Install on Microsoft Azure

You can run DocView Capture in your own Azure subscription. One button creates everything it needs. To use a web app, SQL database and storage account you already have, see Install on your existing Azure resources instead. Then you finish in the browser, in the setup wizard. You don't install anything on your computer.

What gets created

docview is the name prefix. You can choose another one.

What you need

• An Azure subscription where you can create resource groups. You need the Owner role, or Contributor plus User Access Administrator, because the template gives the identity access to storage.
• About 15 minutes.

Step 1: Deploy

1. Select Deploy to Azure:

   

   The button opens the template that is published with each release in the Azure portal.

2. Sign in to Azure if asked.

3. Fill in the form:

   • Resource group: select Create new and type a name, for example rg-docview.
   • Region: choose one close to your users that meets your data residency needs, for example UK South.
   • Admin Email: your e-mail address (optional). The setup wizard fills it in for you.
   • Leave everything else as it is. You can change the number of DocView Workers later.

4. Select Review + create, then Create.

The deployment takes about 10 minutes. When it says Your deployment is complete, open Outputs on the left. You need two values:

• setupUrl: the address of the setup wizard, for example https://docview-web.happyriver-1a2b3c.uksouth.azurecontainerapps.io/setup;
• setupToken: the one-time setup token.

Tip: If you prefer a command line, run this in Azure Cloud Shell:

az group create -n rg-docview -l uksouth
az deployment group create -g rg-docview --template-uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devsoftuk/docview-capture/main/deploy/azure/azuredeploy.json -p adminEmail=it@example.com --query properties.outputs

Step 2: Finish in the setup wizard

1. Open the setupUrl. The first start can take a minute or two while DocView creates its database tables.
2. Paste the setupToken and select Continue.
3. The deployment has already chosen the database and storage, so the wizard starts at Administrator. Create your account.
4. Storage is shown as fixed (Azure Blob Storage). Select Continue.
5. Finish the remaining steps. See The setup wizard.

Add DocView Workers or DocView OmniRead

Each DocView Worker processes batches in parallel with the others. To change the number:

• In the portal: open the resource group, then docview-worker, then Scale. Set Min replicas and Max replicas to the same number, then Save.

• Or with a command (Cloud Shell):

  az containerapp update -g rg-docview -n docview-worker --min-replicas 3 --max-replicas 3
  

• Or redeploy the template with a new Worker Count.

For DocView OmniRead, redeploy with Omni Read Count set to 1 or more: open the resource group, then Deployments, select the deployment, then Redeploy. The service address and key are set up in DocView by themselves. Then choose DocView OmniRead as the OCR engine of a Batch Setup. See DocView OmniRead. To change the number later, use the same command as for DocView Workers, with -n docview-omniread.

Note: Settings changed with az containerapp update are replaced by the template's values the next time you redeploy it. Enter the same numbers when you redeploy.

Your own domain

1. Open docview-web, then Custom domains, then Add custom domain.
2. Choose Managed certificate, type your domain, for example capture.example.com, and add the DNS records shown.
3. In DocView, open Setup › Site address and enter https://capture.example.com.

Update to a new version

• If you deployed with latest: open docview-web, then Revisions and replicas, then Restart. Do the same for docview-worker (and docview-omniread). Each restart pulls the newest images.
• To pin a version: redeploy the template with Image Tag set to the version, for example 1.5.0.

The database is upgraded automatically on the first start of the new version. See Upgrading.

Costs

Rough monthly prices in a UK or US region, before discounts. Use the Azure pricing calculator for your own figures.

Note: The default Database Sku is Basic. For production choose S0, S1 or S2 (or change the size later in the Azure portal). Serverless is offered too, but DocView Workers check the database for work all the time, so it rarely pauses and costs more than it sounds.

The smallest sensible set-up is one web app, one DocView Worker and a Basic database: roughly $160–230 a month.

Logs

Open docview-web (or docview-worker), then Log stream. Older logs are under Logs in the Log Analytics workspace. Or run:

az containerapp logs show -g rg-docview -n docview-web --follow

Delete everything

Delete the resource group: open it in the portal and select Delete resource group, or run az group delete -n rg-docview. This deletes the database and all page images. Export anything you want to keep first.

Troubleshooting

• The deployment fails at "roleAssignments". Your account may not give access to others. Ask someone with the Owner role to deploy, or to give you User Access Administrator on the resource group.
• The page says "Waiting for the database". A new database (or a paused serverless one) can take a minute to start. Select Check again.
• "That is not the setup token". Copy setupToken again from the deployment's Outputs. If you redeployed, a new token was made: use the newest one.
• The site does not open. Check docview-web, Revisions and replicas: the revision must be Running. If the image cannot be pulled, check Image Registry and Image Tag.

The App Service option

Older installations run on Azure App Service, with Windows packages and the DocView Worker as a WebJob. The template for that is in deploy/azure/app-service, and it is described in the deployment guide that comes with the release. New installations should use the container option above.

Next steps

• The setup wizard
• DocView Workers
• Security