file. You can execute it from a PowerShell prompt and pass options in, like the location of the installer executable or the installer mode.
The master database called the Electronic Document Delivery System (EDDS) resides on the primary SQL Server. You must first install the primary SQL database server.
After you install the primary SQL Server, you can run the distributed database server. You can then run the agent and web server installations in parallel.
Open the RelativityResponse.txt file in a text editor and edit the following parameters to install Relativity on the machine that serves the role of the primary SQL Server:
INSTALLPRIMARYDATABASE=1
INSTALLDISTRIBUTEDDATABASE=0
DEFAULTFILEREPOSITORY=\\yourmachine\FileShare
EDDSFILESHARE=\\yourmachine\Fileshare
Use the following format for this path to avoid any errors during installation:
CACHELOCATION=\\yourmachine\ViewerCache
If you do not specify a value, then it defaults to the DEFAULTFILEREPOSITORY setting as follows:
\\<DEFAULTFILEREPOSITORY>\cache
DTSEARCHINDEXPATH=\\yourmachine\dtSearch
RELATIVITYINSTANCENAME=My Relativity Instance
ADMIN_EMAIL=relativity.admin@relativity.com
SERVICEACCOUNT_EMAIL=serviceaccount@relativity.com
Note: Use different email addresses for the ADMIN_EMAIL and SERVICEACCOUNT_EMAIL parameters. If you use the same email address for both parameters, the installation fails.
ADMIN_PASSWORD=myPassword
SERVICEACCOUNT_PASSWORD=myPassword
Note: To change the ADMIN_PASSWORD or SERVICEACCOUNT_PASSWORD password, you must also update the associated email address. If you enter a new password but do not update the email address, then new password is ignored. For example, if you use an existing or default email address, then the password remains unchanged. However, you can change the email addresses for the admin and service accounts without updating the password.
We recommend that the following database paths are local to the SQL Server and accessible. However, we also support UNC paths on SQL Server 2017 and above.
DATABASEBACKUPDIR=C:\Backup
LDFDIR=C:\Logs
MDFDIR=C:\Data
FULLTEXTDIR=C:\FullText
Save your edits to the RelativityResponse.txt file, and launch the Install.bat file to proceed with the installation.
A sample RelativityResponse.txt file for a primary SQL database installation using Windows authentication looks like this:
INSTALLPRIMARYDATABASE=1 INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12 EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword DEFAULTFILEREPOSITORY=\\yourmachine\FileShare EDDSFILESHARE=\\yourmachine\Fileshare CACHELOCATION=\\yourmachine\ViewerCache DTSEARCHINDEXPATH=\\yourmachine\dtSearch RELATIVITYINSTANCENAME=My Relativity Instance ADMIN_EMAIL=relativity.admin@relativity.com SERVICEACCOUNT_EMAIL=serviceaccount@relativity.com ADMIN_PASSWORD=myPassword SERVICEACCOUNT_PASSWORD=myPassword DATABASEBACKUPDIR=C:\Backup LDFDIR=C:\Logs MDFDIR=C:\Data FULLTEXTDIR=C:\FullText USEWINAUTH=1
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
A distributed SQL server environment has two or more SQL instances linked together. When creating a new Relativity workspace, you can choose any of the SQL servers to house the database. This helps to spread the load of active workspaces across multiple servers.
If your Relativity environment uses a distributed SQL Server, then you need to run the installer on a machine other than the one that hosts the primary SQL database. You must install the primary SQL Server before you install a distributed server. You can then install the distributed database server in parallel with the web and agent servers. Make sure that you review the steps for database server setup on the Pre-installation page.
To set up a distributed SQL server, ensure the following:
Each SQL Server in the Relativity instance that will be distributed must have a linked server entry for every other SQL Server. For example, if there will be four distributed SQL Servers, each SQL Server must have a linked server entry for the other three SQL Servers in the sys.servers table.
