The same answers the assistant gives, laid out to read or search. Each one says what to do first, why it happens, and which guide goes deeper.
Downloading or installing ServerMaid
Where does it get stuck? I cannot find the download
The installer is in your account, not on a public page: sign in at Your licences and press Download.
Downloads are tied to a licence, so the installer lives in your account: sign in and use Download ServerMaid. Your account was created when you bought; the licence e-mail has a button to set your password. If you have lost it, use Forgotten your password on the sign-in page and a fresh link is sent to the address you bought with.
The download is one installer for the app and the command line, plus your licence file. Copy both to the server's desktop.
Read more: Your account
Where does it get stuck? Chrome or Edge blocked the download
Chrome: open the downloads list, press the arrow beside ServerMaidSetup and choose Download suspicious file. Edge: press ... beside it, then Keep, then Keep anyway.
Browsers judge a download by its signature and by how many people have downloaded it before. ServerMaid is new and our code-signing certificate is still being issued, so Chrome and Edge are being careful, not reporting a problem with the file.
To check the file really is ours, compare its SHA-256 fingerprint with the one shown under Installing ServerMaid on your account page (in PowerShell: Get-FileHash ServerMaidSetup-*.exe). Only keep a copy you downloaded from your own account at servermaid.com.
Read more: Your account
Where does it get stuck? Windows shows a blue 'protected your PC' warning
That is SmartScreen being cautious about a new download. If you downloaded it from your own account at servermaid.com, choose More info, then Run anyway.
Our code-signing certificate is still being issued, so for now Windows lists the publisher as unknown and SmartScreen may warn. Only run an installer you downloaded from your own account at servermaid.com; if a copy reached you any other way, delete it and write to us.
Updates are different: ServerMaid checks every update itself before installing it. The update list is signed with our own key and each file must match its published fingerprint, so a tampered update is refused.
Where does it get stuck? The installer fails or closes straight away
Run it as an administrator, and let Windows finish any pending updates first.
Right-click the installer and choose Run as administrator; the installer needs it to register the Windows service. A server with a restart pending from Windows Update often refuses new installs until it has rebooted.
Check there is at least 10 GB free on the system drive, and if a third-party antivirus is installed, look in its quarantine. If it still fails, the installer writes a log next to itself; send us the last twenty lines with the Send us your issue button.
Read more: System requirements
Where does it get stuck? It installed but I cannot find it
Open the Start menu and type ServerMaid. The app is also at C:\Program Files\ServerMaid.
The installer adds a Start menu entry and the servermaid command line. Open an elevated prompt and run servermaid inspect to check the command line is there; it is read-only and safe to run any time.
ServerMaid will not open, or says it is locked
What do you see when it opens? A red banner and only the licence card, everything else greyed
No licence is installed yet. Copy your .smlicence file to the server and install it from the Settings page.
ServerMaid does nothing on a server, not even a scan, until a valid licence is installed. Download the licence file from Your licences, put it on the server's desktop, and ServerMaid offers to install it when it starts. It then activates online with servermaid.com, which needs outbound HTTPS from the server.
If the file is on the desktop and nothing is offered, open Settings and use Install licence to pick the file.
Read more: Your account
What do you see when it opens? It says read-only adviser, or modules are paused
The licence has lapsed. Renew it from Your licences, download the renewed file and install it.
A single-server licence covers twelve months. When it ends, everything already built keeps running, but ServerMaid stops making changes and stops installing updates until it is renewed. Renewal is done from your account at the reduced renewal price; the renewed licence file is downloaded there and installed on the server the same way as the first one.
Read more: Your account · Pricing and renewals
What do you see when it opens? It says the licence is for a different server
Licences lock to the server they first activate on. If that server is gone, write to us with your order reference and we free it the same day.
The lock is what stops one licence building server after server. Moving is not self-service; the account page shows which server each licence is on. Replaced or rebuilt the machine? Send us your issue with the order reference and the new server's name and we release it.
Read more: Your account · Licence terms
What do you see when it opens? The window never appears
Check Task Manager for ServerMaid.App, then send us the tail of application.log.
If it is listed but shows nothing, end it and start ServerMaid again from the Start menu. If it is not listed at all, the app is stopping during start-up; the reason is in application.log in the ServerMaid data folder (Settings shows the path, or search the Program Files folder for it). Paste the last twenty lines into the form below.
Is my server supported?
Which Windows is the server running? Windows Server 2019, 2022 or 2025
Supported. That is exactly what ServerMaid is built for, on any provider's VPS or dedicated server.
It needs the 64-bit edition (the only kind those versions come in), a local administrator account, 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of free disk, and outbound HTTPS so it can fetch official PHP and MySQL builds and Let's Encrypt certificates. No inbound port is needed for ServerMaid itself.
Fresh from the provider is best. ServerMaid detects existing IIS, PHP or MySQL installs and reports them, but never replaces something it did not install.
Read more: System requirements
Which Windows is the server running? Windows Server 2016 or older (2012, 2008, 2003)
Not supported. ServerMaid needs Windows Server 2019 or newer.
