Skip to main content
This section provides guides on manually installing your application on a local workstation.
Manual standalone installation is possible only if you are using Software or Online protection.
In this scenario, you deploy your application to a cloud instance, private virtual machine, or a local workstation, using an installer of your choice, a shell script, or manually copying the files. You will need:
  • an Online License token file (named like SWRTXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.ABBYY.ActivationToken).
Internet connection is required when the application is running.
We recommend creating ABBYY FineReader Engine package (let us call it a Package) which is a folder with the files necessary for ABBYY FineReader Engine functioning and licensing.
To simplify creating a custom package, unpack the files using the /extract option for the installRnt**.exe or installLS.exe in the command line from the distribution package to a certain folder without installation. Inside it, there will be the following folders:
  1. for installRnt**.exe:
    • FineReader Engine - with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files
    • Inc - with the FREngine.tlb (for registering of the FREngine.dll)
    • Licensing - with the Licensing Service files
  2. for installLS.exe:
    • Licensing - with the the Licensing Service files
    • License Server - with the License Server files
Use these folders and the instruction below to create your License Server package.

​
Adding to the Package on your computer:

  1. Library package. It is a folder with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files listed in ABBYY FineReader Engine Distribution Kit section in Developer’s Help. The list will include:
    • Files marked as “mandatory” in ABBYY FineReader Engine Distribution Kit. They are system modules and main recognition databases.
    • Recognition databases for handprinted text, if you want to recognize handprinted text.
    • Resource files for interface languages that will be used in your application.
    • Dictionary support files for recognition languages that your application will support. If the recognition languages include languages with the Latin alphabet, make sure that you select the Univers.amd and Univers.amm files.
    • Scanning modules, scanning-specific resources and Twain modules if your application will perform scanning via the ABBYY FineReader Engine interface.
    • Windows Visual Components modules and corresponding specific resources, if your application uses ABBYY FineReader Engine Visual Components.
You can also create the list of files automatically, with the help of the FREngineDistribution.csv file and the unpacked FineReader Engine folder.
  1. License Server package. It consists of two folders with the Licensing Service and the License Manager utility files:
    • Licensing Service folder with all files copied from the unpacked Licensing folder.
    • License Manager (License Manager64) folder with the following files copied from the unpacked License Server folder: AbbyyZlib.dll, Awl.dll, concrt140.dll, FineFormats.dll, FineNet.dll, FineObj.dll, LicenseManager.exe, LicenseManager12.chm, LicensingSchema.xe, msvcp140.dll, ProductLicensingSchema.xe, Protection.dll, ProtectionRes0.dll, ProtectionResShared.dll, ProtectionUI.dll, vccorlib140.dll, vcruntime140.dll.
Use ABBYY FineReader Engine and License Server from the same package. Otherwise, compatibility is not guaranteed.
  1. Other software components:
    • KB2999226 update or the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 14.28.29912. If you are not installing the Windows Update package, you can install the redistributable from the External Components\VC_Redist folder in the distribution package: vc_redist.x86.exe and vc_redist.x64.exe.
    • .NET Framework 4.6.2 if you intend to use the OfficeConverters module.

​
Copying the Package on the workstation:

The easiest way to make sure all resource files can be located by the program is to maintain the same folder structure and include in your distribution package the SharedFiles.ini file you will find in the Bin (or Bin64) folder depending on your operating system. If you prefer not to use this file, instead of maintaining the folder structure do the following:
  • Copy the Data\Resource folder with all subfolders into the following folder:
    • Bin
    • Bin64
  • Copy contents of the Data\ExtendedDictionaries folder directly into Bin or Bin64 folder.
  • Copy other files contained in the Data folder into Bin or Bin64 folder.

​
Installing the necessary software components:

  1. The Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 14.28.29912.
  2. .NET Framework if it is needed.
You need to copy the folder with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files from the Library Package to the directory on the workstation you expected the library to be.

​
Registering the dynamic libraries:

  1. If your application loads the Engine object by means of the IEngineLoader interface, register FREngine.dll using the following command line:
regsvr32 /s /n /i:"<path to the Inc folder>" "<path to FREngine.dll>"
  1. If your application uses Visual Components, register VisualComponentsX.dll using the following command line:
regsvr32 /s "<path to VisualComponentsX.dll>"
In case you have problems when using COM loaders or working with Visual Components, please check the paths to these components in the registry and, if there are errors, repeat the procedure of registration.
Creating the folders which will be used by ABBYY FineReader Engine:In the list below, the default values for these folders are denoted:
  • folder %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\FineReader Engine (full control permission is required)
  • folder %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\Licenses (full control permission is required for license server, optional for workstations)
To specify the license data folder during installation, see an example in Working with the LicensingSettings.xml File. You may also use the InitializeEngine function or method of the IEngineLoader interface.

