Runtime Installation Reference

Install and configure runtime components.

Reference → Solution → Deployment → Runtime | Server | Client Types | Container | Redundancy | Security

Deployment Scenarios

Windows Runtime Deployment

For Windows-only solutions targeting .NET Framework 4.8:

• Install the complete FrameworX platform (same as Designer)
• No separate runtime-only installer exists
• Configure to use only runtime components in production
• Disable Designer access if needed for security

Multiplatform Runtime Deployment (.NET 10)

For solutions targeting Linux, Docker, or edge devices, or for web-based clients using WebAssembly:

Silent Install and Exit Codes

The Windows installer is an Inno Setup package. For unattended deployment (SCCM, Intune, Ansible, PowerShell DSC):

Start-Process -FilePath ".\FrameworX-Setup.exe" `
  -ArgumentList "/VERYSILENT", "/SUPPRESSMSGBOXES", "/NORESTART", `
                "/LOG=C:\Logs\frameworx-install.log", `
                "/DIR=C:\Program Files\Tatsoft\FrameworX" `
  -Wait -PassThru

Replace FrameworX-Setup.exe with the name of the installer file you downloaded.

Installer exit codes (Inno Setup standard):

For full automation patterns including SCCM/Intune packaging and rollback, see IT Deployment RunBook.

Solution Startup Configuration

TStartup.exe Overview

TStartup.exe is the executable that runs FrameworX solutions. It supports various parameters for debugging, redundancy, and advanced configuration.

Basic Startup Methods

Manual Start:

• From SolutionCenter: Select solution → Runtime Startup
• From Designer: Runtime → Startup → Run Startup
• From a Windows shortcut with parameters (see Desktop Shortcut)

Windows Service:

• Runs on computer startup
• No user login required
• Configure at Runtime → Startup

Command Line/Batch File:

cd "C:\Program Files\Tatsoft\FrameworX\fx-10"
TStartup.exe /Solution:"C:\Solutions\MySolution.dbsln"

C:\Program Files\Tatsoft\FrameworX\fx-10 is the default installation folder. On Windows, TStartup.exe in that folder starts both Windows (.NET 4.8) and Multiplatform (.NET 10) solutions. Without /profile the Production profile runs; add /profile:1 (Development), /profile:2 (Validation) or /profile:3 (Custom) to run another profile. The value is a number: a name such as /profile:Development is read as Production.

Desktop Shortcut

To start a solution from a desktop icon, create a Windows shortcut to TStartup.exe and add the solution path to its target:

1. In File Explorer, open the fx-10 folder of the FrameworX installation. The default is C:\Program Files\Tatsoft\FrameworX\fx-10.
2. Right-click TStartup.exe and select Send to → Desktop (create shortcut). On Windows 11, Send to is under Show more options.
3. On the desktop, right-click the new shortcut and select Properties.
4. On the Shortcut tab, replace the Target field with:

   "<InstallFolder>\fx-10\TStartup.exe" /Solution:"<SolutionFolder>\<SolutionName>.dbsln"

5. Click OK. Double-click the shortcut to start the runtime.

Replace <InstallFolder> with the folder where FrameworX is installed (default C:\Program Files\Tatsoft\FrameworX), and <SolutionFolder>\<SolutionName>.dbsln with the full path of the solution file. Keep both paths in quotes, since they usually contain spaces.

The shortcut runs the Production profile. To run another profile, add /profile:1 (Development), /profile:2 (Validation) or /profile:3 (Custom) at the end of the target. Any other parameter from Startup Parameters Reference can be added the same way.

Startup Shortcuts in the User Utilities Folder

StartRuntime and StartRichClient are not executables. They are .bat shortcuts created in the user Utilities folder the first time the product runs, both for an installed copy and for a copy started directly from the binaries package:

<User>\Documents\FrameworX\Utilities\StartRuntime.bat
<User>\Documents\FrameworX\Utilities\StartRichClient.bat

Each shortcut calls the real executable in the product folder, with the full installation path already written into the file, so it runs from any working directory:

The same folder holds the other shortcuts generated for the installed components, for example StartWebServices.bat, SolutionCreator.bat, TDatabaseBuilder.bat, UpgradeSolution.bat, RemoveAllServices.bat, and the AI listener shortcuts StartDesignerMCPHttp.bat, StartRuntimeMCPHttp.bat and StartConsoleMCPHttp.bat. The exact set depends on the components installed.

Required Parameters

The minimum parameter needed:

/Solution:"C:\Solutions\Solution.dbsln"

Solution Merging on Startup

The platform supports modular project design by automatically merging multiple project files at runtime based on naming conventions.

How It Works:

When launching a main solution (e.g., MyProject), FrameworX automatically merges any projects with names following the pattern:

• Base name + double underscore + suffix + double underscore
• Example: MyProject__ModuleName__

Example Structure:

MyProject.dbsln                    → Main solution
MyProject__DeviceConfig__.dbsln    → Device configurations
MyProject__DBTest__.dbsln          → Test database settings
MyProject__CustomerA__.dbsln       → Customer customizations

Runtime Behavior:

• Detects all matching MyProject__*__.dbsln files in the same folder
• Merges contents (tags, scripts, displays, connections)
• Creates unified runtime environment
• Maintains modular development structure

Windows Service Configuration

Install the service with AutoStartup in Runtime → Startup (see Runtime Startup Reference, Enabling AutoStartup), or from a script with TManageServices CLI.

