Skip to main content

macOS Installer

The macOS installer is a signed, notarized .pkg that sets up the AmbirScan Web Connect scanning service on a Mac. Your web application does not change: the service answers the same REST API on https://localhost:53052, and the same JavaScript SDK works against it unmodified.

On macOS the scanner interface and the HTTPS service run as a single background process — there is no separate desktop app to start and no Windows-style service.

System Requirements​

RequirementDetails
macOSmacOS 13 Ventura or later
ProcessorApple Silicon or Intel. One package covers both; the installer picks the right build.
Scanner driverThe macOS ICA driver for your scanner must be installed. For Ambir scanners, install the Ambir ICA Driver 1.2.52 first.
BrowserSafari, Chrome or Edge. Firefox needs one extra setting.
AccountAn administrator account — macOS asks for an administrator password to install the package and to trust the HTTPS certificate

Download​

Installation​

  1. If you use an Ambir scanner, install the Ambir ICA Driver first: open AmbirIcaDriver.1.2.52.pkg and follow the installer.
  2. Open AmbirScannerBridge-4.1.0.0.pkg. The installer window is titled Ambir Scanner Bridge.
  3. Read and accept the license agreement.
  4. When asked, enter an administrator password. macOS asks for it to install the package and to trust the HTTPS certificate the installer creates for this Mac.
  5. When the installer finishes, the service is already running and starts automatically every time you log in.

Verify the Installation​

Open this address in your browser:

https://localhost:53052/health

You should see Healthy. You can also check from Terminal:

curl -sk https://localhost:53052/api/twain/status

What the Installer Sets Up​

ItemLocation
Service files/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge/
Background service (LaunchAgent)~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ambir.aswcn.scannerbridge.plist
HTTPS certificate ASWCN Scanner BridgePrivate key in your login keychain; trust setting in the System keychain
Logs~/Library/Logs/ASWCN/ScannerBridge/

The certificate is generated on the Mac during setup, is unique to each user account that sets it up, and is used only for connections from the browser to localhost.

Multiple Users and Managed Installs​

The service runs per user, because the certificate's private key lives in the user's own login keychain. The installer configures it for the user who is logged in while it runs.

Every other user of the same Mac — and every user when the package is installed with nobody logged in, for example over SSH or by a device-management tool — needs this one-time setup, run while logged in as that user. Use arm64 on Apple Silicon and x64 on Intel. The second command uses sudo, so it needs an administrator password; a standard user needs an administrator to enter it.

"/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge/arm64/ASWCNScannerBridgeDaemon" --install-cert
sudo "/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge/arm64/ASWCNScannerBridgeDaemon" --trust-cert
"/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge/install-agent.sh"
caution

Run the first and third commands without sudo. Running --install-cert with sudo puts the certificate's private key in the administrator's keychain, where the service can never read it.

Licensing and Settings​

There is no desktop app on macOS. Licensing and settings are managed from an admin page served by the service itself. Open it in a browser on the Mac where the service is installed:

https://localhost:53052/admin

From the admin page you can:

  • see the service status and which licensed features are active
  • activate or deactivate a license key
  • set preferred scanner defaults (resolution, color mode, page size, image format). These are suggestions a scanning page can read to pre-select its controls; they do not change what a scan request asks for.
  • change the logging level, how long logs are kept, and the log folder

For security, the admin page's license and settings actions only accept requests from the admin page itself; other websites cannot change them.

Upgrading​

Run the new .pkg. It stops the running service, replaces the files and starts the new version. The existing certificate is kept.

Uninstalling​

There is no separate uninstaller. If a license is active, deactivate it first on the admin page so the activation can be used on another computer. Then run these commands in Terminal as the user who installed it:

# 1. Stop and remove the background service (run as yourself, not sudo)
"/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge/uninstall-agent.sh"

# 2. Remove the HTTPS certificate and its private key
security delete-identity -c "ASWCN Scanner Bridge"
sudo security delete-certificate -c "ASWCN Scanner Bridge" /Library/Keychains/System.keychain

# 3. Remove the service files and the installer receipt
sudo rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/Ambir/ScannerBridge"
sudo pkgutil --forget com.ambir.aswcn.scannerbridge

On a Mac with several users, each user runs steps 1 and 2 for their own account.

Next Steps​