Multiple DHIS2 instances on Windows

Support - Assistance technique
1

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and configure for different ports.

  2. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

2

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf”

DHIS2_HOME_NG=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng”

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up “mc” (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file) and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry about this hack.

Regards,

Jason

···

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and configure for different ports.
  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

3

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf”

DHIS2_HOME_NG=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng”

If you are able to set DHIS2_HOME as part of the tomcat startup scripts you don’t need to define any environment variables, and then you don’t need to modify the .war files either.

Not sure how this is done on Windows if you also want the tomcat instances to start automatically on Windows startup.

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up “mc” (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file) and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry about this hack.

Agree, using multiple live instances (with postgres) is probably the easiest setup. Again you would like to be able to start these automatically on reboot, but that should be possible.

Ola

···

On 18 August 2011 11:29, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and configure for different ports.
  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

4

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with
two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME="/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf"

DHIS2_HOME_NG="/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng"

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate
more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up "mc" (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file)
and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will
read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different
ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry
about this hack.

That's right. dhis live doesn't use the environment variable -
adopting instead the approach of "wherever I lay my hat, that's my
home" :slight_smile:

But it does this by using (and automatically configuring) a system
property which takes precedence over the environment variable. That
system property is called dhis2.home.

You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic
startup scripts eg. by adding "-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis" to
CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script. It's an alternative approach
which might suit you.

Bob

···

On 18 August 2011 10:29, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,
It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with
its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a
consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice
would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of
OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about
DHIS2 itself)
I see the following options:
1) Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different
ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and
configure for different ports.
2) Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done
inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment
variables?
How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM...
If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a
pointer.
Thanks,
Knut

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

5

Thanks guys, running multiple instances of DHIS2 Live is definitely the easiest to set up and teach. In fact, I think there may be quite few instances where Tomcat is needed on Windows. And I don’t even think I need to worry about dhis2.home - since everything is confined to the folder where dhis2-live.exe resides.

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated startup after a power cut. Found some info here, grateful for further ideas.

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/startup.htm

Knut

···

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 18 August 2011 10:29, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with

two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf”

DHIS2_HOME_NG=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng”

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate

more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up “mc” (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file)

and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will

read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different

ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry

about this hack.

That’s right. dhis live doesn’t use the environment variable -

adopting instead the approach of "wherever I lay my hat, that’s my

home" :slight_smile:

But it does this by using (and automatically configuring) a system

property which takes precedence over the environment variable. That

system property is called dhis2.home.

You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic

startup scripts eg. by adding “-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis” to

CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script. It’s an alternative approach

which might suit you.

Bob

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with

its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a

consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice

would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of

OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about

DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different

ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and

configure for different ports.

  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done

inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment

variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a

pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

6

Thanks for these answers.

Please, is there a way one can put the hibernate.properties in the war file itself?
This used to workout in 2.0 by just putting into WEB-INF/classes but now it just doesn’t work

I’m in a PaaS offering where I don’t get access to the OS but just tomcat deploy. So, I’m unable to set the env variables.

Thanks

Ime

···

From: Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com
To: Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com
Cc: dhis2-devs dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] Multiple DHIS2 instances on Windows

Thanks guys, running multiple instances of DHIS2 Live is definitely the easiest to set up and teach. In fact, I think there may be quite few instances where Tomcat is needed on Windows. And I don’t even think I need to worry about dhis2.home - since everything is confined to the folder where dhis2-live.exe resides.

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated startup after a power cut. Found some info here, grateful for further ideas.

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/startup.htm

Knut

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 18 August 2011 10:29, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with

two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf”

DHIS2_HOME_NG=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng”

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate

more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up “mc” (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file)

and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will

read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different

ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry

about this hack.

That’s right. dhis live doesn’t use the environment variable -

adopting instead the approach of "wherever I lay my hat, that’s my

home" :slight_smile:

But it does this by using (and automatically configuring) a system

property which takes precedence over the environment variable. That

system property is called dhis2.home.

You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic

startup scripts eg. by adding “-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis” to

CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script. It’s an alternative approach

which might suit you.