To check for any existing linked servers, execute the script below from each SQL Server:
select * from sys.servers
On each server to be linked, run the following scripts:
Note: The remoteServerName is the name of the SQL server you want to link to.
sp_addlinkedserver 'remoteServerName' exec sp_serveroption @server='remoteServerName', @optname='rpc', @optvalue='true' exec sp_serveroption @server='remoteServerName', @optname='rpc out', @optvalue='true' exec sp_addlinkedsrvlogin @rmtsrvname = N'remoteServerName', @locallogin = NULL , @useself = N'True'
The following screen shot provides an example of running the above script from the Primary SQL Server:
The following screen shot provides an example of running the same script on the Distributed Servers in the same environment:
Open the RelativityResponse.txt file in a text editor and edit the parameters as follows to install Relativity on the machine that serves the role of the distributed SQL Server:
INSTALLPRIMARYDATABASE=0
INSTALLDISTRIBUTEDDATABASE=1
INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity
PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12
EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername
SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
USEWINAUTH=1
Note: If the USEWINAUTH value is set to one, then the user running the installer must be a SQL sysadmin, and any values entered for SQLUSERNAME and SQLPASSWORD are ignored.
SQLUSERNAME=mySqlUserName
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
SQLPASSWORD=myPassword
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
DISTRIBUTEDSQLINSTANCE=ML14
We recommend that the following database paths are local to the SQL Server and accessible. However, we also support UNC paths on SQL Server 2017 and above.
DATABASEBACKUPDIR=C:\Backup
LDFDIR=C:\Logs
MDFDIR=C:\Data
FULLTEXTDIR=C:\FullText
Save your edits to the RelativityResponse.txt file, and then launch the Install.bat file to proceed with the installation.
A sample response file for a distributed SQL database installation using Windows authentication looks like this:
INSTALLDISTRIBUTEDDATABASE=1 INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12 EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword DISTRIBUTEDSQLINSTANCE=ML14 DATABASEBACKUPDIR=C:\Backup LDFDIR=C:\Logs MDFDIR=C:\Data FULLTEXTDIR=C:\FullText USEWINAUTH=1
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
Relativity requires RabbitMQ as the message broker. Depending on the message broker you have installed, complete the following steps:
RabbitMQ must be installed and configured prior to running the Relativity Installer.
Open the RelativityResponse.txt file in a text editor and edit the parameters as follows to install Relativity on the machine that serves the role of the service bus server:
INSTALLSERVICEBUS=1
Note: The following non-alpha-numeric characters are not allowed in passwords: \, ", <, >.
INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity
PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12
EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername
SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
USEWINAUTH=1
Note: If the USEWINAUTH value is set to one, then the user running the installer must be a SQL sysadmin, and any values entered for SQLUSERNAME and SQLPASSWORD are ignored.
SQLUSERNAME=mySqlUserName
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
SQLPASSWORD=myPassword
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
SERVICEBUSPROVIDER=RabbitMQ
SERVERFQDN=myRabbitMQFQDN
SHAREDACCESSKEY=myRabbitMQPassword
SHAREDACCESSKEYNAME=myRabbitMQUserName
Note: This value is case sensitive.
SERVICENAMESPACE=Relativity
TLSENABLED=1
Save your edits to the RelativityResponse.txt file, and launch the Install.bat file to proceed with the installation.
A sample response file for a service bus only installation looks like this:
INSTALLSERVICEBUS=1 INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12 EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword USEWINAUTH=1 SERVICEBUSPROVIDER=RabbitMQ SERVERFQDN=myRabbitMQFQDN SHAREDACCESSKEY=myRabbitMQPassword SHAREDACCESSKEYNAME=myRabbitMQUserName SERVICENAMESPACE=Relativity TLSENABLED=1
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
The Relativity installer populates the ServiceBusFullyQualifiedDomainName instance setting according to the following rule during a new installation:
When using RabbitMQ, ServiceBusFullyQualifiedDomainName specifies the fully-qualified domain name for the machine or load balancer where Relativity can reach the environment’s cluster. The Relativity installer automatically sets this value during an installation or upgrade based on the inputs in the RelativityResponse.txt file.
For more information, see
The web server hosts Relativity and its services, such as the Services and Web APIs. First, you upgrade the primary SQL Server, and install or upgrade the Relativity Service Bus. You can then run the web, agent, and distributed database server installations in parallel. The following settings assume that the web server resides on a machine that does not host the primary or distributed databases.
Note: When you install Relativity, it is configured to use HTTPS by default. If you decided not to use HTTPS in your environment, you must set the CookieSecure instance setting to False before logging in to Relativity, or you receive an error message.
