Applies to: Typical Manager 2026 (.NET 8 based release). For Typical Manager 2025 or earlier, please refer to the Typical Manager 2025 — Installation Guide article (those releases are based on .NET Framework 4.8).

Introduction

This article explains step by step how to install Typical Manager 2026 and the additional components it requires. The installation is guided by the Typical Manager install wizard, which contains helpful links for installing Typical Manager and its dependencies.

Before starting, make sure your environment meets the requirements described in the System Requirements article and that you have read the Typical Manager 2026 Migration document if you are upgrading from a previous version.

Important: Always run the setup with right-click → "Run as administrator".

What's different in Typical Manager 2026

Typical Manager 2026 introduces a new technology foundation. Please note the following key changes compared to Typical Manager 2025:

  • .NET 8 platform — Typical Manager 2026 is based on .NET 8 (instead of .NET Framework 4.8). Your target environment must support .NET 8.
  • AutoCAD Electrical 2025 and 2026 are supported. AutoCAD versions 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2024 are no longer supported in Typical Manager 2026.
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2025 is the supported database version.
  • Migration from Typical Manager 2025 is only supported from version 5.4.2517.0 or newer. See the Typical Manager 2026 Migration document article for details.

Required components

The following components are required to run Typical Manager 2026 successfully:

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2025 or a supported newer version (for stand-alone and server installations) — SQL Express is also supported for stand-alone installations
  • .NET 8 Runtime — required by Typical Manager 2026 instead of .NET Framework 4.8

Installation types

Typical Manager can be installed in two main ways:

  • Stand-alone — Both Typical Manager and the SQL database run on the same computer.
  • Client/Server — A central server holds the Typical Manager SQL database, and clients connect to it over the network.

The user is free to change the installation options during setup.

The Typical Manager install wizard can be started by executing setup.exe from the installation folder.

Table of Contents

  1. Before you begin (.NET 8 prerequisite)
  2. Install Typical Manager
  3. Install License
  4. Install SQL Server
  5. Use Typical Manager Control Center
  6. Using Windows and SQL users to log in to Typical Manager
    • Create user with Windows Authentication
    • Create user with SQL Authentication
  7. Troubleshooting — SQL server

1. Before you begin (.NET 8 prerequisite)

Typical Manager 2026 is built on .NET 8. The target machine (server, client, or stand-alone) must therefore have a compatible .NET 8 Runtime available before the Typical Manager install wizard runs.

What you need

  • .NET Desktop Runtime 8 (x64) — for Typical Manager client and stand-alone installations.
  • .NET Runtime 8 (x64) — typically required on server installations.

How to install .NET 8

  1. Download the latest .NET 8 Desktop Runtime (x64) from the official Microsoft website: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0
  2. Run the installer as administrator and follow the prompts.
  3. After installation, open a command prompt and verify with:
    dotnet --list-runtimes
    You should see at least one Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 8.x.x entry.

Note: Older Typical Manager versions (2025 and earlier) use .NET Framework 4.8, which is a different technology than .NET 8. If you are running Typical Manager 2025 alongside Typical Manager 2026 on the same machine, both runtimes can be installed side by side without conflict.

2. Install Typical Manager

Step-by-step installation of Typical Manager 2026 and its components:

  1. Run setup.exe as administrator. The Typical Manager Setup Wizard opens. Click Next.
  2. Read the End-User License Agreement carefully.
  3. Select "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" and click Next.
  4. Choose which shortcuts you want to apply, then click Next.
  5. Select the features to install:
    • Typical Manager — The Typical Manager 2026 application.
    • Typical Manager Control Center — Administrator's tool to create, update, and maintain Typical Manager databases.
  6. Click Next, then Next again to confirm.
  7. On the Ready to Install page, click Install.
  8. When the installation completes, click Finish to exit the Setup Wizard.

If the installer detects that .NET 8 Runtime is missing, it will alert you. Install .NET 8 (see Section 1) and rerun the setup.

