Administrator Guide · A1

Installation and TechieCRM's own database

In this chapter - What gets installed, and where - Installing on Windows (for all users, the Advanced install without the database engine, or "just for me") - Installing on macOS and Linux - The first launch - Your database admin password and your setup record - If you forget the password: reset or recover it - Settings ▸ Local Database - Moving your data folder - The database port (27617) - Who can reach your data, and how to protect it - If you already run MongoDB yourself - Running the local portal on the same computer - Updating, uninstalling, and removing your data on purpose - TechieCRM-DbTool (Windows) and what its exit codes mean - If something goes wrong

This chapter covers version 0.8.0.6 (beta channel) and later.

What gets installed, and where

TechieCRM brings its own database server: MongoDB Community Server 8.0.32, unmodified, with its licence files beside it. You do not need to install MongoDB yourself. The database server:

listens only on this computer (address 127.0.0.1), on TechieCRM's own port; see The database port;
keeps your data in a data folder outside the program folder, which you choose;
is password-protected. TechieCRM signs in with its own account; you get a database admin account of your own (see Your database admin password).

	Windows, installed for all users	Windows, "just for me"	macOS	Linux
Program	`C:\Program Files\TechieCRM`	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\TechieCRM` (that is, `C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Programs\TechieCRM`)	`/Applications/TechieCRM.app`	the AppImage, wherever you keep it
Database server	`C:\Program Files\TechieCRM\MongoDB`	none: this install has no database	inside the app (`Contents/Resources/mongodb`)	inside the AppImage
Your data (default)	`C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData`	none	`~/Library/Application Support/TechieCRM/TechiecrmData`	`~/.local/share/TechieCRM/TechiecrmData`
Database settings, password files, logs	`C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM`	none	`~/Library/Application Support/TechieCRM` (log: `~/Library/Logs/TechieCRM/mongod.log`)	`~/.config/TechieCRM` (log: `~/.local/state/TechieCRM/mongod.log`)
Your own settings, licence and TechieCRM's logs (one folder for each person who uses TechieCRM)	`%APPDATA%\TechieCRM` (that is, `C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\TechieCRM`)	`%APPDATA%\TechieCRM`	`~/Library/Application Support/TechieCRM`	`~/.config/TechieCRM`
Who runs the database	Windows, as the service TechieCRM Database (MongoDB); it keeps running when TechieCRM is closed	nobody: there is none	TechieCRM: it starts when TechieCRM opens and stops when the last TechieCRM window closes	the same as macOS

C:\ProgramData is a hidden folder, and so is AppData. Type the path into File Explorer's address bar to open it (%APPDATA% and %LOCALAPPDATA% work there as typed).

Your own settings folder holds app_config.json (your preferences and connection details), license.dat (this computer's licence), and the logs folder with TechieCRM's own log files. It belongs to your computer account, so each person who signs in to the computer has their own. On Linux, when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, the settings and logs go to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/TechieCRM and the licence stays in ~/.config/TechieCRM.

An update never deletes your data, and an uninstall keeps it unless you tick the box that deletes it. See Updating, uninstalling, and removing your data on purpose.

On Windows you can leave the database engine out (an Advanced install; allowed, not recommended). TechieCRM then runs with its source-CRM connection only, and the cloud features that need MongoDB are unavailable until a database is connected. See Advanced install: without the database engine.

System requirements

Windows:
Minimum: Windows 11, or Windows Server 2019 or 2022 (64-bit).
Windows 10 version 22H2 (build 19045) works but is not recommended. Microsoft no longer supports Windows 10 (support ended in October 2025), and TechieCRM's database (MongoDB) does not officially support it. The installer says so once and lets you continue (click OK) or stop (click Cancel). A silent install only writes the warning to its log.

Older Windows 10 releases (builds 17763 to 19044: versions 1809 to 21H2) depend on whether the database engine is installed. The refusal exists only because MongoDB does not support those releases, so:

Windows	Normal install (with the database engine)	Install without the engine (Advanced install, `/NOMONGO`, or "just for me")
Windows 11; Windows Server 2019, 2022	installs, no message	installs, no message
Windows 10 22H2 (build 19045)	installs, with the "not recommended" warning	installs, with the "not recommended" warning
Windows 10 1809 to 21H2 (builds 17763 to 19044)	refused. Interactively, the Install options page says so and Next is refused until you tick Advanced install and untick the database engine; a silent install stops with exit code 1150 and says why in its log (add `/NOMONGO` to install without the engine)	installs, with a "not recommended" warning (OK continues, Cancel stops; a silent install only logs it)
Windows 10 older than 1809; Windows Server 2016 or older	refused before the first page	refused before the first page