​
Installing the License Server:

Administrator access rights are necessary for the installation.
  1. Copy the folders from the License Server Package to the directory on the workstation you expected the License Server to be.
We recommend you organizing ABBYY FineReader Engine files in a folder structure, easy to find and use. See the example below:
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/ABBYY FineReader Engine Library.
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/License Server/Licensing Service.
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/License Server/License Manager (License Manager64).
  1. Create or choose a folder in which your application searches for the license token file, and place the token file there. You may choose the %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\Licenses, which is the default behavior, or another folder used for storing the licensing data. Everyone must have full control permissions on these folders.
  2. Create a LicensingSettings.xml file with the contents listed below. See Working with the LicensingSettings.xml File for details 

  <LocalLicenseServer>
    <ConnectionProtocol ProtocolType="<Protocol type>" />
  </LocalLicenseServer>
Specify the OnlineLicensing tag only in case of using an Online License with a proxy server (in other cases do not specify this tag), and leave other settings default (do not include them in your file). The XML schema to which it must conform can be found in the LicensingSettings.xsd file, which is located in the Inc folder of your developer installation or the CADF\Inc folder in the distribution package.
  1. Copy the configured LicensingSettings.xml file into the following folders:
    • Licensing Service.
    • License Manager (License Manager64).
    • Folder with ABBYY FineReader Engine files next to FREngine.dll.
  2. Run LicensingService.exe with the “/install” parameter: 
LicensingService.exe /install

​
Activating the license:

An Online License does not need activation: license information is received at the application run-time from ABBYY Online licensing services. To authorize, the application sends a license token file and a license password. You will need to place the token file where it is expected by the application. This location must be specified by the developer (default is %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\Licenses).At run-time, the application needs to connect to ABBYY Online licensing services periodically to receive license information and send usage statistics. No private information is exchanged with ABBYY servers.
  • Verify that you allow connections to *.abbyy.com on port 443 (HTTPS).If the connection is lost, the application will stop functioning after a certain reconnection timeout is exceeded. The synchronization period and the reconnection timeout are specific parameters of each Online License.
Check that the GoDaddy root certificate is installed in the local machine version of the Trusted Root Certification Authorities certificate store. See the detailed information about the certificate on the GoDaddy website.
It is not possible to use two or more Online Licenses simultaneously on the same host. When the application is running and the connection to ABBYY licensing services is working, you can view details of the currently active Online License using the License Manager Utility.
Copy the license token to a default folder on each workstation or to a folder, the path to which is used by your application in the InitializeEngine function.
In this scenario, you are installing your application which uses ABBYY FineReader Engine library on a local workstation manually. You will need:
  • the serial number of a Standalone Runtime License.
We recommend creating ABBYY FineReader Engine package (let us call it a Package) which is a folder with the files necessary for ABBYY FineReader Engine functioning and licensing.
To simplify creating a custom package, unpack the files using the /extract option for the installRnt**.exe or installLS.exe in the command line from the distribution package to a certain folder without installation. Inside it, there will be the following folders:
  1. for installRnt**.exe:
    • FineReader Engine - with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files
    • Inc - with the FREngine.tlb (for registering of the FREngine.dll)
    • Licensing - with the Licensing Service files
  2. for installLS.exe:
    • Licensing - with the the Licensing Service files
    • License Server - with the License Server files
Use these folders and the instruction below to create your License Server package.

​
Adding to the Package on your computer:

