Imaging V3 - windows

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Overview

This guide covers the installation of CAST Imaging on Microsoft Windows. It's intended for:

  • Direct installation on Microsoft Windows
  • new installations (for updates to existing installations, see In-place component update)

The installation package com.castsoftware.imaging.console includes an installation script (.bat file), various configuration files and the binaries themselves.

{{% alert title="Warning" color="warning" %}}CAST does not support cross-platform installations, i.e. some CAST Imaging components on Linux/Docker and other components on Microsoft Windows, except where a PostgreSQL instance installed on Linux/Docker is being used with CAST Imaging installed on Microsoft Windows.{{% /alert %}}

Available components

The following components are provided:

  • imaging-services
  • imaging-viewer
  • analysis-node (does not include CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4)
  • dashboards (optional - not mandatory) {{% version-badge %}}Available in ≥ 3.3.x-funcrel{{% /version-badge %}}

Installation methods, scenarios and options

The installation is actioned via a script (.bat file) which supports different deployment approaches and provides flexibility:

  • Single machine mode, all components
    • All components on one machine in a single Docker instance
    • Ideal for POCs or testing purposes, or small production deployments
  • Distributed mode, all components (multiple machines)
    • All components distributed across multiple machines
    • Recommended for production environments
  • Read-only/standalone modes {{% version-badge %}}Available in ≥ 3.4.x-funcrel{{% /version-badge %}}
    • Read-only deployments providing end-user access to CAST Dashboards or to "viewer" results
    • No analysis capability
    • Two available deployment options, either all components on one single machine or across two machines:
      • CAST Dashboards: imaging-services and dashboards components
      • Viewer imaging-services and imaging-viewer components

Single machine mode, all components

All components on one single machine:

Install command Configuration file Components installed
all config-all.conf All components. If you choose this option, you must ensure that your machine has sufficient resources to run all components: see Requirements.

Requires:
  • the CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4 component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately on the same machine.
  • access to the database component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.

Distributed mode, all components

All components distributed across multiple machines:

Install command Configuration file Components installed
imaging-services config-imaging-services.conf
  • CAST Imaging Services (front-end)
  • Keycloak authentication
Must only be installed once per installation of CAST Imaging and must always be installed first.

Requires access to the database component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.
imaging-viewer config-imaging-viewer.conf
  • CAST Imaging Viewer (results display)
Must only be installed once per installation of CAST Imaging.

Requires:
  • access to the imaging-services component.
  • access to the database component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.
analysis-node config-analysis-node.conf
  • CAST Imaging Node Service (analysis engine)
Can be installed multiple times per installation of CAST Imaging, once per separate dedicated machine to load balance.

Requires:
  • access to the imaging-services component.
  • the CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4 component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately on the same machine.
  • access to the database component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.
dashboards config-dashboards.conf {{% version-badge %}}Available in ≥ 3.3.x-funcrel{{% /version-badge %}}
  • CAST Dashboards (Management/Engineering/Security)
Must only be installed once per installation of CAST Imaging.

Requires:
  • access to the imaging-services component.
  • access to the database component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.
  • dashboards

{{% alert color="info" %}}

  • The database component is not included but at least one instance is required on your network to complete the deployment and must be installed separately, preferably on a dedicated machine. The instance must be accessible to all components over the internal network. Additional database instances can also be declared post install to load balance.
  • CAST's on premises Extend Local Server (used where it is not possible to access CAST Extend over the internet) is not included and must be installed separately where required.
{{% /alert %}}

Read-only/standalone modes

{{% version-badge %}}Available in ≥ 3.4.x-funcrel{{% /version-badge %}}

For end-user results consultation without analysis capabilities, you can deploy CAST Imaging in "read-only" mode specifically for the following two use cases:

  • CAST Dashboards (Engineering/Management/Security) only
  • "viewer" only

This type of deployment is designed for environments where:

  • No analysis is performed locally
  • Users only need to view results through CAST Dashboards or the "viewer"
  • Application analysis occurs on a separate, dedicated CAST Imaging installation

This can be achieved by installing only the following components either on two separate dedicated machines or one single machine:

For CAST Dashboards:

  • imaging-services via config-imaging-services.conf (must always be installed first)
  • dashboards via config-dashboards.conf (requires access to the imaging-services component)

For "viewer":

  • imaging-services via config-imaging-services.conf (must always be installed first)
  • imaging-viewer via config-imaging-viewer.conf (requires access to the imaging-services component)

{{% alert color="info" %}}

  • Both components require access to at least one database component for persistence data and any additional database instances for results storage. No databases instance is included in the installer and it must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine.
  • You can find out more about the workflow involved in managing read-only/standalone mode in Standalone deployment workflow.
  • It is not possible to add additional components (e.g. an analysis-node) to an existing Read only/Standalone deployment - i.e. once installed, the deployment cannot be changed.
  • Certain settings and options in the CAST Imaging UI will not be available when using read-only/standalone mode.
{{% /alert %}}