Windows older than Windows 10 version 1809 / Server 2019 (build 17763) cannot run TechieCRM's user interface at all, so the installer refuses before its first page, and TechieCRM says so if it is started anyway. 32-bit Windows is not supported. - To check your Windows: press Windows + R, type winver and press Enter. The window names the edition and shows the version and build, for example Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.xxxx). Windows 11 shows builds 22000 and higher. - macOS: a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) only. The Mac build is made for Apple silicon alone, so an Intel Mac cannot open it. (Apple menu ▸ About This Mac: the Chip line names an Apple M-series chip on Apple silicon.) TechieCRM needs macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, and its own database needs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. On macOS 13, TechieCRM installs and runs with its local database features switched off, and says so once. - Linux: Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 (or a similar distribution with OpenSSL 3), on a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor. There is no build for ARM Linux. - Processor: a 64-bit processor with AVX, which every Intel or AMD processor since about 2011 has. On an older processor the database cannot start; TechieCRM says "this processor is not supported by the bundled database" and everything else keeps working.

Installing on Windows

For all users (the normal install)

Run TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6-setup.exe.
SmartScreen. These beta installers are not yet code-signed, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway. Signed releases will not show this.
Select Setup Install Mode. Choose Install for all users (recommended). (Install for me only is the "just for me" install.)
Administrator permission. Windows asks (UAC). Click Yes, or have an administrator approve it.
Install options (the first page of the wizard). Leave Advanced install unticked: TechieCRM is installed together with its own database engine. (Ticking it shows the option to leave the engine out; see Advanced install.)
Select Destination Location (the program folder). The default is C:\Program Files\TechieCRM. Keep it. When you update, this page is skipped and the existing folder is used.
Database folder. The default is C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData. You can choose another folder. The folder must be: - on a drive of this computer (a drive letter; network folders are refused); - outside the program folder and outside C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM; - new, empty, or a TechieCRM data folder from an earlier install (it holds a file named README-TechieCRM-data.txt). When you update, this page shows your existing folder and cannot be changed (see Moving your data folder).
Database administrator. This is a separate account used only to administer TechieCRM's database on this computer. It is not your TechieCRM login. Don't reuse your TechieCRM email or password here: it would end up in the setup record and in the copy TechieCRM keeps on this computer. You won't need it day to day, since TechieCRM signs you in with your usual login. The page has three fields: - Admin user name: Setup suggests your Windows sign-in name. It is only a label: the database does not use your Windows sign-in. Up to 64 characters. - Password and Confirm password: type a password twice, or click Generate a strong password, which fills both in. The line under the button says whether the password meets the rule. A password must:
- be 12 to 128 characters long;
- have no space at the start or end;
- not contain the admin name;
- use at least 3 of: lower-case letters, upper-case letters, digits, symbols.

This page is skipped when you update a computer whose database already has an admin. 9. Select Start Menu Folder. The default is TechieCRM. Keep it. (Skipped when you update.) 10. Select Additional Tasks. Create a desktop shortcut is ticked; untick it if you do not want one. 11. Ready to Install. Setup lists what it will do: the program folder, the database folder (kept on upgrade and uninstall), the database service (TechieCRM Database (MongoDB), 127.0.0.1 only), the database admin, the Start menu folder and the desktop shortcut. Click Install. Setup installs the program, the database service, the Microsoft ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server and the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime (the last two only if they are missing). 12. Setup record. On the last page, click Save your setup record… or Print…. The record lists your settings and the database admin password. Keep it somewhere safe, for example in a password manager, or printed and filed. If you click Finish without saving or printing, Setup asks first: Yes (the default) saves it now, No finishes without saving (an administrator of this computer can still show the password later), Cancel goes back. - If an administrator approved the UAC prompt with a different Windows account, Save your setup record… suggests that account's Documents folder. Check where you save it. - Print… opens the record in your web browser; print it from there. The temporary copy is removed when Setup closes. 13. Leave Launch TechieCRM ticked and click Finish. TechieCRM opens as you, not as the administrator.

If you had the earlier "per-user" beta (0.8.0.0) installed, Setup removes it. Your licence and your settings are kept.

If the database service does not start, Setup still finishes and tells you so. TechieCRM then runs with its local database features off. Run Setup again to repair it.