Bob

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with

its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a

consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice

would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of

OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about

DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different

ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and

configure for different ports.

  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done

inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment

variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a

pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

7

Thanks for these answers.

Please, is there a way one can put the hibernate.properties in the war file
itself?
This used to workout in 2.0 by just putting into WEB-INF/classes but now it
just doesn't work

I'm in a PaaS offering where I don't get access to the OS but just tomcat
deploy. So, I'm unable to set the env variables.

Probably the best place to implement something would be as a context
parameter (Apache Tomcat Configuration Reference (6.0.53) - The Context Container).

We could then fairly simply add yet another prioritized source of DHIS_HOME:
(i) check for context parameter called DHIS2_HOME; failing which
(ii) check for system property called dhis2.home; failing which
(III) check for env variable DHIS2_HOME.
(the final fallback on linux is to use /opt/dhis2)

The context should be configurable by the Paas provider. Any
thoughts? Should be a quick blueprint + some few lines of code +
testing.

Cheers
Bob

···

On 18 August 2011 13:20, Ime Asangansi <asangansi@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thanks

Ime

________________________________
From: Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com>
To: Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com>
Cc: dhis2-devs <dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-devs] Multiple DHIS2 instances on Windows

Thanks guys, running multiple instances of DHIS2 Live is definitely the
easiest to set up and teach. In fact, I think there may be quite few
instances where Tomcat is needed on Windows. And I don't even think I need
to worry about dhis2.home - since everything is confined to the folder where
dhis2-live.exe resides.
As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated
startup after a power cut. Found some info here, grateful for further ideas.
Vlaurie
Knut
On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> > wrote:

On 18 August 2011 10:29, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> > wrote:

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with
two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME="/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf"

DHIS2_HOME_NG="/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng"

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to
allocate
more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up "mc" (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar
file)
and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance
will
read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different
ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry
about this hack.

That's right. dhis live doesn't use the environment variable -
adopting instead the approach of "wherever I lay my hat, that's my
home" :slight_smile:

But it does this by using (and automatically configuring) a system
property which takes precedence over the environment variable. That
system property is called dhis2.home.

You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic
startup scripts eg. by adding "-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis" to
CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script. It's an alternative approach
which might suit you.

Bob

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,
It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with
its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached
a
consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice
would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change
of
OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about
DHIS2 itself)
I see the following options:
1) Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different
ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and
configure for different ports.
2) Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done
inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple
environment
variables?
How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM...
If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a
pointer.
Thanks,
Knut

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

--
Cheers,
Knut Staring

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : DHIS 2 developers in Launchpad
More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

8

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two
dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:

Knut

···

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated
startup after a power cut.

9

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated
startup after a power cut.

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two
dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:
Windows help & learning

Are talking about startup or logging in?

···

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

Knut

10

So now I’m running three instances of DHIS2 Live on different ports and can stop and start each one individually.

My new problem now is how to distinguish between them:

  1. Most importantly, I would like to see a different hover text for each DHIS Live icon (I now have three identical ones)

  2. Secondly, it would be nice if one could easily modify the text in the browser tab (i.e. the HTML element), which currently says just DHIS 2 for all of them.

Would this be easy to do?

Knut

···

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 1:47 PM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks guys, running multiple instances of DHIS2 Live is definitely the easiest to set up and teach. In fact, I think there may be quite few instances where Tomcat is needed on Windows. And I don’t even think I need to worry about dhis2.home - since everything is confined to the folder where dhis2-live.exe residerehs.

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated startup after a power cut. Found some info here, grateful for further ideas.

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/startup.htm

Knut

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 18 August 2011 10:29, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

In Nigeria, we have two completely separate instance of Tomcat with

two environment variables

DHIS2_HOME=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf”

DHIS2_HOME_NG=“/var/lib/tomcat6/conf/dhis2_conf_ng”

The reason for the separate instances was really just to be able to allocate

more CPU resources to a single Tomcat instance.

You them modify /WEB-INF/lib/dhis-support-external-2.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Open up “mc” (or some other tool which can manipulate inside of a jar file)

and navigate within the JAR file to META-INF/dhis/beans.xml

and modify DHIS2_HOME to DHIS2_HOME_NG and then exit mc. This instance will

read from the DHIS2_HOME_NG environment.

