Overview

Workbench Legacy Desktop Version

Note: Support for Workbench desktop version (the MDE) ended on 31 December, 2021. All users should migrate to the web version as soon as possible.

The last major version of Workbench desktop 7.41 has additional requirements over older versions. The major changes to system requirements are:

  • Microsoft Access 2010 32 bit (Runtime) is now the only supported version of Access for the Workbench client application.
  • .NET Framework 4.8 is required for WebWorkbench.
  • WebWorkbench is now compulsory for emailing via SMTP.
  • PowerShell v5.0+ is required on Workbench servers for deployment and maintenance.


The Workbench architecture is a Client – Server structure, with different software requirements for the Workbench server and the Workbench client machines.

This document discusses those requirements in the context of the different Workbench versions.

Workbench utilises industry standard software, and will run on most Microsoft Windows based computer system environments. The main software components are: 

Server:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 or above
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2014 or above (Express versions are supported, database size permitting)
  • Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 8.0 or above
  • .NET Framework 4.8
  • PowerShell v5.0 or above

Client:

  • Microsoft Windows 8 or above
  • Web Browser (for WebWorkbench) - Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge
  • Microsoft Access 2010 32 bit only (runtime) for the legacy desktop version


Component Specifics Requirements

The following links provide a more in-depth discussion of the technical requirements for specific components.