Advanced install: without the database engine (not recommended)

The Install options page (the first page of the wizard) has one box, Advanced install (show more options), unticked. Ticking it reveals Install TechieCRM's database engine (MongoDB) – recommended, which is ticked. You may untick it. The page then warns you:

Not recommended. Without MongoDB, many cloud features will be unavailable: cloud sync, the phone apps, Messenger and the offline copy of your data. TechieCRM still works with your SQL Server CRM. You can connect TechieCRM to another MongoDB server later in Settings ▸ Local Database, or run this installer again to add the engine.

Unticking Advanced install again hides the engine box and puts it back to ticked: what you cannot see is never a choice you made.

What an install without the engine does and does not do. The program, the ODBC driver and the Start-menu shortcut are installed as usual. There is no database service, no MongoDB folder under the program folder, no data folder, no database admin, no setup record, no Reset database admin password shortcut and no TechieCRM Users group. The pages that ask for the database folder and the database admin are skipped. C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM is created and holds one small file, techiecrm-local-db.json, which records that the engine was left out on purpose ("engine": "none"); TechieCRM reads it at start-up so it knows the database is deliberately absent and shows no error. The last page of Setup repeats the warning.

Afterwards. TechieCRM starts with its local database features off and no message. To use the cloud features you either run this installer again and leave the engine ticked (Setup then adds the database, exactly like a first install: it asks for the database folder and the database admin), or connect TechieCRM to a MongoDB server you already run, in Setup ▸ Settings ▸ Local Database (chapter A5).

Upgrading an install that has the engine. Setup keeps an existing database. On the Install options page the engine box is ticked and greyed out, and the page says so: TechieCRM's database is already installed on this computer. Setup keeps it, so the database engine cannot be unticked. To remove a database, uninstall TechieCRM and tick Delete the TechieCRM database and all its data, then install again without the engine.

Upgrading an install without the engine. The Install options page opens with Advanced install ticked and the engine unticked, the way the computer was set up; tick the engine to add it.

Older Windows 10 (1809 to 21H2). These releases are refused only because MongoDB does not support them. The Install options page says so, and Next is refused (with the refusal message) until you tick Advanced install and untick the engine. Such an install is allowed but not recommended, and Setup warns you once more. See the table under System requirements.

"Just for me" (no administrator rights)

If you cannot approve the administrator prompt, choose Install for me only on the Select Setup Install Mode window. Setup then installs TechieCRM without its own database, into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\TechieCRM (that is, C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Programs\TechieCRM). The pages are: Select Destination Location (that folder by default), Installing for you only (which explains that this install has no local database), Select Start Menu Folder, Select Additional Tasks (Create a desktop shortcut), Ready to Install (Local database: not installed (user-only install)), then the last page with Launch TechieCRM. There is no setup record. Your settings and licence go to %APPDATA%\TechieCRM, as on any install. TechieCRM works as it did before version 0.8.0.4. The ODBC driver is not installed this way either, because it needs an administrator. Ask your administrator for an all-users install when you want the local database. TechieCRM shows no message about the local database when it starts: there is none to start, and nothing is wrong. The Install options page is not shown (there is no engine to choose), and because there is no engine, older Windows 10 releases are allowed with the "not recommended" warning, as in the table under System requirements.

Silent install (IT departments)

TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART
    [/DATADIR=D:\TechiecrmData] [/DBADMINUSER=name] [/DBADMINPASSWORDFILE=C:\path\pw.txt]
    [/NOMONGO] [/ALLUSERS | /CURRENTUSER] [/DIR="D:\Apps\TechieCRM"]

/ALLUSERS (the default) installs for all users; /CURRENTUSER makes a "just for me" install, with no database. /DIR= chooses the program folder (default C:\Program Files\TechieCRM).
/NOMONGO installs TechieCRM without its database engine (the Advanced install above; not recommended). Without the switch the engine is installed. The switch decides on every silent run: a computer that was set up with /NOMONGO and is later upgraded without it gains the engine (nothing is lost; the database is set up as on a first install, so pass the admin switches below if you want an admin set). On a computer that already has TechieCRM's database, a silent /NOMONGO is refused with exit code 183 and the log says why: Setup never removes a database on a switch. Uninstall with /DELETEDATA first if that is what you mean.
/DATADIR= chooses the data folder. A folder that breaks the rules above is ignored, and the default is used.
/DBADMINPASSWORDFILE= names a UTF-8 text file holding the admin password on one line. Setup reads it, overwrites it and deletes it. The password is never put on a command line.
Without a password file, the database is created with only TechieCRM's own account, and no admin is set. TechieCRM then shows Finish database setup… under its toolbar (see The first launch).
A silent install creates no setup record.
For a silent uninstall, and the /DELETEDATA and /DELETESETTINGS switches, see Updating, uninstalling, and removing your data on purpose.