  1. Library package. It is a folder with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files listed in ABBYY FineReader Engine Distribution Kit section in Developer’s Help. The list will include:
    • Files marked as “mandatory” in ABBYY FineReader Engine Distribution Kit. They are system modules and main recognition databases.
    • Recognition databases for handprinted text, if you want to recognize handprinted text.
    • Resource files for interface languages that will be used in your application.
    • Dictionary support files for recognition languages that your application will support. If the recognition languages include languages with the Latin alphabet, make sure that you select the Univers.amd and Univers.amm files.
    • Scanning modules, scanning-specific resources and Twain modules if your application will perform scanning via the ABBYY FineReader Engine interface.
    • Windows Visual Components modules and corresponding specific resources, if your application uses ABBYY FineReader Engine Visual Components.
You can also create the list of files automatically, with the help of the FREngineDistribution.csv file and the unpacked FineReader Engine folder.
  1. License Server package. It consists of two folders with the Licensing Service and the License Manager utility files:
    • Licensing Service folder with all files copied from the unpacked Licensing folder.
    • License Manager (License Manager64) folder with the following files copied from the unpacked License Server folder: AbbyyZlib.dll, Awl.dll, concrt140.dll, FineFormats.dll, FineNet.dll, FineObj.dll, LicenseManager.exe, LicenseManager12.chm, LicensingSchema.xe, msvcp140.dll, ProductLicensingSchema.xe, Protection.dll, ProtectionRes0.dll, ProtectionResShared.dll, ProtectionUI.dll, vccorlib140.dll, vcruntime140.dll.
Use ABBYY FineReader Engine and License Server from the same package. Otherwise, compatibility is not guaranteed.
  1. Other software components:
    • KB2999226 update or the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 14.28.29912. If you are not installing the Windows Update package, you can install the redistributable from the External Components\VC_Redist folder in the distribution package: vc_redist.x86.exe and vc_redist.x64.exe.
    • .NET Framework 4.6.2 if you intend to use the OfficeConverters module.

​
Copying the Package on the workstation:

The easiest way to make sure all resource files can be located by the program is to maintain the same folder structure and include in your distribution package the SharedFiles.ini file you will find in the Bin (or Bin64) folder depending on your operating system. If you prefer not to use this file, instead of maintaining the folder structure do the following:
  • Copy the Data\Resource folder with all subfolders into the following folder:
    • Bin
    • Bin64
  • Copy contents of the Data\ExtendedDictionaries folder directly into Bin or Bin64 folder.
  • Copy other files contained in the Data folder into Bin or Bin64 folder.

​
Installing the necessary software components:

  1. The Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 14.28.29912.
  2. .NET Framework if it is needed.
You need to copy the folder with the ABBYY FineReader Engine files from the Library Package to the directory on the workstation you expected the library to be.

​
Registering the dynamic libraries:

  1. If your application loads the Engine object by means of the IEngineLoader interface, register FREngine.dll using the following command line:
regsvr32 /s /n /i:"<path to the Inc folder>" "<path to FREngine.dll>"
  1. If your application uses Visual Components, register VisualComponentsX.dll using the following command line:
regsvr32 /s "<path to VisualComponentsX.dll>"
In case you have problems when using COM loaders or working with Visual Components, please check the paths to these components in the registry and, if there are errors, repeat the procedure of registration.

​
Creating the folders which will be used by ABBYY FineReader Engine:

In the list below, the default values for these folders are denoted:
  • folder %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\FineReader Engine (full control permission is required)
  • folder %ProgramData%\ABBYY\SDK\12\Licenses (full control permission is required for license server, optional for workstations)
To specify the license data folder during installation, see an example in Working with the LicensingSettings.xml File. You may also use the InitializeEngine function or method of the IEngineLoader interface.

​
Installing the License Server

Administrator access rights are necessary for the installation.
  1. Copy the folders from the License Server Package to the directory on the workstation you expected the License Server to be.
We recommend you organizing ABBYY FineReader Engine files in a folder structure, easy to find and use. See the example below:
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/ABBYY FineReader Engine Library.
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/License Server/Licensing Service.
  • <YourApplicationFolder>/License Server/License Manager (License Manager64).
  1. Create a LicensingSettings.xml file and specify settings in the LocalLicenseServer tag if necessary. The XML schema to which it must conform can be found in the LicensingSettings.xsd file, which is located in the Inc folder of your developer installation or the CADF\Inc folder in the distribution package. See Working with the LicensingSettings.xml File for details
  2. Copy the configured LicensingSettings.xml file into the following folders:
    • Licensing Service.
    • License Manager (License Manager64).
    • Folder with ABBYY FineReader Engine files next to FREngine.dll.
  3. Run LicensingService.exe with the “/install” parameter: 
LicensingService.exe /install

​
Activating the license

Run LicenseManager.exe. Click on the Activate License… button and follow the wizard instructions to activate your license. If your computer has access to the Internet you only need to enter the serial number and wait a few moments. For details about the License Manager, see License Manager Utility.You can also activate the license through the command line. For details, see Working with the License Manager from the command line.