Deploy ALM Octane

This section describes how to deploy an RPM file for installing an ALM Octane server.

Overview

Installing the ALM Octane RPM package does the following:

  • Creates the correct directory structure.

  • Copies all the files to the right locations.

  • Creates a user and group for running the ALM Octane service that starts the ALM Octane server.

    By default, both the user and group are named octane. However, you can use a pre-defined user instead by defining the following environment variables: OCTANE_USER and OCTANE_GROUP.

  • Installs the octane service so that the operating system recognizes it.

Back to top

Prerequisites

Before installing:

Back to top

Deploy

This section describes how to deploy.

To deploy:

  1. Download the ALM Octane RPM package:

    https://sld.microfocus.com/mysoftware/download/downloadCenter

    Tip: To verify the digital signature of the RPM package, see "Installation Security" in the ALM Octane Secure Deployment and Configuration Guidelines.

  2. Set up repository access.

    If the repository is located on a remote, dedicated machine, the ALM Octane server user account must have network access to the remote repository.

    The repository directory has to be shared, so the user performing installation (generally, the octane user) can write to the repository.

    • Single-node configuration

      Create an environment variable OCTANE_REPOSITORY_DIR on the ALM Octane server with the repository location.

      For example: export OCTANE_REPOSITORY_DIR=/opt/octane/repo

    • Cluster configuration

      • The repository directory has to be a shared directory visible to all cluster nodes.

      • On each cluster node create a mount directory that points to the repository directory, for example: /mnt/octane/repo. It is important that you enter the repository path using the same path name on all nodes.

      • On each cluster node create an environment variable OCTANE_REPOSITORY_DIR with the repository location.

        For example: export OCTANE_REPOSITORY_DIR=/mnt/octane/repo

      • The repository location cannot be /opt/octane on an ALM Octane node.

  3. Install the ALM Octane RPM package.

    • To install the ALM Octane RPM package in the default installation directory /opt/octane, run:

      rpm -ivh <name of the RPM file>
    • For sudoer user, use: sudo -E rpm -ivh <name of the RPM file>

      The -E parameter is used to access the OCTANE_REPOSITORY_DIR environment variable created in previous step.

    • Alternatively, install the ALM Octane RPM package to a different directory:

      rpm -ivh --prefix <base path> <name of the RPM file> 

      Note: If you install RPM to a different directory, make sure to replace "/opt/octane" with the relevant path when following these instructions.

  4. Verify the required file permissions.

    Default directory Description Permissions
    /opt/octane

    ALM Octane installation directory and all its sub-directories and files. These files are used for configuring the server.

    Full read, write, and execute
    /opt/octane/log Log file directory. Full read, write, and execute
  5. If planning to install ALM Octane on additional cluster nodes, perform the steps described under Deploy in cluster environment.

Back to top

Deploy in cluster environment

This section describes how to deploy in cluster environment.

To deploy in cluster environment:

  1. Configure the IP addresses (or fully qualified domain names) of the cluster nodes. Configure the node IP addresses or fully qualified domain names in the octane.conf file. For details, see Configure site settings.

  2. Verify ports are open in your firewall. When deploying ALM Octane over a cluster, ALM Octane needs to communicate between the nodes in the cluster located on port 5701. Therefore, make sure that your firewall enables communication between the nodes of the cluster on the specified port.

Back to top