WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Installation Requirements

In this section:

 

Review the sections that follow to ensure that your machine or machines meet the necessary WebFOCUS and ReportCaster requirements.


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Full Installation Requirement

A full installation is required when you upgrade from WebFOCUS Version 7.x. To migrate from WebFOCUS Version 7.x and preserve your Managed Reporting repository, Dashboard views, and customizations, do not uninstall WebFOCUS Version 7.x.


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Upgrade Installation Requirement

If you decide to upgrade your current WebFOCUS installation, you must clear the cache in your application server after the upgrade process is complete. For example, if you are using Apache Tomcat, the cache can be cleared by manually deleting any subdirectories that correspond to the context roots that you deployed (for example, /ibi_apps), which are located in the following directory:

/{TOMCAT_HOME}/work/Catalina/localhost

Note: Before installing a service pack or running an upgrade installation, ensure that the WebFOCUS web applications have been stopped (or just bring down the application server). In addition, the Distribution Server must be stopped.


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JVM and J2SE Support Information

WebFOCUS Version 8 requires Java Virtual Machine (Java VM) Version 1.6 on the system that is hosting the application server where the WebFOCUS Reporting Server and ReportCaster Distribution Server are installed. In addition, any supported portal server (for example, SAP Enterprise Portal Server, IBM WebSphere Portal Server, and so on) that is integrated with WebFOCUS Open Portal Services must be hosted on a system that is using Java VM Version 1.6.

Note: For information regarding WebFOCUS release support for the different Oracle JDK versions that WebFOCUS and ReportCaster web applications are installed, see WebFOCUS Support Statement for Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) on the Customer Support Services site, https://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/tech/wbf/wbf_tmo_047_j2se.html.

For more information on Java VM support, see WebFOCUS Applet Interface Support Statement for Java VM on the Customer Support Services site, http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/tech/wbf/wbf_tmo_047.html.


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WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Machine Requirements

This table lists basic requirements for the machine or machines that run WebFOCUS and ReportCaster. Where necessary, these requirements are described in more detail later in this chapter. If WebFOCUS components are installed on different machines, requirements apply to all machines except where noted.

Item

Options or Requirements

Note

Operating System

The WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster are Java based applications and supported on operating systems with Java 1.6 environments.

The following are the operating systems on which the WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster are certified and on which the WebFOCUS Reporting Server is supported and certified.

  • IBM AIX 6.1 pSeries
  • HP-UX 11.11 and 11.23 PA-RISC
  • HP-UX 11.23 IA64
  • Linux Kernel-2.4.21, 2.6.5 and 2.6.9 x86
  • Linux Kernel-2.6.9 pSeries
  • Linux Kernel-2.6.5 and up zSeries
  • Oracle Solaris 9 and 10 Sparc
  • Oracle Solaris 10 AMD64

Shell

Korn Shell (ksh).

WebFOCUS is tested and documented using ksh as the default logon shell. WebFOCUS scripts require Korn Shell (ksh) which is not installed with Linux by default.

Application Server/Servlet Container

(WebFOCUS Client Machine)

Must meet both J2EE 1.4 web container and J2SE 1.5 specifications. This includes servlet API 2.4 specifications.

See Web Server and Application Server Requirements for certified application servers or servlet containers.

Web Server

(WebFOCUS Client Machine)

Must support aliasing.

See Web Server and Application Server Requirements for certified web servers. If your application server has a robust HTTP component, the web server is optional.

Java JDK (32-bit)

Java JDK (64-bit)

Java JDK 1.6.

 

WebFOCUS Repository

TCP/IP access to a Database Server.

For JDBC drivers.

A WebFOCUS repository is required to store reports, scheduling, and all WebFOCUS data. You can use any supported database. For more information, see WebFOCUS Repository Setup.

Memory Requirements

(For the WebFOCUS Reporting Server)

Base Memory: 2.5 MB

Additional Memory per User: 2.5 MB

This is the minimum virtual memory required for operation of the WebFOCUS Reporting Server.



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End User Machine Requirements

In this section:

This section explains the desktop and accessibility compliance (Section 508) requirements for running WebFOCUS and ReportCaster.



