Actian Corporation
1.1 Introducing Director Console for the Web
2.1 Director Desktop Client Supported Operating Systems
2.2 Director Console for the Web Supported Operating Systems
3.1 Director Desktop Client Requirements
3.2 Director Console Web Server Requirements
4.0 Installation Considerations
4.2 Installation Considerations for Director Console Web Server
Welcome to Actian Director 2.1. This readme contains information about operating system support, system requirements, installation considerations, fixed issues, documentation, and contacting Actian Technical Support.
In addition to the legacy desktop client, Actian Director 2.0 introduced Director Console for the Web. Through a provided web server that runs on Linux, Director Console accesses the Java client application that connects to Actian databases over JDBC. Users access the client through a supported web browser.
Director Console for the Web includes:
● A Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
● An Apache Derby database
● An Apache Tomcat web server and servlets
The Director Desktop Client and Director Console for the Web share the same functionality and are identical in operation. For more information, see:
● Director Console for the Web Supported Operating Systems
● Director Console Web Server Requirements
● Installation Considerations for Director Console Web Server
The Actian Product Support Lifecycle Policy determines the duration of support for Actian Director on supported operating system unless the operating system's manufacturer drops support on a prior date. For the latest information about supported operating systems, visit http://supportservices.actian.com/support-services/support#lifecycle.
For complete information about all Actian products and the platforms and operating system releases they run on, see the Product Availability Matrix at http://supportservices.actian.com/support-services/support#platforms.
Director Desktop Client is supported on the following platforms.
Microsoft Windows, 32-bit:
● Microsoft Windows 8
● Microsoft Windows 7
● Microsoft Windows 2008
● Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows, 64-bit:
● Microsoft Windows 10
● Microsoft Windows 8
● Microsoft Windows 7
● Microsoft Windows 2012
● Microsoft Windows 2008r2
● Microsoft Windows 2008
● Microsoft Windows Vista
Linux:
● 64-bit Linux (Intel)
The Director Console web server is supported on the following platforms:
Linux:
● 64-bit Linux (Intel)
Browsers that are used to access Director Console are supported on any operating system.
For more information, see Installation Considerations for Director Console Web Server and Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Support for JDK/JRE 8.
Director Desktop Client requires 130 MB of disk space for installation on any platform.
● All features fully installed require 383 MB on the Console web server.
● Actian Vector, Actian Vector in Hadoop, or Ingres must be installed first, before the Director Console web server. For more information, see Installation Considerations for Director Console Web Server.
● The Director Console web server must be installed on a Linux machine. For more information, see Installation Considerations for Director Console Web Server.
● System memory:
- Recommended: 5 GB
- Minimum: 3 GB
● Background Virtual Private Network porting is required for database connection.
● Supported web browsers:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer: 9, 10, 11
- Mozilla Firefox: 18 or later
● Client machine screen resolution: 1024 x 768 or higher
You can manage permissions on a site basis through the Manage plug-in blocking option.
If the browser displays a message saying that "Java needs permission to run," you must respond to the browser options to run plug-ins on the page. Options vary according to manufacturer and version of your browser:
● Plug-in blocked icon (in address bar)
Look for the blocked plug-in icon in the browser address bar. Clicking the icon displays "Plug-ins were blocked on this page" and the following plug-in options:
- Click "Always allow plug-ins on <site name>" to allow plug-ins (including Java) to run on all this site's pages.
- Click "Run all plug-ins this time" to allow the plug-in (including Java) content on the page to run only until you leave this page.
- Click "Continue blocking plug-ins" to prevent plug-ins from running on the page.
● Browser message bar
- Click "Run this time" to allow the Java content on the page to run only until you leave the page.
- Click "Always run on this site" to allow Java to run on all this site's pages. You will not see this message again for pages on this site.
● Additional plug-in required
If you see a message bar within the browser that says Java is required to display some elements on this page, click "Install plug-in" on the browser message bar, or download from java.com.
● Plug-in out of date
If you see a message bar within the browser that says "Java was blocked because it is out of date," click "Update plug-in" on the browser message bar to get the latest Java version.
Director Desktop Client and Director Console for the Web use separate installers:
● Director Desktop Client is packaged with later versions of Ingres, Actian Vector, and Actian Vector in Hadoop, but must be installed manually.
● Director Console with its web server is not packaged or installed with any Actian database products but is available for separate download.
● You may download either version of Director from Actian Electronic Software Delivery at http://esd.actian.com/product/Administration_Tools/.
For complete installation information, see the Director Installation and Configuration Guide.
The Remote Manager server is installed with the Actian database and does not need to be installed separately. The Director client GUI may also be installed as part of the Ingres or Actian Vector installation on Windows and Linux.
