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System Requirements

Information about system requirements for flex.bi Enterprise installation can be found here: Requirements.

Our default setup

We have chosen Linux CentOS 8 as our default server platform and MySQL/MariaDB as a database engine, so these instruction apply for this specific setup.

However, flex.bi Enterprise can also be installed on older CentOS, Redhat versions as well as other distributions of Linux, by adjusting the available software, it's versions and installation methods. For example using rpm or apt-get or yum instead of dnf or PostgreSQP instead of MySQL.

Software Installation

The following are instructions for flex.bi Enterprise and the required software installation on Centos 8 operating system.

Java installation

Run the following command to install Java JDK 11:

sudo dnf install java-11-openjdk-devel

Run the following command, to test if the result matches the version you installed

java -version

Install MySQL server

The CentOS 8 AppStream repository only contain MySQL 8.0 packages, so, to install MySQL 5.7, we need to do some prep-work.

Disable MySQL default AppStream repository.

sudo yum install mariadb-server

Create a new repository file..

sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

Create a new repository file..

sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

Paste the following dat into the new repo file.

[mysql57-community]
name=MySQL 5.7 Community Server
baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-5.7-community/el/7/$basearch/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

[mysql-connectors-community]
name=MySQL Connectors Community
baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-connectors-community/el/7/$basearch/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

[mysql-tools-community]
name=MySQL Tools Community
baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-tools-community/el/7/$basearch/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

Disable MySQL 8 repository.

sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

Enable repository for MySQL 5.7.

sudo dnf config-manager --enable mysql57-community

Install MySQL 5.7.

sudo dnf install mysql-community-server

Flex.bi

For security reasons we recommend creating dedicated flexbi user. Run the following command to achieve that:

sudo useradd flexbi

...

Run the following command to unzip the .zip archive file (file name in the example can differ from the actual file depending on the software version):

unzip flexbi_private_ezbi-4.7.2_4.3.0_33cdc226e7d.zip

Now you should have /home/flexbi/flexbi_private directory containing the following folders:

...

MySQL connector

Move the downloaded MySQL connector file to /home/flexbi directory on your server and then run the following command to unzip the .zip archive file (file name in the example can differ from the actual file depending on the software version):

unzip mysql-connector-java-5.1.47.zip

Copy the jar file from the newly created folder to /home/flexbi/flexbi_private/lib directory (if it doesn't exist, create it). Run the following command to achieve that (java version in the example can differ from the actual version depending on the software version):

cp mysql-connector-java-5.1.47/mysql-connector-java-5.1.47-bin.jar flexbi_private/lib/

Setup and configuration

MariaDB

If you have large amount of records, we suggest to adjust the database engine performance by editing /etc/my.cnf file using appropriate values.

This is an example of a good performance configuration that you can insert under the [\mysqld]\ part of the configuration file:

innodb_buffer_pool_size = 1024M
innodb_log_file_size = 256M
query_cache_size= 16M
query_cache_type = 1
max_connections = 200

Run the following command to make sure MariaDB starts automatically on server startup:

systemctl enable mariadb

Run the following command to start MariaDB:

sudo systemctl start mariadb

...

Run the following command to connect to mysql:

mysql -u root

Run the following command to change the password of the root user (in the example the new password is 'secret'):

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('secret') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

...

Run the following command to connect to mysql:

mysql -u root -p

Adjust and run the following command (in the example user's password is 'secret'):

CREATE USER 'flexbi_private'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `flexbi_private%`.* TO 'flexbi_private'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

...

Run the following command to connect to mysql:

mysql -u root -p

Adjust and run the following command:

GRANT ALL ON flexbi_private.* TO 'root'@'<remote-ip-address>' IDENTIFIED BY 'PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL ON flexbi_private_dwh.* TO 'root'@'<remote-ip-address>' IDENTIFIED BY 'PASSWORD';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

...

On this page:

System Requirements

Information about system requirements for flex.bi Enterprise installation can be found here: Requirements.

Our default setup

We have chosen Linux CentOS 8 as our default server platform and MySQL/MariaDB as a database engine, so these instruction apply for this specific setup.

However, flex.bi Enterprise can also be installed on older CentOS, Redhat versions as well as other distributions of Linux, by adjusting the available software, it's versions and installation methods. For example using rpm or apt-get or yum instead of dnf or PostgreSQP instead of MySQL.

Software Installation

The following are instructions for flex.bi Enterprise and the required software installation on Centos 8 operating system.

Java installation

1. Run the following command to install Java JDK 11:

   Code Block
   sudo dnf install java-11-openjdk-devel

   
   

2. Run the following command, to test if the result matches the version you installed

   Code Block
   java -version

   
   

Install MySQL server

The CentOS 8 AppStream repository only contain MySQL 8.0 packages, so, to install MySQL 5.7, we need to do some prep-work.

1. Disable MySQL default AppStream repository.

   Code Block
   sudo yum install mariadb-server

   
   

2. Create a new repository file..

   Code Block
   sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

   
   

3. Create a new repository file..

   Code Block
   sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

   
   

4. Paste the following dat into the new repo file.

   Code Block

   [mysql57-community] name=MySQL 5.7 Community Server baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-5.7-community/el/7/$basearch/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=0 [mysql-connectors-community] name=MySQL Connectors Community baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-connectors-community/el/7/$basearch/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=0 [mysql-tools-community] name=MySQL Tools Community baseurl=http://repo.mysql.com/yum/mysql-tools-community/el/7/$basearch/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=0

   
   

5. Disable MySQL 8 repository.

   Code Block
   sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-community.repo

   
   

6. Enable repository for MySQL 5.7.

   Code Block
   sudo dnf config-manager --enable mysql57-community

   
   

