Openbravo environment installation

Introduction

This article explains in detail how to install and configure the whole stack required for Openbravo ERP to run, i.e.:

• PostgreSQL or Oracle database
• Sun Java Development Kit (JDK)
• Apache Tomcat
• Apache Ant

Installation steps of each component are explained for the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows
• Debian Etch/Lenny/Sid
• Ubuntu/Kubuntu
• Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna
• Gentoo Linux 2007.0
• FreeBSD 6.2/6.3
• Fedora Core 7/8
• CentOS 4/5

PostgreSQL database

Openbravo ERP supports PostgreSQL as its database engine.

• PostgreSQL 8.2.x version has been a huge performance boost (compilation time will be around 3 times faster), therefore it is highly recommended over 8.1.x.
• PostgreSQL 8.3.x version will be fully supported by Openbravo ERP 2.40, it's faster than 8.2.x and therefore recommended.

Please find some PostgreSQL documentation and tutorials at:

• PostgreSQL Documentation
• Postgres rocks documentation

Microsoft Windows

Please follow this guide to install PostgreSQL database on Microsoft Windows.

Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linux Mint)

To install the package:

sudo apt-get install postgresql-8.2

To set the postgres password:

sudo su - postgres -c psql
alter role postgres with password 'new_password';
\q

Gentoo

To install the package:

echo dev-db/postgresql >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
echo dev-db/libpq >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
emerge -av postgresql
emerge --config =postgresql-8.2.7 #Portage will tell you which version to use
/etc/init.d/postgresql start
rc-update add postgresql default

To set the postgres password:

psql -U postgres
alter role postgres with password 'new_password';
\q
sed -i 's/trust$/md5/' /var/lib/postgresql/data/pg_hba.conf
/etc/init.d/postgresql reload

FreeBSD

To install the package:

cd /usr/ports/databases/postgresql82-server
make clean install
echo 'postgresql_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql initdb
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql start

To create the postgres user:

psql -d postgres -U pgsql
create role postgres with password 'new_password';
alter role postgres login superuser createdb createrole;
\q

Fedora

To install the package:

yum install postgresql-server

To create the initial database:

/etc/init.d/postgresql initdb
/etc/init.d/postgresql start

To set the postgres password:

sudo sed -i 's/ident sameuser$/trust/' /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
sudo /etc/init.d/postgresql reload
psql -U postgres
alter role postgres with password 'new_password';
\q
sudo sed -i 's/trust$/md5/' /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
sudo /etc/init.d/postgresql reload

OpenSuse 10.2+

To install the package:

install via Yast

To create the initial database:

/etc/init.d/postgresql start

Make modifications to /var/lib/pgsql/pg_hba.conf by adding this to the bottom of the file :

host      all       all         xxxx   255.255.255.255  trust

Where xxxx is the ip address of the machine Postgres is running on.

Then create a shortcut as follows:

ln -sf /usr/bin/pgsql /usr/bin/postgres

(When the installer asks for the Postgres binary enter /usr/bin)

Oracle database

Openbravo ERP also supports Oracle 10g Express Edition (XE) as its database engine.

Please find some Oracle XE documentation and tutorials at:

• Oracle Database 10g Release 2 Documentation
• Oracle Database Express Edition Getting Started Guide
• Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Tutorial
• Oracle XE Database Administration on Debian

Microsoft Windows

Download and install Oracle 10g XE database.

Add ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID environment variables:

• Right-click on My Computer then select Properties.
• In System properties pop-up window, click on Advanced tab then click on Environment Variables button.
• Click on New button and type:
  • ORACLE_HOME as Variable name.
  • Oracle XE installation directory in Variable value text field (usually C:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\10.2.0\server).
• Click on New button and type:
  • ORACLE_SID as Variable name.
  • XE in Variable value text field for Express Edition.
• Edit PATH environment variable and add the path to bin folder inside your Oracle XE installation directory (usually C:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\10.2.0\server\bin).

Check it's up and running by either opening http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex in a web browser.

Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linux Mint)

Please follow this guide to install Oracle 10g XE database on Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu).

Gentoo

Please follow this guide to install Oracle 10g XE database on Gentoo.

FreeBSD

Fedora

OpenSuse 10.2+

Please follow this guide to install Oracle 10g XE database on OpenSuse.

Sun JDK

Sun Java Development Kit version 1.5 (also known as JDK 5.0) and 1.6 (also known as JDK 6.0) are supported by Openbravo ERP. This guide uses JDK 1.5.

Microsoft Windows

Download and install JDK 1.5.

Add JAVA_HOME environment variable:

• Right-click on My Computer then select Properties.
• In System properties pop-up window, click on Advanced tab then click on Environment Variables button.
• Click on New button and type:
  • JAVA_HOME as Variable name.
  • JDK installation directory in Variable value text field (usually C:\Java\jdk1.5).
• Edit PATH environment variable and add the path to bin folder inside your JDK installation directory (usually C:\Java\jdk1.5\bin).

Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linux Mint)

• Debian users: You will need to add unstable/non-free apt repositories to install sun-java-jdk5.
• Ubuntu/Kubuntu users: You may need to add the Multiverse repository to install sun-java-jdk5. Version 7.10 onwards it is enabled by default. Please refer to: https://help.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/desktopguide/C/programming.html
• Linux Mint users: The Multiverse repository should have already been added by default. No need to add this repository.

To install the package:

sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk

And to set it as the default JDK:

sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-1.5.0-sun

And we need to create the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo 'JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun"' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

Gentoo

To install the package:

emerge -av sun-jdk

And to set it as the default JDK:

java-config -S sun-jdk-1.5

Portage sets the JAVA_HOME variable for you.

FreeBSD

To install the package:

cd /usr/ports/java/diablo-jdk15
make clean install

Due to license issues, Ports will tell you to download the package by hand. It will give you the links where to download the files. Afterwards, copy the file into /usr/ports/distfiles and launch the installation again:

cd /usr/ports/java/diablo-jdk15
make clean install

And to set the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo 'JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/diablo-jdk1.5.0' >> /etc/profile

Fedora

Download the latest Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. If you have problems downloading this due to Sun's UI that requires you to accept the license and gives you a cookie, use the following mirror:

wget http://distfiles.gentoo.org/distfiles/jdk-1_5_0_13-dlj-linux-i586.bin

Position yourself in /opt folder and execute (as root) the downloaded installer using:

sh jdk-1_5_0_13-dlj-linux-i586.bin --unpack

To set the environment variables:

echo 'export JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk1.5.0_13' > /etc/profile.d/jdk.sh
echo 'export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH' >> /etc/profile.d/jdk.sh

You have to source the file you just created by typing:

source /etc/profile.d/jdk.sh

Test if Java environment is successfully installed by typing in this in the shell:

java -version

OpenSuse 10.2+

Please follow this guide to install Sun JDK on OpenSuse.

Apache Tomcat

Openbravo ERP requires Apache Tomcat version 5.5 as servlet container.

Microsoft Windows

Download and install Apache Tomcat 5.5.

Add CATALINA_HOME, CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_OPTS environment variables:

• Right-click on My Computer then select Properties.
• In System properties pop-up window, click on Advanced tab then click on Environment Variables button.
• Click on New button and type:
  • CATALINA_HOME as Variable name.
  • Apache Tomcat installation directory in Variable value text field (usually C:\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 5.5).
• Click on New button and type:
  • CATALINA_BASE as Variable name.
  • Apache Tomcat installation directory in Variable value text field (usually C:\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 5.5).
• Click on New button and type:
  • CATALINA_OPTS as Variable name.
  • -Xms384M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M inside Variable value text field.
• Edit PATH environment variable and add the path to bin folder inside your Apache Tomcat installation directory (usually C:\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 5.5\bin).

Check it's up and running by either opening http://localhost:8080 in a web browser.

Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linux Mint)

To install the package:

sudo apt-get install tomcat5.5 tomcat5.5-admin tomcat5.5-webapps
sudo rm /var/log/tomcat5.5/catalina.out
sudo /etc/init.d/tomcat5.5 start

Check it's up and running by either opening http://localhost:8180 in a web browser or with nmap:

nmap localhost -p 8180

The port should be opened.

To set the CATALINA_HOME, CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_OPTS variables:

echo 'CATALINA_HOME="/usr/share/tomcat5.5"' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
echo 'CATALINA_BASE="/var/lib/tomcat5.5"' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
echo 'CATALINA_OPTS="-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M"' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

// permissions for Openbravo ERP
grant codeBase "file:${catalina.home}/webapps/openbravo/-" {
  permission java.security.AllPermission;
};

sudo nano /etc/tomcat5.5/policy.d/20openbravo.policy

sudo /etc/init.d/tomcat5.5 restart

Gentoo

To install the package:

emerge -av tomcat

Due to some license restrictions by Sun, you'll have to download some packages by hand and copy them to /usr/portage/distfiles. Portage will tell you when.

Edit: All of the packages for Tomcat are now available in portage.

To start it:

/etc/init.d/tomcat-6 start
rc-update add tomcat-6 default

Check it's up and running by either opening http://localhost:8080 in a web browser or with nmap:

nmap localhost -p 8080

The port should be opened.

