Installing a Servoy Application Server 7 with separate DB

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Installing a Servoy Application Server 7 with separate DB

Postby Bernd.N » Thu Feb 23, 2017 3:25 pm

Installing a Servoy Application Server was until this week a book of seven seals for me. I was lucky that Harjo Kompagnie from DIRECT ICT always had time for me and helped to set up a new server.
As I want to install postgres first (separately), it is not just a task of click-click-done, but needs some careful steps in the right order until everything works like a charm.

This week I finally developed sporting ambitions to master that myself. So I wrote down every single aspect for setting up a new AppServer on a totally clean virtual Windows Server 2012/2016.
My credits to Harjo who gave me all the necessary information in our skype sessions.

For someone who never did it, the notes might be helpful.
If something is unclear or someone comes up with an improvement of the procedure, I intend to update the post.
Last edited by Bernd.N on Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:26 am, edited 6 times in total.
Bernd Korthaus
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Re: Installing a Servoy Application Server with separate DB

Postby Bernd.N » Thu Feb 23, 2017 3:26 pm

INITIAL PREPARATION
On a fresh Windows Server, the Server-Manager always pops up.
To avoid this, go to the Server Manager Properties (on the first of the right upper side menus) and activate "Do not start Server Manager on login" (or whatever the original English wording is for this)

Download and install Chrome to have a decent browser
(on fresh Windows Servers, you need to deactivate the sharp Internet Explorer Security Settings to do this, don't blame me...)

Download and install Notepad++ as text editor

Download and install Foxit PDF Reader

Install latest Java
(Best would be the SDK, because then you have the option to run the debugger on the server)


INSTALLING POSTGRES
Install the postgres version of your choice from the EDB website, using
https://www.postgresql.org/download/
(We install currently the version 9.4.11, as this still has the pgAdmin3, while postgres 9.5 and up uses the completely new pgAdmin4 which has still some bugs. But it is certainly also possible to install the latest postgres and still use pgAdmin3.)

In postgres, create a new user named "DBA", give the user a password you can easily remember and give that user all rights except the superuser right

In postgres, create two new empty databases with owner DBA:
a) servoy_repository
b) databaseNameOfYourOwnServoyApplication

When you use UUIDs and you need the postgres functions to create those, like UUID_generate_v4(), fire this SQL command to enable postgres to do so:
CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp";


INSTALLING SERVOY
Now install Servoy Application Server and use the third option "Connect to an existing database" instead of letting Servoy install postgres.
(The advantage is that you have then full control of which version of postgres you want to install)

On the Windows Server, search for the command-line interpreter with "cmd" but do not start it.
Instead, right click on it and start it as an administrator.
(We assume that you have full admin rights on your Windows Server)

Using cmd now, go to the directory {servoyFolder}/application_server and call this bat command to create the needed servoy repository tables in that database:
servoy_server.bat -upgradeRepository
You should get prompts that this was successful.
Check in postgres if there are now 14 tables in the database servoy_repository with the help of the refresh function (right click on the database)

At this point we had once problems, so we checked the file {servoyFolder}/servoy.properties and saw a wrong URL path in the line
server.0.URL=jdbc\:postgresql\://localhost\:5432/servoy_repository
After we corrected it, the bat file worked.

Another problem we ran into was that I forgot to create a password in postgres for the new user DBA.
servoy_server.bat -upgradeRepository then did not tell it had success.
Instead, when looking at ...\application_server\servoy_log.txt I saw that there was a password problem.
After giving the DBA the needed password, that was also written in the servoy.properties, all went well.


INSTALLING SERVOY AS SERVICE
Now we want to install Servoy as a Windows Service that will start automatically when the Windows Server starts.
To do this, we check first the file {servoyFolder}/application_server/service/wrapper.conf
In that file, all absolute paths of Servoy need to be checked, like this one:
wrapper.java.library.path.1=C:\Servoy\application_server\service
(In case you moved or copied an existing Servoy folder to a new Server and/or another folder, which is possible, those paths would need to be adjusted)

Also, you can adjust the following line to more memory to increase performance (in case you have that memory)
wrapper.java.maxmemory=1280
My own rule of thumb is to give it two third of the available memory, as our Servoy AppServers are always dedicated servers where only postgres runs additionally.
Would be happy to hear other thumb rules.

