HRPro Web Application Server Deployment on Windows Server

You should install Microsoft SQL Server and restore the Application Database and System Database before deploying the HRPro Web Application Server. Refer to HRPro Brief Installation Procedure for database setup steps.

1. Prepare the Windows Server 2022

• Install Windows Server 2022 and join it to your domain if required.

• Run Windows Update and apply all important security updates, hotfixes, and cumulative updates.

• Ensure the server has a static IP address and correct DNS settings configured.

2. Install IIS and required features

• Open Server Manager on the Windows Server 2022 machine.

• Click Add roles and features.

• In the wizard, choose Role-based or feature-based installation, then select your local server.

• In Server Roles, check Web Server (IIS) and accept the prompt to Add features.

• • Click Add Features when prompted.

• In Features, ensure .NET Framework 4.8 Features (including ASP.NET 4.8) are selected; Windows Server 2022 ships with .NET Framework 4.8, but you must still enable the IIS/.NET integration features.

• In Role Services under Web Server (IIS) → Application Development, select all required components such as: .NET Extensibility 4.8, ASP.NET 4.8, ISAPI Extensions, ISAPI Filters, HTTP Logging, Request Filtering, Static Content, Default Document.

• Complete the wizard and click Install.

• Restart the server after IIS installation finishes.

If you deploy to Windows Server 2019 or earlier, .NET Framework 4.8.1 is not preinstalled; download and install it separately following the How to install .NET Framework 4.8.1 guide.

3. Create the HRPro Web Sites in IIS

1. On the server, create a folder under C:\inetpub\wwwroot for the HRPro Web Client, for example, C:\inetpub\wwwroot\WebClient or a company-specific name. Copy all files and subfolders from the WebClient folder in the HRPro Setup Package into this new folder.

2. If the Employee Portal site is required, create a folder under C:\inetpub\wwwroot for the HRPro EPortal, for example, C:\inetpub\wwwroot\EPortal or a company-specific name. Copy all files and subfolders from the EPortal folder in the HRPro Setup Package into this new folder.

4. Convert Websites to Applications

•  Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager from Server Manager → Tools → Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

• Create a folder named after your company (e.g., MyCompany or WebClient) under C:\inetpub\wwwroot.

• Copy all files and subfolders from the WebClient folder in the HRPro Setup Package to this newly created folder.

• In IIS Manager, navigate to Web Sites → WebClient.

• Right-click the site folder and select Convert to Application.

• In the Connections pane, expand the server node, then expand Sites and locate the folder/site you created (e.g., WebClient).

• Right‑click the folder and choose Convert to Application.

• In the Add Application dialog:

  • Set Alias to the virtual directory name (e.g. WebClient).

  • Ensure Application pool is set to an application pool running .NET CLR v4.0 in Integrated mode.

  • Set the Physical path to the folder you created under C:\inetpub\wwwroot.

  • Optionally, configure the application pool to run under a dedicated service account if your environment requires specific file or database access permissions.

• Do the same for EPortal.

5. Configure database connection (HRPro.config and EPortal.config)

• In the Web Client application folder, locate the HRPro.Config file.

• Open it with a text editor (e.g., Notepad). If you cannot save changes, run the editor as Administrator, or save to another location and copy it back into the folder.

• In the configuration block for the SQL connection string, update:

  • YourServerName\InstanceName to your actual SQL Server/instance name.

  • YourPassword to the correct password for the specified SQL login.

<appSettings>

  <add key="data source" value="YourServerName\InstanceName"/>

  <add key="initial catalog" value="dbHRPro"/>

  <add key="user id" value="sa"/>

  <add key="password" value="YourPassword"/>

</appSettings>

• For better security, enable SQL Server password encryption according to How to Enable SQL Server Password Encryption.

• Do the same for EPortal.config.

If the HRPro web server connects to a remote SQL Server, verify that TCP/IP is enabled and remote connections are allowed as described in How to enable TCP/IP connection for the SQL Server Express edition.

6. Install Arial Unicode MS font (for PDF reports)

• Install the Arial Unicode MS font for all Users on the Windows Server 2022 machine.

• This font is required to correctly render Chinese characters and other Unicode text in HRPro PDF reports, particularly when Microsoft Office is not installed on the server.

• For troubleshooting issues like rectangular boxes in PDF output, follow the article Common Issues with HRPro PDF Reports and Fixes.

7. Add robots.txt to the site root

• Place the robots.txt file from the WebClient folder to the root of your HRPro website (for example, C:\inetpub\wwwroot\robots.txt).

• Use this file to control web crawler and search engine indexing behavior for the site.

• See What is the robots.txt for? for recommended content for HRPro deployments.

8. Enable HTTPS (optional but recommended)

• To secure HRPro web traffic, configure SSL and bind an HTTPS certificate to the HRPro site in IIS.

• Follow How to Enable SSL (HTTPS) Connection for HRPro Web Application Server for step‑by‑step instructions for certificate import, HTTPS binding, and forcing HTTPS in IIS.

For additional security guidance (hardening IIS, restricting protocols and ciphers, etc.), review Security Guidance for Employee Portal/Web Client.

9. Test access to HRPro Web Client

1. On the HRPro Web Application Server, open the Edge and navigate to:

   • http://localhost/WebClient (or your chosen alias) to test local access.

   • http://localhost/EPortal (or your chosen alias) to test local access.

2. From a client workstation on the same network, access:

   • http://<ServerName>/WebClient or http://<ServerIP>/WebClient.

   • http://<ServerName>/EPortal or http://<ServerIP>/EPortal.

3. If HTTPS is enabled, use https://<ServerName>/WebClient.

4. Log in using a valid HRPro user account to confirm that the application can connect to the SQL Server databases and display data correctly.

If you encounter connection errors, verify the HRPro.config connection string, SQL Server network configuration, Windows Firewall settings, and IIS application pool identity permissions.