Requirements

{{% alert color="info" %}}CAST recommends disabling Quick Edit mode in your command (CMD) window before running the install. This mode (if enabled) will pause the batch script if there is any interaction with the command window (e.g. a mouse click) during the process and will not re-start the script until a key is pressed:

{{% /alert %}}

Installation process

Step 1 - Determine your installation method

  • Single machine mode, all components or read-only mode, single machine - connect to the machine and proceed to Step 2. Ensure that your machine has:
  • Distributed mode, all components or read-only mode, multiple machines - identify which machine will run the imaging-services component (this must be installed first). Connect to this machine and then proceed to Step 2. Ensure the following:
    • all machines must have access to the database component. This is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately either on the same or another dedicated machine BEFORE you begin the installation.
    • machines on which you are installing the analysis-node component require the CAST Imaging Core ≥ 8.4 component, which is not included in the installer and must be downloaded and installed separately on the same machine BEFORE you begin the installation of the analysis-node component.

Step 2 - Download the installation media

Download the latest release of the installer and unzip it anywhere on your local disk. The following files/folders will be created:

  • tools (folder)
  • cast-imaging-install.bat (file)
  • cast-imaging-remove.bat (file)
  • cast-imaging-update.bat (file)
  • components-installers.zip (file)
  • config-all.conf (file)
  • config-imaging-services.conf (file)
  • config-analysis-node.conf (file)
  • config-imaging-viewer.conf (file)
  • config-dashboards.conf (file)

{{% alert color="info" %}}The resulting folder for the unzipped files must not contain one of the following characters: ( or ! or ). The installer will fail to run if this is the case.{{% /alert %}}

Step 3 - Configure your installation

*.conf files

Locate the *.conf files at the root of the unzipped files. Open the files with a text editor and update the installation variables:

  • If you want to install all components on a single machine, update only the config-all.conf file.
  • If you want to install components on separate dedicated machines, update the following files, depending on your installation scenario:
    • config-imaging-services.conf
    • config-imaging-viewer.conf
    • config-analysis-node.conf
    • config-dashboards.conf

{{% alert title="Note" color="info" %}}The same variables must be identical across all *.conf files.{{% /alert %}}

LICENSEKEY and EXTENDAPI_KEY variables

If you want to avoid having to manually input the global license key and the CAST Extend API key on first login to CAST Imaging (see below) use the LICENSE_KEY and EXTEND_API_KEY as explained in Microsoft Windows installation variables.

CASTINSTALLATIONCONF Microsoft Windows system environment variable

By default, the CAST Imaging installer will store information/properties files related to the installation in the following folder on disk:

%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\CAST\.install

This information is re-used during in-place updates to a new release and during product uninstall. If you would prefer to store this folder in another location, you can set a Microsoft Windows system environment variable called CAST_INSTALLATION_CONF on all machines where you will install CAST Imaging components and point it to a local folder of your choice:

Open firewall ports

  • Distributed mode/standalone dashboard mode (multiple machines) - you should ensure that all ports listed in Hardware requirements are opened inbound on the relevant machine to ensure that:
    • your users will be able to access all CAST Imaging resources in their browser
    • CAST Imaging components can communicate correctly with each other correctly
  • Single machine/standalone dashboard mode - only port 8090 (TCP) should be opened inbound if you need to access CAST Imaging from another machine on the network.

Step 4 - Run the installation

Scenario 1 - Single machine mode, all components

Open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator) and execute the following command from the root of the unzipped files:

cast-imaging-install.bat package=all

On completion, check the status of the various Microsoft Windows Services, there should be 12:

Scenario 2 - Distributed mode, multiple machines

On each machine on which you want to install a component, ensure that you follow Step 2 and Step 3, i.e.:

  • download and unzip the installation media on each machine on which you want to install a component
  • ensure the relevant *.conf file on each machine contains the correct installation variables

Then open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator) and execute the appropriate installation command on each machine for the component you would like to install. Ensure that the imaging-services component is always installed first and is completed before any other components on other machines are installed:

cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-viewer
cast-imaging-install.bat package=analysis-node
cast-imaging-install.bat package=dashboards

{{% alert title="Note" color="info" %}}

  • You can install any number of the (analysis-node) component on dedicated machines to load balance your analysis requirements.
  • You must only install imaging-services, imaging-viewer and dashboards once in your network.
{{% /alert %}}

Scenario 3 - Read only modes

The installation process is similar to that described in Scenario 2 - Distributed mode (multiple machines):

  • download and unzip the installation media on each machine on which you want to install a component (you can use two dedicated machines or one single machine)
  • ensure the relevant *.conf file on each machine is correctly configured for the component(s) you want to install
  • run the following commands ensuring that the imaging-services component is always installed first:

For CAST Dashboards:

cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-install.bat package=dashboards

For "viewer":

cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-install.bat package=imaging-viewer