Installing on macOS and Linux

macOS (Apple silicon only, see System requirements): open TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6.dmg and drag TechieCRM onto Applications. The app is then /Applications/TechieCRM.app; there is no installer to step through, and nothing else is copied until TechieCRM first opens. These beta builds are not yet notarised by Apple, so the first time, right-click (or Control-click) TechieCRM, choose Open, then click Open again. If macOS still refuses, open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway next to the TechieCRM message. You do this once per install.

Linux: download TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6-x86_64.AppImage, keep it wherever you like (for example ~/Applications), make it executable and run it:

chmod +x TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6-x86_64.AppImage
./TechieCRM-beta-0.8.0.6-x86_64.AppImage

No installation and no administrator rights are needed. If it will not start, install FUSE (sudo apt install libfuse2 on Ubuntu and Debian), or unpack it with --appimage-extract and run ./squashfs-root/AppRun.

On both, TechieCRM sets up its database the first time it opens (next section).

The first launch

It can take up to about two minutes before the first TechieCRM window appears after installing. TechieCRM is checking and starting its database, and on Windows the virus scanner often examines the new program at the same time. Wait; do not start TechieCRM a second time. Later launches are quicker.

On macOS and Linux, a three-step window sets up the database the first time:

Data folder. TechieCRM shows where it will keep your data. Click Change… to pick another empty folder on this computer. Network folders, TechieCRM's own program folder and /Users/Shared are refused. Keep it on this computer's own disk, not in iCloud Drive.
Database admin password. This is a separate account used only to administer TechieCRM's database on this computer; it is not your TechieCRM login, so don't reuse your TechieCRM email or password. Your user name is filled in. It is only a label: the database does not use your computer sign-in. Type a password twice (the same rule as on Windows, above), or click Generate a strong password. Then click Set up database.
Setup record. Click Save… or Print…. Finishing without either asks you first.

On macOS 13 this window does not appear: the database needs macOS 14, and everything else in TechieCRM works.

When something is wrong at start-up, a coloured strip appears under the toolbar and says what happened; the rest of TechieCRM keeps working. If the same problem happens on three launches in a row, the strip says so and offers Open support page. Nothing is ever deleted. While no database admin has been chosen (for example after a silent install), the strip shows Finish database setup…: - on a Windows all-users install it asks for a Windows administrator (a UAC prompt); if you are not one, ask your administrator. TechieCRM works fully meanwhile; - on macOS and Linux it opens the setup window again.

Restart TechieCRM after finishing, so every part of it reconnects with the new password.

After installing: the licence, the database and your link

On the first start the sign-in window appears with the Configuration window over it, on its Licence page (A14, When the window opens by itself). It opens by itself while this computer has no real licence (only the automatic 7-day trial counts as none), no saved database, or (the first time) no linked TechieCRM ID. It replaced the first-run setup wizard. Work through its pages in order; each can also be done later from the gear beside Database Server.

The licence. On the Licence page paste your licence key from techiecrm.com and press Activate, or press Sign in with your TechieCRM ID and pick your licence. The line at the top changes from Running on the 7-day trial to Licensed. This computer's local database and the cloud sync choice (the wizard's last pages) are at the end of the Database page.

The database. Set up the database this computer opens before you sign in:

Open the Database page (or press the gear beside Database Server: the Configuration window opens on it).
Under Found on this computer and your network, choose your SQL Server (or type it under Connect to). TechieCRM looks on this computer and your network by itself; Refresh looks again.
Type the MASTER SQL login (or a login with db_owner on the database) and its password, click the Database list (it lists the databases) and pick your CRM's database, then Test connection.
If the page says TechieCRM's tables are not in this database yet., press Prepare and confirm. TechieCRM creates its own tables and gives the database its workspace ID; your CRM's own data is not changed. (Already prepared: Prepare again is safe and changes nothing that is there.)
Press Save, then Close. The sign-in window is filled with the server, the database and the login; type the password and press Login.

For TechieCRM's MongoDB database instead, set Connect to to Mongo, press List databases, pick or create (New...) the database, then Save.

