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system 10.5 of 04/10/2024,
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FORESIGHT
In this article:
This article contains the example of installing, setting up and removing BI server in Debian-based distributions. The supported versions of Linux OS are given in the Supported Versions of Linux OS article.
NOTE. BI server functionality is limited by the set of available operations and their implementation.
Execute preparatory actions before BI server installation:
Make sure that the operating system is set up and hardware and software requirements are met for correct installation and full-functional work of Foresight Analytics Platform web application.
Set up DBMS back end.
Install DBMS front end:
To install Oracle front end, download the client from the official website (the basic, devel, sqlplus packages in the RPM format are required).
Consider installation using the example of the Oracle 12.1 client. Execute the following operations:
Convert the RPM packages into the DEB format by means of the alien utility:
sudo apt-get install alien
sudo alien oracle-instantclient12.1-basic-12.1.0.2.0-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo alien oracle-instantclient12.1-devel-12.1.0.2.0-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo alien oracle-instantclient12.1-sqlplus-12.1.0.2.0-1.x86_64.rpm
Install the obtained DEB packages (in the terminal using the dpkg utility or a similar utility) and the libaio auxiliary package:
sudo apt-get install libaio1
sudo dpkg -i oracle-instantclient12.1*.deb
After the installation add a path to the Oracle client libraries using the ldconfig utility to the list of dependent library search and update cache:
echo "/usr/lib/oracle/12.1/client64/lib" > ~/oracle.conf
sudo cp ~/oracle.conf /etc/ld.so.conf.d/
sudo ldconfig
After BI server is installed, one require to add export of the TNS_ADMIN variable to the environment variables file /opt/foresight/fp10.x-biserver/etc/envvars for Apache2 instance and specify the directory containing the tnsnames.ora file. The Apache2 instance should have access to the file, the www-data:www-data owner can be set for the tnsnames.ora file.
For details about creating a repository database see the Preparing Oracle Server subsection.
To install PostgreSQL front end, execute the following command:
sudo apt-get install postgresql-client
After executing the operation, the PostgreSQL driver is installed that is used by Foresight. Analytics Platform to interact with database server.
Alternatively, Postgres Pro client can be installed. The installation guide is available at the manufacturer's website.
For details on creating a database for repository see the Preparing PostgreSQL Server subsection.
If BI server is installed manually from archive or DBMS front end is installed after BI server installation, the symbolic link should be created:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpq.so.5 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpq.so
SQLite setup is not necessary for front end installation. Copy a file with repository database to the server, grant access permissions of BI server to the file and add an SQLite repository and specify the database file.
If a repository is based on Microsoft SQL Server DBMS, it can be worked via ODBC driver. For details see the Preparing ODBC Driver to Connect to Microsoft SQL Server article.
NOTE. The possible problems that may occur after installing DBMS front end on connecting to DBMS server are given in the sections describing the solving of possible problems on installation and update, and also on working with Foresight Analytics Platform.
Working with BI server of Foresight Analytics Platform requires installation of third-party packages that can be downloaded from the internet or from DVD repository or from ready DEB packages. If internet connection is provided via proxy server, determine settings required for connection.
Before installation of any packages, update package information in repository. To do this, execute the command:
sudo apt-get update
To install DEB package of BI server, the access to repository with dependent packages is required: libc6, libstdc++6, libglib2.0-0, lsb-release, libx11-6, libgl1-mesa-glx, libglu1-mesa, libgomp1, libxi6, libxrandr2, libxrender1, libxcursor1, libxinerama1, fontconfig, fonts-liberation, xvfb, libldap-2.4-2, libqt5gui5, libqt5opengl5, qt5-image-formats-plugins, libssl1.0.2, libtiff5, libjpeg62-turbo, libopengl0, libqt5printsupport5, libatomic1, apache2.
NOTE. The libqt5printsupport5 package is required only for Debian-based distribution files that do not have a graphic interface.
If there are modules or packages not compatible with MPM worker (for example, libapache2-mod-php5), they must be disabled in the BI server instance, or removed if they conflict with BI server installation. Then execute the following operations:
Make sure that you are connected to the Internet.
Update information about packages:
sudo apt-get update
Copy the foresight-fp10.x-biserver*.deb from the software package to the /home/<user name> home directory. Name of the distribution file depends on Linux OS version.
If required, determine a user name, under whom the BI server is to be installed:
whoami
Install the copied BI server distribution file:
sudo dpkg -i foresight-fp10.x-biserver*
Set the required dependencies:
sudo apt-get -f install
If required, update again information about packages:
sudo apt-get update
The following will be executed during the installation: a new instance of the Apache2 configuration is created, MPM worker is enabled, the fp10.x-biserver unit is enabled for loading mod_axis2, links of the apachectl-fp10.x type are created in the /usr/sbin directory to manage the instance, the apache2-fp10.x service is registered and added to autorun, Foresight Analytics Platform are installed, the foresight-xvfb service is registered and added to autorun to start the virtual graphic display No. 987. The foresight-xvfb will be started automatically.
NOTE. To change BI server version, install another package version over the previous one. Configuration files are saved if their version is not updated in the package.
To track BI server performance and register various errors, enable system message logging if required. To do this, add the following strings in the file /opt/foresight/fp10.x-biserver/etc/envvars:
PP_LOG=1
PP_LOGTIME=1
System messages are written by default to the file /var/log/apache2-fp10.x/error.log.
To set up BI server:
Disable the AstraMode mode for the apache2-fp10.x instance. To do this, replace the #AstraMode on string in the /etc/apache2-fp10.x/apache2.conf file with the following one:
AstraMode off
Start the Apache2 web server:
sudo systemctl start apache2-fp10.x
BI server uses settings specified in the settings.xml file. See its structure and make modifications if required.
NOTE. A file with settings is optional. If the file is absent, default parameter values are used.
To get information about repositories to work with, BI server uses the registry.reg or Metabases.xml file. For details about setting up these files, see the Configuration and Setup article.
Grant access permissions for the Apache2 user for the folder with installed BI server:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /opt/foresight/fp10.x-biserver
Restart BI server service:
sudo systemctl restart apache2-fp10.x
The installed BI server will work in background mode as a separate Linux service. The Apache2 instance with BI server will be started at the 8810 port. To view necessary ports, use the /etc/apache2-fp10.x/ports.conf file.
A metadata repository can be created in two ways:
In the testing environment with Windows OS create a metadata repository, service user of security subsystem and set up repository connection using Foresight Analytics Platform.
Before creating a repository, study the Installing Foresight Analytics Platform Desktop Application section.
In the testing environment with Linux OS family create a metadata repository and set up repository connection.
After executing one of the operations, transfer the repository and connection settings to the production environment by DBMS means.
To remove BI server files without removing configuration files, execute the command and confirm removal:
sudo apt-get remove fp10.x-biserver
All files in the folders /etc/apache2-fp10.x and /opt/foresight/fp10.x-biserver, and also the new files included in the software package will be saved and can be used on next package installation.
To remove BI server with configuration files, execute the command and confirm removal:
sudo apt-get purge fp10.x-biserver
In this case, new files that are not included into the setup package are saved.
See also:
Installing Web Application on Linux OS | Checking BI Server Performance