Now go to
{servoyFolder}/application_server/service
and run install_service.bat
This will install Servoy as a Windows Service

Search for the app "service" on the Windows Server and open the Services List.
(In case it runs already, refresh the list)
Scroll down to "Servoy Application Server", right click on it and start it.
Scroll a bit up to see the other needed service, the postgres Service.
Both should now run and should be configured as start type "automatic", as that will make sure that both will start automatically when the server went down and starts up again.

Next would be to open the Servoy Admin Page in your browser, by typing this into the browser line:
http://localhost:8080/servoy-admin/
Press Ctrl+D to add this to the bookmarks bar, and tell Chrome in the settings to show that bar (or use CTRL-SHIFT-B to do so).

Now you can also see if you installed the right Java Version with 64 Bit usually. On the main Servoy Admin Page you should see:
JVM Information
java.vm.name=Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM
java.version=1.8.0_121
When by mistake the 32-Bit version was installed, there are six steps to correct this:
1.Stop Servoy Server
2.Deinstall wrong Java Version
3.Install right Java Version
4.Make a new fake Servoy Installation in another folder, to get the right 64-bit-wrapper installed in the service subfolder (as Servoy installed the 32-Bit-Version due to the 32-Bit-Java)
5.Copy from that fake Servoy Installation all files from the service subfolder instead of the wrapper.conf file
6.Put those files into your original Servoy Installation into the service folder

Now click "Users" in the menu on the left side and create the new user "admin" with a password.
After that, that user will appear in the user list on that page.
Click on the user "admin" and add the user to the group "Administrators" with the appropriate button


ADDING APPLICATION DATABASE
Now there is a trick to force Servoy to overwrite the file servoy.properties :
Go to the main menu by clicking on the Servoy Logo (or by refreshing http://localhost:8080/servoy-admin/)
Scroll down a bit and change the property servoy.smartclient.showMenuBar to false.
Scroll down to the bottom and click on SaveSettings

Now scroll up again and click on "Shutdown Servoy Application Server".
This is needed as we want to edit the servoy.properties manually.
Edit {servoyFolder}/servoy.properties and duplicate all lines that begin with
server.0.
In the duplicated block, change the 0 to 1, and adjust the two lines URL and serverName to the name of yourOwnApplicationDatabaseName
That part should then look like this:

Code: Select all
server.0.URL=jdbc\:postgresql\://localhost\:5432/servoy_repository
server.0.catalog=<none>
server.0.driver=org.postgresql.Driver
server.0.password=encrypted\:cXM/xxx\=
server.0.schema=<none>
server.0.serverName=repository_server
server.0.userName=DBA

server.1.URL=jdbc\:postgresql\://localhost\:5432/yourOwnApplicationDatabaseName
server.1.catalog=<none>
server.1.driver=org.postgresql.Driver
server.1.password=encrypted\:cXM/xxx\=
server.1.schema=<none>
server.1.serverName=yourOwnApplicationDatabaseName
server.1.userName=DBA

At the very top, change the numberOfServers to 2, resulting in this line:
Code: Select all
ServerManager.numberOfServers=2


Save servoy.properties and close that file.
Now go to Windows Services and refresh the list (there's a refresh button on top), the ServoyServer should not run.
Restart the server in the Windows Services with right click as we did above (or with the green arrow button).

When you now go to
http://localhost:8080/servoy-admin/
in your browser and click on the left on DatabaseServers, you will see two databases connected there.


LICENSING
Make sure you get the proper licenses and install them in the Servoy Admin.


CREATING AN EMPTY APPLICATION DATABASE
With the following SQL command it is possible to see the number of records from all your tables.
It holds a condition to exclude tables that begin with app_, as in those we store all application data that every system needs in the beginning.
When adding " AND reltuples > 0" it will show only the tables that have any records
Code: Select all
SELECT relname, reltuples::int
FROM pg_class C
LEFT JOIN pg_namespace N ON (N.oid = C.relnamespace)
WHERE
  nspname NOT IN ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema') AND
  relkind='r' AND
  LEFT(relname, 4) <> 'app_'
ORDER BY relname

I used that SQL to create a SQL script to get a complete empty database, which I then install at a new customer:
Code: Select all
SELECT 'TRUNCATE ' || relname || '  ;' AS sql_command
FROM pg_class C
LEFT JOIN pg_namespace N ON (N.oid = C.relnamespace)
WHERE
  nspname NOT IN ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema') AND
  relkind='r' AND
  LEFT(relname, 4) <> 'app_'
ORDER BY relname

That gives me an output like this, where I can put in "--" at the beginning when I want to exclude a table from truncating:
Code: Select all
TRUNCATE accounting_areas ;
TRUNCATE accounts ;
TRUNCATE additional_meal_allowances ;
-- TRUNCATE address_formats ;
TRUNCATE addresses
...



