Running the Installer

This article describes the very beginning of the setup process execution. It describes _installation (unzipping) of all DirX Access component sources and deployment of the DirX Access Server instance.

An installed Java VM Version 11 or newer is required to start the DirX Access installer. A Java VM does not have to be explicitly selected if an installation is set in your Path environment variable. It is recommended to use default installation folder. There is possibility to explicitly select a JAVA VM via the LAX_VM command-line argument.

dirxaccess.exe LAX_VM "{full_path_to_java_executable}"

Installer Modes

The installer can run in three different modes that can be selected either via the -i command-line argument or the choice refers to the INSTALLER_UI installation property. Please follow the InstallAnywhere documentation for more information about all command-line arguments. Please follow next chapter for information about installation properties.

Silent

The silent mode runs an installation and deployment that does not interact with end user.

dirxaccess.exe -i silent

Silent installations are suitable for deployments where all properties are already known and provided via the properties file.Please follow next chapter for information about possibility to create and use properties file with installation properties.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The GUI mode runs the installer with wizard panels and dialog boxes.

dirxaccess.exe -i swing

This is the default mode for Windows. Please have in mind that only crucial properties are visible in this GUI mode.

Installation Procedure

This chapter describes all steps of the installation procedure that are relevant to the GUI mode.

Accepting the licence agreement .HLA Bridge Architecture .DirX

Figure 1. Access Licence Agreement

Selection of the {installation_folder}
- The choice refers to the PROP_USER_INSTALL_DIR installation property

Figure 2. DirX Access Install Folder

Selection of the components to install/unzip
- For a scenario including deployment of a DirX Access Server instance, it is necessary to check both options (Policy Enforcement Points and Services) as any DirX Access Server instance contains embedded policy enforcement point.

By default, the silent mode installs/unzips all components.

Figure 3. DirX Access Install Set

Selection of the Java executable
- The selected Java VM runtime is used for running the DirX Access Server instance. After the deployment, the runtime is specified in the property wrapper.java.command of the {installation_folder}\Services\instances\{instance_name}\etc\wrapper.conf configuration file.

By default, the silent mode selects the same Java VM runtime as is used for the installer startup.

Figure 4. DirX Access Java Virtual Machine

Initial Deployment

Console

The console mode runs a command-line interface.

dirxaccess.exe -i console

This is the default mode for Linux. Please have in mind that only crucial properties are visible in this Console mode.

Installation Properties

For all modes, a properties file can be used to preset values of all installation properties. For an inspiration, the {patch|dvd}/Installation/{[Linux|Windows]}/dirxaccess.properties file can be taken because the file contains list of all possible properties and their descriptions.

The file can be either inserted to the same folder with the same name as the DirX Access Installer or applied via the -f command-line argument.

dirxaccess.exe -f "{installation_properties_path_and_file_name}"

Custom installation properties file can be generated running the DirX Access Installer in GUI or Console mode with the -r command-line argument.

dirxaccess.exe -r "{installation_properties_path_and_file_name}"

Initial Deployment

This chapter describes the steps necessary to deploy initial DirX Access Server instance. These steps are optional and does not have to be performed in case of unzipping the DirX Access component sources (Policy Enforcement Points and Services) is enough. Unselecting the "`Deploy DirX Access Server instance`" checkbox completely disables the following deployment approaches.

Figure 5. DirX Access Initial Deployment Settings - Section 1

Figure 6. DirX Access Initial Deployment Settings - Section 2

Deployment Approaches

There are several deployment approaches according to the Initial Configuration documentation. This chapter describes ways to achieve them.

Business-service-only Server Approach

The deployment prepares the file system and the Windows Service for the first startup of the Business-service-only Server.

The choice refers to:

"Deploy DirX Access Server instance" checkbox (GUI mode) or
deploy.services.instance installation property

The following (mandatory) installation properties have to be set. Their description can be found in the dirxaccess.properties file.

DirX Access Server and Application Repository Properties

GUI mode names Installation properties

GUI mode names	Installation properties
Instance name	`services.instance.name`
Server hostname	`services.native.hostname`
Server initial HTTPS port	`services.http.port.ssl`
Application repository - URLs	`application.repository.urls`
Application repository - Admin DN	`application.repository.admin.dn`
Application repository - Admin password	`application.repository.admin.password`
Application repository - Search base	`application.repository.search.base`
Application repository - Deploy DirX Access schema	`deploy.application.repository`

Instance name

services.instance.name

Server hostname

services.native.hostname

Server initial HTTPS port

services.http.port.ssl

Application repository - URLs

application.repository.urls

Application repository - Admin DN

application.repository.admin.dn

Application repository - Admin password

application.repository.admin.password

Application repository - Search base

application.repository.search.base

Application repository - Deploy DirX Access schema

deploy.application.repository

Deployment of DirX Access Application Repository Schema Option

The deployment extends the LDAP server schema for DirX Access application data and configuration. The deployment populates the LDAP directory with the specific object classes and attributes required by DirX Access.

The choice refers to the "`Deploy application repository schema`" checkbox and the deploy.application.repository installation property.

