Preparing SuSE 9.3 - 10.1

Introduction

This page explains how to install and configure all pre-requisites for SuSE 9.3 - 10.1, configure a firewall on the GRIA server machine and set-up Tomcat for or deployment of a GRIA war.

Software Prerequisites

This page describes the prerequisites for the SuSE can be installed using the YaST2 systems configuration tool. They are as follows:

• The Java SDK v1.5.0 (5.0) or higher
  • java-1_5_0-sun
  • java-1_5_0-sun-devel
• Jakarta Tomcat 5
  • tomcat5
  • tomcat5-admin-webapps
  • tomcat5-webapps
• Apache Server v2.0 (an optional package to provide secure access)
  • apache2
  • apache2-prefork
  • mod_jk-ap20
• A web browser, such as Firefox (can be installed on a different machine)
  • MozillaFirefox
• A sample application (only required for the GRIA Basic Application Services package)
  • ImageMagick 

You can use either Tomcat or Apache to provide secure access. If you are unsure then choose Tomcat as it is easier to set up. 

In order to provide some synchronisation between the clocks on machines that the various GRIA packages are installed on, it is recommended to run an NTP client service that will synchronise your system with an Internet time server. Having installed the Linux base platform, configure the Network Services to use an NTP server. This is done as follows:

1. Run YaST2 and select 'Network Services'
2. From here, choose 'NTP Client' and select an NTP server, setting it to start on boot up. If you don't have an NTP server available on your local network then select a public one e.g. a.ntp.alphazed.net in Great Britain.

Having configured the machine to use NTP, the system should then be restarted to ensure the changes made during the installation of the above pre-requisites are applied.

This completes the installation of the GRIA software prerequisites.

Configuring the Firewall

The deployed GRIA war (or webapp) should be hosted behind a firewall to ensure that your server can only be accessed on certain ports. You should consult with your systems administrator to determine if you need to run a firewall on the machine hosting the GRIA webapp. If so, configure the firewall as follows:

1. Run YaST2 (as root).
2. Click on Security and Users.
3. Click on Firewall.
4. Select Interfaces from the menu and set interfaces appropriate to you network. You may need to discuss this with your systems administrator.
5. Select Allowed Services from the menu, then:
   • add a HTTPS server. 
   • add a HTTP server. 
   • Use the Advanced button to add TCP port 8080. If you intend to use Tomcat for secure access then also add port the 8443.
   • if you require Secure Shell access then also add SSH.
6. Click on Next and then Accept to finalise the settings.
7. Start the firewall.

Set-up Tomcat Users

In order to deploy the war file, the Tomcat Manager for application deployment will be used. The Tomcat manager functions are disabled by default.

To enable Tomcat administration and management we must add a role and a tomcat user to the tomcat-users.xml file. 

1. Open the $CATALINA_HOME/conf/tomcat-users.xml file with a suitable editor and add this element after the last 'role' element:

   <role rolename="manager"/>
   <role rolename="admin"/>
   
   

2. Add this line after the last 'user' element, replacing ADMIN_PASSWORD with an appropriate password:

   <user username="admin" password="ADMIN_PASSWORD" roles="admin,manager"/>
   

3. Save the file

Start Tomcat

To start Tomcat:

$ su
# rctomcat5 start

To stop Tomcat:

$ su
# rctomcat5 stop

To restart Tomcat:

$ su
# rctomcat5 start

To get the status of Tomcat:

$ su
# rctomcat5 status

Test it with your browser by pointing to your machine URL ( http://<host IP>:8080). You should be able to access your Tomcat server home page.

Next Step

The next step is to deploy the services in Tomcat according to the installation instructions for the package you are installing:

• Basic Application Services
• Service Provider Management
• Client Management