On Windows, two separate DHIS2 Live directories configured for different

ports would seem to be a better solution. Then you do not need to worry

about this hack.

That’s right. dhis live doesn’t use the environment variable -

adopting instead the approach of "wherever I lay my hat, that’s my

home" :slight_smile:

But it does this by using (and automatically configuring) a system

property which takes precedence over the environment variable. That

system property is called dhis2.home.

You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic

startup scripts eg. by adding “-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis” to

CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script. It’s an alternative approach

which might suit you.

Bob

Regards,

Jason

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with

its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a

consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice

would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of

OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about

DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different

ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and

configure for different ports.

  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done

inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment

variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a

pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

11

3 GB RAM sounds very little for serving three tomcat instances + a postgres server.

I would recommend at least 8 GB here, as I assume this is a startup process with not that many users. As you get more online users and also more data to process, you will have to increase this.

Especially it seems jasper reports (standard reports) get out of memory errors (PermGen space) with less (not sure exactly how much less) than around 1 GB: -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m"

You could e.g. use something like this for each of the three tomcats/java processes:

JAVA_OPTS=“-Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=256m -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m”

For an active DHIS 2 instance with many users I would allocate more, e.g. the Kenya online system uses:

-Xmx6000m -XX:MaxPermSize=1000m

This chapter in the implementation guide discusses server setup including memory settings for postgres and tomcat:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

Ola

···

On 18 August 2011 11:18, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and configure for different ports.
  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

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12

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last ran multiple DHIS2 instances (each with its own database) on the same Windows server. Not sure if we have reached a consensus as to best practice on this (I actually think the best practice would be to run a Ubuntu server, but in many cases people find a change of OS an additional burden when there is so much knowledge to absorb about DHIS2 itself)

I see the following options:

  1. Multiple war files in the same Tomcat or multiple Tomcats on different ports. If so, just download the Tomcat zip file, not installer, and configure for different ports.
  1. Each dhis.war needs a separate hibernate.properties. Is this best done inside the (exploded) war file, or is it best to create multiple environment variables?

How to set the JAVA_OPTS? The server has only 3GB RAM…

3 GB RAM sounds very little for serving three tomcat instances + a postgres server.

I would recommend at least 8 GB here, as I assume this is a startup process with not that many users. As you get more online users and also more data to process, you will have to increase this.

Especially it seems jasper reports (standard reports) get out of memory errors (PermGen space) with less (not sure exactly how much less) than around 1 GB: -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m"

You could e.g. use something like this for each of the three tomcats/java processes:

JAVA_OPTS=“-Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=256m -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m”

For an active DHIS 2 instance with many users I would allocate more, e.g. the Kenya online system uses:

-Xmx6000m -XX:MaxPermSize=1000m

This chapter in the implementation guide discusses server setup including memory settings for postgres and tomcat:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

Thanks Ola, this is helpful. In fact, there seems to be another server available, and one of the three instances is relatively temporary (it holds 6M rows from the old HMIS systems, parts of which we will import into the new dashboard system. So I guess what I have set up now is a relatively short term solution (though we all know those tend to linger for months and years…).

I do agree with the need to change to a 64 bit operating system and slap more memory on the server.

A few further questions:

  1. As I mentioned, I am not using Tomcat at all, but running three DHIS Live instance, in other words Jetty. I assume things are a bit different then?

  2. Are you recommending three JREs? I am currently running everything on the installed JRE, and not using one for each DHIS Live

Knut

···

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 11:01 AM, Ola Hodne Titlestad olati@ifi.uio.no wrote:

On 18 August 2011 11:18, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Ola

If this has already been documented, I would be grateful for just a pointer.

Thanks,

Knut

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

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–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

13

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated

startup after a power cut.

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two

dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Run-a-program-automatically-when-Windows-starts

Are talking about startup or logging in?

Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the machine and logging in.

Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically on boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192

Knut

···

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Knut

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

14

dhis-live is not really designed to be run as a service and I wouldn't
really recommend trying. Given that it has a user interaction element
in the toolbar etc. Running as a service is sort of the opposite of
its defining use case which is to have a minimally configured
clickable app to run on a desktop.

