How to self-host a markup server on your own network

The free TrueScale server launches with TrueScale’s first public release. This guide shows how it works, so you’re ready on day one.

When more than one person works on a job, the drawings need a home everyone can reach. The TrueScale server is that home, and it runs on hardware you already have: an office PC, a laptop that stays on, a NAS or a server. It is free to self host, and your drawings stay on your own machines.

What the server does

• Projects. Share folders of PDFs. They stay ordinary folders on the server’s disk, so if you stop the server, your files are still normal files.
• Check out and check in. While someone has a file checked out, everyone else can open it but not save it, and you can see who has it and since when.
• Live sessions. Several people on the same PDF at once. A markup someone adds, changes or deletes appears for the others within a second, and the status bar shows who is in.
• History. Every saved version is kept and can be restored, with a log of who changed which markup and when.

Pick a machine

Any computer on your office network that stays on during working hours will do. It does not need to be powerful: the server stores files and passes markups between people. Choose one with enough disk space for your projects and a backup plan you already trust.

Install on Windows

1. Unzip the TrueScale Server download and run install.cmd. It asks for administrator rights.
2. It installs the TrueScale Server service, which starts with Windows, and opens the firewall for private networks.
3. That is the server running. Setting it up comes next, from TrueScale itself.

There are also guides for Linux (a systemd service) and for a NAS with Docker (Synology, Unraid, QNAP) in the server install guide.

Set it up from TrueScale

You do not need a browser for the first set-up.

1. In TrueScale, choose File, TrueScale Server, Set Up a Server.
2. Enter the server’s address and its eight digit setup code. On the server PC itself, TrueScale fills the code in. On another PC, the code is in setup-code.txt in the server’s data folder.
3. Give the server a name and create the admin account.
4. Add your projects (a name and a folder on the server) and your people (a name, a password and a role: admin, editor or viewer).

Connect each PC

1. In TrueScale, open File, Open from TrueScale Server.
2. Servers on your network appear by themselves. Pick yours, or type its address.
3. Pair once: enter your user name and password, then type the six digit code the server shows. From then on, TrueScale trusts that server’s certificate and refuses any other.
4. Pick a project and open a PDF.

The file opens as a local copy. Saving also saves it back to the server as a new version, and the live session starts by itself.

Working together

• Check out a file when you are making big changes and do not want anyone saving over you. Check in when you are done.
• In a live session, everyone sees each other’s markups as they go. When two people change the same markup, the last change wins, the other person is told, and their version stays in the history.
• When someone saved since you opened your copy, TrueScale merges by markup when you save: their work stays and yours goes on top. Nothing is ever saved over someone else’s work.

Back it up

On the server’s page, Backup makes a zip of the server’s index, the kept versions and its certificate. Turn on the daily backup and choose how many to keep. Your project folders are your own files: back them up the way you back up anything else.

Use it from outside the office

The server serves your local network only; it does not relay through the internet. To reach it from home or from site, use your own VPN. The easiest is Tailscale, which is free for small teams:

1. Install Tailscale on the server and on each laptop, and sign in with the same account.
2. In TrueScale, add the server by its Tailscale name or address.

Over a VPN the server is not found by itself, so type its address.

Security in plain words

• All traffic between TrueScale and the server is encrypted, with the server’s own certificate pinned when you pair.
• Passwords are stored as salted hashes, never as the passwords themselves.
• Roles keep things tidy: admins set up projects and people, editors open, save and mark up, viewers look and follow along.

Updates

The server’s page tells you when a newer TrueScale Server is out. On Windows, Update now downloads it, checks it, and swaps it in. TrueScale and the server always share one version number, so keep them in step.

Next steps

Read the full server install guide for Linux, Docker, ports and files, or see what the server does at a glance.