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Chapter 4. Installing and Upgrading the JBoss ON Server on Windows

4.1. Preparing for Installation

4.1.1. Setting up the JDK

The JBoss ON server requires Java 6 or Java 7 JDK.
  1. Download and install the appropriate version of Java, if necessary.
  2. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the installation directory. 
    C:\>set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files (x86)\Java
    The default Java service wrapper included with JBoss ON requires a 32-bit JVM, so the Java preference set for the server must be a 32-bit JDK. The JBoss ON server must use a 32-bit JVM even on 64-bit systems.
  3. Set the system to use the bin directory of the correct version of the JDK. 
    C:>set path C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_29\bin
  4. Set the classpath to the of the correct version of the JRE distribution. 
    C:>set classpath C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\lib\ext\QTJava.zip

4.1.2. JVM for Running as a Service

JBoss ON includes Tanuki Software's Java service wrapper so that the JBoss ON server can be configured to run as a Windows service. That default Java service wrapper included with JBoss ON requires a 32-bit JVM, so the Java preference set for the server must be a 32-bit JDK. 
RHQ_SERVER_JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_29
The JBoss ON server must use a 32-bit JVM even on 64-bit systems.
Running the server or agent with a 32-bit JVM does not in any way affect how JBoss ON manages other resources which may run with a 64-bit JVM. JBoss ON can still manage those resources and those resources can still use the 64-bit Java libraries for their own processes.
To run the server in a 64-bit JVM, an alternative Java wrapper service must be obtained independently from Tanuki Software or from another Java service vendor.

4.1.3. Preparing the Host Machine

For JBoss ON servers and agents to be able to communicate, they have to be able to connect to each other's host machines. Make sure that the machines are configured so that the server and agent machines are able to locate and connect with each other. There are three areas that commonly need to be configured:
  • Synchronize machine clocks. All JBoss ON servers and agents must have synchronized clocks. Clock variations cause issues in availability reporting, metric measurements, graphing, and even identifying and importing resources into inventory. The Network Time Protocol project, http://www.ntp.org/, has information on installing and configuring NTP to ensure your clocks are synchronized.
  • Configure DNS. Both forward and reverse DNS mapping entries must be present for all hosts involved in monitoring. This includes all JBoss ON servers and all machines running agents.
  • Configure the firewall to allow communication over the server and agent ports. Ensure the necessary ports have been opened to prevent the firewall from blocking the JBoss ON server and agents from communicating. The JBoss ON server typically uses port 7080, and the JBoss ON agents typically use port 16163.

4.1.4. Selecting Path Names

Make sure that the complete path name for the server installation directory is relatively short. Path names longer than 19 characters can cause problems with executing some server tasks. Use a location such as C:\jon rather than C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\jon-server.
Windows' handling of file and path names is covered in the "Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces" in the Windows Data Access and Storage API.

4.1.5. Utilities to Use with JBoss ON

The only utilities used to manage the JBoss ON server are a ZIP utility to install the binaries and, possibly, a text editor to view and edit configuration files.
The recommended ZIP utility is WinZip. Examples in this guide usually use the Windows command prompt, so, optionally, install the WinZip CLI utility add-on. WinZip downloads are available at http://www.winzip.com.