Director requires and installs a Java runtime environment.
The iimgmtsvr must be running on the Ingres or Actian Vector instances you want to manage.
If you have a firewall running or if you are in a hosted system such as Rackspace or Amazon Web Services, you must add rules to the security group for TCP port 16902 and whichever command port must be opened in the firewall (such as 44223 for VW15 or 44103 for VH15).
For Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) browsing, you need additional ports open.
If the operating system has a firewall running, you also must open the ports using the iptables command:
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 16902 --syn -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
If you are connecting to an Ingres II instance:
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 37455 --syn -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
If you are connecting to a Vector VW instance:
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 44223 --syn -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
If you are connecting to a Vector in Hadoop VH instance:
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 44103 --syn -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
Actian Vector, Actian Vector in Hadoop, or Ingres must be installed before the Director Console web server.
The Director Console web server must be installed on a Linux machine (see Director Console for the Web Supported Operating Systems).
Director Console for the Web comprises the following components:
● Java client application that collects database-specific information over JDBC (identical to the desktop client)
● Director Console, which users access through a supported web browser
● Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
● Apache Derby database
● Apache Tomcat web server and servlets
To install Director Console for the Web, you must be logged in as root to run the installation script. During installation, you specify the "installation user" (Console system administrator) and a primary host database to connect to.
● The installation user ID you specify during installation must already exist in the primary host database for it to be a valid Director Console user.
● If the user you create during installation is not valid in the host database, installation will continue, but that invalid user will be unable to access the database through the Director Console until it is authenticated in the host database.
Installing Director Console for the Web does not change any global environment variables. It can co-exist with any other software components installed on the Linux host machine. Director Console web server contains all the components within its installation directory that are required to run Director Console.
If you plan to install multiple Director Console instances, install each instance and start Director Console for it before moving to the next installation. This ensures that the ports used by Tomcat do not conflict with each other.
For complete installation information, see the Director Installation and Configuration Guide.
If you are using Kerberos, you must download the JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files for JDK/JRE 8 from the Oracle website:
1. Back up your current jar files before overwriting them with the new versions.
2. Copy these jar files—US_export_policy.jar and local_policy.jar—to the following directory:
'install_dir'/jre/jre/lib/security
Actian Director can read and upload files local to your Director client machine during the Import process (or using the "Load Data" task) for Actian Vector or Vector in Hadoop instances. However, doing a parallel load on the server to improve overall performance starts separate connections from Director to the management server for each file to upload. This could use up all the available management server connections if more than 98 files are specified (fewer if there are multiple Director clients connected to the same installation). A solution is to do one of the following:
● Uncheck the "parallel" mode option. This allows sequential loading, and an unlimited number of files may be uploaded in this manner. This might slow the whole process, depending on the number and size of the files, but allows more files to be processed in a single import operation.
● Make multiple passes, using fewer input files each time.
● Concatenate some of your input files so that there are fewer separate files to process.
● Increase the maximum number of connections allowed to the management server. For more information, see the II_MGMTSVR_CONNECT_LIMIT environment variable in the Actian Director Installation and Configuration Guide. Do this only as a last resort.
For subsequent releases, a list of bugs fixed since the previous version of the product will be contained in the following Support document:
Knowledge Base Document 000050242
Actian Director documentation consists of the following:
Actian Director Version |
Available Documentation |
Director Desktop Client |
· Installation and Configuration Guide · User Guide · Actian Director help (JavaHelp) |
Director Console for the Web |
· Installation and Configuration Guide · User Guide · Actian Director help (JavaHelp) · Director Console help (HTML) |
Help is product-based, available with the installed version of Actian Director. See "Access Local Help" in the User Guide.
Guides Online
The latest version of guides is available on the Actian Documentation website (http://docs.actian.com/). Click Options and select your Actian Director release.
PDF Guides
PDF versions of the guides are available from Actian Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) at http://esd.actian.com/product/docs/Actian_Director/docs/. They are no longer installed with the product.
Enterprise customers with active maintenance and support contracts have full access to Actian Support, including online use of our case management system and knowledge base, at the Customer Portal (http://support.actian.com).
If you have an active support contract and want to register for access to the Customer Portal, use the enrollment form at http://supportservices.actian.com/user/register.php. (Your Account Number ID is required.)
If you do not have a support agreement for Actian Corporation products and are interested in purchasing support, contact us at sales@actian.com.
For more information about support options, visit http://supportservices.actian.com/support-services/support.
Free support is available from the Actian Open Source Community. Community members may obtain assistance for Actian Corporation products by registering with the Actian Community Site and using the available tools. To register, go to http://supportservices.actian.com/community and click Register.
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