Jive Forums is a powerful online discussion tool for websites. This document will guide you through installing the application. For a full list of features and more information, please visit the Jive Software website: http://www.jivesoftware.com

In order to install Jive Forums, you'll need a server environment that meets the following requirements:

Installation Overview

To complete the installation of Jive Forums, you'll need to perform each of the following steps:

  1. Application Server - Set up your application server by installing the application files and JDBC driver. Be sure to read the Known Issues section of this document.
  2. Database - Prepare your database for Jive Forums.
  3. Setup and Admin Tools - Use the web-based setup tool to establish a database connection and to setup the administrator account. You'll then use the admin tool to create and manage forums.

! If you're upgrading from a previous release of Jive Forums, please see the upgrade instructions.

Files in the Distribution

The files in your distribution should be as follows (some sub-directories omitted for brevity):

jive/ 
|- database/
|- documentation/
|- jiveHome/
|- changelog.html
|- EditWAR.jar
|- issues.html
|- jiveforums.war
|- README.html

The jiveforums.war file is a standard Web Application Archive (WAR) that contains the Jive Forums application.

The database directory contains SQL scripts to create new Jive Forums databases, as well as upgrade scripts for existing installations.

The jiveHome directory is where Jive Forums stores configuration files and additional resources. You'll copy it to a permanent location on your server as part of the install process.

Application Server Setup

First, setup your jiveHome directory, which contains configuration files and additional resources used by Jive Forums. Copy the jiveHome directory from the distribution to where you'd like for the directory to permanently reside. The directory must be readable and writable by your application server, but should not be in the document path of your webserver (such that someone could access the directory from a URL such as http://www.yourserver.com/jiveHome). Windows users might pick a directory such as c:\jiveHome while Unix users might install jiveHome to /opt/jiveHome.

Now that your jiveHome directory is setup, the Jive Forums application will need to know its location. There are several ways to do this. Choosing one of the following options depends largely on how you want to register your value in your environment.

Next, the jiveforums.war file should be installed as a web application in an application server which supports the Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 specifications. Please consult your server documentation if you are not familiar with setting up web applications. Most servers give you a choice between deploying a web-application by copying a WAR file into a web-application directory (typically "webapps"), or by using a deploy tool. Use the method that you are most familiar with.

Finally, make sure that you copy your license file jive.license to the jiveHome directory. If you are evaluating Jive Forums, you can get an evaluation license at http://www.jivesoftware.com/downloads/.

The Jive Forums web application should now be properly configured. Restart your application server and then proceed to the next installation step.

Setting Up the Database

Jive Forums uses a database to store forum content. To setup your database you must load the appropriate database schema. You can find schemas in the database directory of this distribution. View the database setup documentation to learn how to install the schemas and JDBC drivers. Note: Jive Forums also includes an embedded database that is suitable for evaluation and testing (although we do not recommend using the embedded database for deployment). If you would like to use the embedded database, you can skip to the next step.

Complete the database steps outlined in the database setup documentation before proceeding further.

Setup and Admin Tools

After completing the above steps, you should be ready to run the setup tool. Point your web browser to the location on your webserver where you installed the admin skin. For example: http://www.[yourserver].com/jiveforums/admin/setup

The setup tool will guide you through the final steps of getting Jive Forums up and running. Once setup is complete, you will be redirected to the admin tool, which can be found at something similar to http://www.[yourserver].com/jiveforums/admin. Use the admin tool to create and manage forums, users, and groups.

Known Issues and Application Server Specific Tasks

Tomcat 4.1.x:

Tomcat 5.0.x:

Tomcat 5.5.x:

Tomcat 6.0.10 (or later):

Jetty6

Jetty5

Orion 2.0.7

NOTE: Orion 2.0.7 is not currently supported for Forums 5.5

  1. Delete the following jars from <orion-install>/ crimson.jar, xerces.jar, xalan.jar, jaxp.jar
  2. Copy tools.jar from <jdk-install>/lib/tools.jar to <orion-install>/
  3. Unzip jiveforums.war in <orion-install>/applications/jiveforums
    • unzip -d <orion-install>/applications/jiveforums jiveforums.war
  4. Remove jiveforums/WEB-INF/orion-web.xml.
  5. Remove jiveforums.war from <orion-install>/applications
  6. Edit <orion-install>/config/default-web-site.xml
    • Add the following line: <web-app application="default" name="jiveforums" root="/jiveforums"/>
  7. Edit <orion-install>/config/application.xml
    • Add the following line: <web-module id="jiveforums" path="../applications/jiveforums" />

Resin 3.1

Weblogic 8.1

Weblogic 9.2

Glassfish v2

Sun Application Server 7 and 8

OC4J 10.1.3.2.0