topic Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service in Alfresco Archive

Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

fjodor — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 10:27:20 GMT

It took me quite a while to find out how to get Alfresco running as a service in Windows. The trick is to NOT start Alfresco after installation but from the start configure it as a service.This is complete installation procedure:Installation procedure for Alfresco on Windows 2003 server.Prerequisit

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

paulhh — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:53:56 GMT

Hi

Thanks for the steps. There are a couple of 'gotchas': you should also copy over the win32NetBIOS.dll to somewhere in the path (for CIFS to work more easily) - or perhaps better for upgrade reasons, add <ALF-INSTALL>\bin into the Windows PATH.

Also, this approach will not start up OpenOffice as a service, so any transformations that rely on this will not work. You can use utilities from the MS Resource Pack to create a service, but we are not permitted to redistribute this. There is a stage in the Alfresco bootstrap that can call out at start up to run any command - if you can find a way to call OpenOffice so it stays running, then this could be another solution.

Cheers
Paul.

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

fjodor — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 12:53:12 GMT

You are right. It's better to add <ALF-INSTALL>\bin into the Windows PATH.
Then there is no need to copy the imconvert.exe file also.

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:16:20 GMT

Thanks for the instructions!

I was able use them as a starter and get it to work while still using HSQLDB.

1. I was able to do this even though I had previously started it manually.

2. I also did not move imconvert.exe and added %ALF_HOME%\bin to the system PATH as earlier suggested. In my case, I added C:\PROGRA~1\ALFRES~1\bin.

3. I found you do not need to add %ALF_HOME%\tomcat\bin to the PATH as it appears Tomcat does that itself.

4. I, of course, did not do any of the MySql instructions.

5. Be careful when doing the set CATALINA_HOME before running service.bat. I had to use the C:\PROGRA~1\ALFRES~1 form.

6. In addition to the other settings for tomcat5w.exe, you need to set the working path for Startup or it won't find the database. I set it to C:\PROGRA~1\ALFRES~1. This is where alfresco.bat starts so that everything is relative to it. If you don't do this, it will look for your database in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and probably not find it there. I set the Shutdown working path as well.

7. The Java classpath and Java options were already set right for me the first time I ran tomcat5w.exe. I did set the JVM and memory options as noted though. Thread stack size is 64 Kb versus 64 Mb.

8. Not sure you really need to reboot except to check that the service starts automatically. I believe you can just Start it from Services.

Now if I can just get an OpenOffice service….

Thanks again for the boost.

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

rivetlogic — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:24:03 GMT

Hi,

As Paul mentioned earlier you could use the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools.

Use instsrv and srvany to add start_oo.bat as a service and have your Tomcat service depend on it.

I've found that to be a very easy way to get OpenOfficePortable run as a service.

Hope this helps,

–Aladdin

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:38:26 GMT

Thanks.

start_oo.bat isn't there in the installation. However, as noted in other postings, there is a command to substitute for it. I should be able to figure out how to make a service out of it.

I guess I'll track down the Resource Kit. I'm sure we have it, but I have not used it.

Thanks again.

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

rivetlogic — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:03:11 GMT

Hi,

There's a nice set of instructions here:

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=197

Cheers,

–Aladdin

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 20:20:27 GMT

Thanks.

I did it. I even downloaded the resource kit from the authoriative site.

I did not make Tomcat dependent on OpenOffice or visa versa as alfresco.bat doesn't really do that? Opinion?

Anyway, I haven't tested any transformations yet, but I did see it in the Task Manager.

Thanks again.

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

rivetlogic — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 03:21:55 GMT

Hi,

It's good to have the dependancy in order to be sure that OpenOfficePortable is running while Alfresco is running. That way you can ensure working transformations.

Regards,

–Aladdin

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

bsawler — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:14:50 GMT

Hi all,

I am a Mechanical Engineer and far, really far from a software engineer. Actually the only course I failed in University was Computer Programming…

So this is quite difficult for me… With that said, I am having problems (real stressful problems) which may be minor in nature I hope. First I got Alfresco 1.4 up an running after installing mysql 5. The CIFS in the Web client was showing my "bgs_a" where my computer name is "bgs". Now I could never see this in my Network Places nor could I map it cause it always kept saying that it could not connect. It is my own laptap plugged into my work LAN.

Therefore I installed as for the topic "Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service" and it is up and running and when I add content, I hover over the file and in the status it says the location is "file////" So I cannot find the CIFS? Any idea where it is? I am really struggling with this.

Thanks,
Bradley

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:11:41 GMT

Bradley,

I'm not exactly sure of your situation, but I will try to help….

First, the _a is just something alfresco adds to differentiate its server from the regular file server of the computer with alfresco on it.

