Overview

This article lists the hardware and fax device requirements for installing GFI FaxMaker. It also lists the compatible Windows Server and client operating systems and mail servers.

These requirements must be met to install the GFI FaxMaker successfully.

Solution

Hardware Requirements

Install GFI FaxMaker on a server with the following minimum specifications.

Component

Minimum requirement

Processor

Intel Pentium or compatible - 2GHz 64-bit processor

Memory

1GB RAM (dedicated to GFI FaxMaker)

Physical storage

500 MB required for GFI FaxMaker installation only.

Note: Temporary fax storage, archiving, and backup will require additional space depending on the amount and size of faxes processed.

GFI FaxMaker requires at least one medium (fax device) that enables sending and receiving of faxes. The requirement for this is provided in the table below.

Component

Description

Fax device

Brooktrout, XCAPI & Modems.

For a complete list of supported devices, refer to the article Which fax devices does GFI FaxMaker support?.

For information on installing fax devices, refer to the article Installing fax devices.

Note: Minimum requirements for particular fax devices may be higher than GFI Faxmaker.

Important: Physical devices installed with virtual servers is not a supported environment.

Fax over IP

Use a supported Fax over IP (FoIP) implementation to transmit faxes over the IP network, such as a Voice Over Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (VoIP PBX), Media Gateway, or a SIP trunk provider.

For further information, refer to the article Fax over IP (FoIP) implementations.

Online fax service

An account with a supported online fax provider.

To use this service, the GFI FaxMaker machine must be able to connect to the fax provider via the internet.

Software Requirements

Install GFI FaxMaker on any 64-bit versions of the operating systems listed below.

Operating system (64-bit only)	Supported Editions
Windows Server®2019	Supported editions: Datacenter, Standard & Essentials
Windows Server®2016	Supported editions: Datacenter, Standard & Essentials
Windows Server®2012 R2	Supported editions: Standard, Datacenter, Essentials & Foundation
Windows Server®2008 R2	Supported editions: Standard & Enterprise
Windows® SBS 2011	Supported editions: Standard & Premium
Windows® 10	Supported editions: Pro & Enterprise
Windows® 8 and 8.1	Supported editions: Pro & Enterprise
Windows® 7	Supported editions: Ultimate, Enterprise & Professional

Note: If sending faxes via email is a requirement, then a Windows Server operating system will be required to make use of the innate Internet Information Services Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (IIS SMTP) feature found in the server operating system.

GFI FaxMaker can be installed in an environment with any of the mail servers listed below.

Compatible Mail Servers
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 or later
Microsoft Exchange cluster environments 2010 or later
Lotus Notes/Domino
Hosted mail servers
Other SMTP/POP3 servers

Other required components

Component	Environment
Microsoft® .NET Framework 4 or higher	Required from GFI FaxMaker 2013 Service Release 3.
IIS SMTP Service	Required except when installing FaxMaker on the Microsoft® Exchange server Notes: Ensure the SMTP service is running in the services applet This service is not available on Microsoft® Windows 10, 8 or 7. In this case fax/SMS emails cannot be routed to FaxMaker via this service.
IIS WWW Service	Required to access the GFI FaxMaker web interface. If not found, this is automatically installed by GFI FaxMaker during installation.
Hub Transport Role	Required when installing on Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 or newer
Internet Explorer	Required for HTML cover pages

Backup Software Requirements

Backup software can cause GFI FaxMaker to malfunction if GFI FaxMaker is denied access to some of its files.

Backup GFI FaxMaker installation files only when GFI FaxMaker services are not running. From the Services applet, stop the following services:

GFI FaxMaker Fax Server
GFI FaxMaker Message Transfer Agent
GFI FaxMaker Attendant

Antivirus software requirements

Anti-virus software causes GFI FaxMaker to malfunction if GFI FaxMaker is denied access to some of its files. Add an anti-virus exclusion that prevents the anti-virus engine from scanning the GFI FaxMaker installation folder and other folders used by the product, such as the Text and XML API folders.

<..\Program Files\GFI\FaxMaker>
<..\Program Files\Common Files\GFI>

NOTE: If installing in a 64-bit environment, paths referenced above may be <..\Program Files (x86)\..> instead of <..\Program Files\...>

Firewall settings

Port	Protocol	Description
25, 465, 587	TCP	IIS SMTP used by FaxMaker to communicate with the mail server.
80, 443	TCP	The default port used to access the GFI FaxMaker web interface using a web browser. This can be customized in IIS, for example when using a secure HTTP connection which by default uses port 443.
135 - 139	TCP/UDP	Microsoft® file sharing Server Message Block (SMB) - Used by the GFI FaxMaker remote management tools to connect to the GFI FaxMaker share.
445	TCP/UDP	Direct-hosted SMB traffic without a network basic input/output system (NetBIOS) - Used by the GFI FaxMaker remote management tools to connect to the GFI FaxMaker share.
8555	TCP	Used by the FaxMaker Client and the Web Services API. This port can be opened when running the FaxMaker Configuration Wizard.
1720	TCP	When using a FoIP device, using the H.323 protocol for call setup.
5060	UDP	When using a FoIP device, using the SIP protocol for call setup.

Articles in this section

System Requirements for Installing FaxMaker