Step 5 - Initial start up configuration

  • When the install is complete, check the status of the various Microsoft Windows Services:
component No. of services
imaging-services 6
imaging-viewer 5
analysis-node 1
dashboards 1
  • If you have installed the CAST Imaging read-only/standalone mode, modify the following file on the machine on which the imaging-service component has been installed to set the dashboard-standalone-enabled: option to true. Then restart the CAST Imaging Control Panel Microsoft Windows Service:
%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Imaging\CAST-Imaging-Control-Panel\application.yml

  • Now browse to the following URL:
If you are using the machine on which the imaging-services component has been installed:

http://localhost:8090

From a remote machine on the network:

http://PUBLIC_URL:8090
  • Login using the default local admin/admin credentials
  • Configure the Licensing strategy. Choose either a Named Application strategy (where each application you onboard requires a dedicated license key entered when you perform the onboarding - not available for a "read-only" deployment), or a Contributing Developers strategy (a global license key based on the number of users):

License key

{{% alert color="info" %}}Note that starting from 3.4.0-funcrel, it is possible to switch license key strategy after having onboarded applications, see Manage your license keys.{{% /alert %}}

CAST Extend settings

{{%alert color="info" %}}If you have configured the LICENSE_KEY and EXTEND_API_KEY variables as explained in Microsoft Windows installation variables, then this initialization will not be displayed.{{% /alert %}}

  • Verify component availability depending on the deployment mode you have chosen, via the following URL:
http://PUBLIC_URL:8090/admin/services

Services

Step 6 - Configure authentication

By default, CAST Imaging is configured to use Local Authentication via a simple username/password system. Default login credentials are provided (admin/admin) with the global ADMIN profile so that installation can be set up initially.

CAST recommends configuring CAST Imaging to use your on-premises enterprise authentication system such as LDAP or SAML Single Sign-on instead before you start to onboard applications. See Authentication for more information.

What is installed?

The following Microsoft Windows services, set to start automatically and running with LocalSystem:

Component Service name Port
imaging-services CAST Imaging Authentication 8092
imaging-services CAST Imaging Console Service 8091
imaging-services CAST Imaging Control Panel 2381, 8098
imaging-services CAST Imaging Gateway Service 8090
imaging-services CAST Imaging SSO Service 8096, 9002
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Viewer AI Manager 8094
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Viewer APIs 8070
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Viewer Frontend 8093
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Viewer ETL 9011
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Viewer Backend 9010
imaging-viewer CAST Imaging Neo4j Graph Database 6372, 7483, 7484, 7697
analysis-node CAST Imaging Analysis Node instance 8099
dashboards CAST Imaging Dashboards 8097

{{% alert title="Note" color="info" %}}

  • All Microsoft Windows services will be set to "Automatic" start. This means that they will automatically start up whenever the host machine is started or rebooted. However, since some Microsoft Windows services are dependent on each other, you may find that when you reboot the host machine, some services will have failed to start because a dependent service has not started quickly enough. See Services startup checker for information about a tool that will ensure your services are all running.
  • All Microsoft Windows services will be set to use the Local System account unless you have specifically defined a dedicated user via the .conf file using the STARTASUSER, ...STARTASUSER, STARTASPASSWORD, ...STARTASPASSWORD, see installation variables and Software requirements.
{{% /alert %}}

Uninstall process

The installation media contains a dedicated uninstaller script called cast-imaging-remove.bat. To run the uninstaller, open a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator) and execute the relevant command from the root of the unzipped files to remove the required component depending on what is installed on the current machine:

cast-imaging-remove.bat package=all
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=imaging-services
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=imaging-viewer
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=analysis-node
cast-imaging-remove.bat package=dashboards

The relevant *.conf files should contain the Installation variables that match the components you have installed.

{{% alert color="info" %}}To avoid a prompt during the uninstall process, ensure that the DELETE_ADDITIONAL_DATA_FOLDERS is explicitly set to either true to force the removal of existing analysis data storage folders defined by the SHARED_FOLDER, DELIVERY_FOLDER and DEPLOY_FOLDER variables, or false to retain these folders. If you intend to perform a clean install you should set this option to true.{{% /alert %}}

{{% alert color="warning" %}}Do not use the Microsoft Windows Add/Remove Program feature to uninstall CAST Imaging components, always use the cast-imaging-remove.bat file.{{% /alert %}}

The installer will remove all components and related Microsoft Windows Services, including the following database items (the uninstaller will use the *.conf file to obtain details of the target database instance):

  • keycloak_v3 database
  • control_panel (≥ 3.3)
  • admin_center (≤ 3.2)
  • analysis_node (≤ 3.2)

What is not removed?

  • Any schemas associated with applications stored on your database instance(s), e.g. <app_name>_local, <app_name>_central, <app_name>_mngt.
  • general_measure schema (or equivalent name).
  • CAST Imaging Core, wherever this component has been installed. Use the Add or remove programs feature to uninstall.
  • CAST Storage Service, wherever this component has been installed. Use the Add or remove programs feature to uninstall.
Note: Please refer to the original article at https://doc.castsoftware.com/install/global/windows/.
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