Technical requirements

Specific requirements must be met to ensure our certification exams and practice tests are delivered in a compatible and consistent environment. View the technical requirements below for each delivery system. Some exams (e.g. Live in the Application) have requirements that are above and beyond the exam delivery system; refer to each individual certification for detailed information.

Note: Exams cannot be delivered during times of periodic maintenance. View the server maintenance schedule.

Exam delivery systems

For delivery of:

Important: The technical requirements of any locally installed software used with LITA (Live-in-the-Application) exams would be in addition to those of Console.

Note: The Console 8 software must be installed locally in a dedicated (fat client) environment - thin/zero/web/citrix clients are not supported.

Note: If it is not found in the requirements below then it should be considered "Not Supported."

Item Required / Minimum Recommended
Processor Pentium 4 or equivalent
1.3 GHz or higher		 Core i5 or equivalent
2.6 GHz or higher
RAM 2GB 4GB
Windows Admin Privileges Complete local administrator rights with no group policies to install and deliver
Hard Drive: (Free Space after Office and Windows install) 5GB +1GB over Min Per
Exam Program Installed
Keyboard & Mouse
(pointing device)		 Keyboard & Mouse
(pointing device)		 Yes (mouse not required for exams
with ADA accommodations)
Video Resolution
(Widescreen 16:9)		 1280 x 800 1920 x 1080
Note: Console 8 was designed to have the best testing experience on a widescreen device. Ultra HD resolutions (4K & 8K) must have scaling set at 100% to view Console properly.
Video Resolution
(Standard 4:3)		 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024
Internet Connection Speed
Test your bandwidth - Java required		 256 kbps or DSL High Speed Internet Connection
Communication Ports and IP addresses

Required: The domain certiport.com needs to be accessible. Also, need to have full access through ports 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS) and HTTP redirects permitted.

Recommended: Whitelist the domain "*.certiport.com".

Minimum - The following IP addresses must be accessible:

  • 159.182.30.18 | www.certiport.com
  • 159.182.31.253 | nuget.certiport.com
  • 93.191.169.139 | Additional Security IP
  • 159.182.30.17 | downloads.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.16 | myspeed.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.17 | verify.certiport.com
  • 64.27.100.27
  • 64.27.64.232
  • 64.106.193.0/24
  • 64.106.220.0/24
  • 206.188.17.0/24
  • 159.182.0.0/16

Note: If the internet is accessed through an authenticating proxy server and the system is not configured to automatically pass credentials to it, you will experience issues while testing.
Automatic Updates Automatic software updates including Windows updates should be turned off or set to not occur during testing.
Adobe Flash Player current version
Adobe Flash
Player Plugin		 version 13
Adobe Reader current version
Java (required for MySpeed Test) current version
.NET Framework
  • All Supported Windows Versions: A minimum of .NET 4.5.2 or higher is required

*Note: You must install the .NET prerequisites prior to installing the driver component via Console 8.
Restoring Software Software must be disabled during an exam or computer will not keep user-tracking progress in the event of an error.
Installed Printer Yes (this can be the Windows document printer)
Supported Web Browser

Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit version only)

Note: Microsoft Edge is not supported.

Guide using IE11 with Windows 10.
Supported Operating Systems
  • Microsoft Windows 7: Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate w/ SP1 (32 or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1: Core, Pro, or Enterprise (32 or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 10: Home, Pro*, Education, or Enterprise (32 or 64-bit)
*Note: Windows 10 S is not supported.
Supported Microsoft Office Versions

Console 8 employs concurrent technology which uses hard-coded paths and registry access on your local machine to function. Other software could create a conflict, or prevent these settings from occurring. We recommend that Console 8 be installed on a machine that has as few other software applications installed as possible.

For delivery of:

Important: The technical requirements of any locally installed software used with LITA (Live-in-the-Application) exams would be in addition to those of Compass.

Note: If it is not found in the requirements below then it should be considered "Not Supported".
 

Download a detailed version of these requirements as a PDF.

Item Required / Minimum Recommended
Operating System Windows 10 Enterprise or Professional
 Ver. 1607 build 14393.2515 or later (32-bit and 64-bit)

Windows 8.1 Enterprise or Professional (32-bit and 64-bit)

Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional,
or Home Premium (32-bit and 64-bit)*

Mac OSX 10.11 (El Capitan) or higher

*Note: New sites are not allowed to install on Win 7 OS starting Jan 2019
Processor Pentium 4 or equivalent
1.3 GHz or higher		 Core i5 or equivalent
2.6 GHz or higher
RAM (LITA exams) 4GB 8GB
RAM (non-LITA exams) 2GB 4GB
Hard Drive 5GB +1GB over min per exam program installed
Video Resolution 1280 x 800 (Widescreen 16:9)
1024 x 768 (Standard 4:3)		 1920 x 1080 (Widescreen 16:9)
1280 x 1024 (Standard 4:3)
Security Protocol TLS 1.1 or higher
Internet Connection 256 kbps or DSL High-speed internet connection
Supported Internet Browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 (32-bit version only)
Latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Firefox  
Keyboard & Mouse 2-button wheel mouse
Keyboard
Browser Settings Cookies must be enabled
Printer Printer installed – can be Windows document printer
Additional Software .NET 4.5.2 must be installed (Windows only)
and
.NET 3.5 (Windows only)
Firewalls Corporate firewalls (including VPNs) often cause this delivery method to fail. Please take your exam in a setting without a corporate firewall or ensure the ports and IP addresses are whitelisted
Communication Ports & IP addresses

Required: The domain certiport.com needs to be accessible. Also, need to have full access through ports 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS) and HTTP redirects permitted.

