System requirements
These are the system requirement for ConSol CM.
Introduction to ConSol CM
ConSol CM is a process management platform suitable for a huge variety of business processes. The products CM/Ticketing, CM/Helpdesk and CM/Complaint are based on the platform and provide ready-to-use processes for handling customer inquiries, IT support requests and complaints. If you have purchased one of these three standard products, you can directly work with the processes or adapt them to your needs. Alternatively, you can use the platform to implement new processes which are tailored specifically to your use cases and requirements. The powerful workflow editor allows you to decide if the process flow should be rather strict or the users should have more flexibility.
ConSol CM includes many features to enable communication and interaction. In addition to the Web Client, used for the internal handling, ConSol CM also comes with the customer portal CM/Track and various extensions, interfaces and add-ons which provide additional features as reporting or integration with other IT systems using webhooks and a REST API.
This document provides an overview of the architecture and the system requirements of the main product ConSol CM and its optional extensions.
Architecture
ConSol CM consists of a backend server, and several web applications which serve as a front end. The data is kept in a relational database. Optional extensions provide additional functionality.
There are two ways of running ConSol CM:
- Application server: Deploy everything on one central application server.
- Containers: Deploy the backend and the optional extensions in separate containers, for example using docker or kubernetes.
The main product consists of the backend and two web applications. These are used in every ConSol CM installation.
- Web Client: Primary application for internal end users to work on cases
- Web Admin Suite: Primary application for administrators to configure the system and define the processes
Required third-party software
The following third-party software is required for running the main product ConSol CM:
Application server
The application server can run on Windows or Linux. The following application servers with the respective Java versions are supported:
| Application server version | Java version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WildFly 35 | Adoptium Temurin 17 or 21 | Supported for all environments |
| JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8 | Adoptium Temurin 17 or 21 | Supported for all environments |
Relational database
The following relational database management systems are supported:
| Version | Driver |
|---|---|
| PostgreSQL 16.0 (or newer) | 42.7.9 |
| MySQL 8 | 9.4.0 |
| Microsoft SQL Server 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 (latest patch required) | mssql-jdbc 12.10.2.jre8 |
| Oracle 19c, 23ai | ojdbc11 21.5.0.0 |
Email server
ConSol CM acts as an email client to show emails in the Web Client and allow the users to respond from the Web Client as well. The following protocols are supported for communication with one or multiple email servers:
- POP3 or POP3S
- IMAP or IMAPS
- SMTP or SMTPS or SMTP with STARTTLS
Authentication is done via OAuth 2.0 or basic authentication (username and password).
Browser
A standard browser is needed to access the web applications. The latest three versions of the following browsers are fully supported:
- Firefox (desktop only, additional support for the latest Extended Support Release (ESR) version)
- Google Chrome (mobile on Android and desktop)
- Microsoft Edge (desktop only)
- Apple Safari (mobile on iOS and desktop)
In addition, there is a basic support for the following deprecated browsers:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 (desktop only)
Safari and Internet Explorer 11 are not supported for using the Web Admin Suite.
A basic support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 will be provided for the Web Client as long as technically feasible. The basic availability and functionality of all features is ensured as far as technically possible, but layout issues and smaller behavioral imperfections might exist.
Optional third-party software
The following third-party software can be needed for the main product ConSol CM depending on the system configuration:
Authentication technology
Depending on the selected authentication mode, the respective technology must be available.
| Authentication technology | Description | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Database | The credentials are saved in the ConSol CM database. | No additional requirements. |
| LDAP | The credentials are retrieved from LDAP, only the user name is saved in the ConSol CM database. | Requires an LDAP server. |
| SSO | The credentials are provided by an OIDC provider, only the user name is saved in the ConSol CM database. | Requires an OIDC provider which supports Open ID connect, e.g. Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services or Azure AD / Entra ID. |
Extensions
The following modules are optional. They can be added to extend the main product with additional capabilities.
- CM/Track: Web application for external end users to create cases and track their status. Needed to interact with customers or colleagues who do not work with the Web Client.
- CM/EBIA: Web application to create, manage and view BI dashboards and reports. Needed for advanced business intelligence scenarios.
- CM/Archive: Web application for internal users for viewing archived cases. Needed for huge installations with millions of cases where older cases are archived to reduce the size of the production database .