I suggest you do a "Map Network Drive" as follows:

1. Bring up My Computer or My Documents.

2. Select Tools->Map Network Drive

3. Select the Drive you want to mount your alfresco on. It will default to Z: if you don't have that mounted already.

4. Under Folder type \\bgs_a\alfresco

5. Click different user name, enter your alfresco user name and password, and click OK.

6. I suggest you might want to click Reconnect at logon so that it will still be there next time you logon.

7. Click Finish.

Now, you should see this drive under My Computer and will be able to use it as a normal drive. The permissions on the folders and files will be as they are for you in Alfresco.

Hope this helps….

Rich

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

bsawler — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:36:00 GMT

Hey Rich,

Thanks for the prompt response!

This morning I started up my laptop and I forgot that I had set it for running on windows as a service and I went to "Start Alfresco Server" then logged on and could map 'bgs_a' as you outlined. ALL worked good. When I 'hover' over the 'Open Network Folder icon it says "Open Network Folder \\bgs_a\alfresco " and down below in the status it says "file:////bgs_a/alfresco…"

Then I realized that I started it wrong cause I set it up as a service as outlined in this discussion. So I "Stopped Alfresco Server" then "started" the tomcat service from the tomcat5w.exe command, fired up firefox and logged into Alfresco and all my files are there etc… looks fine, but when I 'hover' over the 'Open Network Folder icon it says "Open Network Folder " and down below in the status it says "file://///" i.e. I do not know where the files are and I cannot map bgs_a.

Thanks in advance,
Bradley

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:02:17 GMT

I'll think about this and post another reply if I think of anything else….

Meanwhile, I recommend that you delete or rename your manual Alfresco start and stop selections. I have done the same thing you did and this was the only way I stopped myself.

I wouldn't run the tomcat command directly. If you go Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services, you should see an Alfresco service in the list. You can stop, restart, and start it from there. Also, you can set it to manual or automatic. In any case, even if you set it to manual, you might want to always start, stop, and restart it from there.

I would reboot your laptop and see if it works. That is if you have the service on automatic. If not, go to the Services and start it from there.

I hope this helps.

If not, we will need to go into the log to find out if we can see what is happening with CIFS.

I wish you all the best.

Rich

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

bsawler — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:43:43 GMT

Hi Rich,

I do not have an "Alfresco" service but there is an "Apache Tomcat" service, which was stopped and manual. I started it and then could log onto Alfresco immediately. I changed this service to auto, rebooted and the service started but same issue with the CIF.

I have a clean machine next to me in the office. I will perform a clean install and perform op's outlined above, and will see how it works. Cause I have 'removed' and installed Alfresco about 6 times over the past few days and hopefully this may be the culprit.

Cheers,
Bradley

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:06:32 GMT

Yes, the Apache Tomcat service is likely Alfresco. That is the default name.

As far as your access to CIFS, I would start checking firewall issues. Are you trying to access CIFS from a different computer or the one Alfresco is running on? If the same computer, are you trying to access as localhost, your machine name, or your machine IP address?

I don't remember what ports CIFS requires to be open. I believe you can find that from other posts in this forum though.

To start, check if your Windows firewall is turned on. If so, turn it off. TEMPORARILY! Check if CIFS works. If so, turn the firewall back on, and go searching for the right ports. Then go into the firewall and enable those.

Note, it might have nothing to do with firewall.

I wish you all the best….

Rich

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

derek — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:24:58 GMT

Hi,

I don't want to get in the way of a lively and helpful conversation, but I just wanted to check: Did you remove the custom-* files and replace them with appropriate ones for MySQL?

When CIFS appears to be offline, are you still able to login via the Web interface on http://localhost:8080/alfresco ?

Regards

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:08:55 GMT

Derek,

Welcome! I very much appreciate you joining in.

I'll let Bradley answer, but his posts seem to indicate the web interface was working. I don't know if it is localhost though.

In regards though to the custom* files though… I remember that as a "just remove" for MySQL. Is that not correct? Just checking as I may be doing that.

Thanks,

Rich

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

derek — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:31:53 GMT

Hi,

Just remove is for fast-preview using MySQL. The tiny readme is not an admin guide. The Wiki page, http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Repository_Configuration#New_Installations is an essential read to avoid headaches later. The 1.4 server should catch them for you, but it's better just to put it down solidly right up front.

Regarding the CIFS configuration, the alfresco.log will give more information. If we get a look at those then Gary might be able to spot something.

Regards

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

richmitc — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:41:26 GMT

Thanks for the pointer to the MySQL setup information! You were right. I was just reading the readme.

Rich

Re: Installation of Alfresco on Windows as a service

dozyarmadillo — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:59:43 GMT

It's strange that the service is no longer installed for the community version. I'm sure that 1.4 did install the service. Does the enterprise version install the service?

Regards

Mark