Installation Instructions for APPX Release 5.1 and higher are found here.
Installation Instructions for earlier releases follow:
Installation of APPX has become much simpler, and is virtually automatic under Unix and Linux platforms. Please remember that APPX is licensed software, and you must have an APPX License Key in order for the product to run. Before installing APPX, please review the release notes and the open bug reports to ensure that there are no known issues that would adversly impact your installation. To install, follow these instructions:
Installing APPX on Unix Systems
Be sure that you are logged in as root user before beginning the installation. To simplify the process, start by copying the APPX License Key (the entire e-mail is fine) into your /tmp directory, under the name 'appx-registration.txt'. Create an OS UserID "appx". This UserID will own all files in the APPX directory. Run the APPX installation script, 'install.sh'. When it is complete, starting APPX should automatically locate and install the License Key, and the installation is complete.
Installing APPX on Linux Systems
Be sure that you are logged in as root user before beginning the installation. To simplify the process, start by copying the APPX License Key (the entire e-mail is fine) into your /tmp directory, under the name 'appx-registration.txt'. Create an OS UserID "appx". This UserID will own all files in the APPX directory. Run the APPX installation script, either the RPM file or the 'appxsetup.sh' script, depending on whether your Linux distribution supports RPM. When it is complete, starting APPX should automatically locate and install the License Key, and the installation is complete.
Installing APPX on Windows® Systems
Be sure that you are logged in as administrator (in multi-user systems) before beginning the installation. Run the APPX installation program, setup.exe. When it is completed, running APPX will prompt you for a registration (License Key). Copy the License Key file into a folder of your choosing (C:\appx, for example), and you can then import the registration from that location. Once the registration is installed, exit APPX, then re-enter and the installation should be complete.
Additional Installation Steps Required for APPX 4.2
As with all new software releases, it is recommended practice to install, run, and thoroughly test the new release in a test environment, before replacing your current live system. And, of course, complete backups prior to any software upgrade are always a good idea. After you install APPX on your server, there are a few additional tasks that you must complete:
You must install Adobe Acrobat Reader
As you know, this release of APPX includes the ability to create print files as pdf documents. To view or print pdf documents, you will need to download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader for both your server and your desktops. Please download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader 6 on your desktop systems. Acrobat Reader will be needed for viewing pdf reports on screen, client side (local) printing of pdf reports, and for viewing pdf output for APPX Inquiry processes. To print pdf documents that are queued to your APPX server, you will need to download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your server. There is a version of Acrobat Reader for each platform supported by APPX. The first time you view a document with Acrobat Reader, you will need to set a couple of the print options. Otherwise, APPX reports that you print with Acrobat Reader may be scaled to a different size than you expect. This screen shot shows the necessary settings. The important ones are in the section titled: Page Handling. Acrobat Reader will "remember" these setting once you set them.
You must create a new structure file for the FORM file in System Administration
If you are upgrading an existing APPX installation, you must remove the structure file for the FORM file in System Administration and create a new structure file. The data file is still compatible. Only the structure file needs to be recreated. This may be accomplished by performing the following steps: 1) Remove the following structure file: $APPXPATH/0SA/Struct/FORM.dat 2) Run APPX and create a new structure file for the FORM file
Run APPX--> System Administration----> System Setup------> System Administration File Management--------> Create Files
You must define new FORM definition in APPX System Administration
You will need to define one, or more pdf FORM definitions in APPX System Administration. This document shows the forms that we have been using when printing pdf documents. You will need to define these or similar forms in order to print to a pdf document.
You must create new structure files for each of your APPX applications
APPX 4.1.a data files and design files are compatible with 4.2.0 but you will need to create new structure files for each of your existing applications that you upgrade to the APPX 4.2 environment. Simply remove the Struct directory for each application and then run Create Files within Design File Management for each application.
You must run the new Sync Widget Elements utility for each of your APPX applications
Within Application Design, there is a utility that you will need to run for each application. Enter Application Design, select the Utilities tab, run Sync Widget Elements. This utility only needs to be run once for each application but it won't hurt if you should run it twice. This utility can also be found on the Design File Management menu within APPX System Administration.
Windows servers only - you must install the new APPX Connection Manager service
The old "windappxd" connection manager has been replaced with a new Windows service. You should uninstall winappxd and install the new service. The usage for the new service is as follows Usage: appxdsvc -install -name=name -displayName=name -port=port -engine=path -AM=method appxdsvc -remove -name=serviceName The optional -AM argument determines the authentication method Acceptable values are 'Appx' and 'LogonUser' With 'Appx' authentication, passwords are validated against the Appx user file With 'LogonUser' authentication, passwords are validated by Windows If you choose 'Appx' authentication, you do not need a separate Windows user account for each Appx user Note that you can include a space-separated list of environment variables at the end of the command line when you install a new service. Those environment variables will be given to the Appx engines spawned by this service The -displayName is optional - if you don't supply a display name we will append the port number to the end of the service name and use that as the display name. (The display name appears in the Services control panel) Examples: appxdsvc -install -name=Appx8060 -displayName="Appx-Production(8060)" -port=8060 -engine=C:\Appx.exe APPXPATH=c:\appx\data APPX_KEYMAP=Windows appxdsvc -remove -name=Appx8060
Special Step Required for those Upgrading to APPX 4.2.8 or later from APPX 4.2.7 or earlier:
When upgrading to Release 4.2.8 or newer, from Release 4.2.7 or older, the installer must scratch two files:
- $APPXPATH/0SA/Data/PRINTER.key
- $APPXPATH/0SA/Struct/PRINTER.dat
(Be sure to note the different paths to the files!) The installer should then run APPX and go to System Admin File Management and run create files to create a new key file for the PRINTER file. A new complete installation of APPX 4.2.8 or newer will not require these steps.
Problems?
If you have any trouble installing APPX, please e-mail us at techsupp@appx.com. If you are installing a Linux promotional license, please use linuxsupport@appx.com instead.