Windows

There are three ways to run Arkvory on Windows:

• Graphical installer Arkvory-Setup-x64.exe. Recommended. It installs Windows services and a dedicated PostgreSQL database. It needs no internet access.
• PowerShell script install.ps1. It installs the same Windows services, but uses your existing PostgreSQL server.
• Docker Desktop with install.ps1 -Mode compose. For evaluation only. See Docker Compose.

Requirements

• Windows x64, build 10.0.17763 or later (Windows 10 version 1809, Windows Server 2019 or later).
• An account in the Administrators group.
• A local NTFS volume for the data. Network shares are not supported for file storage.
• An installation directory outside user profiles and AppData. The service account must be able to read every parent directory.

Install with the graphical installer

1. Download Arkvory-Setup-x64.exe from GitHub Releases.
2. Run the file and confirm the User Account Control prompt.
3. Select English or Russian and accept the license.
4. Enter the owner account. The name has 3 to 64 characters: Latin letters, digits, dot, dash or underscore. The password has 12 to 128 characters.
5. Wait while Setup prepares the database, the services and the owner account.
6. On the last page, keep Open Arkvory and finish onboarding selected and click Finish. The console opens at http://127.0.0.1:8080/console/#onboarding.

Setup also creates two Start menu shortcuts: Arkvory (the console) and API and CLI (the help page of the console).

If Setup reports that the Microsoft runtime requires a restart, restart Windows and run Setup again. Existing Arkvory data is kept.

Automatic updates are off after installation. To turn them on, see Updates.

Silent installation

For automated deployment, put the owner account into a JSON file. Protect the file so that only SYSTEM and Administrators can read it.

{ "name": "admin", "password": "<at least 12 characters>" }

.\Arkvory-Setup-x64.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /OWNERFILE="C:\secure\owner.json"

The installer deletes the owner file after it creates the account. Never pass a password as a command argument. Without /OWNERFILE, create the owner later in the console with the recovery key. Setup exits with a non-zero code when the configuration did not finish. Do not run Setup while an update is running.

What the graphical installer creates

Item	Location or value
Program files	C:\Program Files\ProAnima\Arkvory
Data, configuration and logs	C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory (the installation root)
Database	PostgreSQL 18.4 in database\ of the root, on 127.0.0.1 at the first free port of 45329-45348, excluded from the ports Windows reserves at boot
Console	http://127.0.0.1:8080/console/
Recovery key	config\bootstrap-token.txt in the root
Update task	ProAnimaArkvoryUpdate in Task Scheduler. Runs every minute as SYSTEM

Services

Service name	Display name	Account	Startup type
Arkvoryapi	ProAnima Arkvory api	NT AUTHORITY\LocalService	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Arkvoryworker	ProAnima Arkvory worker	NT AUTHORITY\LocalService	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Arkvorybackup	ProAnima Arkvory backup	NT AUTHORITY\LocalService	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Arkvorydatabase	ProAnima Arkvory database	NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService	Automatic

The services run without a signed-in user. API, worker and backup agent share the LocalService account. The database runs under NetworkService, so the API account cannot read the database files.

The root grants full control to SYSTEM and Administrators only. LocalService can read the root and can change only data\, logs\ and the update inbox. The recovery key and the other credential files of the installer are readable only by SYSTEM and Administrators.

Install with PowerShell and an existing PostgreSQL

Use this method if your organization already runs PostgreSQL. It creates no managed database service and no entry in Apps.

1. Ask your database administrator for an empty database and a role that owns it. Arkvory runs its migrations with this role.
2. Download install.ps1 from the release and review it.
3. Open Windows PowerShell as Administrator and run:

.\install.ps1 -AutomaticUpdates

The script asks for the PostgreSQL connection URL. The input is hidden. It then downloads Node.js 24.21.0 from nodejs.org, checks its SHA-256, and installs the latest stable release.

Instead of the prompt, you can pass a protected JSON file:

{ "ARKVORY_DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://arkvory:<password>@db.example:5432/arkvory" }

.\install.ps1 -Config C:\secure\arkvory.json

If PowerShell blocks scripts, run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1. This changes the policy only for this process.

