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System Requirements

Last updated: 27 May 2025

System Requirements and Technical Issues

ControlWORQ requires a minimum of one server on which to install the application components. Most customers use the same server as the Planning Analytics Server, since system requirements are fairly minimal for ControlWORQ.

Hardware Requirements

The ControlWORQ Server reads and writes data to both the Planning Analytics Server and to a relational database. It communicates with Excel and Web clients through web services hosted in a ControlWORQ Windows Service. The minimal system requirements for all ControlWORQ Server components, including its web application, are:

Processor

2.0 gigahertz (GHz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processors are recommended.

A minimum of 2 available cores is recommended when running all ControlWORQ Server components on a single server if there are less than 5 concurrent ControlWORQ users. If more than 5 ControlWORQ users will be accessing the ControlWORQ Server concurrently then additional processor cores are recommended.

Memory

4 gigabyte (GB) or more of available RAM is recommended. More memory may be needed if you plan to:

  • Work with very large Planning Analytics models through ControlWORQ (e.g., hundreds of thousands of dimension elements)
  • Work with large numbers of Journal Entries (e.g., thousands of entries each period)
  • Support large numbers of ControlWORQ users (e.g., over 50 users)

Disk Space

Disk space requirements are minimal; 3 GB of free disk space is recommended for all ControlWORQ Server components, combined.

  • The application files for ControlWORQ take up approximately 100MB of disk space.
  • The Web application and Windows service also use up very minimal disk space.
  • The SQL Server database will typically not require more than 2GB of disk space.

Monitor/Screen Resolution

The ControlWORQ client applications and ControlWORQ Configuration/Administration Application are best run at a minimum resolution of 1024x768 or higher.

Software Requirements

Operating System

Supported Server Operating Systems (all editions)

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016

⚠️ Note: We strongly recommend applying all critical Microsoft updates and installing any available service packs before installing ControlWORQ.

.NET Framework

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 is required by ControlWORQ. The ControlWORQ Server installation package will attempt to download and install this component, or you can download and install it in advance: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17718

Microsoft SQL Server

All editions of the following versions of SQL Server, with the exception of Compact Edition, are supported for use with ControlWORQ, including the free Express editions of the product:

  • SQL Server 2008 with SP4
  • SQL Server 2008 R2 with SP3
  • SQL Server 2012 with SP3
  • SQL Server 2014 with SP2
  • SQL Server 2016 with SP1

Please refer to Microsoft's own documentation for information on SQL Server system requirements: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506.aspx

IBM Cognos Planning Analytics Software

ControlWORQ needs to establish connections with a Planning Analytics (now called Planning Analytics Local) Server using the Planning Analytics API. ControlWORQ requires a copy of the Planning Analytics API files (bin folder) that matches the processor type and Planning Analytics version used by the Planning Analytics Server.

To see the list of IBM Cognos Planning Analytics versions that are supported by IBM, please refer to the support lifecycle information provided by IBM: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/support/lifecycle/

If ControlWORQ is running on the same machine as the Planning Analytics Server, then these files will already be available. If not, then these files either need to be installed using the appropriate IBM Cognos Planning Analytics installation program or copied from another server or workstation.

As noted in the ControlWORQ User Guide, the Planning Analytics Perspectives add-in is also recommended in order to use the ControlWORQ Excel add-in most efficiently.