1. Install the required software

1. Install Java AdoptOpenJDK 8. We recommend that you use the JVM HotSpot.
2. Install a recent version of Tomcat 8. We currently recommend version 8.5.50. Use the JRE that you installed in step 1.1 (by default this will be C:\Program Files\AdoptOpenJDK\jdk-8.x_x). In the installation wizard, on the 'Choose Components' panel, deselect Manager and Documentation, then expand the Tomcat item and select Core, Service and Native.
   We recommend you install to C:\tomcat or D:\tomcat rather than in the Program Files directory, to make it easier to administer the web application.

3. If you do not already have a database, install MySQL. Currently, we only support MySQL 5.7 Community Edition. If you want to use MS SQL Server see: advanced configuration. MySQL needs to be in your path in order to run the database scripts. Make sure that you check the option 'Include bin Directory in Windows PATH' on the 'Windows Options' step of the MSQL configuration wizard.

4. Install Ghostscript 9.55 and make sure to add the installation path to your system's path variable.
5. Install the latest version of ImageMagick 6 into C:\Program Files\ImageMagick (this is where Asset Bank's default settings expect it to be) and make sure to add the installation path to your system's path variable.
6. Install Notepad ++ to ensure that configuration and log files can be edited and viewed efficiently.

After installing software make sure that any services that are critical to Asset Bank running (Tomcat, MySQL, SMTP etc.) are set to automatically startup if they stop. This will make sure Asset Bank doesn't require manual intervention to get back up and running if the server ever goes down unexpectedly. If you are planning on connecting Asset Bank to your SQL Server database using Integrated Windows Authentication then you need to run Tomcat as the AD user that will be used to connect.

If the application is considered business-critical then you could also set up URL monitoring.

2. Install the Asset Bank application

1. Contact our Customer Services team at support@assetbank.co.uk to get the installation files
2. Unzip the installation package to a convenient location on your hard drive.
3. Stop Tomcat (if it is running).
4. Move the directory 'asset-bank' into [tomcat]\webapps.
5. Add the folder [tomcat]\webapps\asset-bank\WEB-INF\manager-config\win-tools to your PATH environment variable (ensure that this entry is entered before the ImageMagick path e.g. put it at the start).

3. Configure Tomcat

Ensure that Tomcat is pointed at the server JVM. On the Java tab, set Java Virtual Machine: C:\Program Files\AdoptOpenJDK\jdk_version_number\jre\bin\server\jvm.dll.

Open the file [tomcat]\conf\server.xml in a text editor and add the attribute URIEncoding="UTF-8" to the “Connector” elements, as shown here:

<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1" connectionTimeout="20000" redirectPort="8443" URIEncoding="UTF-8" />
<Connector port="8009" protocol="AJP/1.3" redirectPort="8443" URIEncoding="UTF-8"/>

NB: Tomcat versions above 8.5.51 have the AJP 1.3 Connector disabled by default - this needs to be enabled and the string updated to include secretRequired="false":

<Connector port="8009" protocol="AJP/1.3" redirectPort="8443" URIEncoding="UTF-8" secretRequired="false"/>

Change the default memory allocation for Tomcat as the default is not optimal for a production server.

For Tomcat run as a service

Run the Tomcat Service Manager utility [tomcat]\bin\tomcat8w.exe, unless you already have this running as a tray icon. On the Java tab, set values for memory pool.

We recommend that the maximum memory is set to half the server RAM and the initial memory is half of that. For example a server with 16GB RAM would have the values:

1. • Initial memory pool=4096
   • Maximum memory pool=8192.

For Tomcat run from the command line

Copy the file [tomcat]\webapps\asset-bank\WEB-INF\manager-config\tomcat\setenv.bat into the directory [tomcat]\bin and adjust the numbers within (see the comment at the top of the file).

Locate the file [tomcat]\conf\web.xml and search the file for 'JspServlet'. This should return an xml node of <servlet> containing some <init-param> values. You will need to add an additional <init-param> the same as the below.

<init-param>
     <param-name>mappedfile</param-name>
     <param-value>false</param-value>
</init-param> 

The resulting block of the web.xml file, once you have inserted the above, should look like the code below.