I think there are lots of tips on the web regarding running tomcat as
a service. Also HISP India has some previous experience in running
many tomcat's on a single windows server for different states. Maybe
Bharath or John might chip in how they have set up the service.
Assuming that is, that they ran tomcat as a windows service. Possibly
they logged in and manually started and stopped them.

I always find it interesting when looking at the merits of windows vs
linux servers that the argument is usually given that windows is more
familiar and the hurdle to move to linux is too great. But when one
scrapes the surface it seems that windows server skills are actually
very scarce. People think they understand windows server because it
looks just like windows. But you'll actually find much more
knowledgeable support in our community for setting up a
dhis+tomcat+postgres+ubuntu. Just my two cents :slight_smile:

Re displaying different text on hover, its not a bad idea, but not one
that anyone is likely to prioritize immediately. Maybe create a
blueprint so the idea is not lost. From a zero-configuration
perspective there is not much to go on mind you. We have the options
of server port, database name or dhis home directory to distinguish
between them, but using something mangled from those would at least
provide something. A more nicely named instance would require an
additional config parameter or a small dialog on startup.

Cheers
Bob

···

On 19 August 2011 11:06, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/18/11, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated
>> startup after a power cut.
>
> In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two
> dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:
>
> Windows help & learning

Are talking about startup or logging in?

Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the
machine and logging in.

Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically on
boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:
sc.exe create | Microsoft Learn
Knut

>
> Knut
>

--
Cheers,
Knut Staring

15

Thanks for all the input - it has been very useful. I have come to realize that this current setup should be considered temporary (until the end of the year) and thinking&resources should probably now rather be dedicated towards setting up two national production machines by the end of the year (one for the national repository/dashboard, one for the HMIS), and these should align as much as feasible with the description in the link Ola sent:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

In fact, we already also have a Linode, so far with only 4 GB, but that can of course be increased as needed.

Knut

···

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

dhis-live is not really designed to be run as a service and I wouldn’t

really recommend trying. Given that it has a user interaction element

in the toolbar etc. Running as a service is sort of the opposite of

its defining use case which is to have a minimally configured

clickable app to run on a desktop.

I think there are lots of tips on the web regarding running tomcat as

a service. Also HISP India has some previous experience in running

many tomcat’s on a single windows server for different states. Maybe

Bharath or John might chip in how they have set up the service.

Assuming that is, that they ran tomcat as a windows service. Possibly

they logged in and manually started and stopped them.

I always find it interesting when looking at the merits of windows vs

linux servers that the argument is usually given that windows is more

familiar and the hurdle to move to linux is too great. But when one

scrapes the surface it seems that windows server skills are actually

very scarce. People think they understand windows server because it

looks just like windows. But you’ll actually find much more

knowledgeable support in our community for setting up a

dhis+tomcat+postgres+ubuntu. Just my two cents :slight_smile:

Re displaying different text on hover, its not a bad idea, but not one

that anyone is likely to prioritize immediately. Maybe create a

blueprint so the idea is not lost. From a zero-configuration

perspective there is not much to go on mind you. We have the options

of server port, database name or dhis home directory to distinguish

between them, but using something mangled from those would at least

provide something. A more nicely named instance would require an

additional config parameter or a small dialog on startup.

Cheers

Bob

On 19 August 2011 11:06, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the automated

startup after a power cut.

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two

dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Run-a-program-automatically-when-Windows-starts

Are talking about startup or logging in?

Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the

machine and logging in.

Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically on

boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192

Knut

Knut

–

Cheers,

Knut Staring

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

16

Thanks for all the input - it has been very useful. I have come to realize
that this current setup should be considered temporary (until the end of the
year) and thinking&resources should probably now rather be dedicated towards
setting up two national production machines by the end of the year (one for
the national repository/dashboard, one for the HMIS), and these should align
as much as feasible with the description in the link Ola sent:
http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

I see that this description stops short of describing the automatic
startup and shutdown scripts. Does anyone have some good examples to
contribute?

