Installing The Client Workstation

Prerequisites

You must install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (X86) on every client machine. The Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package contains essential runtime library files that enable MSS applications to run properly on Windows. This installation is required for the smooth operation of the MSS core application and any utility applications.

Installation Methods

You can distribute the client application to workstations in the following ways:

By using a third-party software product such as Microsoft SMS.
By copying the compressed client CAB files stored on the application server to a location where you can expand them for users to copy to client workstations or use directly.
By using the PowerClient feature that provides automated deployment and update of the MSS application.

Installing the Client Application Manually

The following procedure explains how to install the core MSS application. It does not include any utility applications.

To install the client application manually:

Create a directory in the location where the client installation will be placed.
Copy the following files from the listed application server directories to the client installation location.
- /appserver/cab
  - All CAB files
  - expand_mss.cmd
- /appserver/config
  - jmaster.ini
  - lerg.ini
  - npasplit.ini
  - mss.ini
  - mss_util.ini
Note:

If you are copying the files using the FTP site, use the following modes for different file types:
- CAB files: Binary mode
- CMD, XML, and INI files: ASCII mode
Run expand_mss.cmd using the Run option on the Windows Start menu.

Installing the Client Application Using PowerClient

This section guides you through the process of installing and setting up the PowerClient version of MSS (MSSAUTO) on a Windows server using Internet Information Services (IIS) and NGINX servers. You can use PowerClient to automatically deploy, install and update MSS application. To use PowerClient, you must have IIS server or NGINX server installed in the machine that you installed MSS. See "Installing IIS Server on Windows Server" for information on how to setup IIS server. Also see "Installing Nginx on Linux" for information on how to set up NGINX server. IIS server or NGINX server is required for hosting the MSS executable (mssauto).

Prerequisites:

A Windows server with administrative access
Server Manager
IIS or NGINX server installed
The latest build deliverable of MetaSolv Solution

Installing Web Servers

The MSS application deployed with PowerClient is installed and updated through a Web server such as Internet Information Services (IIS) Server and NGINX. Therefore, you must install a Web server for deployment.

You can deploy the PowerClient application directly to the following servers:

Local web server: You can directly deploy to a local server (such as IIS, Apache, Nginx etc.).
Remote web server: To deploy to the remote IIS server, you must configure a server profile first and then deploy from IDE to the server. To deploy to the other remote servers such as Apache, and Nginx, you need to deploy from IDE to a local folder first and then deploy the folder (through FTP or manual copy) to the server.

You must install IIS server for Windows and NGINX server for Linux.

Installing IIS Server on Windows Server

Before you install MSS application using PowerClient, you must install the IIS server on your Windows server.

To install IIS server on Windows Server:

Open the Start menu, locate and open Server Manager.
In Server Manager, click Manage in the upper-right corner, then choose Add Roles and Features.

The Add Roles and Features Wizard opens.
On the Before You Begin page, review the information and click Next.
In the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation and click Next.
In Server Selection page, select the server to which you want to add roles and features. You can choose the local server or a remote server that is added to Server Manager. Click Next.
On the Server Roles page, select the desired roles like Web Server (IIS) and click Next.
In the Features page, select the desired features. If only roles are needed, no feature selection is required. Click Next after you select the features.
Review the selections for roles and features on the Confirmation page, then click Install. Some installations may require a server restart, in which case, select the option Restart the destination server automatically if required to restart automatically.
After the installation is complete, click Close.
To verify, open a web browser, enter the server's IP address, and the default IIS web page is displayed.

Installing Nginx on Linux

The NGINX server is configured to host MSSAUTO on Linux.

