IT Setup Guide — Weld AI Installation Prerequisites

🪟

Windows PC or Workstation

Windows 10 (21H2+) or Windows 11 — most common for small firms

✓ Most common install

Requirements

Windows 10 (21H2 or later) or Windows 11
8GB RAM minimum — 16GB recommended
20GB free disk space
Outbound internet access (HTTPS port 443) to api.anthropic.com
Administrator account for installation

✅

Minimal IT preparation needed On most Windows 10/11 PCs, IT enables WSL2 in advance with a single command (Step 2 below). We then handle Docker Desktop install, Weld AI setup, and SSL during the installation call.

1

Confirm Administrator access

Weld AI installation requires Administrator rights. Confirm an Administrator account will be available during the installation call.

2

Confirm WSL2 is enabled Required before install call

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --status

Must show Default Version: 2. Also run:

wsl

You should get a Linux prompt (e.g. user@hostname:~$). Type exit to return. If WSL2 is not working, enable it before booking the installation call — we cannot proceed without it.

💡

On most Windows 10/11 PCs, WSL2 just needs enabling. Run wsl --install in PowerShell as Administrator and restart. If you have issues, email us and we will help.

3

Open firewall ports (multi-user only)

Only needed if staff will access Weld AI from other PCs on the network. Open inbound TCP ports 80 and 443 in Windows Firewall:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Weld AI HTTP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Weld AI HTTPS" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443 -Action Allow

4

Confirm static IP or DHCP reservation

For staff to reliably reach Weld AI, the PC should have a fixed IP address. Ask your network administrator to assign a static IP or create a DHCP reservation for this machine.

🖥️🐧

Windows Server + Ubuntu VM

Recommended for Windows Server — full network share support, simpler than direct install

★ Recommended for servers

💡

What is a Ubuntu VM? A virtual machine (VM) is a self-contained computer running inside your Windows Server, managed by Hyper-V — Microsoft's built-in virtualisation platform. The Ubuntu VM runs Linux, where Docker works natively and can access your network shares directly. It is completely isolated from your main server and can be removed at any time without affecting anything else.

Requirements

Windows Server 2022 (any edition)
Hyper-V role enabled
16GB RAM on the host server (4GB allocated to Ubuntu VM)
40GB free disk space for the VM
Outbound internet access (HTTPS port 443)
Administrator access to Hyper-V Manager

Part A — Enable Hyper-V

1

Check if Hyper-V is already enabled

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Get-WindowsFeature Hyper-V

If InstallState shows Installed — skip to Part B. If not, continue.

2

Install the Hyper-V role

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-V -IncludeManagementTools -Restart

The server will restart automatically.

Part B — Create the Ubuntu VM

3

Download Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS ISO

Download from: ubuntu.com/download/server

Choose Ubuntu Server 22.04.x LTS — approximately 1.5GB.

4

Create the VM in Hyper-V Manager

Open Hyper-V Manager as Administrator. Right-click your server name → New → Virtual Machine and use these settings:

Name: WeldAI-Ubuntu
Generation: Generation 1
RAM: 4096 MB — tick Use Dynamic Memory
Networking: Default Switch
Hard disk: Create new — 40GB
Installation: Install from ISO — browse to Ubuntu ISO

⚠️

Set boot order before first start Before starting the VM, right-click it → Settings → BIOS. Move DVD Drive to the top of the boot order so the VM boots from the Ubuntu ISO. After Ubuntu is installed you can move it back — the VM will then boot from the hard disk automatically.

5

Install Ubuntu

Start the VM and connect via Hyper-V Manager. Follow the Ubuntu Server installer — accept defaults. When asked:

Install OpenSSH server — Yes (enables remote access)
Additional snaps — skip

Set a memorable username and password — you'll need these for the installation call.

6

Note the VM's IP address

Once Ubuntu has booted, log in and run:

ip addr show

Note the IP address shown next to eth0 — we'll need this for the installation call.

7

Open firewall ports (multi-user only)

If staff will access Weld AI from other PCs, open ports 80 and 443 on the Windows Server firewall for the Ubuntu VM's IP address. We will advise on the exact rule during the installation call.

✅

That's all IT needs to do Once the Ubuntu VM is created and running, we handle everything else remotely — Docker, Weld AI, SSL certificates, and network share mounting.

Part C — Network Share Access (if documents are on a file server)

✅

Tested and working — Ubuntu can mount Windows file server shares directly Unlike the Windows Direct install, the Ubuntu VM can connect to Windows SMB/Samba shares. Weld AI indexes documents live from the share — no copying or nightly sync required. Tested with corporate domain credentials.

8

Confirm share details with IT

Before the installation call, confirm:

The UNC share path (e.g. \\fileserver\documents)
A Windows username with read access to the share
Whether it is a domain account (e.g. CORP\username) or local account
The Ubuntu VM can reach the file server on TCP port 445 (SMB)

9

Install CIFS utilities (we do this during install call)

sudo apt install cifs-utils -y

10

Mount the share

Create the mount point and mount the share. For a domain account:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/weldai-docs
sudo mount -t cifs //fileserver/documents /mnt/weldai-docs -o username=jamesw,domain=corp,vers=3.0

For a local/workgroup account:

sudo mount -t cifs //fileserver/documents /mnt/weldai-docs -o username=jamesw,vers=3.0

Verify the share is mounted:

df -h | grep weldai-docs

11

Make the mount permanent (survives reboot)

Create a credentials file to store the password securely:

sudo nano /etc/samba-creds

Add these lines (replace with actual values):

username=jamesw
password=yourpassword
domain=corp

Secure the file:

sudo chmod 600 /etc/samba-creds

Add to /etc/fstab for automatic mount on boot:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add this line at the bottom:

//fileserver/documents /mnt/weldai-docs cifs credentials=/etc/samba-creds,vers=3.0,_netdev 0 0

Test it:

sudo mount -a

💡

Performance note Indexing documents over a network share is slightly slower than indexing from a local folder — acceptable for most use cases. For very large document sets (500+ files), consider a nightly robocopy sync to a local folder instead. We will advise during the installation call.