Your link. To sign in with your TechieCRM ID instead of the CRM user ID, open Linked CRM logins before closing the window and use Link my TechieCRM ID (both passwords; A14).

Your database admin password and your setup record

There are two database accounts:

Account	Name	Password	Used for
Database admin	the name you chose (your sign-in name by default)	yours: typed or generated at install	you, if you ever look at the data with a database tool such as MongoDB Compass
TechieCRM's own account	`techiecrm_app`	random; never shown	TechieCRM itself. It can read and write the data, but it cannot create or change accounts

TechieCRM also keeps a copy of your admin password, so it can be shown again later:

Install	Where the copy is	Protection
Windows, all users	`C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM\credentials`	encrypted by Windows (DPAPI); only Windows administrators can read it
macOS	your login Keychain	encrypted
Linux	your desktop keyring (the Secret Service, e.g. GNOME Keyring or KWallet)	encrypted. This needs the `secret-tool` program (package `libsecret-tools` on Ubuntu)
Linux without a usable keyring	a file only your user account can read	not encrypted. Settings ▸ Local Database shows a warning, with the reason

A copy in your Keychain or keyring is protected on disk and in backups, but any program running as you can ask for it. Treat your computer account as the key.

The setup record is one web page, which you save or print at the end of setup. It lists: the program and data folders, the port, the database version, the service name (Windows), the log file, the admin name and the admin password, how to connect with MongoDB Compass, and what to do if you lose the password. Anyone who has the record has the password: keep it safe, and destroy old copies after a reset.

If you forget the password: reset or recover it

Resetting or recovering the password never touches your data. A reset replaces the accounts, not the data.

Recover (see the kept copy again). Open Setup ▸ Settings ▸ Local Database and click Show admin password…. A window shows the admin name and the password, hidden until you tick Show password. TechieCRM records in its log that the password was shown, never the password itself. - On a Windows all-users install, only a Windows administrator can read the kept copy. TechieCRM then offers Save setup record as administrator…: Windows asks for administrator permission, and the record, with the password, is saved where you choose.

Reset (choose a new password). - Windows, all users: Start menu ▸ TechieCRM ▸ Reset database admin password (it runs as administrator), or Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Reset admin password… (a UAC prompt). A TechieCRM-DbTool window explains that the database stops for everyone on this computer for about 30 seconds, then asks for the admin name and the new password twice (or leave the password blank to have one generated), and offers the new setup record. - macOS, Linux: close every other TechieCRM window, then Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Reset admin password…. The setup window opens with your data folder fixed and your admin name filled in. Choose the new password, then save or print the new setup record.

After a reset, restart TechieCRM so every part of it reconnects.

Settings ▸ Local Database

Open it from Setup ▸ Settings, tab Local Database. It shows:

Line	What it tells you
Mode	Windows service (all-users install: Windows runs the database, even when TechieCRM is closed) or run by TechieCRM (macOS, Linux: it starts and stops with TechieCRM)
Status	Running (and in use), not running (with what to do), or "running, but not in use" when TechieCRM keeps using a MongoDB you ran before (see If you already run MongoDB yourself)
Server, Data folder, MongoDB version	where it listens, where your data is, and which MongoDB it is
Password protection	On (normal) or Off
Admin name	the database admin, or "not set" with how to finish setup
TechieCRM's copy of the password	where the kept copy is and how it is protected. A yellow warning appears when the copy is not encrypted, with the reason

Buttons: Show admin password…, Reset admin password… (Set admin password… when none is set), Save setup record as administrator… (Windows all-users installs), Move data folder…, Delete old copy… (see the next section) and Refresh. When a button cannot be used, the page says why underneath it. At the bottom is the link to TechieCRM support.

When TechieCRM was installed without its database engine (see Advanced install), this tab says so, and offers to connect TechieCRM to another MongoDB server; chapter A5 describes that setting.

Moving your data folder

Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Move data folder… moves the database to another folder on this computer. It is offered only while TechieCRM is using its own database.

Choose the new folder with Browse…. It must be new or empty, on this computer (not a network folder) and outside the program folder. The window checks it as you type and shows the size of your data. The new place needs free space of 1.2 times that size.
Click Move and confirm. The database is unavailable during the move: - on a Windows all-users install, for everyone on this computer, and Windows asks for administrator permission; - on macOS and Linux, close every other TechieCRM window first.
TechieCRM stops the database, copies every file, checks every copy, starts the database on the new folder and checks that every collection has the same number of records. Then it switches over.
The old folder is never deleted automatically. It is renamed <name>.moved-YYYYMMDD (for example TechiecrmData.moved-20261002) and listed on the Local Database page with Delete old copy…, which asks before deleting it. - On a Windows all-users install, deleting it needs administrator rights, so Windows asks for administrator permission (UAC). TechieCRM deletes only a folder it recorded when it moved your data, never your current data folder, and never a folder a database is still using.

