DataCaster Installation Guide

This is a preview version of DataCaster. To install DataCaster, download the appropriate version of DataCaster for your operating system from Applibase web site.

DataCaster is provided as a zip for the Windows systems, and a tar file for Linux systems. The tar file should work for other Unix environments, although we have yet to test the build with other operating systems and JVMs. There is little difference between the the Windows and Linux versions, which differ primarily in the shell scripts used to launch various tools. We have tested DataCaster with Linux and Windows XP using two Java virtual machines Sun J2SE versions 1.4.2 and 1.5. Limited testing has been performed with the IBM Java virtual machine, version 1.4.2. You will need to extract the download file, and run the installation script to get started with using DataCaster.

You will also require Java installed, and DataCaster requires Java version 1.4.2 or higher. If you do not have Java installed, download and install the Sun J2SE 1.4.2 or later from the Sun Java website.

Extract the Zip or Tar File

First extract zip or tar file which creates a new directory named DataCaster. This directory contains a set of sub-directories including a bin directory. The data directory will be where your databases will be stored initially (provided you run the install script first). You can change that later as described in the configuration documentation.

Change the Paths for Java and Install Directory

You will need to change the paths in the env.bat (Windows) or env.sh (Linux) files. Set the correct vales for the Java directory, and the DataCaster directory.

Run the Install Script

Find the install script in the bin directoy and run the install script. On Windows launch the batch file from explorer, or change directory to the bin directoy if using the console.

The install script sets the conf and data directories used by the database. You will then be prompted to enter an admin password for your installation. Please enter a new password and re-enter for verification. It is important to change the default password since your server can be accessed over the network, and the default password would make it easy for anyone to administer your DataCaster server.

You are now ready to start using DataCaster.

Start the Server

You can now use any of the tools provided with DataCaster, and it may be best to strat with launching the server so you can use the web administration client (WebAdmin) for easier initial configuration. To start the server, find the start server script in the bin directory and launch it.

Open your web browser, and connect to http://localhost:8080/WebAdmin/

You will get a login prompt. Use username admin and the password you set for the admin user with the install script. This will open the WebAdmin application where you can further use and configure DataCaster.

It is advisable to setup additional users, rather than share the admin user for other users and applications. Use the WebAdmin client to setup additional users.

By default, databases are created automatically as soon as you use them. This can be turned off as described in the configuration section. You can start by creating database tables directly in a new database by specifying the SQL create statements.

Java Preferences Issue on Linux

On some Linux systems, the Java preferences framework does not work without some changes, and can create problems, including a number of errors being reported in your console.

To fix this, grant read/write permissions to all users for the preferences directory. Unfortunately, the directory may vary, so you may need to use the errors to determine where the files are. On some systems with the Sun 1.4.2 J2SE the preferences files are at: /home/j2sdk1.4.2_08/jre/.systemPrefs when the JVM is installed in /home/j2sdk1.4.2_08

You may want to grant write permission to everyone initially for the preferences directory, and later change the permissions to prevent others from editing preferences without authorization.