4 Setting up the Empirica Signal software

This chapter includes the following topics:

• Configuring properties files

• Preserving customizations and copying Release Notes documents (upgrade only)

Configuring properties files

This section describes how to configure properties files in the Empirica Signal software.

Reviewing the webvdme.properties file

Prerequisites: If you intend to configure the Empirica Signal software to use single sign-on (SSO) with Oracle Access Manager (OAM), refer to Appendix A, "Single sign-on (SSO) - Oracle Access Manager (OAM) setup" for configuration details.

Perform these steps on the application server using the non-privileged user account.

The webvdme.properties file stores database connection information for the Empirica Signal software.

1. Create a directory that will be used for temporary files created by the Empirica Signal application, such as:

   /u01/app/oracle/product/Signal/temp

   Make sure to create this directory so that the non-privileged user account has write access to it.

2. Navigate to the following directory:

   <INSTALL_DIR>/Signal/WEB-INF/classes

3. Make a copy of the template_webvdme.properties file in the same directory with the name webvdme.properties. For example, use the following command:

   $ cp template_webvdme.properties webvdme.properties

4. Using a text editor, open the webvdme.properties file.

5. Review the settings for the following values in the file, changing the values as appropriate for your installation.

   1. connect=jdbc:oracle:thin:@//host:port/service_name

      where:

      • host is the IP address or fully qualified name of the database server.

      • port is the port number used by the database listener.

      • service_name is the database service name.

      Example: connect=jdbc:oracle:thin:@//198.168.0.1:1521/ORCL

   2. sqlldr_connect=tnsnames_alias

      Example: sqlldr_connect=orcl

6. Modify the temp_dir entry so that it points to the temporary directory that you created in step 1.

7. If you plan to use the Topics feature, specify the Topics Web Service URL:

   1. Locate the topicsService.url property.

   2. Remove the hash character (#) so that the property is no longer commented out.

   3. Change the values in the URL as appropriate for your installation, replacing <server_name> with your server name.

      topicsService.url= https://<server_name>:7004/Signal/ws/topicsService

      
      

      Note: The previous example assumes that you are using SSL and will be configuring the SSL security policy for the Topics Web Service, described in Setting up the Web Service Security Policy. If you are not using SSL, use http and the appropriate port.

      
      

8. If you do not plan to use the Topics feature, specify a blank Topics Web Service URL:

   1. Locate the topicsService.url property.

   2. Change the value in the URL to blank:

      topicsService.url=

9. Optionally, configure the Empirica Signal software for single sign-on (SSO):

   1. In the webvdme.properties file, uncomment the following properties:

      • sso.plugins=com.oracle.hsgbu.empirica.sso.EmpiricaSsoPlugin

      • sso.EmpiricaSsoPlugin.username.header=oam-remote-user

      
      

      Note: The value of the sso.EmpiricaSsoPlugin.username.header property depends on your OAM configuration.

      
      

   2. Specify the SSO logout URL by uncommenting the following property and replacing the bold sample URL with the appropriate value. You obtain the SSO logout URL in Information to collect before you begin.

      • sso.EmpiricaSsoPlugin.logoutRedirectUrl=https://ssoServer:port/oamsso/logout.jsp

   3. Update the session timeout value:

      1. Navigate to the following directory:

         <INSTALL_DIR>/Signal/WEB-INF

      2. Open the web.xml file.

      3. Set the value of the session-timeout parameter so that it is greater than the session timeout for the single sign-on setup in the organization.

10. Save the file, and exit the editor.

Reviewing the listener.properties file

Perform these steps on the application server using the non-privileged user account.

The listener.properties file stores information used for data mining.

1. Navigate to the following directory:

   <INSTALL_DIR>/Signal/WEB-INF/classes

   The directory contains the template_listener.properties file.

2. Make a copy of the template_listener.properties file in the same directory with the name listener.properties. For example, use the following command:

   $ cp template_listener.properties listener.properties

3. Using a text editor, open the listener.properties file.

4. Edit the following path settings as needed:

   • mgps_path

   • sqlldr_path

5. Save and close the file.

6. (Upgrade only) Migrate customized settings, if necessary:

   1. Compare the values of the following properties to the values in the listener.properties file that was used for release 7.3.3.3 of the Empirica Signal software:

      • mgps_mem_limit

      • mgps_prr_mem_limit

      • fetch_size

   2. If any of the values used for release 7.3.3.3 are larger, update the values in the new listener.properties file to the larger values.

Creating the webvdme-fonts.properties file

Perform these steps on the application server using the non-privileged user account.

The webvdme-fonts.properties file stores font information.

1. Navigate to the following directory:

   <INSTALL_DIR>/Signal/WEB-INF/classes

   The directory contains the template_webvdme-fonts.properties file.

2. Make a copy of the template_webvdme-fonts.properties file in the same directory with the name webvdme-fonts.properties. For example, use the following command:

   $ cp template_webvdme-fonts.properties webvdme-fonts.properties

3. (Upgrade only) If you customized the webvdme-fonts.properties file for release 7.3.3.3 and want to preserve these customizations, install Linux versions of the desired fonts on the Linux application server. Additionally, update the font names in the new webvdme-fonts.properties as appropriate.

Setting up the log4j.properties file

Perform these steps on the application server using the non-privileged user account.

1. Navigate to the following directory:

   <INSTALL_DIR>/Signal/WEB-INF/classes

2. Open the log4j.properties file, and update the following property with the location for storing the application log file. Make sure the non-privileged user account has write access to the folder.

   log4j.appender.defaultAppender.File

3. Save and close the file.

4. (Upgrade only) If you changed properties in addition to the log4j.appender.defaultAppender.File property for release 7.3.3.3, apply the same changes to the new log4j.properties file.

Reviewing the ldap.properties file

For integration with LDAP, the ldap.properties file stores information about the LDAP configuration. For information on setting up the ldap.properties file, see Configuring Empirica Signal for use with LDAP in the Empirica Signal and Topics User Guide.

Preserving customizations and copying Release Notes documents (upgrade only)

Perform these steps to preserve any customizations you made to release 7.3.3.3 and to copy Release Notes documents from previous releases.

Perform these steps on the application server using the non-privileged user account.

1. Copy any relevant Release Notes documents from the previous installation location to the new installation location. For example, copy the Release Notes documents from the following location:

   C:\Lincoln\apps\webvdme\webapps\web_root\relnotes

   to the following location:

   /u01/stage/Signal_Install/Signal/relnotes

   
   

   Note: You do not need to copy the following documents: Release Notes documents for data releases that are no longer on your server, MedDRA documents for releases that are no longer on your server, Release Notes documents for prior releases of the Empirica Signal software, a PDF document of the User Guide for prior releases, and the Logistic Regression in Empirica Signal 7.1 PDF document.

   
   

2. Copy any custom content, such as custom home pages, from the previous installation location to the new installation location. For example, copy your file from the following location:

   C:\Lincoln\apps\webvdme\webapps\web_root\customhomes

   to the following location:

   /u01/stage/Signal_Install/Signal/customhomes

3. Copy any custom images from the previous installation location to the new installation location. For example, copy your file from the following location:

   C:\Lincoln\apps\webvdme\webapps\web_root\image

   to the following location:

   /u01/stage/Signal_Install/Signal/image

Making documentation available within the application

1. Obtain the most recent version of the Release Notes, Known Issues, and User Guide. For more information, see Related documents.

2. Copy the Release Notes, Known Issues, and User Guide to the following location:

   /u01/stage/Signal_Install/Signal/relnotes