3. Install License

A working Internet connection is required to obtain a license. This is required each time Typical Manager is started.

A license key is provided to the user/administrator by Yellax. An activation code for the license key looks like:

XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXX

Important notes

  • This key can be used by multiple users (depending on the license configuration).
  • For each Typical Manager user, the key must be entered the first time they start Typical Manager.
  • It is important to keep this key secret within your organisation.

How to activate the license

  1. Start Typical Manager 2026.
  2. In the Login dialog, click Hide options / Show options to expand the dialog.
  3. Copy or enter the License key in the corresponding field.
  4. Click OK.

When a license is activated, the key is remembered for that user and device, and the licence key is masked the next time Typical Manager starts.

4. Install SQL Server

Note: If a version of Microsoft SQL Server is already installed, do not install SQL Server again. Manually create a new server instance and continue with the installation of Typical Manager.

For Typical Manager 2026, we recommend using SQL Server 2025 in a production environment.

Step-by-step installation guide for SQL Server 2025

  1. Download the SQL Server 2025 installation files from the official Microsoft website. Choose the appropriate edition (Express, Standard, or Enterprise) based on your requirements. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads
  2. Double-click the downloaded installation file to start the SQL Server Installation Center.
  3. Choose Custom to configure all necessary requirements during the installation process.
  4. Specify the installation location, then click Next.
  5. Wait until all setup files are acquired and proceed.
  6. In the Installation Center, select Installation on the left-hand side, then click "New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add feature to an existing installation".
  7. The installation wizard runs prerequisite checks. If any issues are reported, resolve them before proceeding.
  8. On the Product Key page, choose the appropriate option based on your license agreement with Microsoft. Either enter the product key or select the Evaluation edition.
  9. Continue through the subsequent pages (License Terms, Global Rules, Microsoft Update, Install Setup Files, Install Rules, Azure Extension).
  10. Continue to the Feature Selection step.
  11. On the Feature Selection page, select the features you want to install. For a typical installation, make sure "Database Engine Services" is checked. You can also select additional features like "SQL Server Replication" or "Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search". Click Next.
  12. On the Instance Configurationpage, choose the instance type:
    • For a default installation, select Default instance.
    • For a named instance, select Named instance and provide a unique name (for example: TYPICALMANAGER).
    • Click Next.
  13. Specify the service accounts and collation settings on the Server Configuration page. The service accounts define the Windows accounts under which the SQL Server services run. You can use the default accounts or specify custom accounts. Click Next.
  14. On the Database Engine Configurationpage, choose the authentication mode:
    • Windows Authentication mode allows users to connect using Windows accounts.
    • Mixed Mode enables both Windows and SQL Server authentication.
  15. Recommended steps:
    • a. Choose Mixed mode.
    • b. Enter a System Administrator (SA) password.
    • c. Add appropriate accounts as SQL Server administrators, then click Next.
  16. On the Ready to Install page, review your selections. Click Installation to view the detailed installation plan if needed. Once ready, click Install.
  17. Monitor the progress on the Installation Progress page.
  18. When installation completes successfully, the Complete page appears. Review the summary and click Close.
  19. Verify the SQL Server installation by installing and opening SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) (or any other database management tool) and connecting to the installed instance using the appropriate credentials.

Tip: Apply any necessary updates or service packs after installation to ensure you have the latest features and security patches.

5. Use Typical Manager Control Center

With Typical Manager Control Center you can easily manage your Typical Manager databases — you don't need to use your default SQL database environment.

Every time a new version of Typical Manager is released, a new version of Typical Manager Control Center is also released. The Control Center version that ships with Typical Manager 2026 is the version you should use to migrate, update, and manage 2026 databases.