If anything fails, TechieCRM puts everything back and the database runs from the old folder as before; only what it copied into the new folder is removed. In the rare case that putting it back also fails, both folders are kept, nothing is deleted, and the message names both. Contact TechieCRM support before changing either folder.

The database port (27617)

TechieCRM's database listens on TCP port 27617, on 127.0.0.1 only. If that port is taken when TechieCRM is installed, it uses 27627, 27637 or 27647 instead, and keeps that choice from then on. It never uses 27017, MongoDB's usual port.

Because it listens only on this computer, no firewall change is needed, and other computers on your network cannot connect to it. To check it on Windows, run netstat -ano | findstr 27617 in a Command Prompt: you should see 127.0.0.1:27617 LISTENING and nothing on 0.0.0.0.

Who can reach your data, and how to protect it

What the password does. Other programs on this computer, including other database tools, cannot open TechieCRM's database without a password. On a Windows all-users install, a standard user also cannot stop or reconfigure the database.

What it does not do. - On a Windows all-users install, only Windows accounts in the local group TechieCRM Users (and the computer's administrators) can use TechieCRM's database. Everyone in that group uses TechieCRM's own database account, so they all reach the same data. - A local administrator of the computer can always reach your data. The database files are not encrypted by the database itself, and an administrator can read any file.

Recommendation: turn on disk encryption: BitLocker on Windows, FileVault on macOS (Linux: full-disk encryption when the system is installed). Then a lost or stolen computer, or its removed disk, does not give your data away. Keep administrator accounts to the people who need them.

Letting another Windows account use TechieCRM (Windows, all-users install)

Setup creates a local group called TechieCRM Users and puts the account that installed TechieCRM in it. Any other Windows account that should use TechieCRM on this computer must be added by an administrator: - Computer Management: right-click Start ▸ Computer Management ▸ Local Users and Groups ▸ Groups ▸ double-click TechieCRM Users ▸ Add…, type the account name, then OK. (Windows Home editions have no Local Users and Groups; use the command below.) - Command line: open Command Prompt as administrator and run net localgroup "TechieCRM Users" <account> /add for example net localgroup "TechieCRM Users" sporter /add, or "DOMAIN\sporter" for a domain account. - To remove someone: net localgroup "TechieCRM Users" <account> /delete.

The person must sign out of Windows and sign in again before the change takes effect. Until then, and for any account not in the group, TechieCRM shows: "This Windows account isn't allowed to use TechieCRM's local database. Ask your administrator to add you to the TechieCRM Users group." Nothing else in TechieCRM is affected.

The account that installed TechieCRM can use it straight away, even before signing out. Uninstalling removes the group only when you also choose Delete TechieCRM's database settings, passwords and logs.

System Restore (Windows) does not roll back your database: Windows restore points do not cover its data files. If a restore puts back an older copy of the program, the database may not start; your data is untouched. TechieCRM says "TechieCRM's database could not start. Your data is safe in . Run the TechieCRM installer again to repair."

If you already run MongoDB yourself

TechieCRM's database uses its own port, so a MongoDB you run on 27017 is not touched. If TechieCRM already kept its data in that MongoDB before version 0.8.0.4, TechieCRM keeps using it: nothing is copied or moved. You see a one-time notice, and Settings ▸ Local Database says "running, but not in use". Move data folder… is not offered in that case.

Running the local portal on the same computer

The TechieCRM local portal (the web portal a business runs on its own computer) can share a computer with the TechieCRM desktop app from version 0.8.0.4 of the desktop, provided the desktop was installed for all users (a "just for me" install has no database of its own to share). When the two are on one computer they share:

one database: the portal finds TechieCRM's own database through the settings file in C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM and signs in with the same password-protected account the desktop uses. There is one copy of your data, and a record added in either program is in the other at once;
one licence: the portal runs under the Windows account that installed it (normally the account that uses the desktop), so it reads the same licence file. Activate once; releasing or revoking this computer's licence applies to both;
one sync: only one of the two talks to the TechieCRM cloud. The portal's installer claims that job (it runs on a schedule whether or not the desktop is open) and records the claim in C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM\sync-owner.json. The desktop then leaves the cloud sync to the portal and keeps refreshing the shared database from your source CRM while it is open.

