Linux installation

This topic describes how to install Connect on a Linux machine.

You can install Connect to run as a background service, which is the standard installation, or as a standalone application, commonly used when trying out the product.

In this topic:

Before you install Connect

For all installation types, perform the following before you install the product on a Linux machine:

1. Check the Support Matrix to make sure that your environment is supported.

2. Before installing Connect, make sure you have a PostgreSQL database server installed on the machine. See PostgreSQL database for more details.

3. Install the haveged and rngd services which are needed for installation:

   sudo yum install haveged

   sudo systemctl start haveged

   sudo systemctl enable haveged

   sudo yum install rng-tools

   sudo systemctl start rngd

   sudo systemctl enable rngd

   Note: In the context of cryptography, entropy is related to random number generation. On Linux systems in virtual environments, calls to /dev/random are limited by the availability of entropy in the system. Without the proper level of entropy, the initial Connect start may be blocked because Connect generates OSP keyfiles on start, and requires random key data for these purposes. The haveged and rngd services increase the system's entropy.

4. Create a unique user and group for Connect services.

5. Provide sudo permissions to the Connect user for the following commands:

   <install-dir>/MicroFocusConnect/install_database_service.sh

   <install-dir>/MicroFocusConnect/install_service.sh

   systemctl enable connect-database

   systemctl disable connect-database

   systemctl start connect-database

   systemctl stop connect-database

   systemctl enable connect

   systemctl disable connect

   systemctl start connect

   systemctl stop connect

6. Ensure that you use this user to install, upgrade, and uninstall Connect.

   Caution: To maintain security, do not use the root account as the account to install, upgrade and uninstall Connect.

7. Ensure that all files in the Connect installation directory have this user and group.

8. Download Connect Core for Linux from the AppDelivery Marketplace.

9. Create a folder for the Connect installation, and unpack the files from the downloaded archive:

   gunzip mfconnect-linux-<build>.tar.gz

   tar -xvf mfconnect-linux-<build>.tar.gz

10. If you are upgrading an existing installation, stop any connections that are running in the existing installation, to prevent data loss.

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Perform a full Linux installation

This section describes how to perform a full standalone installation of Connect on a Linux machine.

To perform a full installation:

1. Change the directory to the deployment folder:

   cd MicroFocusConnect

2. Edit the connect_database.env file located in the MicroFocusConnect/ directory. Choose one of the following two options:

   (Option 1) Connect to an existing database:

   1. Manually create the database in advance. For more information, refer to Create database manually.

   2. Update the connection parameters in the file to match the manually created database.

   3. Ignore the DEFAULT_ADMIN_USER, DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD, DEFAULT_ADMIN_DATABASE parameters.

   (Option 2) Create a new database using an admin user:

   1. Provide the DEFAULT_ADMIN_USER, DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD, DEFAULT_ADMIN_DATABASE parameters to establish the required admin session.

   2. Update the desired target connection settings in the file accordingly. We will then proceed to create the database using these settings.

3. Prepare the database. Run the prepare_database.sh script:

   ./prepare_database.sh

4. Using the sudo user, deploy the Connect service:

   sudo ./install_service.sh

5. Start the Connect service with one of the following commands:

   sudo systemctl start connect

   sudo systemctl enable connect

6. To verify the installation, check the service's status:

   sudo systemctl status connect

   Wait for the system to return an Active status.

7. Secure the database. For details, see Install SSL certificates.

8. Using the URL, for example, http://my_server:8081/ConnectWeb/index.html and the credentials provided to you, log into Connect.

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Install as a standalone application

You can install Connect as an application only, and not as a service that runs continuously in the background.

This option is useful if you are trying out Connect.

Run the following commands:

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Stop and uninstall Connect

Use the following commands to stop or uninstall Connect:

Action	Command
Stop the Connect service	sudo systemctl stop connect
Disable the Connect service auto-start	sudo systemctl disable connect
Uninstall the Connect service	sudo ./uninstall_service.sh
Remove the Connect files	rm -rf MicroFocusConnect/

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Increase maximum allocated memory in Linux

The following procedure describes how to increase maximum allocated memory for Tomcat on Linux deployments.

To increase the maximum allocated memory:

1. Locate the file setenv.sh in the /MicroFocusConnect/WebServer/bin directory.
2. Open the file and modify the value for -Xmx in JAVA_OPTS parameters.
3. Restart the Connect service.

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Next steps:

• Install connectors
• Create a data source

• User maps

• Create and manage connections
• Log in to Connect