SIRA_PRISE Manual installation procedure

Let’s take a look at what is needed to get you going with this new system. There are several archive files in your downloaded package.  The following table lists the files that are needed for the various functions of the package :

Running the SIRA_PRISE server sp.server.jar, and optionally sp.security.jar
Addressing the SIRA_PRISE server from a java program sp.client.jar, and optionally sp.security.jar
Using the webclient to administer SIRA_PRISE databases SIRA_PRISE.war
Using the birdwatcher demo application birdwatcher.war, birdwatcher.zip
Using the standalone database browser sp.dbrowser.zip
Running the testset sp.testset.zip

Prerequisites

A Java™ VM, version 1.6.0 or later, must be accessible on the machine where any of the SIRA_PRISE components are to be installed/run.

In order to be able to install and use the SIRA_PRISE web client, a Web application server (e.g. Tomcat, Jetty, JBOSS, WebSphere, GlassFish, ...), must additionally be installed, operational and accessible on the machine where the webclient is to run.

Installing the server

Choose or create a directory where the program files will be installed (e.g. C:\program files\SIRA_PRISE or /bin/SIRA_PRISE). Depending on your OS, extract all the files named sp.*.bat or sp.*.sh to that directory, and also the jar file(s) needed to run the server (see table above). Note that the Unix shell scripts are provided as-is. Then from the SIRA_PRISE installation directory, run one of the two provided sp.sysgen.bat procedures and answer all questions asked to the best of your ability.  The sp.sysgen.CL.bat is the old command-prompt installation procedure, the sp.sysgen.SwingUI.bat is the new, Swing-based, GUI procedure.  Either will do, but you will most likely prefer the GUI version.

"All questions asked" mainly concern quantity estimates allowing the installation procedure to determine the needed initial physical size of the catalog.  The GUI version has the following defaults, which should suffice to get you going :

# of dbms files : 150
# of distinct data spaces : 1500
# of relvars : 7500
# of virtual relvars : 45000
# of attributes : 30000
# of java-implemented data types : 50
# of user-defined data types : 500
# of certified clients using the server : 100
# of certified users using the database : 500

This gives a catalog of roughly 850M initial size.

The installation procedure will end with the message : "System Generation completed successfully.". A file named DATABASECATALOG.SPDB has appeared in the DATABASES subdirectory of your chosen SIRA_PRISE data directory. You are now ready to start the server.

(If something goes wrong, a SYSTEM.ERR file and a SERVERENGINE.LOG file will have been created in the LOGS subdirectory of your chosen SIRA_PRISE data directory, both containing more info about the precise nature of the problem. But we do hope you’ll get to see none of that.)

Configuring the server

After the sysgen procedure has been run, a default configuration file 'be.SIRAPRISE.server.ServerEngine.properties' has been placed in the install directory.  While this default configuration can obviously suffice to get you going, you might later want to revisit this file in order to tune the system.  The reference for the contents of the configuration file can be found in the javadoc.

Installing the web client

Most modern web application servers have an autodeploy feature which makes it very easy to install a new web application.  Usually, the only thing that needs be done is to copy the WAR file containing the application to the autodeploy directory of the web application server.  E.g. on a GlassFish server installed on Windows, this is a directory typically called "C:\Program Files\Sun\AppServer\domains\domain1\autodeploy".  With a Tomcat server, this is simply the 'webapps' directory in the Tomcat installation.  For more details or for your particular application server, please consult the documentation that came with your web application server on how to use its autodeploy feature.

For installing the web client, the only step needed is thus to follow your application server's autodeploy procedure using the SIRA_PRISE.war file included in the package.

Installing the birdwatcher demo application

Installing the birdwatcher demo application involves two steps : installing the birdwatcher webclient and setting up the database.

Installing the birdwatcher web client is done using exactly the same procedure as when installing the database administration web client, only this time you should place the birdwatcher.war file in the autodeploy directory of your web application server.

Setting up the database is done by running the scripts that are included in the birdwatcher.zip file.  This requires that the server is running, and the java client libraries have been installed.  For more information on running scripts, please see the page on that subject.

Installing the java client

The java client is a library that you can use in your java programs to make those programs interact with a SIRA_PRISE server.  Place a copy of the sp.client.jar file in the library path of your application, just as you would include any other library in them.

Installing the standalone database browser

The standalone database browser is a self-contained, Swing-based, GUI interface to a SIRA_PRISE server.  Install it by simply unzipping the contents of the sp.dbrowser.zip file to a directory of your choice.