1. IronSecureDoc
2. Tutorials
3. Host on Windows

Hosting on Windows

ByChaknith Bin

July 20, 2024

Updated  June 1, 2025

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IronSecureDoc is a Docker container designed to give you powerful PDF manipulation behind a simple REST API, without the hassle and overhead of online SaaS services. This guide will walk you through the steps to host IronSecureDoc on your machine, including setting up environment variables and a basic example of using the REST API. For the full API, view our REST API Reference

docker pull ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

docker pull ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

Prerequisites

• Windows Operating System
  • Windows 10 or later
  • Windows Server (2016, 2019, 2022) Note: may have extra steps required
• Programs
  • Docker Desktop for Windows installed and running

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Install Docker Desktop

If you haven't already installed Docker Desktop, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Docker Desktop download page.
2. Download the Docker Desktop installer for Windows.
3. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.
4. After installation, start Docker Desktop and make sure it's running.

2. Pull the "IronSecureDoc" Docker Image

Open a command prompt and pull the latest IronSecureDoc image from Docker Hub:

docker pull ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

docker pull ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

3. Run the Container Without Certificate

Run the Docker container with the necessary environment variables:

docker container run --rm -p 8080:8080 -e IronSecureDoc_LicenseKey=<IRONSECUREDOC_LICENSE_KEY> -e ENVIRONMENT=Development -e HTTP_PORTS=8080 ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

docker container run --rm -p 8080:8080 -e IronSecureDoc_LicenseKey=<IRONSECUREDOC_LICENSE_KEY> -e ENVIRONMENT=Development -e HTTP_PORTS=8080 ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

Apply a Trial or License Key to Remove Watermarks

4. Access the Container

Once the container is running, you can access IronSecureDoc by opening a web browser and navigating to:

http://localhost:8080/swagger/index.html

You should see the IronSecureDoc interface, indicating that your container is running successfully.

5. Run the IronSecureDoc Container With Certificate

If you need to run the container with a certificate, follow these steps to generate the certificate and configure the local machine:

1. Generate Certificate:

   dotnet dev-certs https -ep %USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https\ironsecuredoc.pfx -p <CREDENTIAL_PLACEHOLDER>
   dotnet dev-certs https --trust

   dotnet dev-certs https -ep %USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https\ironsecuredoc.pfx -p <CREDENTIAL_PLACEHOLDER>
   dotnet dev-certs https --trust

   SHELL

   Replace <CREDENTIAL_PLACEHOLDER> with a password.

2. Run the Docker Container:

   docker container run -d -p 8081:8081 -p 8080:8080 -e HTTP_PORTS=8080 -e HTTPS_PORTS=8081 -e IronSecureDoc_LicenseKey=<IRONSECUREDOC_LICENSE_KEY> -e ENVIRONMENT=Production -v %USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https:/https:ro -e CERTIFICATE_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https\ironsecuredoc.pfx -e CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD> ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

   docker container run -d -p 8081:8081 -p 8080:8080 -e HTTP_PORTS=8080 -e HTTPS_PORTS=8081 -e IronSecureDoc_LicenseKey=<IRONSECUREDOC_LICENSE_KEY> -e ENVIRONMENT=Production -v %USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https:/https:ro -e CERTIFICATE_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\.aspnet\https\ironsecuredoc.pfx -e CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD> ironsoftwareofficial/ironsecuredoc:latest

   SHELL

   Replace <IRONSECUREDOC_LICENSE_KEY> and <CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD> with your actual IronSecureDoc license key and certificate password respectively.

6. Managing the Container

You can manage your running container using Docker commands. Here are a few useful commands:

• Stop the container:

  docker stop <container-id>

  docker stop <container-id>

  SHELL

• Start the container:

  docker start <container-id>

  docker start <container-id>

  SHELL

• Remove the container:

  docker rm -f <container-id>

  docker rm -f <container-id>

  SHELL

Replace <container-id> with the actual container ID or name.

Environment Variables

The container can be configured using the following environment variables:

• PDF_MAX_SIZE_MB (Default: 30): Sets the maximum allowed file size for PDF uploads in Megabytes.
• REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (Default: 5): Sets the timeout duration in seconds for API requests. A value of -1 allows requests to run indefinitely.
• ALLOWED_ORIGINS: Configures Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) by specifying allowed origin URLs. Separate multiple URLs with commas. Use * or all to allow requests from any origin.
• HTTP_PORTS: Defines the HTTP ports the container exposes. This should match the port mapping using -p flag (e.g., 8080). Separate multiple ports with a semicolon (;).
• HTTPS_PORTS: Defines the HTTPS ports the container exposes. This should match the port mapping using -p flag (e.g., 8081). Separate multiple ports with a semicolon (;).
• IronSecureDoc_LicenseKey (Required): Sets the IronSecureDoc license key. Important: Do not share this value publicly.

Basic Example: Redact Text in a Document

For the full list of API endpoints, refer to the full REST API Reference.

Redact Text

curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/v1/document-services/pdfs/redact-text' -H 'accept: */*' -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' -F 'pdf_file=@/path/to/your/document.pdf;type=application/pdf' -F 'words_to_redact="sensitiveWord"' -F 'draw_black_box=true' -F 'match_whole_word=true' -F 'match_case=true'

curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/v1/document-services/pdfs/redact-text' -H 'accept: */*' -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' -F 'pdf_file=@/path/to/your/document.pdf;type=application/pdf' -F 'words_to_redact="sensitiveWord"' -F 'draw_black_box=true' -F 'match_whole_word=true' -F 'match_case=true'

Replace /path/to/your/document.pdf with the actual path to the document you want to redact and sensitiveWord with the word you want to redact.

Redact Regular Expression

curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/v1/document-services/pdfs/redact-regular-expression' -H 'accept: */*' -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' -F 'pdf_file=@/path/to/your/document.pdf;type=application/pdf' -F 'regular_expression="[0-9]"' -F 'draw_black_box=true'

curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/v1/document-services/pdfs/redact-regular-expression' -H 'accept: */*' -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' -F 'pdf_file=@/path/to/your/document.pdf;type=application/pdf' -F 'regular_expression="[0-9]"' -F 'draw_black_box=true'

Replace /path/to/your/document.pdf with the actual path to the document you want to redact and [0-9] with the regular expression you want to match and redact.

Conclusion

You have successfully hosted IronSecureDoc on your machine and configured it with necessary environment variables. You also learned how to interact with the IronSecureDoc REST API using cURL for both basic and advanced operations. For further configuration and usage details, refer to the full REST API Reference.

Chaknith Bin

  Chat with engineering team now

Software Engineer

Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.