For full instructions on how to use Typical Manager Control Center, please consult the Typical Manager Help:

https://help.typicalmanager.com

What you can do with Control Center

  • View all Typical Manager databases on a connected SQL server, including their version, size, and active connections.
  • Create, update, clean, rename, copy, and delete databases.
  • Manage users and user settings.
  • Optimize database settings to align with the recommended configuration (see the Optimize database option in the right-click menu).
  • Open SQL Management Studio directly from the right-click menu.

6. Using Windows and SQL users to log in to Typical Manager

Typical Manager supports two login methods:

  1. Windows authentication
  2. SQL Server authentication

After installation, a default user is created:

  • Login: Admin
  • Password: 1234

Important: All Typical Manager users must be defined in SQL Server Management Studio, because each user needs access to the SQL database that Typical Manager uses. A single user or a group from your Active Directory can be added to the SQL server.

6.1 Create a user with Windows Authentication

To create a user that can log in via Windows authentication:

  1. In SQL Server Management Studio, expand Security.
  2. Right-click Logins and click New Login.
  3. Fill in the Login name — this must exactly match the Windows name of the user.
  4. Switch to Server Roles (see permissions below).

6.2 Create a user with SQL Authentication

A SQL user is created in the same way as a Windows user, with a few differences:

  1. Fill in the Login name.
  2. Select the SQL Server authentication radio button.
  3. Fill in a password that will be used when logging in to Typical Manager.
  4. If no password policy is required, deselect the Enforce password policy checkbox.
  5. Switch to Server Roles.

Server roles & user mapping

When configuring permissions:

  • Sysadmin — Choose this if the user must connect to all databases and also log in to SQL Server Management Studio.

Note: Users that do not have the Server role Sysadmin are not able to backup/restore databases or create new users.

  • Limited access — If a user only needs access to selected database(s), switch to User Mapping:
    • Select the database(s) the user may have access to.
    • Set the Default Schema to dbo.
    • Select the Database role membership: db_typicalmanager.

The user is now created and has permission to one or more databases.

After this, a Typical Manager user must also be created in Typical Manager itself. This is explained in the Typical Manager Help: https://help.typicalmanager.com

7. Troubleshooting — SQL server

Allow remote connections to the SQL server

The first thing to check is whether Remote Connections are enabled on your SQL Server.

  1. Open SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the server in question.
  2. Right-click the server and open Server Properties.
  3. Navigate to Connections and ensure that "Allow remote connections to this server" is checked.

If this resolves the issue, you're all set. If not, continue with the next checks.

Protocols for MSSQLServer

If you're still running into issues, check the SQL Server Network Configuration:

  1. Open the SQL Server Configuration Manager.
  2. Expand the node SQL Server Network Configuration.
  3. Select Protocols for MSSQLServer (or whatever the name of your SQL Server instance is).
  4. Make sure TCP/IP is enabled, then try again.

The Firewall

If there is still no communication between your computer and the remote SQL Server, you most likely need to configure your firewall settings.

The following ports must be added to your inbound rules:

ServicePortDescription
SQL Server default instance running over TCPTCP port 1433The most common port allowed through the firewall. Applies to routine connections to the default installation of the Database Engine, or to a named instance that is the only instance running on the computer.
SQL Server Browser serviceUDP port 1434Listens for incoming connections to a named instance and provides the client the TCP port number for that named instance. Normally started whenever named instances of the Database Engine are used. Not required if the client is configured to connect to the specific port of the named instance.

Allow the SQL Server program through the firewall

You may also need to allow the SQL Server program itself through the firewall:

  1. On the Exceptions tab of the Windows Firewall item in Control Panel, click Add a program.
  2. Browse to the location of the SQL Server instance you want to allow through the firewall, for example:
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.<instance_name>\MSSQL\Binn
  3. Select sqlservr.exe, then click Open.
  4. Click OK.

For more details, see Microsoft's documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc646023.aspx

Need Help?

If you have any questions about the installation of Typical Manager 2026 or run into issues that aren't covered here, please contact the Typical Manager Support.