Recommended: Whitelist the domain "*.certiport.com".

Minimum: The following IP addresses must be accessible:

  • 159.182.30.18 | www.certiport.com
  • 159.182.31.253 | nuget.certiport.com
  • 93.191.169.139 | Additional Security IP
  • 159.182.30.17 | downloads.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.16 | myspeed.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.17 | verify.certiport.com
  • 64.27.100.27
  • 64.27.64.232
  • 64.106.193.0/24
  • 64.106.220.0/24
  • 206.188.17.0/24
  • 159.182.0.0/16

Note: If the internet is accessed through an authenticating proxy server and the system is not configured to automatically pass credentials to it, you will experience issues while testing.

The following URL’s may require unrestricted Communication:
 
 
Note: Sometimes it works better on certain systems if you add them in one of these fashions: (1) http://starttest.com, (2) http://starttest2.com, (3) *.starttest.com*, (4 *.starttest2.com*, (5) *.programworkshop.com*.

Prohibited Items

Note: If it is not found on the requirements below or in the Advanced Requirements list then it should be considered 'Not Supported'.
 
Item Exam delivery must adhere to the following restrictions
Portable Computing Devices

Touch Screen Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones are strictly prohibited.

Note: Examples of prohibited portable computing devices include, but are not limited to: Surface Pro, Chromebooks, Android and iOS phones, and tablets.
Processor

Devices running Ultra Mobile Processors are strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to Intel Atom, AMD NEO CPU lines, and ARM CPUs.
RAM Less than the specified minimum RAM of your exam workstation OS
Operating Systems
  • Windows XP & Vista are strictly prohibited
  • Windows Server Operating System strictly prohibited on the exam delivery workstations
  • Virtual environments are strictly prohibited for exam delivery
  • All Linux/Unix based Operating Systems are strictly prohibited
Display Touch Screen monitors are strictly prohibited for exam delivery.
Display resolution less than 1024 x 768 in 16-bit color is strictly prohibited.
Network Connection Pearson strongly recommends avoiding networks configurations that involve Proxy Servers, Advanced Firewall Security Configurations, and other network security measures such as but not limited to packet filtering or packet inspection.
Internet Connection VPN connections are strongly discouraged and will result in disruption to exam delivery.
SSL VPNs are strictly prohibited (e.g., Hotspot Shield).
Dial-Up Internet Connections are not supported.
 
 Internet Browsers Browsers not found on the list of Supported Internet Browsers in this document cannot be used for exam delivery.

For delivery of the Mac-compatible ACA, IC3 GS4 & IC3 GS5 exams

Note: The Mac Launcher software must be installed locally on the same hard drive that contains the Mac OS. It must also be within a dedicated (fat client) environment - thin/zero/web/citrix clients are not supported.

Note: If it is not found in the requirements below then it should be considered "Not Supported".

Item Required / Minimum
Processor Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or higher
RAM 1GB
Keyboard & Mouse (pointing device) Yes
Minimum Video Resolution 1024 x 768
Color Depth 16-bit or Higher
Display Properties 96 DPI only
Minimum Monitor Size 17"
Internet Connection Speed (Test your bandwidth) 256 kbps or DSL
Communication ports
and IP addresses

Required: The domain certiport.com needs to be accessible. Also, need to have full access through ports 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS) and HTTP redirects permitted.

Recommended: Whitelist the domain "*.certiport.com".

Minimum: The following IP addresses must be accessible:

  • 159.182.30.18 | www.certiport.com
  • 159.182.31.253 | nuget.certiport.com
  • 93.191.169.139 | Additional Security IP
  • 159.182.30.17 | downloads.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.16 | myspeed.certiport.com
  • 159.182.30.17 | verify.certiport.com

Note: If the internet is accessed through an authenticating proxy server and the system is not configured to automatically pass credentials to it, you will experience issues while testing.
Required Software Certiport Mac Launcher - (requires login)
Automatic updates Mac OS X updates should be turned off or set to not occur during testing.
Adobe Flash Player specific version - (NPAPI version)
Adobe Reader current version
Installed Printer Yes (for printing exam results)
Supported Web Browsers
(beginning 8/12/2015)		 Mac Launcher has an embedded version of Chromium built into the solution that installs with the software. For browsing and using features of certiport.com you may continue to use Safari or Google Chrome.
Supported Operating Systems
  • Mac OS X (v. 10.9) Mavericks
  • Mac OS X (v. 10.10) Yosemite
  • Mac OS X (v. 10.11) El Capitan
  • Mac OS X (v. 10.12) Sierra
  • Mac OS X (v. 10.13) High Sierra

Certification programs