Install and customize AdGUARD: from setup to white-label

From the downloaded setup to a fully branded audit workstation in about fifteen minutes: installation, shared-machine behaviour, offline licence activation, white-label customization and per-client report branding.

Before you install: prerequisites

AdGUARD is a self-contained Windows desktop application. You need:

• Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2019+, 64-bit;
• administrator rights for the installation only — the setup creates the shared data folder with the right permissions;
• nothing else: no agent, no database server, no framework to pre-install. The audit itself is strictly read-only against the Microsoft domains you assess.

Step 1 — Run the installer

Launch the setup and follow the wizard. Behind the scenes it does two things:

• installs the application under Program Files;
• creates the data folder C:\ProgramData\AdGUARD — companies, control packs, audit history and exports live there, with permissions that let every Windows account on the machine read and write them.

Step 2 — First launch

Three quick actions make the workstation operational:

1. Activate the licence — Settings > Licence, paste the key. Activation is fully offline: nothing ever leaves the machine, which matters when the workstation lives in an air-gapped audit room.
2. Create the first company — the Companies page holds one isolated workspace per audited client: name, Microsoft domain, contact, sector, internal reference. Settings, connectors and audit history are strictly separated per company.
3. Configure a first connector — start with Active Directory. Automatic provisioning creates the read-only app registration for you.

Step 3 — Make it yours: white-label branding

AdGUARD is built for consultancies and MSPs who deliver reports under their own name. Open Settings > Customization and fill in your identity once — it is applied everywhere:

From then on, every deliverable — detailed report, executive summary, remediation plan, framework view — carries your brand across all 173 controls.

Step 4 — Customize per client

Branding also works at the company level. Open a company sheet to set:

• the client's logo — it lands on the dark cover page of the executive report, in the "Audited company" block, exactly where a CISO expects it;
• the export preferences — which formats to produce (CSV, JSON, Excel, HTML, PDF) and which report type to favour for this client.

Step 5 — Theme and language

Two last switches, one click away on the dashboard:

• Dark / light theme — applied instantly to the whole interface;
• English / French — interface and generated reports are fully bilingual, so you can work in one language and deliver in the other.

Post-install checklist

• Licence activated (Settings > Licence);
• first company created with its domain reference;
• at least one connector configured, connection test green;
• branding filled in (Settings > Customization) — generate a blank PDF to check the rendering;
• first audit launched, report reviewed with your logo on it.

Total time from download to a white-labelled, audit-ready workstation: about fifteen minutes.