Installing and Configuring the Analysis Server

Installing the Analysis Server

Platform	Format	Instructions
Windows9x/NT/2000/XP	Self-extracting executable	Execute the installation file AnalysisServerInstallWIN.EXE. This will start the InstallShield application, which will step you through the installation process.
UNIX	Self-extracting script	Execute the script: $> chmod +x AnalysisServer_vX_XX_XXX.sh $> ./AnalysisServer_vX_XX_XXX.sh

The installation process creates a directory for Analysis Server files. This installation directory contains two important subdirectories: the analyses directory, which contains several sample components, and the logs directory, which contains log files that keep a record of connections to the Analysis Server.

Starting the Analysis Server

Platform	Instructions
Windows9x/NT/2000/XP	Execute the Analysis Server from the Start Menu: Start->Programs->Analysis Server->Analysis Server By default, the Analysis Server will open a graphical interface to indicate that it is running.
Windows NT/2000/XP Run as a Service	Added in v3.0 - On NT and beyond, the Analysis Server may be run in the background as a service which is started automatically when the computer boots and will persist across users logging in and out. Edit the service configuration in the control panel. Start->Control Panel->Services (NT) OR Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services (2000 and XP) There should be an item named "Analysis Server". Right-click on it and choose Properties. Set the "Startup type" to be Automatic and the next time you reboot, Analysis Server will be automatically started. Note: You will need administrator privileges on the computer to use this feature.
UNIX	Execute the Analysis Server by executing the script file aserver.sh which is located in the ASERVER directory. By default, the Analysis Server will simply display a start-up message in the shell from which it was started. To enable the graphical interface, execute the script using the '-gui' option: $> cd ASERVER $> ./aserver.sh -gui Click for additional command-line arguments.

The Analysis Server's graphical interface will automatically list any connections made to it. The release version and build number can be viewed using the 'About' button. To terminate the server, click the 'Shutdown' button.

Configuring the Analysis Server

Web Based Administrator

As of version 2.01 the Analysis Server includes a web-based administration tool which allows you to graphically change the configuration options. By default this server runs on port 8080. If you are on the same machine where Analysis Server is running, go to http://localhost:8080. If you are on a different computer, use http://hostname:8080.

The default administration account is username "admin" and password "admin".

aserver.conf file

Most configuration should be done through the web-based administrator. However, it is sometimes necessary to control the configuration manually. In order to do so, the user must change the aserver.conf file. On UNIX systems, this file is located in the user's home directory under .PhoenixInt/AServer. On Windows systems it's located in the user's "Documents and Settings" directory under "Application Data\PhoenixInt\AServer". This is the Analysis Server configuration file and it contains settings that are loaded when the server is first started. Oftentimes, the default configuration is sufficient for most users; however, users can customize the settings for the server port, security options, logging level, and analyses locations. NOTE: If the configuration file is modified while the Analysis Server is running, then the server must be restarted for any changes to take effect.

Most Used Options

Most users will only need to control the locations (i.e. directory paths) of their analysis components. These locations are identified using the Analyses Path and User Path settings.

Analyses Path - specifies a semi-colon separated path that is searched by the Analysis Server for analysis components.
User Path - specifies a set of paths to /userhome/public_aserver directories. Users can publish their own analysis components by placing them in these directories, much like the way they might publish a web page in a public_html directory. The userhome directory must be located in a directory specified by userPath

<ltuserPath>/userhome/public_aserver

Below are two sample Analysis Server configuration files along with a description of the scenarios for which they were created:

Sample 1

A user is running the Analysis Server on a UNIX workstation and has several other users wanting to publish their own analysis components. User accounts user100 and user101 have public_aserver directories within their home directories /home/engineering/users1/user100 and /home/engineering/users2/user101 respectively.

Sample 2

A group of users wants to run the Analysis Server on a single PC (computer A) that is part of a network of PCs (A, B and C) that are all running Windows. There are analysis components located in the following directories:

the Analysis Server installation directory C:\Analysis Server\analyses
C:\analyses on computer B, whose C:\ drive is mapped to the X:\ drive of computer A
D:\users1 and D:\users2 on computer C, whose D:\ drive is mapped to the Z:\ drive of computer A

File Permissions in UNIX

The Analysis Server only has the permissions of the person who started it. This is important to remember when setting up a shared server where multiple people are publishing codes.

As an example, consider a shared system where 3 users are publishing codes using their "public_aserver" directories in their home directories (see sample 1). A fourth account, "aserver" is created that is used to run the Analysis Server. When setting this up, remember that the user "aserver" must have both read and write permissions to each user's public_aserver directories. The simplest way to do this is to create a group called "aserver" to which all 3 users and "aserver" are members of. The following commands will set up the public_aserver directories to be writable by the group "aserver":

chgrp -R aserver ~/public_aserver
chmod -R g+rw ~/public_aserver

See also Analysis Server