    <servlet>
         <servlet-name>jsp</servlet-name>
         <servlet-class>org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet</servlet-class>
         <init-param>
             <param-name>fork</param-name>
             <param-value>false</param-value>
         </init-param>
         <init-param>
             <param-name>xpoweredBy</param-name>
             <param-value>false</param-value> 
        </init-param>
 	<init-param> 
            <param-name>mappedfile</param-name>
             <param-value>false</param-value>
     	</init-param>
        <load-on-startup>3</load-on-startup>
     </servlet>

4. Storage settings

If you are using AWS S3 storage for your Asset Bank you must set the AWS_REGION environment variable to match the region of your S3 buckets.

This only needs to be set if the application is NOT deployed on an EC2 server.

The SDK uses the Default Region Provider Chain to set the correct region.

Navigate to My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables and add the AWS_REGION variable and the correct region value to the System variables. e.g.

5. Configurable settings

Asset Bank configuration changes can be made by changing the settings file ApplicationSettings.properties.

To make sure that Asset Bank can send emails, then please update the following settings:

# The SMTP server for outgoing emails:
emailSMTP=localhost

# SMTP PORT (leave blank for default 25)
emailSMTPPort=

# SMTP authentication username (leave blank for no authentication)
emailSMTPUsername=

# SMTP authentication password (optional)
emailSMTPPassword=

It is possible to change the date formats in Asset Bank. Please refer to this article.

If you are installing an Enterprise version of Asset Bank that has Multi-Language enabled, please refer to this knowledge base article.

5. Install the license

You will have received a license file license.lic by email. This is valid for 14 days (for evaluation) or indefinitely (for production).

Copy the license file license.lic to [tomcat]\webapps\asset-bank\WEB-INF\classes.

6. Set up the database (MySQL)

Follow the database setup instructions in Database & Advanced Setup.

7. (Optional) Set up FTP for Bulk Upload

For example, to allow users to upload very large files and it is not possible to map a UNC or network share to the bulk-upload directory users can upload their files for Bulk Uploading using FTP. To enable this you need to install or enable an (s)FTP server.

You will need to create an FTP user, for example called assetbank-ftp. For security reasons this user should be jailed in their home directory.

The property 'bulk-upload-directory' in the ApplicationSettings.properties file should point to the home directory of the FTP user. The easiest way to do this is to create a symbolic link in [tomcat]/asset-bank called 'bulk-upload', pointing to the FTP user's home directory. If you do this then you don't need to change the value of the setting as it is that by default.

Both the FTP user and Tomcat need to be able to read and write to this 'bulk-upload' directory. The easiest way to do this is by ensuring that the Tomcat user and the FTP user are in the same group and giving group read/write permissions on the directory.

8. Integrate Tomcat with IIS

We recommend that you set up IIS to proxy for Tomcat. Please follow the instructions on how set up IIS integration.

9. Start the Application

1. Restart Tomcat. If you have installed Tomcat as a service then you will need to restart the service.

2. Ready to run - you should be able to access the Asset Bank on http://localhost/asset-bank/ from a browser on the server, or http://[server ip address]/asset-bank/
from any other computer on your network. Note: If you did not follow step (5.2) or (8) then you will need to specify port 8080, e.g. http://[server ip address]:8080/asset-bank/

3. The application will start with a “Setup Wizard” which will allow you to easily set up your Asset Bank. Note: On first run the “Setup Wizard” will ask you for a password to prevent access from non-admin users. This password can be changed using the setting setup-wizard-password in the ApplicationSettings file.

4. Log in as the default admin user:

Username: admin
Password: password

5. Change the password of the default admin user ‘admin’ by going to the 'Your Profile' link in the top right. This is important as it is easy to forget that this user exists once you start adding your own, and it is especially important, for obvious security reasons, if your Asset Bank is available online. Alternatively, remember to delete this user as soon as you have added one or more other admin users.

10. Upgrade to the latest version

The installer may not contain the most recent version of Asset Bank. To upgrade your Asset Bank to the latest version (assuming you have a license that allows it), then please follow these instructions.

11. Backup procedure

You need to ensure that the database and files are backed up regularly (we advise nightly). Please follow the link to see more information on backing up Asset Bank

The disc usage of the Asset Bank installation should also be monitored to ensure that the application does not run out of room. This includes where the Asset Bank assets are stored and the Tomcat logs.

12. If you want to uninstall Asset Bank

Please proceed to uninstall all of the pre-requisite software - as mentioned in step 1 - and drop the database that was generated during step 6. To complete the uninstall, stop Tomcat, delete the Tomcat]\webapps\asset-bank folder and restart Tomcat. You may also wish to revert changes to your Tomcat installation as mentioned in step 5 and changes made to your web server in step 8.