Preparations
This chapter contains information about the requirements for setting up ConSol CM in a single-server environment.
- Network
- License
- Application server
- Database
- Mail server
- Indexer
- LDAP authentication (Web Client and CM/Track)
- Data Warehouse
Introduction
When your company has decided to use ConSol CM for managing business processes, you, as an administrator, have to prepare your IT environment for the setup of the new application. This section provides lists of all components which have to be prepared to run the CM server with its collaborating systems.
It is recommended to set up at least two systems:
- a test system
- a productive (live) system
All the steps described in the subsequent sections have to be performed for each CM system.
The following sections provide a short overview of a complete ConSol CM system. A detailed list of supported operation systems, application servers, database systems, and other systems, as well as storage and CPU requirements is given in the current System Requirements.
Components required for a ConSol CM setup
Network
A trouble-free communication over your intranet is indispensable. Please make sure that all routes (e.g. CM server <-> database, CM server <-> email server) are configured and are not blocked by firewalls.
License
When you start installing ConSol CM, make sure you have a valid license with all required modules and for a sufficient number of users for each module. If you are interested in knowing some details about CM license files, see License.
Application server
You need:
- Machine for the ConSol CM application server (Linux or Windows) with
- sufficient CPU, RAM and HD storage
- Java JDK (Java Development Kit) from Oracle or OpenJDK
- application server (JBoss EAP or Wildfly)
Access to log files for the ConSol CM administrator is required during the operation of the system. The default directory for log files is <JBOSS_HOME>/standalone/log. If you want to change the location of the log files, please also refer to section Log files.
The application server should always run under a user without administrator permissions / root access to the operating system.
Database
Supported database systems
The ConSol CM database is a relational database which can be operated as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL system. For the configuration of the database connection, please refer to section Setting up the database for ConSol CM.
- Oracle
One database scheme with one database user is used by ConSol CM. - Microsoft SQL
One database scheme with one database user is used by ConSol CM. - MySQL
One database with one database user is used by ConSol CM. - PostgreSQL
One database with one database user is used by ConSol CM.
Components required for the database
You need:
-
Database server (Oracle, Microsoft SQL or PostgreSQL, for smaller systems or test systems also MySQL)
Prepared database or a prepared schema of sufficient size. The database URL with login and password is needed for setup.
If CM does not directly connect to the database but connects via a SAN etc., please make sure that the complete access URL is at hand
Please make sure that the database is part of your every-day backup and that the restore routine has been tested.
Mail server
Email functionalities in CM
When you work with email functionalities, please keep in mind that there are two components: the mailbox and the email address.
One mailbox can be used by one or more email addresses. ConSol CM retrieves emails using the mailbox address (server, mailbox). However, in the subsequent email scripts which process incoming emails, the mailbox name as well as the email address can be used as variables which are applied to steer further email processing.
All email functionalities and the email configuration are explained in the ConSol CM Administrator Manual, sections Email configuration and Scripts of the type Email.
ConSol CM can retrieve emails from real mailboxes only. Public folders (e.g. on a Microsoft Exchange Server) are not supported.
ConSol CM acts towards the mail server where it fetches the emails like a regular email client, using POP, POPs, IMAP or IMAPs. You can configure as many mailboxes as you like in the Web Admin Suite. Since one mailbox can be configured for one or more email addresses, there are two different approaches:
- Use only one mailbox which has several email addresses configured on the email server. Dispatch the emails to the desired queues in the email scripts based on the email address.
- Use one mailbox for each department or team. Dispatch the emails to the desired queues in the email scripts based on the mailbox name.
Components required for email functionalities
You need:
-
Mailboxes on the incoming email server
ConSol CM can work with mailboxes of any email server which supports the standard protocols (POP / POPs / IMAP / IMAPs). Public folders (e.g., on a Microsoft Exchange Server) of an email server cannot be used. There might be multiple email addresses for a mailbox.
For each mailbox configuration within CM the following data is needed:
-
Mailbox name
-
Email server name
-
Login
-
Password
-
Protocol
Please make sure that the CM server can access the email server and contact all desired mailboxes using the given protocol.
-
-
URL (smtp:// <SERVER>:<PORT>) of the outgoing mail server
If emails should be sent to external addresses via the ConSol CM system, the SMTP server has to allow relaying.
Indexer
There has to be sufficient storage space on the file system.
Please note that the search functionality, including the search for contacts while creating a case, does not work if the indexer is not able to run error-free. Therefore, the undisturbed access to the respective file system has to be ensured at any time. This needs to be checked especially in case the file system is located on a mounted partition.
LDAP authentication (Web Client and CM/Track)
If LDAP authentication should be used, the following information is needed:
- LDAP server name and port
- If required: user name and password of the LDAP user, in order to be able to contact the LDAP server
- Base DN of the LDAP tree, where the names of the user accounts which shall work with CM can be found
- DN of the attribute which shall be used for user authentication (e.g., sAMAccountName or uid)
LDAP authentication can also be configured after the initial setup of ConSol CM. Therefore, it is not mandatory that LDAP parameters are at hand during system setup.
Please refer to Configuring LDAP authentication for a more detailed explanation.
Data Warehouse
Supported database systems
- Oracle
One database scheme with one database user is required for the DWH. - Microsoft SQL
One database scheme with one database user is required for the DWH. - MySQL
One database with one database user is required for the DWH. - PostgreSQL
One database with one database user is required for the DWH.
Components required for DWH setup
The following is needed:
- Database/Scheme
- The DWH needs a separate database or a separate scheme of sufficient size. During setup of CMRF the database URL with login and password are needed.
If you do not directly connect to the DWH database but connect via a SAN etc., please make sure that the complete access URL is at hand during CM setup.
- The DWH needs a separate database or a separate scheme of sufficient size. During setup of CMRF the database URL with login and password are needed.
- Application server
- The DWH can either run on the same application server as ConSol CM or as a standalone Java application.