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PRPCbuntu©

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Production Release:

  1. Summary
  2. History
  3. Features
  4. Pending Features
  5. FAQs
  6. Examples
  7. Screen Shots
  8. Change Requests & Support

Also see:

Summary

PRPCbuntu© is a sophisticated installation script that was created to simplify the process of configuring a PRPC environment by PSInd, LLC. A typical configuration requires synchronization of settings within the application server, database server, and PRPC application. The script provides a mechanism whereby the user can specify the database name and schema, the administrative ids and passwords, and the connection credentials for the database and have the database, application server, jvm, and PRPC application then installed and configured automatically.

The script produces three different files, dependent on the options passed on the command line at runtime.

  • PRPC Debian Installer – a debian installation package for PRPC. This includes a post install script to configure the database and the application server as well as clear definition
  • PRPCbuntu ISO – a Ubuntu ISO image preconfigured to install the bare minumum packages required to run PRPC. The configuration eliminates unneccessary packages for a server configuration such as X-Windows, the Gnome Desktop, and other user experience packages
  • QEMU image – a virtual machine image in the defined format that can be run on any QEMU VM Manager

The environment was initially configured and validated using the following components in a QEMU virtualized evironment:

  • Operating System – Ubuntu 10.04 & 10.10 Server
  • Tomcat application server – as shipped in the OS
  • JVM – Java download from Sun (now Oracle)
  • Oracle database – download from Oracle

History

While building a prototyping environment, it became apparent that the installation was sufficiently complex that any number of missteps could easily cause the environment to be inoperable. Looking through several installation guides against various versions of PRPC, it was also apparent that the installation has been fairly consistent for quite some time.

The objective in creating this installer was to provide an unencumbered prototyping environment with software that allows for free developer use. Linux was the obvious choice for the operating system as it is freely available and runs in a headless configuration. Ubuntu tends to provide more stable and simpler installs than Fedora Core, although Fedora Enterprise would work equally well. As Fedora Enterprise is licensed, we defaulted to Ubuntu. There are several packaging utilities that vary by distribution, so the package manager selection was debian by default to fit our Ubuntu environment.

It’s necessary to use the Sun JVM as the open JVM is not supported by PRPC. As PRPC leverages a mechanism called First Use Assembly to compile on the fly, robust vendor support of the JVM is a necessity to ensure the environment is stable on initial install. PRPC supports the stock Sun JVMs as well as the IBM JVM that ships with WebSphere – I found on experimentation that this does not ensure support in other JVMs like the open source IceTea JVM.

While version 5.5 still used prdbutil to manage the database install of PRPC, Version 6.1 took the final step forward to allow a scripted installation of the PRPC database. Happily this new install mechanism has proven fairly reliable as an install tool, while prdbutil remains somewhat problematic to script reliably. As SQL Server did not provide a free developer version for Ubuntu, it fell out of the running as a database. Oracle and DB2 were both viable choices – however I selected Oracle for initial support as it has supported Linux for a longer period of time than DB2 and is marginally simpler to configure. It should be noted that database size constraints in the developer version of Oracle may restrict development on Pegasystems frameworks like CPM.

While the script simplifies configuration, spinning up a new prototyping environment can be managed in a more cost effective and lower risk manner by creating a VM image. Both RedHat and Ubuntu support the QEMU virtual machine manager, so we chose QEMU as the standard mechanism to manage creation of the virtual machine in a raw image format. QEMU can also be downloaded and compiled to run on MS Windows and does not require an installer to run in the MS environment, making it an ideal solution to run the VM on an external hard disk in a plug and play configuration.

Features

  • Runs against PRPC 5.5 and 6.1 (user provided licensed software)
  • Creates a PRPC install package for Debian based installers
  • Creates a full VM image configured to run PRPC

Pending Features

  • RPM (Redhat) based installer mechanism
  • Redhat based VM

FAQs

When I run mkUbuntuPRPCInstall.sh more than once, I get permission errors while building the installer ISO. How can these be avoided?

Prior to each subsequent run, you should delete the prpcbuntu directory from your home directory by executing: cd ~/ && sudo rm -rf prpcbuntu

Examples

Refer to the How To

Screen Shots

The following images represent various screenshots of the installer during execution…

Ubuntu Install 1

Initial language selection screen from Ubuntu

Select Install – Ubuntu 10.10

Partition Confirmation – Ubuntu 10.10

Installation Progress – Ubuntu 10.10

Installation Complete – Ubuntu 10.10

System Ready – Ubuntu 10.10

First Login – Windows 7 / Internet Explorer 8

Change Requests & Support

No formal support mechanism exists for this project. The script is available at no charge and is provided without warranty or guaranty that it is functional. PSInd, LLC assumes no liability for use of this script and advises any users to execute the script at their own risk. Enhancements and support should be posted as comments against the PRPCbunutu blog announcement on the PSInd, LLC corporate blog.

This is a free / open source project, so please don’t expect immediate support for requests submitted through these channels. Commercial support and troubleshooting is available through sales@psind.com, if you require more immediate attention than is provided through other channels. Thank you for your support and patronage.

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