To set the CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE variables:

touch /etc/env.d/99tomcat
echo 'CATALINA_HOME=/usr/share/tomcat-6' >> /etc/env.d/99tomcat
echo 'CATALINA_BASE=/var/lib/tomcat-6' >> /etc/env.d/99tomcat

To update the environment and make this variables system-wide available:

env-update && source /etc/profile

Finally, set CATALINA_OPTS by editing the /etc/conf.d/tomcat-6 file:

CATALINA_OPTS="-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M"

FreeBSD

To install the package:

cd /usr/ports/www/tomcat55
make clean install
echo 'tomcat55_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/tomcat5.5 start

To set the CATALINA_HOME, CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_OPTS variables:

echo 'export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/local/tomcat5.5' >> /etc/profile
echo 'export CATALINA_BASE=/usr/local/tomcat5.5' >> /etc/profile
echo 'export CATALINA_OPTS="-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M"' >> /etc/profile

Check it's up and running by either opening http://localhost:8180 in a web browser or with nmap:

nmap localhost -p 8180

Fedora

To install the package:

yum install tomcat5
/etc/init.d/tomcat5 start

Check it's up and running by either opening http://localhost:8080 in a web browser or with nmap:

nmap localhost -p 8080

The port should be opened.

To set the CATALINA_HOME, CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_OPTS variables:

echo "export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/share/tomcat5" > /etc/profile.d/tomcat.sh
echo "export CATALINA_BASE=/var/lib/tomcat5" >> /etc/profile.d/tomcat.sh
echo "export CATALINA_OPTS=-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M" >> /etc/profile.d/environment

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

OpenSuse 10.2+

Please follow this guide to install Apache Tomcat on OpenSuse.

Apache Ant

Apache Ant is a Java-based build tool used by Openbravo ERP to automate most of its development tasks.

Microsoft Windows

Download and extract Apache Ant into your system (for instance, C:\Apache-Ant).

Add ANT_HOME environment variable:

• Right-click on My Computer then select Properties.
• In System properties pop-up window, click on Advanced tab then click on Environment Variables button.
• Click on New button and type:
  • ANT_HOME as Variable name.
  • Ant directory in Variable value text field (usually C:\Apache-Ant).
• Edit PATH environment variable and add the path to bin folder inside your Ant directory (usually C:\Apache-Ant\bin).

Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linux Mint)

To install the package:

sudo apt-get install ant

To set the ANT_HOME variable:

echo 'ANT_HOME="/usr/share/ant"' | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

Gentoo

To install the package:

emerge -av dev-java/ant

It is necessary to make this link, otherwise the installer will fail:

ln -sf /usr/bin/ant /usr/share/ant-core/bin/ant

Portage sets the ANT_HOME variable for you.

FreeBSD

To install the package:

cd /usr/ports/devel/apache-ant
make clean install

With FreeBSD 6.2 you will need to create a symbolic link to ant:

ln -s /usr/local/bin/ant /usr/local/share/java/apache-ant/bin/ant

And use setenv to ensure the ANT_HOME variable is set correctly:

setenv ANT_HOME /usr/local/share/java/apache-ant

Fedora

To install the package:

yum install ant

To set the ANT_HOME variable:

sudo echo 'export ANT_HOME=/usr/share/ant' > /etc/profile.d/ant.sh

It is necessary to make this link, otherwise the installer will fail:

mkdir /usr/share/ant/bin
ln -sf /usr/bin/ant /usr/share/ant/bin/ant

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

OpenSuse 10.2+

To install the package:

Install via Yast

To set the ANT_HOME variable:

sudo echo 'export ANT_HOME=/usr/share/ant' > /etc/profile.d/ant.sh

It is necessary to make this link, otherwise the installer will fail:

ln -sf /usr/bin/ant /usr/share/ant/bin/ant

Logout and login again to make this variable system-wide.

Performance and security tips

For production environments, it is recommended to make some changes in order to improve Openbravo ERP performance and security.

Known issues

Here is a list of known issues during Openbravo environment installation:

Jasper Reports

• In some configurations to make the JasperReports work, you need to add to environment variable CATALINA_OPTS the parameter -Djava.awt.headless=true. The CATALINA_OPTS should look something similar to CATALINA_OPTS ="-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M -Djava.awt.headless=true".

Oracle

• Oracle XE 10g sets by default maximum number of processes to 20. This may cause Openbravo to throw an exception indicating that it has no connections available. To fix this set the value of this parameter to 150 by executing:

alter system set processes=150 scope=spfile;

in Oracle command line logged as sysdba and then restart the database.

Tomcat hot-deployment problem on Windows

There is a known issue with Tomcat working under Windows. Openbravo ERP does a hot-deploy a of openbravo.war file to Tomcat but on Windows it often encounters file locking issues. Windows will not let Tomcat undeploy the old application because files are locked by the Operating System. Tomcat has mechanisms to allow avoiding locking. In Tomcat 5.5 and 6.0, this mechanism is disabled by default. To enable it edit %CATALINA_BASE%\conf\context.xml. Find the root <context> and add these two attributes:

<context antiJARLocking="true" antiResourceLocking="true" />

Openbravo ERP FAQ

Openbravo's ERP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Summary

It is very important to install and configure properly all the stack in order to avoid problems during Openbravo ERP installation.

Support

For any question or doubt regarding Openbravo environment installation, post them in Openbravo Help forum or join #openbravo IRC channel in Freenode.