🪟🖥️

Windows Server Direct

Weld AI installed directly on Windows Server 2022 — only when Ubuntu VM is not possible

⚠ Alternative only — Ubuntu VM preferred

⚠️

Consider the Ubuntu VM approach first Installing directly on Windows Server requires significant manual WSL2 configuration and does not support network shares. If Hyper-V is available on your server, the Ubuntu VM approach is strongly recommended instead.

Requirements

Windows Server 2022 with Desktop Experience (not Core)
16GB RAM minimum
20GB free disk space
Outbound internet access (HTTPS port 443)
Windows Update fully applied before starting
Administrator access

⚠️

Windows Update is mandatory before starting The inbox WSL on the Windows Server 2022 evaluation ISO is too old to support WSL2. Windows Update must be run to completion before WSL2 can be configured. This can take 30–60 minutes and multiple reboots.

1

Fix DNS (if needed)

If internet access works but domain names don't resolve, run this in PowerShell as Administrator:

Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet" -ServerAddresses "8.8.8.8","8.8.4.4"

Test with ping google.com — should return replies.

2

Run Windows Update to completion

This is the critical step that updates wsl.exe to a version that supports WSL2. Open PowerShell as Administrator:

Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Get-WindowsUpdate -Install -AcceptAll -AutoReboot

Allow all reboots. Run again after each reboot until no more updates are available.

💡

This step alone can take 30–60 minutes. The server may reboot 2–3 times. This is normal.

3

Enable WSL and Virtual Machine Platform features

Open PowerShell as Administrator:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Restart the server:

Restart-Computer

4

Update WSL

After restart, open PowerShell as Administrator. This should now download the full new WSL:

wsl.exe --update

You should see Downloading: Windows Subsystem for Linux followed by Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.

⚠️

If it only shows a warning about automatic updates with no download — Windows Update has not been completed. Go back to Step 2.

5

Set WSL2 as default

wsl --set-default-version 2

Should return: The operation completed successfully.

Verify with:

wsl --status

Should show Default Version: 2.

6

Install Ubuntu (Linux distribution for WSL2)

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

When prompted, set a username and password. Once you see the Linux prompt, type exit to return to PowerShell.

7

Open firewall ports (multi-user only)

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Weld AI HTTP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Weld AI HTTPS" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443 -Action Allow

✅

Ready to book — email us once WSL2 is confirmed working Once wsl --status shows Default Version: 2 and wsl gives a Linux prompt, email hello@weldai.uk to book. We handle Docker Desktop install, Weld AI setup, and SSL certificates remotely during the call.

🐧

Linux Server

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12 — simplest install, full network share support

✓ Recommended where possible

Requirements

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12
8GB RAM minimum — 16GB recommended
20GB free disk space
Outbound internet access (HTTPS port 443)
sudo access for installation

✅

Minimal IT preparation needed Docker Engine installs natively on Linux with no WSL2 complexity. We handle the full installation remotely. IT just needs to confirm the requirements above and provide SSH or screen-share access.

1

Confirm Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12

Check the OS version:

lsb_release -a

2

Ensure system is up to date

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

3

Open firewall ports (multi-user only)

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw reload

4

Network share access — confirm details (if applicable)

If documents are stored on a Windows file server, Linux can mount the share directly. Please confirm:

The UNC path to the share (e.g. \\fileserver\documents)
A username with read access (domain account e.g. CORP\username, or local account)
TCP port 445 is open between this server and the file server

We will install cifs-utils, configure the Samba mount, and add it to /etc/fstab during the installation call.

✅

Ready for the installation call Once these steps are done, we handle Docker, Weld AI, SSL certificates, and network share mounting remotely.

📂

Document Path Support Reference

Which document locations work with each install type — tested results

This table summarises where your documents can live and which install type supports each location. All results are from real-world testing.

Document Location	Windows PC	Win Server + Ubuntu VM	Win Server Direct	Linux Server
Local drive C:\docs or /home/user/docs	✅	✅	✅	✅
USB / external drive Must stay connected	✅	✅	✅	✅
Windows file server share \\server\documents	❌	✅ Tested	❌	✅ Tested
Mapped network drive Z:\docs	❌	✅ via Samba	❌	✅ via Samba
OneDrive / SharePoint synced folder Must be set to "Always keep on device"	✅	⚠️ Complex	⚠️ Complex	⚠️ Complex
NFS mount Linux-to-Linux file servers	❌	✅ Not tested	❌	✅ Not tested

💡

Documents on a Windows file server? The Windows Server + Ubuntu VM or Linux Server install types support live Samba mounts — no copying or syncing required. Corporate domain accounts (e.g. CORP\username) are supported. We configure the mount during the installation call.

⚠️

Windows PC or Windows Server Direct — network shares not supported Docker on Windows cannot mount network paths. If your documents are on a file server and you are using a Windows PC or Windows Server Direct install, we will set up a nightly robocopy sync to a local folder as a workaround. For best results, consider the Ubuntu VM install type instead.