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Section 508 Compliance

WebFOCUS HTML report accessibility provides support for assistive technologies, such as screen readers, when the report request complies with the accessibility requirements documented in Technical Memo 4505: WebFOCUS HTML Report Accessibility Support. For more information on end-user configuration requirements for WebFOCUS HTML report accessibility support, see:

http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com

For information on specific accessibility requirements for WebFOCUS Business Intelligence (BI) Portal, InfoAssist, and ReportCaster, see the WebFOCUS Accessibility Guide.



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Desktop Requirements

The following table lists requirements for machines from which end users or administrators can access WebFOCUS reports and applications. Not all requirements apply to all users and in many situations, only a web browser is required.

Item

Options or Requirements

Notes

Web Browser

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 and 9.0 32-bit is certified with WebFOCUS Version 8.

Mozilla Firefox® 15.

All features are supported on Internet Explorer®. You should use Internet Explorer for administration tools and development interfaces, such as InfoAssist.

For more details on browser support, access the following support website:

http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/tech/wbf/wbf_tmo_027.html

Adobe Acrobat Reader

WebFOCUS Version 8 is certified with Adobe® Reader® X (10.0.1).

Acrobat is needed to view PDF reports generated by WebFOCUS.

Adobe Flash Player

WebFOCUS Version 8 is certified with Adobe® Flash® Player 10 and higher.

For more information on Adobe Flash Player requirements, see:

http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com

Java VM Browser Plug-In

(for applet-based graphics)

Java VM 1.6.

For more information on Java VM Browser Plug-In requirements, see the WebFOCUS Applet Interface Support Statement for Java Virtual Machine (JVM):

http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/tech/wbf/wbf_tmo_047.html



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Disk Space Requirements

The following table shows approximate disk space requirements for WebFOCUS components.

Operating System

WebFOCUS Reporting Server

WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster

During Installation

After Installation

During Installation

WebFOCUS Client

ReportCaster Distribution Server

HP-UX 11.0

430 MB

210 MB

725 MB

350 MB

15 MB

IBM AIX 6.1

290 MB

140 MB

625 MB

310 MB

15 MB

Oracle Solaris 9 and 10

330 MB

160 MB

650 MB

320 MB

15 MB

Linux 2.4.21 and later

270 MB

130 MB

630 MB

310 MB

15 MB

Note: These numbers do not include space for applications.



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Communication Requirements

WebFOCUS uses TCP/IP for communications between components. During the installation, you choose which ports are used. Ensure that communications are possible on those ports.

Component

Number of Ports

Default Ports

Notes

WebFOCUS Reporting Server

4 consecutive ports

8120 (TCP)

8121 (HTTP)

8122

8123

When you install the WebFOCUS Reporting Server, you are prompted for the HTTP and TCP ports. The HTTP port is the first of three consecutive ports that the server uses. The TCP port is normally one less than the HTTP port.

WebFOCUS Client

Runs through web and/or application servers

 

For most features, the WebFOCUS Client does not require its own dedicated port and runs through the web and application servers.

ReportCaster Distribution Server

1 port

8200

When you install ReportCaster, you are prompted for this port.

Additional ports may be needed when Workload Manager and/or Failover options are configured.



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Web Server and Application Server Requirements

The following are the most common web and application servers certified with WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Version 8:

Additional web and application servers are supported that meet the specifications described in JVM and J2SE Support Information. For additional support information, contact Customer Support.

Note: Depending on the level of usage, you may need to increase your application server Java memory options. See Java Memory Issues for more information.

Information on configuring web and application servers appears in Configuring Web and Application Servers. Some installation information for Tomcat is also provided. For installation information on other application servers, refer to your application server documentation.


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User ID Requirements for the WebFOCUS Reporting Server

If the WebFOCUS Reporting Server is not on UNIX, see the documentation for its platform and skip to User ID Requirements for the WebFOCUS Client.

The operating system user ID you use when installing the server will own the files and is the default server administrator. Server administrators are users that have permission to start and configure the server. You can create a new user ID to install and administer the server, or you can use any ordinary (non-superuser) ID. However, you should not install the server as root. Throughout this documentation, the name iadmin is used to refer to the server administrator ID and group, but you may use any name for this ID.

When running the server with security OPSYS, end users and applications are authenticated through the operating system when they need access to the server. Therefore, in addition to the iadmin ID, operating system IDs must be available for end users and applications to access the server. Server data access agents will impersonate these IDs before performing any file access on their behalf. For security purposes, you should not allow end users and applications to use the iadmin ID. The iadmin ID should be available only to users who require administrative privileges to the server.