···

On 19 August 2011 11:40, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:

In fact, we already also have a Linode, so far with only 4 GB, but that can
of course be increased as needed.
Knut

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> > wrote:

dhis-live is not really designed to be run as a service and I wouldn't
really recommend trying. Given that it has a user interaction element
in the toolbar etc. Running as a service is sort of the opposite of
its defining use case which is to have a minimally configured
clickable app to run on a desktop.

I think there are lots of tips on the web regarding running tomcat as
a service. Also HISP India has some previous experience in running
many tomcat's on a single windows server for different states. Maybe
Bharath or John might chip in how they have set up the service.
Assuming that is, that they ran tomcat as a windows service. Possibly
they logged in and manually started and stopped them.

I always find it interesting when looking at the merits of windows vs
linux servers that the argument is usually given that windows is more
familiar and the hurdle to move to linux is too great. But when one
scrapes the surface it seems that windows server skills are actually
very scarce. People think they understand windows server because it
looks just like windows. But you'll actually find much more
knowledgeable support in our community for setting up a
dhis+tomcat+postgres+ubuntu. Just my two cents :slight_smile:

Re displaying different text on hover, its not a bad idea, but not one
that anyone is likely to prioritize immediately. Maybe create a
blueprint so the idea is not lost. From a zero-configuration
perspective there is not much to go on mind you. We have the options
of server port, database name or dhis home directory to distinguish
between them, but using something mangled from those would at least
provide something. A more nicely named instance would require an
additional config parameter or a small dialog on startup.

Cheers
Bob

On 19 August 2011 11:06, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@gmail.com> >> > wrote:
>>
>> On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > On 8/18/11, Knut Staring <knutst@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the
>> >> automated
>> >> startup after a power cut.
>> >
>> > In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two
>> > dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:
>> >
>> >
>> > Windows help & learning
>>
>> Are talking about startup or logging in?
>
> Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the
> machine and logging in.
>
> Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically
> on
> boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:
> sc.exe create | Microsoft Learn
> Knut
>>
>> >
>> > Knut
>> >
>
>
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Knut Staring
>

--
Cheers,
Knut Staring

17

I am disoriented with this. So I have tried to set dhis2.home on web.xml and the second war continues to use the DHIS2_HOME.

Setting tomcat to listen different ports means to waist machine resources that I do not have and the second instance will be used for tests.

What is the recommendation now?

Caveman

···

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 5:09 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 19 August 2011 11:40, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks for all the input - it has been very useful. I have come to realize

that this current setup should be considered temporary (until the end of the

year) and thinking&resources should probably now rather be dedicated towards

setting up two national production machines by the end of the year (one for

the national repository/dashboard, one for the HMIS), and these should align

as much as feasible with the description in the link Ola sent:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

I see that this description stops short of describing the automatic

startup and shutdown scripts. Does anyone have some good examples to

contribute?

In fact, we already also have a Linode, so far with only 4 GB, but that can

of course be increased as needed.

Knut

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com > > > wrote:

dhis-live is not really designed to be run as a service and I wouldn’t

really recommend trying. Given that it has a user interaction element

in the toolbar etc. Running as a service is sort of the opposite of

its defining use case which is to have a minimally configured

clickable app to run on a desktop.

I think there are lots of tips on the web regarding running tomcat as

a service. Also HISP India has some previous experience in running

many tomcat’s on a single windows server for different states. Maybe

Bharath or John might chip in how they have set up the service.

Assuming that is, that they ran tomcat as a windows service. Possibly

they logged in and manually started and stopped them.

I always find it interesting when looking at the merits of windows vs

linux servers that the argument is usually given that windows is more

familiar and the hurdle to move to linux is too great. But when one

scrapes the surface it seems that windows server skills are actually

very scarce. People think they understand windows server because it

looks just like windows. But you’ll actually find much more

knowledgeable support in our community for setting up a

dhis+tomcat+postgres+ubuntu. Just my two cents :slight_smile:

Re displaying different text on hover, its not a bad idea, but not one

that anyone is likely to prioritize immediately. Maybe create a

blueprint so the idea is not lost. From a zero-configuration

perspective there is not much to go on mind you. We have the options

of server port, database name or dhis home directory to distinguish

between them, but using something mangled from those would at least

provide something. A more nicely named instance would require an

additional config parameter or a small dialog on startup.

