Virola self-hosted server installation on Windows

Virola Server can be installed:

  1. As a Windows service
  2. Through regular installation

While installing Virola Server as a service, you can configure it directly in the installer. If you choose regular installation, you can configure Virola Server in Virola Server GUI or through the command line.

How to install Virola Server as a Service

  1. Download Virola server for Windows installation package and start installation
  2. Select "Install as a Windows service" option
  3. On the next step, configure how to start your Virola Windows service:
    • IP address - IP you've chosen for the Virola server to listen on (learn more about this)
    • Port - port you've chosen for the Virola server to listen on
    • Storage directory - absolute path to the directory for Virola server database
    • Log directory - absolute path to the directory for Virola server logs
    • Startup type - specifies how Virola Windows Service should start: automatic, manual or with a delay
  4. Check "Create a Windows Firewall rule for the selected address and port" to ensure that both text chat and audio/video communication are allowed for Virola Server on your computer. Note! This option should not be used if you are running your server on localhost (127.0.0.1)
  5. Check "Start Windows service after installation" if you would like to start Virola service right away
  6. Install Virola Client and login to it to start using and managing your server.

Virola Windows service will run in the background and can be stopped in Windows Services.

Regular Installation

In case you select regular installation, you can configure Virola Server the following way:

  1. With help of Windows GUI
  2. From the command line

Virola self-hosted server configuration with help of GUI

  1. Download Virola server for Windows installation package and start installation
  2. Select "Regular installation"
  3. During installation keep "Virola server GUI" option checked on the "Select components" step
  4. Launch Virola server GUI
  5. Create a directory for Virola database
  6. Specify your host, port and the path to the database directory in the respective fields
    • Listen host - the IP you've chosen for the Virola server (learn more about this)
    • Port - the port you've chosen for the Virola server
    • Storage Directory - the absolute path to the directory you created on the step 5 for Virola server database
  7. Click "Start" button
    Screenshot of Virola server for Windows GUI
  8. To start using your server and managing it, Install Virola Client and login to it.

If you want to start Virola server automatically at system startup, do the following:

  1. Click a "gear" icon to open Settings window
  2. Check "Start Virola server at system startup" option
  3. Close Settings window
Screenshot of Virola server for Windows options

Video tutorial

Find more details about setting up and running Virola server with GUI in our video tutorial:

Please note that some toolbars and icons in this tutorial may differ a bit from the current Virola interface as we constantly improve its functionality and UI.

Virola self-hosted server configuration from the command line

  1. Download Virola server for Windows installation package and start installation
  2. Select "Regular installation"
  3. During installation uncheck "Virola server GUI" option on the "Select components" step
  4. Create a directory for Virola database
  5. Launch Command Prompt. To find it click Start button and type "cmd" in the search box
  6. In Command Prompt with help of "cd" command navigate to the directory where Virola server was installed
  7. Decide which host and port will be used for the server
  8. Run the server with the following command:
    virola_server_app.exe --listen HOST:PORT --storage-dir virola-database-directory
    where
    • HOST is the IP you've chosen for the Virola server (learn more about this)
    • PORT is the port you've chosen for the Virola server
    • virola-database-directory is the absolute path to the directory you created on the step 4
    Example:
    virola_server_app.exe --listen 127.0.0.1:7777 --storage-dir C:\Virola\Server
  9. Leave Command Prompt open
  10. Connect to your server with Virola Client.

How to choose IP address for your server

The fastest way to start a Virola Server is to use your computer's loopback address (127.0.0.1). A server running on this address is only accessible from your own machine, but this is sufficient to connect with the Virola Client and get a first impression of Virola Messenger and its features.

To make your server accessible from other devices on your local network, you need to use your computer's private IP address. You can find it via Start → Settings → Network & Internet → Status → IPv4 address, or by following the instructions.

If you want your server to be accessible worldwide, you will need to make it publicly accessible.

How to log into Virola Client after Virola self-hosted server installation

Login details to Virola Client will be the following:

  • Server Host: the IP you've chosen for the Virola server during installation
  • Server Port: the one you specified for your Virola Server during installation
  • Username: admin
  • Password: admin

You can change admin username and password later from the Virola Client / your user profile options.

Tips and recommendations

Note icon

We strongly recommend to encrypt your Windows machine on which Virola server is running. Modern Windows operating systems have embedded encryption functionality - both device encryption and BitLocker encryption tool. We've prepared a detailed instruction about encryption on Windows for you.