3.5. Preparing for Installation on Windows
3.5.1. Setting up the JDK
The JBoss ON server requires Java 6 or Java 7 JDK.
If necessary, configure Windows to use the appropriate Java version.
- Download and install the appropriate version of Java, if necessary.
- Set the
JAVA_HOMEenvironment variable to the installation directory. For example:C:\>set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_29
3.5.2. Configuring the JVM to Run as a Service
JBoss ON includes Tanuki Software's Java service wrapper so that the JBoss ON server can be configured to run as a Windows service. Ensure that either JAVA_HOME, RHQ_JAVA_HOME, or RHQ_JAVA_EXE_FILE_PATH is set to the proper JDK or JRE.
3.5.3. Configuring NTP
Synchronize machine clocks. All JBoss ON servers and agents must have synchronized clocks. Clock variations cause issues in availability reporting, metric measurements, graphing, and even identifying and importing resources into inventory. The Network Time Protocol project, http://www.ntp.org/, has information on installing and configuring NTP to ensure your clocks are synchronized.
3.5.4. Configuring DNS
Both forward and reverse DNS mapping entries must be present for all systems for which host servers, storage nodes, and agents.
Every IP address must have a corresponding entry in the DNS server or must be explicitly defined in every
/etc/hosts file for each system which is managed by JBoss ON or hosts a server or storage node..
3.5.5. Configuring Ports
Configure the firewall to allow communication over the server, agent, and storage node ports. If the required ports are blocked, then individual components will be unable to communicate with each other.
Using the default configuration, JBoss ON uses the ports listed in Table 3.3, “Default JBoss ON Ports”.
| Port | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 7080 | Standard HTTP port for server-client communication |
| 7443 | HTTPS port for secure server-client communication |
| 16163 | For agent communication from the server |
| 9142 | For storage cluster communication |
| 7299 | For storage node JMX communication |
| 7100 | For the storage node gossip (node-to-node) communication |
3.5.6. Selecting Path Names
Make sure that the complete path name for the server installation directory is relatively short. Path names longer than 19 characters can cause problems with executing some server tasks. Use a location such as
C:\jon rather than C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\jon-server.
Also be careful when using the extract all command. Expanding the archive automatically creates a directory called jon-server-VER.RELEASE/, which is about 20 characters. Using extract all, instead of specifying the directory to which to extract the archive, can double the directory name by extracting to the archive name and then to a subdirectory — for example,
C:\example\jon-server-3.3.2.GA\jon-server-3.3.2.GA. Using other tools may install it to a downloads directory such as C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads.
It is recommended that you extract the archive to a short, top-level directory such as
C:\jon, which creates an installation directory of C:\jon\jon-server-3.3.2.GA.
Windows' handling of file and path names is covered in the Maximum Path Length Limitation section of the Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces page of the Windows Dev Center website.
3.5.7. Utilities to Use with JBoss ON
The only utilities used to manage the JBoss ON server are a ZIP utility to install the binaries and, possibly, a text editor to view and edit configuration files.
The recommended ZIP utility is WinZip. Examples in this guide usually use the Windows command prompt, so, optionally, install the WinZip CLI utility add-on. WinZip downloads are available from http://www.winzip.com.
3.5.8. Configuring Internet Explorer
Some Internet Explorer settings can prevent the JBoss ON login page from loading properly. By default, Internet Explorer is in stealth mode, which disables some JavaScript access for websites. To allow the login page to load, add the IP address of the JBoss ON server to the whitelist for Internet Explorer.
- In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon in the upper right corner and select Internet options.
- Open the Security tab, and select the Local intranet icon.
- Click the Sites button.
- Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the pop-up window.
- Enter the JBoss ON server hostname or IP address in the Add this webiste to the zone: field, and click the Add.
- Close out the options windows.
3.5.9. Components Managed as Windows Services
On Windows, the rhqctl.bat script works analogously to rhqctl on UNIX-based platforms.
Components are installed and managed as Windows services. The Windows services run by default as the local system account (known as "Default" or ".\LocalSystem"). JBoss ON associates agent configuration preferences with users.
Note
When running rhqctl.bat, always start the command window with "Run As Administrator" to ensure the script can manipulate Windows services.
Make sure that custom agent preferences are correctly applied to the user running the RHQ Agent service.
There are a number of ways to achieve this:
- Install using RHQ_AGENT_RUN_AS_ME, and use --agent-preference
- This will run the service as the same user executing rhqctl, so the command line
--agent-preferencesettings apply. - Install using --agent-config <custom-agent-configuration.xml>
- Without
RHQ_AGENT_RUN_AS_MEthe user executing rhqctl will be different than the user running the service.This option applies the custom configuration file on the RHQ Agent initial start, which contains the required settings to ensure the services run under the correct user. - Update the RHQ Agent configuration post-install
- After installation the agent config can be updated using the agent prompt commands.Without
RHQ_AGENT_RUN_AS_MEthe user executing rhqctl will be different than the user running the service. Without--agent-configthe installed agent will have default configuration.
Procedure 3.1. Setting the Required User Account for Windows Services
- Open
rhq-server-env.bat. - Define the environment variables.
RHQ_SERVER_RUN_AS=.\username RHQ_SERVER_PASSWORD=password RHQ_STORAGE_RUN_AS=.\username RHQ_STORAGE_PASSWORD=password RHQ_AGENT_RUN_AS=.\username RHQ_AGENT_PASSWORD=password
The RHQ_*_RUN_AS parameters set the user account to use. The RHQ_*_RUN_AS_ME parameter uses the logged in user as the service account. If both parameters are set, then the RHQ_*_RUN_AS_ME parameter is the one which is used. - Explicitly grant the log on as service permission for the specified user account.
3.5.10. Planning the Storage Nodes
There must be at least one back-end storage database to store metrics data. This storage node is installed using the rhqctl script (the same as the server). The metrics storage database works as a cluster, so it is possible to have multiple nodes and to add and remove nodes as necessary.
There are some guidelines for planning the storage nodes:
- The storage node and server do not have to be located on the same machine.
- Installing a storage node does not require installing a server.
- At least one storage node must be installed before the server. (If the rhqctl script is run with just the install command, then it automatically installs a storage node first, then the server, then the agent.)
- Multiple storage nodes can be installed before installing the server. There are several benefits to installing multiple nodes:
- For upgraded environments, it speeds data migration.
- It can minimize the administrative and resource requirements that are incurred by deploying nodes after the server is running.