Prerequisities to Deploy Application Repository

DirX Access Schema Option Administrator access to a LDAP repository to store application data and configuration (DirX Access Application repository). The repository should be already running and accessible from the machine running the DirX Access Installer.

Additional steps are required if you want to configure LDAP server secure connection. For details, refer to the Setting up LDAP over SSL/TLS section.

User Repository Properties

Figure 7. DirX Access Initial Deployment Settings - Section 3

The user repository installation properties are optional and relevant to non User-repository-less Deployment. In case of empty properties related to user repository configuration, the DirX Access Server instance is deployed without any User Repository and Subject Template configuration object.

GUI mode names Installation properties

GUI mode names	Installation properties
User repository - URLs	`user.repository.urls`
User repository - Admin DN	`user.repository.admin.dn`
User repository - Admin password	`user.repository.admin.password`
User repository - Search base	`user.repository.search.base`

User repository - URLs

user.repository.urls

User repository - Admin DN

user.repository.admin.dn

User repository - Admin password

user.repository.admin.password

User repository - Search base

user.repository.search.base

DirX Access Administrator Policies Properties

Figure 8. DirX Access Initial Deployment Settings - Section 4

The last section refers to the DirX Access administrator policies. The initial DirX Access Administrator can refer to:

User or group within the user repository (role resolution is based on REA administration policies)

Please use this option if there is need to generally select a user or group from the user repository based on REA policies. REA policies can map any value of any attribute to the role names in RBAC configuration.

Please be careful. By default, each authorization request contains a request to the LDAP user repository.

GUI mode names (REA policies/User repository only)	Installation properties
REA attribute name	administration.role.attribute.name
REA attribute value	administration.role.attribute.value

GUI mode names (REA policies/User repository only)

Installation properties

REA attribute name

administration.role.attribute.name

REA attribute value

administration.role.attribute.value

Role list attribute within the user repository (role resolution is based on RBAC administration policies)

A role can be selected based on role list attribute name (of the DirX Access SubjectTemplate configuration object). The attribute must exist in the user repository and must contain values that match the role names in RBAC configuration.

GUI mode names (RBAC policies/User repository)	Installation properties
SubjectTemplate role list attribute name	administration.role.subject.template.attribute.name

GUI mode names (RBAC policies/User repository)

Installation properties

SubjectTemplate role list attribute name

administration.role.subject.template.attribute.name

DirX Access Administrator account within the application repository (role resolution is based on RBAC administration policies).

A user cannot be created or matched in the user repository. An administrator account is created in the application repository with appropriate roles.

GUI mode names (Application repository administrator account) Installation properties

GUI mode names (Application repository administrator account)	Installation properties
Username	`administration.username`
Password	`administration.password`

Username

administration.username

Password

administration.password

Basic UI-configurable Server

The deployment prepares the file system and the Windows Service for the first startup of the UI Configurable Server

The choice refers to:

"Deploy DirX Access Manager" checkbox (GUI mode) or
deploy.services.access.manager installation property

In this case, DirX Access Manager is deployed out of the box and is available within the configured server hostname and initial HTTPS port at https://{services.native.hostname}:{services.http.port.ssl}/spa/ address after the DirX Access Server startup.

There are no additional installation properties to be set but:

"Deploy DirX Access Server instance" checkbox must be checked or
deploy.services.instance installation property must be set to true.

Additionally, DirX Access Credentials Manager can be deployed out of the box via:

"Deploy DirX Access Credentials Manager" checkbox or
deploy.services.access.credentials.manager installation property

In this case, DirX Access Credentials Manager is deployed out of the box and is available at the same address after the DirX Access Server startup.

Logging

Log files of the DirX Access installer can be found in {installation_folder}\logs folder.

Removing DirX Access

This section describes how to remove (uninstall) DirX Access components from Windows and Linux platforms.

By default, the same Java VM is used for uninstallation as for installation. The Java VM path is defined during installation and is part of the {installation_folder}\UninstallerData\Uninstall DirX Access.lax file. The Java VM must exist during uninstallation.

Windows

To uninstall the DirX Access components on Windows, run the uninstaller by running the command:

{installation_folder}\UninstallerData\Uninstall DirX Access.exe

Removing the Server Windows Service

To uninstall the DirX Access Server Windows service, execute the following command from {installation_folder}/Services folder.

wrapper -r instances/{instance_name}/etc/wrapper.conf

A successful removal of the service is indicated in the console by the text: DirX Access Service uninstalled.

The list of the Windows services should no longer display DirX Access Services.

Linux

To uninstall the DirX Access components on Linux, run the uninstaller by running the command:

{installation_folder}/UninstallerData/Uninstall DirX Access

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the DirX Access Uninstaller sometimes does not completely remove all installed files under the DirX Access installation folder, namely JRE.

Setting up LDAP over SSL/TLS

Communication between DirX Access in tier-2 and LDAP repositories in tier-3 can be protected using SSL/TLS. This configuration is described in: server/administration-guide/non-functional-topics/ldap.adoc#_setting_up_ldap_over_ssltls.