Cheers

Bob

On 19 August 2011 11:06, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com > > >> > wrote:

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the

automated

startup after a power cut.

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two

dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Run-a-program-automatically-when-Windows-starts

Are talking about startup or logging in?

Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the

machine and logging in.

Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically

on

boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192

Knut

Knut

–

Cheers,

Knut Staring

–

Cheers,

Knut Staring

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

18

Thanks I followed Jason solution in Nigeria editing
dhis-support-external-**.jar

It works.

Caveman

···

On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Orvalho Augusto orvaquim@gmail.com wrote:

I am disoriented with this. So I have tried to set dhis2.home on web.xml and the second war continues to use the DHIS2_HOME.

Setting tomcat to listen different ports means to waist machine resources that I do not have and the second instance will be used for tests.

What is the recommendation now?

Caveman

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 5:09 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com wrote:

On 19 August 2011 11:40, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks for all the input - it has been very useful. I have come to realize

that this current setup should be considered temporary (until the end of the

year) and thinking&resources should probably now rather be dedicated towards

setting up two national production machines by the end of the year (one for

the national repository/dashboard, one for the HMIS), and these should align

as much as feasible with the description in the link Ola sent:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/implementer/html/ch08.html#d5e415

I see that this description stops short of describing the automatic

startup and shutdown scripts. Does anyone have some good examples to

contribute?

In fact, we already also have a Linode, so far with only 4 GB, but that can

of course be increased as needed.

Knut

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com > > > > > wrote:

dhis-live is not really designed to be run as a service and I wouldn’t

really recommend trying. Given that it has a user interaction element

in the toolbar etc. Running as a service is sort of the opposite of

its defining use case which is to have a minimally configured

clickable app to run on a desktop.

I think there are lots of tips on the web regarding running tomcat as

a service. Also HISP India has some previous experience in running

many tomcat’s on a single windows server for different states. Maybe

Bharath or John might chip in how they have set up the service.

Assuming that is, that they ran tomcat as a windows service. Possibly

they logged in and manually started and stopped them.

I always find it interesting when looking at the merits of windows vs

linux servers that the argument is usually given that windows is more

familiar and the hurdle to move to linux is too great. But when one

scrapes the surface it seems that windows server skills are actually

very scarce. People think they understand windows server because it

looks just like windows. But you’ll actually find much more

knowledgeable support in our community for setting up a

dhis+tomcat+postgres+ubuntu. Just my two cents :slight_smile:

Re displaying different text on hover, its not a bad idea, but not one

that anyone is likely to prioritize immediately. Maybe create a

blueprint so the idea is not lost. From a zero-configuration

perspective there is not much to go on mind you. We have the options

of server port, database name or dhis home directory to distinguish

between them, but using something mangled from those would at least

provide something. A more nicely named instance would require an

additional config parameter or a small dialog on startup.

Cheers

Bob

On 19 August 2011 11:06, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:59 PM, Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe@gmail.com > > > > >> > wrote:

On 18 August 2011 13:56, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

On 8/18/11, Knut Staring knutst@gmail.com wrote:

As Ola pointed out, the remaining and important issue is the

automated

startup after a power cut.

In fact, this is really easy, just place shortcuts to the two

dhis2-live.exe files in the Windows Startup folder:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Run-a-program-automatically-when-Windows-starts

Are talking about startup or logging in?

Good point - that method does require the manual step of going to the

machine and logging in.

Ideally, we would create our own three services that start automagically

on

boot. Found the following link, but have not tried it yet:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192

Knut

Knut

–

Cheers,

Knut Staring

–

Cheers,

Knut Staring

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

19

Can we do these steps in 2.35 also?
There is no way to edit dhis-support-external-**.jar and no LIVE versions available !!!

20

In Bob’s response above, he suggested an alternative approach which might work: “You should be able to set this in a variety of ways in your automatic
startup scripts eg. by adding “-Ddhis2.home=c:/mydhis” to CATALINA_OPTS in tomcat startup script.”