Prerequisites

This page outlines all the preparatory steps you must complete before starting the SigningHub and installation process. It includes necessary tools and dependencies, and package preparation guidelines. Completing these steps ensures a smooth installation experience and prevents common setup issues.

---

Update System & Install Dependencies (Optional)

Before installing Docker and SigningHub, make sure your operating system is up to date and has the required tools. This step ensures a smooth installation process and avoids version conflicts.

# Optional: Update package lists and upgrade system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# If upgrade fails, remove conflicting PPA and try again
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:dotnet/backports

# Optional: Install essential packages
sudo apt install -y \
    curl \
    wget \
    unzip

---

Install Docker & Docker Compose

Docker is required to run SigningHub as isolated containers. You can use the official installation method for production setups.

---

Official Docker Installation

Use the official Docker repository for the latest, most stable builds.

# Add Docker's official GPG key
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Add Docker repository
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Update package lists
sudo apt update

# Install Docker Engine, CLI, and Compose
sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Configure Docker

After installation, enable Docker to start on boot and verify the installation. Optionally, add your user to the Docker group to avoid typing sudo for every command.

# Start and enable Docker service
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

# Optional: Add current user to Docker group (to run Docker without sudo)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Apply group changes
newgrp docker

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

Expected Output:

Docker version 24.0.x, build xxxxxxx
Docker Compose version v2.x.x

---

Obtain Required Packages

You need two components before you proceed — the SigningHub Docker deployment package and the SigningHub core package.

Docker Deployment Package

Download or obtain the SigningHub Docker deployment package from Ascertia. This package contains the docker-compose.yaml, service directories (api/, web/, admin/, etc.), and installation scripts.

/opt/SigningHub/
├── admin
├── admin-api
├── api
├── core
├── docker-compose.yaml
├── mssql
├── README.md
├── SigningHub-ArchivingData
├── SigningHub-Data
├── startup.sh
├── state-remove.sh
└── web

SigningHub Core Package

Download the SigningHub core ZIP file from your vendor, for example: SigningHub-v10.0.3-RR-Lin64-22Sep2025.zip

---

Set up Project Directory

Prepare the /opt directory and place your downloaded packages inside. Then extract and verify the directory structure.

# Create main project directory
cd /opt

# Copy SigningHub-Docker.zip into /opt and unzip
unzip SigningHub-Docker.zip -d ./

# Navigate to SigningHub-Docker directory
cd SigningHub-Docker

# Copy SigningHub package ZIP to this directory
# Example: SigningHub-v10.0.3-RR-Lin64-22Sep2025.zip

# Verify setup files
ls -la

Expected Directory Structure:

/opt/SigningHub/
├── admin
├── admin-api
├── api
├── core
├── docker-compose.yaml
├── mssql
├── README.md
├── SigningHub-ArchivingData
├── SigningHub-Data
├── SigningHub-v10.0.3-RR-Lin64-22Sep2025.zip
├── startup.sh
├── state-remove.sh
└── web

1. SigningHub Docker Package and the SigningHub Release Package are two separate packages. Before running the installation, you need to place the SigningHub Release Package.zip into the SigningHub Docker Package.

2. Linux is case-sensitive, which means existing file storage folder names and database paths must be updated before installing 'SigningHub with Existing Database', to avoid broken references.

   • Rename Base Directories

     Update the following subfolder names to lowercase:

     • Documents/Document revision

     • Library

     • Templates

     • Workflow Evidence Report

     • Archive Document

   • Update Database paths The following database columns must be updated to:

     • Replace all backslashes (\) with forward slashes (/)

     • Convert the entire path to lowercase

       Tables and Columns

       • DocumentRevision

         • FilePath

         • AttachedFilePath

       • DocumentLibrary

         • FilePath

       • TemplateDocument

         • FilePath

       • Workflow

         • FilePath

       SQL Scripts

       Run the following SQL/Oracle scripts on your database:

       UPDATE DocumentRevision SET FilePath = LOWER(REPLACE(FilePath, '\', '/')) WHERE FilePath IS NOT NULL;
       UPDATE DocumentRevision SET AttachedFilePath = LOWER(REPLACE(AttachedFilePath, '\', '/')) WHERE AttachedFilePath IS NOT NULL;
       UPDATE DocumentLibrary SET FilePath = LOWER(REPLACE(FilePath, '\', '/')) WHERE FilePath IS NOT NULL;
       UPDATE TemplateDocument SET FilePath = LOWER(REPLACE(FilePath, '\', '/')) WHERE FilePath IS NOT NULL;
       UPDATE Workflow SET FilePath = LOWER(REPLACE(FilePath, '\', '/')) WHERE FilePath IS NOT NULL;
       
       -- The below scripts are specific to file system storage--
       UPDATE SystemSetting SET AttributeValue = '/app/SigningHub-Data' WHERE AttributeName = 'DATA_DIRECTORY';
       UPDATE SystemSetting SET AttributeValue = '/app/SigningHub-ArchivingData' WHERE AttributeName = 'ARCHIVE_DATA_DIRECTORY';
       

       (Recommendation: Back up your database before running these scripts to prevent data loss.)

   • Update System Settings Update the DATA_DIRECTORY attribute in System Settings to reflect the new lowercase data directory path.

---