Those versions are out of Microsoft's mainstream support and lack the IIS, TLS and PowerShell features ServerMaid relies on. Running a public website on them is a security risk regardless of what tool you use.
The good news: any VPS provider will give you a fresh Windows Server 2022 or 2025 machine for the same money. Build the new server with ServerMaid, then move the websites across with ServerMaid Migrate.
Read more: System requirements
Which Windows is the server running? Windows 10 or 11 (a desktop PC or laptop)
For evaluation only. ServerMaid installs and runs, but a desktop edition is not a place to host a public website.
Windows 10 and 11 limit concurrent connections, sleep, restart for updates on their own schedule and sit behind home routers with changing addresses. Use one to try ServerMaid out, then build a proper server.
If you really do want to host from home, read the honest guide first: it covers dynamic DNS, port forwarding, CGNAT and uptime.
Read more: Hosting a website from home · System requirements
Which Windows is the server running? Windows XP, 7, 8, or something else entirely
Not supported, and please do not put that machine on the internet.
Windows XP, 7 and 8 stopped receiving security fixes years ago. ServerMaid will not install on them, and nothing else should be hosted on them either.
Rent a Windows Server 2022 or 2025 VPS (a few pounds a month from most providers) and build it with ServerMaid in one click.
Read more: System requirements
Let us check the basics first. I cannot connect to the server at all
Check the server is actually running before anything else.
Sign in to your hosting provider's control panel. Is the server shown as running, not stopped, suspended or awaiting payment? Most panels have a Console or VNC button that shows the screen even when the network is down. If it boots there, the problem is the network path, not the server.
Physical box in a cupboard? Power light on, network cable clicked in at both ends, router lights blinking. It happens to everyone.
If the console works but Remote Desktop does not, your address has probably changed and the firewall is doing its job. Follow the Remote Desktop branch below.
Read more: Locked out by a firewall rule
A build stopped or failed
Which step did it stop at? Pre-flight checks
Pre-flight names the exact check that failed. The usual ones are outbound HTTPS, free disk and memory.
The server must reach windows.php.net, dev.mysql.com or mariadb.org and letsencrypt.org over HTTPS. Some providers ship a firewall with outbound blocked; some corporate networks proxy it. Test from the server: open a browser and load https://windows.php.net/download/.
Pre-flight also wants 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of free disk, and reports existing IIS, PHP or MySQL installs. It never replaces something it did not install, so a server with a half-configured stack is best reimaged fresh.
Read more: System requirements
Which step did it stop at? Validate the server: Port 80
Update ServerMaid. Since 1.3.28 that check waits until you add your first website.
Older builds validated port 80 straight after setup, before any website existed to answer on it, and reported a failure that was not one. Settings, Check for updates, then Retry failed steps. Once a website is added, the check runs for real: port 80 must be reachable from the internet for Let's Encrypt to issue certificates.
Which step did it stop at? A red step somewhere else
Press Retry failed steps. If it fails again, press Repair, then send us the step name and the log.
Every step is journaled. Retry re-runs only what failed; Repair compares the whole server with what it should be and puts right the parts ServerMaid manages. Nothing is rolled back without asking.
Still red? The step name and the last lines of application.log tell us almost everything. Use the button below and we will look at it.
Read more: IIS website stopped working
Which step did it stop at? It finished, but with warnings
Warnings are advice, not failures. The dashboard shows each one with a Fix button where ServerMaid can act.
A fresh server usually warns about the certificate renewal test (nothing to renew yet) or a recent backup (none taken yet, or the first one just ran). Both clear themselves. Anything ServerMaid can act on has a Fix button beside it; anything it cannot, such as pending Windows updates, is explained in plain English so you can.
Read more: Untested backups are not backups
I am locked out of Remote Desktop
How did it happen? My home or office address changed
Sign in at Your licences and press Let me in from this address. The server picks it up within ten minutes.
ServerMaid limits Remote Desktop to the addresses you approved, which is what keeps the password-guessing bots out. When your ISP hands you a new address, the rule no longer matches you. The rescue on the account page adds your current address; the server checks for rescues every ten minutes.
If you cannot wait, the provider's console lets you run the rescue command from the guide directly on the server.
Read more: Locked out by a firewall rule · Your account
How did it happen? I applied a firewall change and the connection dropped
Wait. Any change that could affect remote access runs with an auto-revert timer and undoes itself.
ServerMaid refuses an allow list that leaves out the address you are connected from, and every risky firewall change reverts on a timer unless you confirm it from inside the session. Give it ten minutes, then reconnect. If it is still closed, use the provider's console and the rescue command from the guide.
Read more: Locked out by a firewall rule
How did it happen? I am not sure, it just stopped working
Use your provider's console to reach the server, then run the console rescue from the guide.
Every VPS provider has a Console or VNC view in its control panel that works even when Remote Desktop is closed. The guide has the exact rescue command to paste (watch the pipe and at characters, some consoles mangle them). Once you are back in, the Remote Desktop access page in ServerMaid lists the allowed addresses so you can add your own with a note.