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User ID Requirements for the WebFOCUS Client

The WebFOCUS Client user ID and file permission requirements depend on your security needs, web server configuration, application server configuration, and the preferences of the system administrator.

Be aware that most WebFOCUS Client processing is done through the web and application servers. In addition, an ID (WebFOCUS ID) should be available to browse the file system, edit text files, and execute utilities. Therefore, you must determine which IDs are used for the following processes:

The simplest configuration uses the same ID for all of the above processes. To implement this, ensure web and application server processes use the same ID and then install the WebFOCUS Client using this ID. This ID should not be root.

In other configurations, multiple user IDs can be used. If you do not install using the same ID as the web and application server processes, after installation, you must set file permissions to ensure that these processes have access to the WebFOCUS Client directories. The easiest way to implement this is to create a group to own the WebFOCUS Client directories and add user IDs to this group. Then, after installation, change directory permissions to 775.

Note: Communication between the WebFOCUS Client and the WebFOCUS Reporting Server is through TCP/IP, not the file system. However, if the WebFOCUS Client and the WebFOCUS Reporting Server are installed on the same machine as the same user, they may share the same APPROOT directory, /install_directory/ibi/apps. If this is the case, both the WebFOCUS Client and Reporting Server processes require access to this directory.


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User ID Requirements for the ReportCaster Distribution Server

The ReportCaster Distribution Server communicates with other WebFOCUS components using TCP/IP. Therefore, if you install the Distribution Server separately, you can use the same ID as other WebFOCUS components or a different ID entirely. Do not install or run the Distribution Server as root.


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WebFOCUS and ReportCaster Machine Java Requirements

Java 1.6 is required on the machine or machines that run the WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster Distribution Server. If you use Apache Tomcat 7.0.33, JRE 1.6 or higher is required on the WebFOCUS Client machine. Installation of Java 1.6 on WebFOCUS Reporting Server machines is also required.

Note:

After the JDK is installed, the following directory must be in the PATH variable of any user IDs that run WebFOCUS components:

/java_home/bin

where:

java_home

Is the absolute path where the JDK is installed.

To test if Java is installed and in PATH, issue the following:

java -version

Information on the Java build should appear. For example:

java version "1.6_17"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6_17-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6_17-b05, mixed mode, sharing)

To run the installation, the jar and javac commands must be in your search PATH. You can type the following to determine if they are found:

type jar

If you use ReportCaster, be aware that releases earlier than Oracle JDK 1.5.0_06 do not account for U.S. daylight savings time changes that begin in 2007. Therefore, when you install WebFOCUS Client and ReportCaster, it is recommended that you install the provided JRE 1.6.0_25. The Distribution Server will automatically use that Java release.

For IBM JDK, refer to your IBM documentation for additional information. The ReportCaster Distribution Server will use whichever Java VM is in its PATH variable. ReportCaster web components use the Java VM of the application server. Refer to your application server documentation if you need to update its Java VM.

Note: For most purposes, the terms JDK and SDK are synonymous. A JRE contains a subset of the JDK components.


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End User Java Requirements for Applets

How to:

Most end users do not need to install Java components on their machines. A separate Java installation on end user machines is required only for applet-based graphics.

Java processing is done through the web browser of the end-user machine, rather than on machines where you install WebFOCUS. For the web browser to process applets, the following is needed:

  1. A Java VM must be installed on the end user machine.
  2. The end user browser must be configured to use Oracle Java VM 1.6.


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Procedure: How to Test and Configure the Java Plug-In

You can determine the Java VM a browser uses by going to the following page:

http://www.java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp

If the browser is configured to use a Java VM, an applet should display listing the vendor and version of the Java VM.

If you require applet graphics, install Oracle Java VM 1.6, as explained below.

Oracle Java VM is installed with a J2SE JDK or JRE.


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ReportCaster Distribution Requirements

If you are not using ReportCaster, proceed to Installation Worksheet.

The following communication requirements are necessary to schedule and distribute reports:

Note: The ReportCaster web components and the ReportCaster Distribution Server need a common time zone for proper operation. Therefore, if ReportCaster components run on different machines, all machines must be in the same time zone.


WebFOCUS