Ensure that your machine has internet access and you have logged in using super user or root user.
Download and install Nginx from the CentOS software repositories.
Run the following command in your terminal to initiate the installation:
```
 sudo dnf install nginx
```
You may be prompted to enter your user account password or confirm the installation with y during the process.
After the installation, enable the Nginx HTTP server to start automatically and then initiate the service:
1. Enable Nginx to start on system boot:
```
  sudo systemctl enable nginx
```
2. Start the Nginx service:
```
  sudo systemctl start nginx
```
3. To view the status of the Nginx service to ensure it is running, run the following command :
```
 sudo systemctl status nginx
```
If a firewall is enabled on your server, perform the following steps to allow HTTP traffic:
1. Open the HTTP Port:
```
  sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=80/tcp
```
2. Reload the firewall to apply the changes:
```
  sudo firewall-cmd --reload
```
3. Verify that the HTTP service and port 80 were added successfully by running the following command:
```
  sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --list-all
```
Test the Nginx HTTP server by opening up a Web browser and entering the following address:
```
http://localhost
```
Alternatively, test from another device on the network by entering
```
http://your_server_ip
```
in the browser, where your_server_ip is the server's IP address.
The default Nginx welcome page is displayed.

Configuring the MSS Application on the Web Server

To configure MSS application (MSSAUTO) on the Web servers (IIS and NGINX):

Download the MSS file, mssauto_Installer_bxx.zip, for your platform from the Oracle software delivery website.
Extract the zip file into a directory of your choice.

Oracle recommends to extract the scripts to a directory on your local machine. The extracted file contains two directories CloudAppPublisher and mssauto.
Copy the CloudAppPublisher directory and mssauto directory to the appropriate directory for your web server:

For IIS server: C:\inetpub\wwwroot

For NGINX server: /usr/share/nginx/html
You can locate the Nginx server directory path in the /etc/nginx/nginx.config file, under the Servers section.

Updating the Configuration File for MSS

The PowerClient executable for MSS is mssauto. The mssauto.zip file includes external configuration files, such as mss.ini, which is initially empty. This file requires the application server details to enable login to the MSS application.

To update the MSS.INI file:

Ensure that you have the ASP.NET Core Runtime 3.1 or later installed.
Open the command prompt with administrator privileges by right-clicking on the Command Prompt icon and selecting Run as administrator.
Navigate to the server root folder, then to the specific application folder, and finally, to the deployment version folder. For example,
```
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mssauto\8.0
```
Ensure you are in the correct deployment version folder, especially if multiple versions exist.
Run the following command to replace the mss.ini file:
```
dotnet CustomizeDeploy.dll -src=source_file -dest=
destination_file
```
Here, source_file is the new or updated file that you want to use, and destination_file is the old file that you intend to replace.

Installing the Client Application

You can install the cloud app launcher first and then install the PowerClient MSS application.

Note:

Cloud App Launcher is a one-time installation for each client workstation.

To install the MSS PowerClient application (mssauto) from the client workstation:

Open a web browser on the client machine and enter the following URL:
```
http://server_ip_address/mssauto
```
The Launch page opens.
On the launching page, click Download to download and install the launcher.

The CloudAppLauncher_Installer.exe file is downloaded.
Run the installer file (CloudAppLauncher_Installer.exe) to begin the installation process.

The MetaSolv Solution Launcher window opens.
The default installation directory is as follows:

Cloud App Launcher: C:\Oracle\MSS

MSS Application: C:\Oracle\MSS\Applications

You can change the default installation directory by selecting Advanced Options and specifying the path of the Cloud App Launcher directory and the application installation directory.
Click Start Install in the MetaSolv Solution Launcher window to install the Cloud App launcher.
After the Cloud App Launcher is installed, click Start the Application to initiate the installation of the MetaSolv Solution PowerClient application.

A progress bar appears indicating the progress of the MSS application installation. After the installation is complete, a new desktop shortcut mssauto is created, allowing you to launch the MSS application.

Starting the MSS Client

You can start the MSS client in the following ways:

Double-click the executable file (mss.exe) located in the MSS installation directory on the workstation.

You can also create a desktop shortcut to start the application after installation.
If you have installed MSS client using the PowerClient, double-click the executable file (mssauto.exe) located in the path that you specified while installing the MSS client.

Tools and Utilities

This section describes special considerations for MSS tool and utility applications. See MetaSolv Solution System Administrator's Guide for information on using these applications.