SETUP FOLDER
I created a separate folder servoyAppServerSetup on my own pc to store all necessary files that I need to transfer to a new App Server.
It holds:
1. A postgres backup of my application database, with most tables empty as explained above

2. A subfolder called codeSigner with four files:
CodeSigner8.101.jar
startCodeSigner8.bat
CodeSigner.properties
xxx.jks (our Java keyStore file)

The codeSigning tool from Patrick Talbot can be downloaded from
https://www.servoyforge.net/projects/code-signer
(Don't forget to use the donate button there when you use this great tool...)

The properties file is automatically created when using the codeSigner the first time.
The bat file was written by Harjo to set more memory, it holds this line:
java -Xms256m -Xmx1g -jar CodeSigner8.101.jar

3. plugins.zip which holds the complete plugins folder from your own Servoy Developer installation, needed when you added or updated any plugins yourself
(Note: There may not be any zip-files inside the plugins folder, as Java will use them too)

4. appNameVersionX.servoy as the Servoy Application export file


FINAL PREPARATIONS
Copy over the servoyAppServerSetup to the target server.
Unzip the plugins folder.
Shutdown Servoy App Server.
Delete the folder {servoyFolder}/application_server/plugins with the plugins from the initial Servoy setup.
Copy the content of your own plugins folder there.

Copy the content of the codeSigner folder to {servoyFolder}/application_server to prepare code signing

In case you have report files like from JasperReports, copy them over to their final destination
In our case, we store them in
{servoyFolder}\application_server\server\webapps\ROOT\uploads\reports


CODE SIGNING
Call a CMD command line interpreter with Administrator rights
Goto folder {servoyFolder}/application_server
Call startCodeSigner8.bat
Choose all jars and start signing


RESTORE APP DATABASE
Now restore the application database.
I had exit code 1 (error) when doing this with the DBA role, as the creation of an extension could not be executed, but with role postgres all went fine then.
(When such a restore goes wrong, I always delete the complete database and create it new.)


IMPORT SOLUTION
Tataaa! We are finally able to import our solution.
Start the Servoy App Server again in the windows services.
Import the servoy file.
Then you can put this into the browser to start the jnlp-file-download.
http://localhost:8080/servoy-client/appName.jnlp
Doubleclick the file which will automatically install a desktop icon.
(In case there are ever problems with that icon, delete the Java Cache and repeat that process of downloading and starting the jnlp.)

When I started the application then the first time, Java told me it wants to use an older Java version that is not installed.
So I changed this two settings in the main Servoy Admin Page to avoid this in future (was originally Java6/Java7).
Save a the website bottom, Server restart is needed then:
servoy.smartclient.min_java_version: Java8
servoy.smartclient.max_java_version: Java8

When trying to print a Jasper Report, I got the error message "Class not whitelisted for RMI".
This will solve that issue:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21588&p=115989#p115989
Last edited by Bernd.N on Fri Mar 03, 2017 12:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Bernd Korthaus
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Servoy 7.4.9 SC postgreSQL 9.4.11 Windows 10 Pro
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Posts: 544
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:57 pm
Location: Langenhorn, North Friesland, Germany

Signing / Checklist useful

Postby Bernd.N » Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:15 pm

There ist one step that needs to be added, otherwise the clients will not be able to start the jnpl due to wrong signing.
I forgot to change the codebase field in the preferences of the codesigner.

That has to be set to "IP-addressOfServer,localhost"

codesigner.png
codesigner.png (18.94 KiB) Viewed 5447 times


Further steps I did not mention above,
that can be changed in the Network Settings of the Server Admin Page:
- Set tunnelConnectionMode to http&socket (depends certainly)
- Deactivate SocketFactory.useSSL and SocketFactory.tunnelUseSSLForHttp

As there are so many steps, it is in my view a good idea to create a personal checklist that one can follow, to ensure that all points are always done and in the correct order.
Like the checklist that a pilot is going through before starting a plane.
I have already a similar checklist for creating and installing a new Servoy build, that holds about 20 points.
Bernd Korthaus
LinkedIn
Servoy 7.4.9 SC postgreSQL 9.4.11 Windows 10 Pro
User avatar
Bernd.N
 
Posts: 544
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:57 pm
Location: Langenhorn, North Friesland, Germany


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