Installing an Open Dental Server for a Dublin Practice

An Open Dental server install starts with Microsoft .NET, the vendor's installer and its database engine, an opening for port 3306 on the server, and either a blank database for a new practice or the practice's existing data. After that come the shared image folder, the data paths, and the first workstation. In a Dublin office it is usually done in one evening, remotely, once the machine is racked and plugged in.

Last updated: November 2026

What does the server need before the installer runs?

• A supported operating system. The vendor lists Windows 11 and Windows Server 2016 through 2025, notes that the server can also run Linux or macOS, and stopped supporting Windows 10 on October 14, 2025.
• A short name. The vendor recommends a server name of fewer than 15 characters, because of a Windows limit.
• Disk space for what grows. The vendor puts a typical server install at 1 to 2 GB plus the size of the database and the image folder, and recommends SSD or NVMe drives without requiring them. The image folder is the part that grows every year.
• Memory. The vendor recommends 4 to 8 GB in general and notes that the computer running the database may need more, especially with the InnoDB storage engine.
• A battery backup. Listed as optional but recommended, because it can prevent data loss on the machine running the database.

Which database engine gets installed?

The vendor's installer supports MySQL 5.5 and MariaDB 10.5, and its troubleshooting page says any other MySQL version is unsupported and may cause problems. The same page says MySQL must use the MyISAM default engine, not InnoDB, configured in the my.ini file. The vendor's migration page adds that installs after July 14, 2021 normally use MariaDB, and that MariaDB 10.5 and 10.11 are both available from its trial installer.

Two things are set at install time and are painful to change later: the storage engine, and the database password. The vendor recommends setting a MySQL user and password when the installer asks, and warns that a blank password must be confirmed on purpose.

What about RAID?

Many servers mirror their drives. The vendor's MySQL troubleshooting page records that on an initial install or migration onto RAID, MySQL error 1067 or error 87 can appear. If either shows up the first time the service starts, the drive layout is the place to look before reinstalling anything.

What about antivirus and the firewall?

The vendor's antivirus page is specific about firewalls. Many antivirus products bring their own software firewall; the vendor recommends using the Windows firewall instead and turning the antivirus firewall off. If the antivirus firewall stays, port 3306 must be opened in it too, and the vendor notes this only needs doing on the server, not on each workstation.

The same page is equally firm that every computer must run real-time antivirus protection. The two rules work together: antivirus on, with the database and image folders treated so the scanner does not lock files the program is writing, and the database port open on the server's own firewall and nowhere else. The vendor's security page adds the rule that matters most at install time: the database port is never opened on the router, because exposing the database service to the internet is not secure.

Sharing OpenDentImages on the network

The vendor's steps share the OpenDentImages folder on the server with read and write access, so the network path reads \\SERVER\OpenDentImages, and give matching permissions on the folder's Security tab. Its troubleshooting note for a share that stops working after a Windows upgrade: confirm the server's Windows user has a password, reboot, and save that sign-in on each workstation.

The vendor's example grants access to Everyone. That gets the share working on day one; it is then narrowed to the office's own accounts, because "everyone" on a network includes every device that joins it.

Inside the program, Setup, Data Paths points at that share. The vendor's instruction is to verify every path before pointing any other computer at the server, and it offers a per-computer path override for the odd machine that needs one.

Where does the server go?

In a small office the vendor says one workstation is usually designated as the server and, if possible, used only for that; larger offices typically run Windows Server with a domain. Whichever it is, it sits on a wired connection to the main switch, on a battery, somewhere with airflow, and set never to sleep.

A Dublin office has one more choice to weigh. The city's Dublink Transport carries a business's data from its building to a local carrier-neutral data center at no cost. A server in such a data center, reached over that transport, is a middle path between a closet and a public cloud. It still needs the Middle Tier or a VPN, and it still needs someone running it.

What else shares that network?

The card terminal at the front desk usually does. The state Data Protection Act accepts a program that complies with the card industry's PCI security standard together with another listed framework, which is a reminder that the payment device and the database server live on the same office network and are planned together, ideally kept on separate network segments.

Who keeps the passwords?

An install creates several credentials at once: the Windows administrator on the server, the MySQL user and password, and the program's own first administrator. The vendor's MySQL page warns against handing database credentials to third-party vendors, noting that read-only access is generally safe but full control is dangerous and goes around the program's user security. Each credential is written down once, stored somewhere the practice controls, and never left on a sticky note on the server.

The handover checklist

1. The database service starts on its own after a reboot, with nobody signed in.
2. A workstation connects by server name, then by address, with the MySQL login. The computer requirements page covers the workstation side.
3. An image saved on one workstation opens on another.
4. The first backup runs, and a restore opens on a separate machine.
5. Windows updates are scheduled to restart the server after hours, and the server's power plan is set so it never sleeps.

Questions practices ask

How do I install Open Dental on a new computer?

A workstation installs from the server's image folder, not from a download; only the server gets the database engine and the image folder.

Will the vendor do the install?

The vendor supplies the installer and supports the program; the hardware, Windows, the network and the share permissions are the practice's IT side.

Should we host it in the cloud instead?

Possibly. The cloud hosting page starts with the internet test that decides it.