Parameter	Meaning
-Root <path>	Installation root. Default: C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory
-Version <x.y.z>	Install this stable version instead of the latest one
-Mode windows or compose	Windows services (default) or Docker Compose
-Engine docker or podman	Container engine for Compose
-Config <file>	JSON file with ARKVORY_* settings, including the database URL
-Artifact <directory>	Install from an extracted Arkvory-Windows.zip instead of GitHub
-AutomaticUpdates	Turn on automatic updates
-Pin	Pin the installed version

Give -Root, -Config and -Artifact as absolute paths, for example -Artifact $PWD.Path.

The script does not create an owner account. Open http://127.0.0.1:8080/console/ on the server, select Create the first owner and enter the recovery key from config\bootstrap-token.txt.

Manage the services

Get-Service Arkvoryapi, Arkvoryworker, Arkvorybackup, Arkvorydatabase
Restart-Service Arkvoryapi, Arkvoryworker
sc.exe qfailure Arkvoryapi

The management command needs an elevated PowerShell and always the --root option:

$root = 'C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory'
# Graphical installer
& 'C:\Program Files\ProAnima\Arkvory\arkvory.ps1' status --root $root
# Script installation
& "$root\runtime\node-v24.21.0-win-x64\node.exe" "$root\manage.mjs" status --root $root

Run arkvory.ps1 help to see all commands. The commands are described in Configuration and Updates.

Recovery after a failure

• When a service process stops without a request, Windows starts it again after 10 seconds. The failure count resets after one hour.
• A process whose main thread hangs for 60 seconds ends itself, and Windows starts it again. See Self-healing.
• A failed readiness check alone does not restart a service (for example while the server drains). But when the database stops answering, the API and the worker cannot confirm that they own the storage: after about 8 seconds they end themselves, and Windows starts them again every 10 seconds until the database is back.
• A service that you stop yourself stays stopped until you start it or Windows restarts.

Running the graphical installer again restores the startup type and the recovery actions of the services.

Logs

Location in the root	Content
logs\	Output of the API, worker and backup agent. Files rotate at 20 MiB; 5 old files are kept
logs\updater.log	Output of the update task, with the same rotation
database\	Logs of the database service (arkvory-database*.log)
bootstrap.log	Output of the configuration step of the graphical installer

Setup also writes its own log to the temporary folder of the user who ran it. API and worker write one JSON record per line. See Monitoring.

Uninstall

Open Settings > Apps, select ProAnima Arkvory and click Uninstall. The uninstaller:

1. Removes the ProAnimaArkvoryUpdate task.
2. Stops and removes Arkvorybackup, Arkvoryworker, Arkvoryapi and Arkvorydatabase.
3. Removes the exclusion of the database port that Setup added.
4. Removes the program files.

It intentionally keeps C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory: the database, all files, the configuration and the recovery key. It never touches the backup vault. If you run Setup of the same or a newer version later, it continues with the kept data. To remove the data, make a backup first and then delete the folder yourself.

A script installation has no uninstaller. To remove its services, run in an elevated PowerShell:

$root = 'C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory'
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName ProAnimaArkvoryUpdate -Confirm:$false
foreach ($role in 'backup', 'worker', 'api') {
  $exe = "$root\service\arkvory-$role.exe"
  if ((Get-Service "Arkvory$role").Status -ne 'Stopped') { & $exe stopwait }
  & $exe uninstall
}

Docker Desktop

Docker Desktop is an application of one user. Its containers run only after this user signs in and Docker Desktop starts. After a restart of the computer, Arkvory is not available until then. If you install with Docker Desktop, enable Settings > General > Start Docker Desktop when you sign in. The installer and the status command warn when this setting is off. For a server that must start without sign-in, use the native services described on this page.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
Setup says that the configuration did not finish	Read bootstrap.log, the Setup log and the database logs. Do not delete the database folder
database\bootstrap-started exists, but database\initialized does not	Database creation was interrupted. Do not delete the cluster and do not repeat SQL by hand. Fix the cause and run the finish-install command
Run installer as Administrator	Start PowerShell with Run as administrator
Use a dedicated directory	The root already contains files. Use an empty directory. Manage an existing installation with its commands
Node.js runtime is incomplete after extraction	Check the quarantine of your antivirus software
Another installation owns this service	Services of an installation in another root exist. Remove them first

To finish an interrupted installation without deleting data:

& 'C:\Program Files\ProAnima\Arkvory\arkvory.ps1' finish-install --root C:\ProgramData\ProAnima\Arkvory

More hints are in Troubleshooting.