Read more: Locked out by a firewall rule · Stop RDP brute-force attacks
A website or SSL certificate is not working
What is wrong with it? The domain does not reach the server
Check the domain's A record points at the server's public address, then give DNS up to an hour.
At your registrar, the A record for the domain (and www) must hold the server's IP address. ServerMaid's website form checks DNS before it orders a certificate and tells you what it found. Changes take minutes to hours to spread; the step-by-step guide walks through it.
Read more: From domain name to live website
What is wrong with it? The SSL certificate failed or has expired
Let's Encrypt must reach the site on port 80 at the domain name. Fix DNS first, then re-run the certificate from the Websites page.
Certificates are validated over plain HTTP: the domain must resolve to this server and port 80 must be open from the internet. Once issued, a scheduled task renews before expiry while the licence is in date. A certificate that has expired means renewals stopped: the guide covers the causes and ServerMaid's Repair puts the renewal task back.
Read more: Free SSL on Windows Server · Expired SSL certificate on IIS
What is wrong with it? The site shows an error page
Open the dashboard: the health score names what changed, and the Fix button beside it puts it right.
A Windows update, a permissions change or a PHP problem are the usual suspects. FastCGI process exited unexpectedly is a PHP runtime or php.ini issue; Access is denied is folder permissions. Both have guides, and Repair handles the parts ServerMaid manages.
Read more: IIS website stopped working · FastCGI process exited unexpectedly · IIS folder permissions
What is wrong with it? WordPress pages give 404 except the home page
Pretty permalinks need URL Rewrite rules in web.config. ServerMaid writes them when it creates the site.
On IIS, WordPress permalinks need the rewrite rules that Apache gets from .htaccess. A site created by ServerMaid has them; a site copied in by hand usually does not. Repair the site from the Websites page, or follow the guide to add the rules.
Read more: WordPress on Windows Server and IIS
Licence, renewal or billing
What do you need to do? Renew a licence
Sign in at Your licences, press Renew beside the licence, then download and install the renewed file.
Renewal is at the reduced renewal price shown on the account page and adds twelve months to the current end date, so renewing early loses nothing. The renewed licence file replaces the old one on the server: put it on the desktop and ServerMaid offers to install it.
Read more: Your account · Pricing and renewals
What do you need to do? Move a licence to another server
Write to us with the order reference. Licences are locked to a server, and we release the slot the same day.
The lock stops a licence being shared, so moving is not self-service. Tell us which server has died or been replaced and we free it. Agency licences cover several servers at once, each locked in the same way.
Read more: Licence terms
What do you need to do? A refund
Within 30 days of a first purchase, e-mail support with the order reference and we put it right or refund.
The 30-day money-back promise covers a first single-server licence and the first year of an Agency subscription. For an Agency renewal, cancel before the renewal date instead. Refunds go back to the card used.
Read more: Licence terms
What do you need to do? A receipt or VAT invoice
Your receipt was e-mailed by Stripe at purchase, and every order is listed in your account.
Search your mail for the Stripe receipt; the account page lists orders with references. Need it addressed to a company? Send us the order reference and the details and we reissue it.
Read more: Your account
Your account and licences
What do you need a hand with? Downloading ServerMaid or my licence file
Both are on this page once you are signed in.
Download ServerMaid (the Download section, or the link at the top) gets the installer. Download licence file on each licence card gets that licence.
Download ServerMaid + licence gives both in one zip with a read-me: unpack it onto the server's desktop and run the installer; ServerMaid finds the licence there when it first opens.
Read more: Download ServerMaid · The ServerMaid manual
What do you need a hand with? Installing my licence on a server
Copy the licence file onto the server, then open ServerMaid.
On first start ServerMaid looks for a licence on the desktop, in Downloads and in the folder the installer ran from, and offers it. Otherwise open Settings and choose the .smlicence file.
The licence then activates with servermaid.com and is tied to that server. The server appears on its licence card here after its first check-in.
Read more: The ServerMaid manual
What do you need a hand with? A server shows Needs attention
Open ServerMaid on that server: the dashboard lists what needs attention, each with a Fix button.
The status on this page is the server's latest health check, sent when it checks in. Repair puts back anything that has drifted from how ServerMaid built it, one previewed step at a time.
Once it is fixed, the status here updates at the server's next check-in.
Read more: The ServerMaid manual
What do you need a hand with? Naming a server
Press Name this server under the server on its licence card.
The name is only for you, for example "Shop server" or "Client A". The Windows host name stays underneath it, and clearing the name shows the Windows name again.
What do you need a hand with? Moving a licence to a new server
A licence is locked to the server it activates on, so moves go through support.
If a server has died or is being replaced, e-mail support@servermaid.com with the order reference from the licence card and we free the slot for the new server.
Moving the websites too? ServerMaid Migrate on the licence card exports sites and databases from the old server for Import on the new one.
Read more: Licence terms