Service Security Settings

Log On Configuration:

• Default: Local System account
• Custom: Domain user for external resources
• Configure in Windows Services console

Start Type:

• Automatic (Delayed Start) is the installer default and the recommended start type. The delay gives the machine time to complete the network link, negotiation and address assignment before the runtime starts.
• Keep the Windows default delay of 120 seconds. It applies to the whole machine and is not a per-service setting.
• On a redundant node this is not optional: the node resolves its Primary or Secondary role from the local addresses of the machine at startup, so a service that starts before the network is ready starts as a standalone node. See Redundancy Reference.

Startup Parameters Reference

Main Parameters

Redundancy Parameters

Redundancy Example:

TStartup.exe /Solution:"C:\Solutions\Solution.dbsln" ^
  /redundancy ^
  /ip1:192.168.1.1 /port1:3101 ^
  /ip2:192.168.1.2 /port2:3101 ^
  /autoswitch /timeautoswitch:60

Diagnostic Parameters

Advanced Parameters

/viewonly and /nocache are Rich Client parameters, and /port1WA is read by TServer. TStartup does not accept them and reports each one as unrecognized.

Unrecognized Parameters

From FrameworX 10.1.6, TStartup reports each launch parameter it does not recognize, instead of ignoring it silently, and the startup continues. A near miss of a valid parameter gets a suggested spelling. A parameter with no resemblance to a valid one is reported without a suggestion. Parameter values do not appear in the message. For example, /profle:1 produces:

TStartup: unrecognized launch parameter '/profle' - ignored. Did you mean '/profile'?

TStartup writes these warnings to the console and the TStartup trace window, and on the Multiplatform runtime also to the trace log when you start it with /SaveLog. It lists up to 20 unrecognized parameters. SolutionCreator reports unrecognized parameters the same way, in the file given by its /logfile parameter, and still creates the solution.

Per-Process Log File Configuration

Each runtime process (TServer, TStartup, TRunModule, TRichClient) can size-limit its active log file and control retention of daily compressed archives, directly from that process's JSON configuration file (e.g. TServer.json).

Configuration

Add a Logging section under appSettings:

{
  "appSettings": {
    "Logging": {
      "MaxFileSizeMB": 10,
      "KeepAllZips": false
    }
  }
}

Omitting the Logging section entirely preserves prior (legacy) behavior: no size cap, and the daily archive compaction described below is unaffected.

MaxFileSizeMB

Caps the size of the process's active log file, in megabytes. When the limit is reached, the process stops writing to that log file and records a notice ("Log file size limit of <N> MB exceeded; logging to this file is stopped.").

• Integer values only, minimum effective value 1. Fractional or sub-1 values (e.g. 0.5) are truncated to 0, which disables the size limit, and no warning is logged when this happens. Sub-1 MB caps are not supported.
• A value of 0 or an omitted setting means no limit.

KeepAllZips: Daily Archive Retention

On each day change, the runtime compacts the previous day's per-process log: every non-current log file for that process is compressed into a same-named .zip archive, then the original text log is deleted. This daily compaction always runs, independent of KeepAllZips. The currently-active log file is never touched.

KeepAllZips controls only how many of those daily archives are retained afterward:

Retention is evaluated independently per process log (TServer, TStartup, TRunModule, TRichClient are each pruned separately), and pruning only runs when more than one archive is present, so the newest archive is never at risk. KeepAllZips is independent of MaxFileSizeMB: the size cap governs the active log within a day, while KeepAllZips governs retention of the compressed archives across days.

Linux/Docker Startup

On Linux, TWebServices is the service that starts solutions at boot. Install FrameworX as described in Linux Deployment Reference (TWebServices in the FrameworX root folder, runtime binaries in fx-10 below it), run TWebServices as a systemd service, and turn on AutoStart for the solution.

systemd Service

Create /etc/systemd/system/frameworx.service. Replace /home/frameworx/FrameworX with your FrameworX root folder, and check the dotnet path with which dotnet:

[Unit]
Description=FrameworX TWebServices
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/home/frameworx/FrameworX
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dotnet /home/frameworx/FrameworX/TWebServices.dll
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now frameworx.service

Then, in Solution Center connected to this computer, turn on AutoStart for the solution. TWebServices starts it every time the service starts (see TWebServices Auto-Start).

TWebServices Auto-Start

On Linux and macOS, turning on AutoStart for a solution in Solution Center adds a line for it to AutoStartPrograms.txt in the MachineSettings folder, and turning it off removes the line. When TWebServices starts, it starts every program listed in that file. Each line is program;arguments, for example:

dotnet;'/home/frameworx/FrameworX/fx-10/TStartup.dll' /solution:'/home/frameworx/Solutions/MySolution.dbsln'

Use AutoStart in Solution Center rather than editing the file by hand. On Windows, AutoStart registers a Windows service for the solution instead.

Docker

For containers, use the FrameworX images and start parameters described in Container Deployment Reference and Docker Deployment Guide.

Client Display Considerations

A runtime running as a Windows Service has no user interface. To start clients at boot, see Installation Folders and Utilities Reference, AutoStartClient.exe.

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