Open the RelativityResponse.txt file in a text editor and edit the parameters as follows to install Relativity on the machine that serves the role of the web server:
INSTALLWEB=1
Note: If the web server is already installed on this machine and the above value is set to zero, the installer removes the previously existing web server.
Note: The following non-alpha-numeric characters are not allowed in passwords: \, ", <, >.
INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity
PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12
EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername
SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
USEWINAUTH=1
Note: If the USEWINAUTH value is set to one, then the user running the installer must be a SQL sysadmin, and any values entered for SQLUSERNAME and SQLPASSWORD are ignored.
SQLUSERNAME=mySqlUserName
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
SQLPASSWORD=myPassword
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
ENABLEWINAUTH=1
Note: After Integrated Authentication is enabled by the installer, you must configure it for individual Relativity users.
Save your edits to the RelativityResponse.txt file, and launch the Install.bat file to proceed with the installation.
A sample RelativityResponse.txt file for a web only installation looks like this:
INSTALLWEB=1 INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12 EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword USEWINAUTH=1 ENABLEWINAUTH=1
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
When setting up the IIS for a Relativity installation, you need to verify that the machine keys are configured to use the appropriate methods for the encryption and decryption of forms authentication data.
Use these steps to set the machine key for the IIS:
Validation method—SHA1
Encryption method—AES
The agent server runs background processes for Relativity, such as those used for imaging, branding, and others. First, you upgrade the primary SQL Server, and install or upgrade the Relativity Service Bus. You can then run the web, agent, and distributed database server installations in parallel.
The following settings assume that the same machine does not host the agent server that hosts the primary or distributed SQL database servers.
Open the RelativityResponse.txt file in a text editor and edit the parameters as follows to install Relativity on the machine that serves the role of the agent server:
INSTALLAGENTS=1
Note: This value only effects first time installations. The setting is ignored by all subsequent upgrades.
Note: The following non-alpha-numeric characters are not allowed in passwords: \, ", <, >.
INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity
PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12
EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername
SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword
USEWINAUTH=1
Note: If the USEWINAUTH value is set to one, then the user running the installer must be a SQL sysadmin, and any values entered for SQLUSERNAME and SQLPASSWORD are ignored.
SQLUSERNAME=mySqlUserName
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
SQLPASSWORD=myPassword
Note: This value is ignored if USEWINAUTH is set to one.
DEFAULTAGENTS=1
Save your edits to the RelativityResponse.txt file, and launch the Install.bat file to proceed with the installation.
A sample RelativityResponse.txt file for a agents only installation looks like this:
INSTALLAGENTS=1 INSTALLDIR=C:\Program Files\kCura Corporation\Relativity PRIMARYSQLINSTANCE=ML12 EDDSDBOPASSWORD=MySecretPassword SERVICEUSERNAME=example\exampleusername SERVICEPASSWORD=MySecretPassword DEFAULTAGENTS=1 USEWINAUTH=1
Note: Every line in the RelativityResponse.txt file that starts with ### is a comment and meant to provide instruction.
After completing the Relativity installation, you must install the worker manager server.
You can configure your SMTP server to relay messages from Relativity agent and web servers. You need to configure your SMTP server so that it can send email messages outside of your domain with encrypted attachments. In addition, you must update specific instance setting values on the Instance setting table in the EDDS database.
Use this procedure to configure your SMTP server:
SELECT * FROM eddsdbo.[Configuration] WHERE Name IN ('SMTPServer','Account','Instance','EnvironmentName','EmailFrom','EmailTo','CaseStatisticsNotificationList')
Your code should look similar to this screen shot:
Note: If you have already set any of the instance settings, keep a copy of these settings in case you need to refer to it later.
You can test the configuration of your SMTP server to make sure that it has the proper settings.
Use this procedure to test your SMTP configuration:
After you install Relativity, complete the steps to enable telemetry in your environment. Telemetry collects metrics for performance, usage, and billing.
The Relativity installer automatically creates log files to assist in troubleshooting. There is no set list of log file names, but all the log files save to the same directory and share the same naming scheme as the log specified in the batch script.
For example, the following command saves a log to the directory that the command prompt is pointing to when run:
start /wait Relativity.Installer.exe /log Install.log
The above command yields the following logs:
Package identifiers might display as VCRedist2005x86, Agents, PrimaryDatabase, or something else.
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