What you see. Setup ▸ Settings ▸ Local Database has a Sync line: "TechieCRM syncs this computer's database itself" on a computer without the portal; "The TechieCRM local portal runs the cloud sync on this computer, so the TechieCRM desktop app leaves it to them. Last run ..." once the portal has claimed it. Settings ▸ Database ▸ Last sync says the same.

If the portal stops. The claim is a lease, not a switch. If the portal's scheduled sync has not run for an hour (four missed runs), the desktop syncs again on its next tick and the Sync line says so, naming the time of the portal's last run. Running the portal's installer\coexist.ps1 -Remove releases the claim (chapter A13); if a portal was removed by hand and the line still names it, delete sync-owner.json.

How to install, set up and run the local portal itself is in chapter A13. The TechieCRM Local Portal.

The portal's Windows account. The portal reads the database password from the same protected file as the desktop, so its account must be in the TechieCRM Users group (see Who can reach your data). The portal's installer adds it; a membership added today takes effect at that account's next sign-in.

What the portal does not do yet on a shared computer: it does not refresh the database from your source CRM itself, so that refresh still runs in the desktop app while it is open. A later portal build takes that over too, with no change on the desktop side.

Updating, uninstalling, and removing your data on purpose

Updating. Run the new installer. On Windows, the database folder page shows your existing folder and cannot be changed there; use Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Move data folder… instead. Your port, admin and data are kept. The Install options page keeps the database engine ticked and greyed out on a computer that has the database, and defaults to "no engine" on one that was installed without it (see Advanced install).

Uninstalling keeps your data unless you ask for it to go. - Windows: uninstall from Settings ▸ Apps or the Start menu. The program and the database service are always removed. After you confirm the uninstall, a small window asks what else to remove. Both boxes start unticked:

Box	What it deletes
Delete the TechieCRM database and all its data	Your data folder (the path is shown under the box; by default `C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData`). Every client, contact, note and other record in TechieCRM's own database on this computer.
Delete TechieCRM's database settings, passwords and logs	`C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM`: where the database is, its port, the saved database passwords and the database logs.

Press Continue without ticking anything and both folders are kept. Reinstalling TechieCRM picks them up again, with the same data, port and admin.
Ticking the database box also ticks the settings box and greys it out. The settings only say where the database is and how to sign in to it; left behind, they would point a reinstall at a database that no longer exists.
Ticking the database box asks you a second time: "This permanently deletes all TechieCRM data on this computer. It cannot be undone. Make a backup first if you might need it." No is the default and takes you back to the window, where you can untick the box.
You can delete the settings and keep the database. A reinstall that uses the same data folder (the default is offered again) finds your data and sets up new database passwords.
Closing the window with its × keeps everything.
When it finishes, the uninstaller tells you what it deleted, what it kept and anything that went wrong. It also lists any older copies of your data left behind by Moving your data folder (…moved-YYYYMMDD folders): the uninstaller never deletes those. Delete them yourself if you no longer want them.

When the uninstaller will not delete the database folder. It only deletes a folder that is plainly TechieCRM's own. The box is greyed out, or the final message says why, when the folder: - does not contain the file README-TechieCRM-data.txt (TechieCRM puts it in every database folder it makes); - is not a full path on a local drive: a network share, a mapped network drive or a device path; - is a drive root such as D:\, a link (junction) to another folder, or is or contains the Windows folder, a Program Files folder, C:\ProgramData itself, C:\Users, your own profile folder or the Public folder.

It also waits up to a minute for the database server to stop and its port to be free. If the server is still running then, nothing is deleted and the message says so. If the database folder is not deleted for any reason, the settings folder is kept as well, so that you or a reinstall can still find the database.

The uninstaller takes ownership of the folder and gives the Administrators group full control before deleting it, the same steps as the manual procedure below. If a file still cannot be deleted, it says which folder is left; restart the computer and follow the manual procedure. Everything it does is written to its log, in your %TEMP% folder. - Windows, everyone's own settings: no uninstall, with or without the boxes, deletes %APPDATA%\TechieCRM (each person's settings, licence and logs). Delete it yourself if you no longer want it; a later install then needs the licence activated again. - macOS: deleting the app leaves ~/Library/Application Support/TechieCRM in place. - Linux: deleting the AppImage leaves ~/.local/share/TechieCRM (your data) and ~/.config/TechieCRM (database settings) in place.