7. Install MySQL 5.7.

   Code Block
   sudo dnf install mysql-community-server

   
   

flex.bi Enterprise installation

1. For security reasons we recommend creating dedicated flexbi user. Run the following command to achieve that:

   Code Block
   sudo useradd flexbi

   
   

2. Move the flex.bi Enterprise installation .zip archive file to /home/flexbi directory on your server.

3. Run the following command to unzip the .zip archive file (file name in the example can differ from the actual file depending on the software version):

   Code Block
   unzip flexbi_private_6.0.zip

   
   

4. After the unzip process finishes, you should have a new /home/flexbi/flexbi_private directory containing the following folders:

   Code Block
   app bin config examples lib log public spec tmp

   
   

5. Run the following commands, to ensure that the flex.bi folder and its contents are owned by the user flexbi:

   Code Block
   chown -R flexbi:flexbi flexbi_private

   
   

MySQL connector installation

1. Download the MySQL JDBC driver version 5.1.

2. Move the downloaded .zip archive to /home/flexbi directory on your server and then run the following command to unzip the archive (file name in the example can differ from the actual file depending on the software version):

   Code Block
   unzip mysql-connector-java-5.1.49.zip

   
   

3. Copy the .jar file from the newly created folder to the /home/flexbi/flexbi_private/lib directory (if it doesn't exist, create it). Run the following command to achieve that (file name in the example can differ from the actual name depending on the software version):

   Code Block
   cp mysql-connector-java-5.1.49/mysql-connector-java-5.1.49-bin.jar flexbi_private/lib/

   
   

Setup and configuration

MySQL Server configuration

1. If you have large amount of records, we suggest to adjust the database engine performance by editing /etc/my.conf file using appropriate values.
   The following is an example of a good performance configuration that you can insert under the [mysqld] part of the configuration file:

   Code Block
   innodb_buffer_pool_size = 1024M innodb_log_file_size = 256M query_cache_size= 16M query_cache_type = 1 max_connections = 200

   
   

   Note
   If you change the log file size after starting the MySQL server, you have to delete id_logfile0 and id_logfile1 file from /var/lib/mysql directory.

   
   

   Note
   Adjust the innodb_buffer_pool_size to a level that you can actually afford on your server, taking into account Java and other application memory need

   
   

2. Run the following command to start MySQL Server and ensure that it will be automatically started during server startup:

   Code Block
   systemctl enable --now mysqld

   
   

3. Run the following command, to get the automatically generated MySQL Server root user password:

   Code Block
   sudo grep 'A temporary password' /var/log/mysqld.log |tail -1

   
   

4. Make note of the password shown on screen.

5. Start MySQL Secure Installation to change the root password, Disallow root login remotely, remove anonymous users and remove test database.

   Code Block
   sudo mysql_secure_installation

   
   

6. Connect to MySQL Database as root user, using the new password.

   Code Block
   mysql -u root -p

   
   

7. Run the following commands, to create a flex.bi user named flexbi_private: (Exchange secret with the actual password you want to use.)

   Code Block
   CREATE USER 'flexbi_private'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `flexbi_private%`.* TO 'flexbi_private'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

   
   

flex.bi Enterprise configuration

• Configure the eazybi.toml file:
  

  • Run the following command, to copy the eazybi.toml.sample file in the /config folder to a new file named eazybi.toml:

    Code Block
    cp eazybi.toml.sample eazybi.toml

    
    

  • In a text editor of your choice, open the newly created eazybi.toml file and make the necessary configurations:
    
    

    • Licence parameters
      • Change the name to the organisation name (it must be exactly the same as the name that you sent it to flex.bi, because the enabler is tied to this name)
        
        
    • General parameters, for example, specify:
      • If you wish to allow users to register themselves or only invite them
      • If you would like to allow public accounts or not etc.
        
        
    • Default URL parameters
      • Specify host and port that you will use to access flex.bi, for example, bi.company.com:8080
        
        

    • Mailer parameters

      • You can set up the name and address used for outgoing e-mails from this private instance, for example, like this:

        Code Block
        [mailer] from = "My private flex.bi <flexbi@mydomain.com>"

        
        

        Note
        In the code example above, you should use your dedicated e-mail address instead of flexbi@mydomain.com.

        
        

    • SMTP parameters

      • Specify your SMTP server parameters, in order to be able to send invitations, dashboards and error messages
        
        

• Add a systemd initialization script for flex.bi server:

  
  

...

• Open the port 8080 in your firewall to allow remote access to the flex.bi server:

  • Run the following command to open the port 8080:

    Code Block
    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8080/tcp

    
    

  • Run the following command to reload the firewall:

    Code Block
    firewall-cmd --reload

    
    

  • Run the following command to check if the port is open:

    Code Block
    firewall-cmd --list-ports

    
    

Google Chrome

• If you have installed and configured PhantomJS for previous flex.bi enterprise versions then remove PhantomJS settings from the eazybi.toml file by deleting the following lines:

  Code Block
  [phantomjs]location = "..."

  
  

• Run the following command to enable Google YUM repository:
  

  Code Block
  cat << EOF > /etc/yum.repos.d/google-chrome.repo [google-chrome] name=google-chrome - \$basearch baseurl=http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/rpm/stable/\$basearch enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub EOF

  
  

• Run the following command to install the package:
  

  Code Block
  yum install google-chrome-stable

  
  

• After you have installed Google Chrome, please restart flex.bi enterprise. During the startup, flex.bi will detect installed Google Chrome and will start to use it for PDF exports. 
  

  Note
  For additional information regarding Google Chrome installation please see Google Chrome installation instructions.

  
  
  

...

Run the flex.bi server

Finally, now you can start the flex.bi service using this code:

...

Configure the database connection in the wizard that should open once you connect for the first time using the database parameters from above.

...