- CM/Doc: Desktop application for end users to use document templates in the Web Client. Needed if the users should create word documents which are attached to cases in the Web Client locally in advanced document integration scenarios.
- CM/Phone: Desktop application for end users to use CTI in the Web Client. Needed if incoming phone calls should directly open the page of the respective contact in the Web Client.
- Privacy Purger: Internal application to anonymize personal data from requests to OpenAI. Needed to ensure GDPR compliance if the ChatGPT AI integration is used.
- CM/Outlook Addin: Addin for Microsoft Outlook to transfer emails and contacts to ConSol CM.
Some of the extensions require a separate license.
CM/Track V3
CM/Track V3 can be deployed either on the same application server as ConSol CM or run as a standalone Java application. In both cases, the system requirements are the same as for the main product.
CM/EBIA
CM/EBIA uses the enterprise version of the third-party product Metabase. Therefore, the ConSol CM system must be allowed to access the internet to validate the token which gives access to the advanced Metabase features. See https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/enterprise-guide/activating-the-enterprise-edition.html for further details.
The following Java version is required:
- Java SE 21 (recommended Eclipse Temurin Hotspot version)
CM/EBIA uses a relational database to store user and configuration information of Metabase. The following databases are supported:
| Version | Comment |
|---|---|
| PostgreSQL | |
| MySQL 5.7.7 or higher | Character set utf8mb4 |
| MariaDB 10.2.2 or higher | Character set utf8mb4 |
CM/Archive
The following Java Runtime Environment is required:
- Java SE 17
- Java SE 21
CM/Archive uses a document-oriented NoSQL database.
- MongoDB 7.0 (Community and Enterprise Edition)
- MongoDB 5.0 (Community and Enterprise Edition)
CM/Doc
The following word processors are supported for the use with CM/Doc:
- Microsoft Word 2019
- Microsoft Word Office 365
- Apache OpenOffice
The following Java versions are supported for running CM/Doc:
- Adoptium Temurin 17
- Adoptium Temurin 21
CM/Doc is only supported on Microsoft Windows.
CM/Phone
CM/Phone is deployed either on the same application server as ConSol CM. The desktop application for the end users is only supported on Microsoft Windows.
Privacy Purger
The following hardware is required for the Privacy Purger:
- 8 GB of memory (RAM)
- 2 - 4 CPUs
The following third-party software is required for the Privacy Purger:
- Windows or Linux operating system
- Docker
CM/Outlook Addin
The CM/Outlook Addin requires the desktop application of Microsoft Outlook in version 2016 or higher.
The Microsoft Outlook web application is not supported.
Technical recommendations
Hardware
For a standard installation with 10 concurrent users, the following hardware is recommended:
| Component | Minimum recommendation |
|---|---|
| Memory (RAM) | 6 GB |
| Storage | 5 GB |
| Processor | 2 GHz dual core or equivalent |
Network connection
For a standard installation with 10 concurrent users, the following network connectivity is recommended:
| Component | Minimum recommendation |
|---|---|
| Network latency | < 0.5 ms |
| Network bandwidth | 1 Gb/s |
In addition, the following is recommended:
- No virus scanner on the ConSol CM server
- No firewall between ConSol CM and the databases
If the above recommendation cannot be met for any reason, it is mandatory to ensure that the virus scanner or firewall does not impair or change throughput, latency or content of the network traffic between components.
Virtualization
ConSol CM supports virtual environments. The following additional recommendations apply for running ConSol CM in virtual environments:
- No overcommit of CPU and memory
- Sockets, CPU and hyperthreading configured consistently with the actual hardware
| Performance index | Minimum recommendation |
|---|---|
| CPU latency | < 5% |
| VM in ready state | < 5% |
| Switches/s | < 100 |
| Migrates/s | < 100 |
Database
The system requirements of the used database apply. Recommendations for a standard installation with 10 concurrent users:
| Component | Minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| Memory (RAM) | 2 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB, 2 GB increase per year |
The necessary database storage heavily depends on the usage of ConSol CM. The performance of the database storage has a substantial impact on the general performance of the application. We recommend local storage for the database. If possible, use SSD drives for the temporary tablespace.