Silent uninstall (IT departments, Windows). The uninstaller is unins000.exe in the program folder (the number can differ; it is the only unins*.exe there). A silent uninstall deletes neither folder unless you add a switch:

"C:\Program Files\TechieCRM\unins000.exe" /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART
    [/DELETEDATA] [/DELETESETTINGS] [/LOG=C:\path\uninstall.log]

/DELETEDATA deletes the database folder, and the settings folder too, for the reason above.
/DELETESETTINGS deletes C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM only.
The same checks apply. A folder that fails them is not deleted; the reason is written to the log. Add /LOG= to choose where the log goes. Without /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES, the final summary appears as a message box.
In an interactive uninstall, the switches tick the matching boxes in advance. You still confirm.

A "just for me" install has no database and no C:\ProgramData folders, so its uninstaller asks nothing.

An install without the database engine (Advanced install or /NOMONGO) has no database either. Its uninstaller shows the same window, but the database box is greyed out ("no TechieCRM database folder was found on this computer"), and the settings box is described as holding only the record that the engine was left out: if you delete it, the next install offers the database engine again. Left in place, the next interactive install opens with the engine unticked, as before.

To remove your data on purpose after TechieCRM is already uninstalled (or on macOS and Linux, after quitting it), delete the data folder and the settings folder from the table at the top of this chapter. This cannot be undone: make a backup first if you might want the data again. On Windows, the database folder belongs to the database service, so open Command Prompt as administrator and run the following, using your own data folder if you moved it:

takeown /f C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData /a /r /d y
icacls C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData /grant *S-1-5-32-544:F /t /c /q
rmdir /s /q C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData
rmdir /s /q C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM

*S-1-5-32-544 is the Administrators group, written so that it works in every language of Windows. On Windows in another language, /d y takes that language's letter for "yes" (for example /d j in German); if takeown reports a syntax error, use icacls C:\ProgramData\TechiecrmData /setowner *S-1-5-32-544 /t /c /q in its place.

TechieCRM-DbTool (Windows) and what its exit codes mean

TechieCRM-DbTool.exe sits next to TechieCRM.exe in the program folder. Setup, the Start-menu reset shortcut and Settings ▸ Local Database use it for the steps that need administrator rights. It never accepts a password on its command line.

The commands you might run yourself, from a Command Prompt opened as administrator in C:\Program Files\TechieCRM:

Command	What it does
`TechieCRM-DbTool status`	reports the database's state (one line of JSON)
`TechieCRM-DbTool reset-admin`	the same as the Start-menu Reset database admin password
`TechieCRM-DbTool setup-record --out C:\path\record.html`	saves a setup record with the kept copy of the admin password (the recovery route)
`TechieCRM-DbTool delete-old-copy --path FOLDER`	deletes an old copy of your data folder that a move kept (a folder named `….moved-YYYYMMDD`). It deletes only a folder TechieCRM recorded when it moved your data, never your current data folder, and never a folder a database is still using. Settings ▸ Local Database ▸ Delete old copy… does this for you. Exit codes: 0 deleted; 2 refused (not an old copy TechieCRM kept, the live folder, or already gone); 4 still in use; 9 cancelled; 1 the deletion stopped part-way (run it again)

If a message quotes an exit code:

Code	Meaning
0	Done
1	Unexpected error (see the log in `C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM\logs`)
2	It could not run as asked (for example: not started as administrator, or a folder was refused)
3	The database password is missing or not valid, or no copy of it is kept
4	The database did not start (or would not stop)
5	The data was written by a newer MongoDB than this TechieCRM carries
6	A move was undone, or did not start (for example another TechieCRM window was using the database): your data is where it was
7	A move failed and could not be undone: both folders are kept; contact support
8	The new password did not meet the password rule
9	Cancelled; nothing was changed

If something goes wrong

The strip under the toolbar says the database is not running. Restart TechieCRM. On Windows (all users), run the installer again to repair the service; your data is kept.
Logs: Windows C:\ProgramData\TechieCRM\logs\mongod.log; macOS ~/Library/Logs/TechieCRM/mongod.log; Linux ~/.local/state/TechieCRM/mongod.log.
macOS: the database does not start after the first right-click ▸ Open. macOS may still hold the download "quarantine" flag on the database program. Quit TechieCRM, run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TechieCRM.app in Terminal once, and open it again.
Contact support: www.techiecrm.com/support. Include the log file and, if you have one, the DbTool exit code.

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