Setting up on a Windows server

This guide sets up the Surepass Server Edition on a Windows computer. Read Before you set up first.

Before you start

The server computer needs Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit, with at least 8 GB of memory (16 GB recommended) and 256 GB of storage. Two drives are recommended: one for the system, one for local backups. See Choosing your server computer.

Windows needs a valid licence (product key). Windows 11 is the better choice: Microsoft no longer gives Windows 10 free security updates.

Need a server computer, a Windows licence, or a school network? Contact Academium Plus or Academium support. Academium Plus sells preconfigured servers and genuine Microsoft licences, and gives a free quote for server computers and school networks.

1. Install the Server Edition

  1. Download Surepass Server Edition for Windows from the Academium downloads page.
  2. Open the downloaded file and follow the installer.
  3. Open Academium Surepass Server. The control panel opens.
  1. Open the Portal tab.
  2. Under Welcome back, enter the email and password of your school or centre administrator account. This is your Academium account. See Before you set up.
  3. Click Log In.
  4. If your account manages more than one branch, Select a branch: choose the branch this server is for.

The server prepares itself. This takes a minute or two.

Windows may ask for permission while the server sets itself up. Click Yes.

3. Set up the school

When the server has linked, the Portal tab may show School not set up yet.

  1. Make sure the server is running. If the status card says Server Stopped, click Start.
  2. In the Portal tab, click Set Up School.

This creates your school (or centre) and your administrator account on the server. Your administrator account uses the same email and password you just signed in with.

If it says Setup incomplete, click Retry Setup. It is safe to run more than once.

4. Download the question bank

Once the school is set up, the Content Library in the Portal tab starts downloading your question bank, subjects, topics and comprehension passages. It can take a while on a slow connection. It carries on from where it stopped if the connection drops. See The Portal tab.

5. Connect your other computers

The Overview tab shows the address of your server and a Scan to connect QR code. Install the Client Edition on your lab and staff computers from the server's own download page. See Connecting computers to the server.

6. Sign in and set up your school

On any Client computer, sign in with your email and password. Then follow Your first sign-in.

Common problems

Start is greyed out and says "Connect a portal account to start". Sign in on the Portal tab first.

"These credentials do not match our records." Check the email and password. Use Forgot your password? under the sign-in form to reset it.

"This account is not enabled for the Server Edition." Only School Owner, School Admin, Centre Owner and Centre Admin accounts can set up a server.

"No school is linked to this account." Your account does not have Surepass on a school yet. Contact Academium support.

The server was set up on another computer before. Each account can run one server at a time. Signing in here signs the other server out.