Install on-premise AIC

To enable local integration, AIC is a small program that runs on the ECR computer or on a server in the store. Terminals connect to it, and your ECR connects to it. One AIC can serve one ECR with one terminal, one ECR with several terminals, or several ECRs with several terminals. If AIC runs on the ECR computer, the terminal can also connect with a single USB cable. See IP over USB.

Where AIC runs

The merchant installs AIC on each ECR or on a central server in the store. See Network requirements for the ports and firewall rules.

Install AIC

AIC runs on Windows or Linux, on the ECR computer or on a server in the store. It is one self-contained program, so there's nothing else to install. Choose Development mode while you test: AIC then also starts a simple ECR simulator in the browser. That is the only difference from Production mode, which you use in stores.

1. Get the AIC package (a zip file) from your Aera contact.
2. Unzip it into the folder where AIC should run.
3. Start AIC:
   • Windows (recommended): right-click install-service.bat and select Run as administrator. This installs AIC as a Windows service. Follow the instructions on the screen. When asked for the environment, choose Development (testing) or Production (stores).
   • Windows, quick test only: open Command Prompt in the AIC folder and start aic-service.exe --environment=Development. (Double-clicking aic-service.exe also starts AIC, but without the ECR simulator.)
   • Linux: start aic-service, for example as a systemd service. Add --environment=Development while you test.

Development and Production mode

How to choose the mode is in Install AIC. Before release, see Prepare your release.

Ports

Terminals connect to AIC on TCP 8001 and your ECR on TCP 8002. Firewall rules: see Network requirements.

Settings and logs

• Settings are in appsettings.json. Only change the UserSettings section. Other changes aren't supported.

  Setting	What it does
  EcrKeepAlive	true (default) or false. Whether AIC requires keep-alive messages from your ECR. You can turn it off while you develop. Turn it back on for production. See Connect your ECR

• Logs are in the log folder, one file per day, named AIC_<hostname>_<environment>_YYYYMMDD.log, for example AIC_ecr123_Production_20250226.log. AIC keeps the last 99 files.

• Version: AIC tells you its version in the HTTP response header Aera-AIC-Version. See Connect your ECR.

Next

New to AIC? Start with Set up your test environment.