This topic is for system administrators. It describes how to install a new instance of PhixFlow.
Prerequisites
Before you start installing PhixFlow, please complete the steps in Planning your PhixFlow System. Your IT system must meet the PhixFlow system requirements. In particular, you must have:
- installed a database server
- configured a database instance or schema and the user or login credentials
- installed a (Linux or Windows) server to act as the web-application (webapp) host.
Optionally, you can install a Linux or Windows server to act as the reverse proxy / HTTPS proxyPhixFlow Minimum System Requirements.
If you are setting up an installation of PhixFlow for evaluation, or a platform for development or testing that requires minimal planning, you can go straight into the installation process below.
If you are installing a large and/ or long-running installation of PhixFlow, please complete the planning steps described in Planning your PhixFlow System and Infrastructure Planning and Delivery.
Summary Installation Instructions
Tha The pages in this topic guide you through a complete PhixFlow installation. A summary of the steps is:
| Required or recommended | Page with details | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Required |
| Install Java | Download and install Java. |
| Required |
| Download and install the Apache Tomcat web-application (webapp) server. |
| Recommended |
For secure communications, you must configure Tomcat to use HTTPS. PhixFlow must be configured:
- to allow HTTPS connections to the webapp
to disable HTTP access.
Install reverse proxy and configure HTTPS:
|
|
| Set up a reverse proxy |
If you want to make your web server visible on the default ports (e.g. on Linux, http: 80, https: 443) we recommend that you use a reverse proxy to terminate the HTTPS session and to forward web requests using HTTP to the Tomcat server.
In this configuration, the reverse proxy runs as root, which allows it:
- to use privileged ports (up to port 1000)
- to forward requests to the web server, which runs:
- as a non-privileged user (normally 'tomcat')
- on non-privileged ports (above 1000).
This solution requires that:
the proxy and Tomcat servers run on a private network or on the same server
- and that the Tomcat server is not directly accessible to normal users.
Options for reverse proxy servers are:
- On Linux servers, Pound
- On Windows servers, IIS.
| to help manage the load on the PhixFlow server, offer secure connections over HTTPS, and help with certificate management for multiple instances of PhixFlow. | ||
| Optional | This is only needed if you want to generate PDF versions of files to export or send via email (Configuring PDF Conversion) | |
| Required | Unpack PhixFlow Release Package | If you do not already have the PhixFlow package to install, you can download it from our support FTP site. Please email support@phixflow.com. |
Log on to the webapp host and unpack the release package. | ||
| Required | Install the PhixFlow Database Schema | Create a database user and tables. Populate the tables with initial configuration data and set the customer name. |
See also the details in Database URLs. |
| Optional |
| MS SQL Server Integrated Authentication | Enable server support for integrated user authentication. | |
| Required | Install the PhixFlow Webapp | Copy the PhixFlow webapp from the unpacked release package into Tomcat and configure it. |
| Required | Configure a Keystore and Aliases | Create a keystore for the database credentials and their aliases. Configure the following files to use the keystore:
|
| Required | Start PhixFlow |
| and Configure | Check that the application is running by starting the client and logging in |
. |
| Warning | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
Do not run Tomcat as root on Linux as this constitutes a security risk. |
System Configuration After Installation
After PhixFlow is installed, there are system set-up and configuration tasks:
...
- Configure Active Directory Integration: users are authenticated using one or more Active Directory servers in addition to users that are defined locally within the PhixFlow database.
- Configure SAML Integration: map the PhixFlow user groups to user groups in your existing single-sign-on system.
...
Pre-version 11 The following credentials can be used, we recommend getting up an administration user to replace this user. username: startup password: Startup Post-version 11 The recommended minimum basic install will create a new user called admin. The password will be autogenerated and written to the ../tomcat/security.log file. It is strongly recommended that this password is changed immediately after installation. username: admin password: see security.log |
After Installation
Once PhixFlow is installed, see System Administration for details of the configuration steps required immediately after installation, as well as the ongoing configuration and maintenance tasks.