Skip to content

Install on Windows

MT Showcase for Windows is a setup program (.exe). It installs the MT Showcase server, the client and the Editor.

Install MT Showcase

  1. On the application computer, open the MT Showcase downloads page and download the Windows installer. Its file name includes the MT Showcase version.

    If you cannot reach the downloads page, contact MultiTaction Support.

  2. Sign in to Windows with the account that will operate MT Showcase day to day. See Which Windows account runs MT Showcase below.

  3. Run the installer. It needs administrator rights, so approve the prompt if Windows asks.

    If an earlier version of MT Showcase is installed, the installer asks whether to uninstall it. Answer Yes to continue; answering No cancels setup. Read Upgrade first, because upgrading replaces production_users.yaml.

  4. In the setup wizard:

    1. Choose the installation folder. The default is C:\Program Files\MT Showcase.
    2. On the additional tasks screen, leave Run the MT Showcase editor at sign-in (recommended) selected.
    3. Continue through the remaining screens and click Install.

  5. On the last screen, you can choose to start the MT Showcase client straight away.

Leave the editor option selected

Run the MT Showcase editor at sign-in (recommended) sets up the MT Showcase server that serves the Editor. If you clear it, the installer does not register the server to start at sign-in, does not start it, and does not generate or trust the certificate the Editor is served over. You get the MT Showcase client only, and the Editor is not available.

What the installer sets up

  • Installs MT Showcase into the installation folder and the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime it needs.

  • Adds MT Showcase shortcuts to the desktop and the Start menu. They start the MT Showcase client.

    MT Showcase Windows desktop shortcut
    MT Showcase Windows desktop shortcut

  • Registers a scheduled task named MT Showcase Editor. It starts the MT Showcase server, hidden, whenever a user signs in to Windows. The installer also starts the server straight away for the account that ran setup.

  • Generates a self-signed TLS certificate for the Editor and adds it to the computer's trusted root certificates, so browsers on the application computer trust it.
  • Adds an inbound Windows Firewall rule, MT Showcase Editor Service, that allows TCP port 443 to the MT Showcase server, so designers on other computers can reach the Editor. This rule is added whether or not you leave the editor option selected.
  • Registers MT Showcase with MT Launcher. See Start and stop MT Showcase.

Which Windows account runs MT Showcase

On Windows the MT Showcase server runs as the signed-in user, not as a system service. It keeps its database, media library and hosted sites in that user's profile, under %APPDATA%\mt-showcase-server.

This means:

  • Always operate MT Showcase with the same Windows account. If a different user signs in, the server starts with that user's profile and an empty database, and the apps you created are not there.
  • Run the installer while signed in as that account, so the server it starts straight away uses the right profile.
  • An activated MT Showcase license is saved in the profile of the user who activated it; see File locations.

Next step

Complete the first-run setup on the application computer.