NPA NXX Split Utility

Before you can run this application, you must:

Modify the INI file
Create Oracle tables by applying the latest MSS maintenance release

The following sections explain how to complete these tasks.

Modifying the NPASplit.ini File

Before running the utility, you must customize the npasplit.ini file. The file is set up identically to the mss_util.ini file in the client installation directory folder, so the logon database name and Oracle SID can be copied from that file.

To modify the npasplit.ini file:

Locate the file in the client installation directory and open it in a text editor.
Change the Example1 text in the Profiles section to the name the users will pick from the Database drop-down box in the initial logon window.

Any changes must match the title of the Profile listed in brackets that appears later in the file (for example: [Profile Example1]). Additional profiles can also be added in the same manner.
Change the value in the ServerName field to the Oracle SID shortcut in the TNSNames.ora file.

The easiest method of finding this information is in the mss_util.ini file (for example:
```
ServerName=@EXAMPLE1
```
Save the npasplit.ini file with these changes.

Creating NPA NXX Split Utility Oracle Tables

The utility uses Oracle tables that are not found in the MSS database. To ensure that you have the appropriate Oracle tables for the NPA Split Utility, apply the latest MSS maintenance release. These tables must be created prior to the running a split.

To create the tables, do the following:

Download the npasplit.cab and expand_mss.cmd files from the MetaSolv_Home/server_name/appserver/cab directory, on the WebLogic Administration server, to a directory on the client workstation.
On the client workstation, run the expand_mss.cmd file to expand the npasplit.cab file.
Connect to SQL*Plus and run the following script:
- Install.sql
  
  Note:
  
  There is also an Uninstall.sql file available to undo the changes, if necessary.

MetaSolv Solution Utilities

Copy the appropriate files to your workstation, run the mss_util executable and the logon window appears.

If you are installing manually, copy the appropriate files into the client installation directory for MSS. See Table 9-1 for information on which files are needed for MSS Utilities.

If you want to run the Purge utility from a client workstation, you must install the Oracle database client on the workstation to establish a connection to the database. See MSS Compatibility Matrix for the software versions.

Note:

Ensure that you have added the DB instance entry in the TNSNames.ora file on the workstation.

Background Processor

Oracle recommends installing this application on a separate machine. This application has two executables:

Job Manager - is installed on a client workstation to view and manage jobs being processed
Job Master - is installed on a separate machine to do processing

See MetaSolv Solution System Administrator's Guide for complete information on the Background Processor.

This application requires the Oracle client.

See Table 9-1 for information on which files are needed for this application.

Location and Routing Gateway

Copy the appropriate files into the client installation directory for MSS. See Table 9-1 for information on which files are needed for this application.

Installing a Utility to a Separate Installation Directory

Oracle recommends installing MSS applications in the same directory on the workstation. The exception to this rule is the Background Processor, which should be installed in its own directory on a separate machine.

You can install an application in a directory other than the MSS installation directory if you choose. If you use this method, you must make sure the INI file for the application you are copying is in the same installation directory as the application. If you install manually, make sure that you edit the INI file for the utility you install to point to the appropriate application server.

Table 9-1 lists the CAB, INI, and XML files required for each application.

Table 9-1 MetaSolv Solution Application Files

Application	CAB file(s) required	INI files required	Install to
MSS core application	app.cab dll.cab pbvm.cab mapping.cab	mss.ini	Client installation directory
Job Manager (Background Processor)	jobmgr.cab pbvm.cab dll.cab	jmaster.ini	Machine dedicated to running this application
Job Master (Background Processor)	app.cab jobmstr.cab pbvm.cab dll.cab	jmaster.ini	Machine dedicated to running this application
Location and Routing Gateway	lerg.cab pbvm.cab dll.cab	lerg.ini	Client installation directory
MetaSolv Solution Utilities	utility.cab pbvm.cab dll.cab	mss_util.ini	Client installation directory
NPA NXX Utility	npasplit.cab pbvm.cab dll.cab	npasplit.ini	Client installation directory

9 Installing The Client Workstation