1. Before you start

This document aims to guide you to install new akaBot Center in High Availability model (“Fail Over” model) as below:

Model Components:

For other models or upgrading akaBot Center, please contact the project coordinator (if have) or send email to [email protected] to get the guidance.

akaBot team is always here to support your installation success.

Please read below sections CAREFULLY and prepare necessary resources/information before you start to achieve a successful installation.

1.1. Hardware Requirements

To install and use akaBot Center in High Availability model, you need to prepare below hardware requirements:

1.2. Database requirements

This installation model needs 2 databases:

• 01 database for akaBot Center
• 01 database for ActiveMQ services

Please make sure that these databases are ready to use and prepare below information of each database for connecting:

1.3. File Storage requirements

Please make sure that you have a dedicated folder on your File Storage server to save Nuget packages and akaBot Center server will have access permissions Read/Write on this folder.

Ex: NFS-NUGET

1.4. Permission requirement

Your user accounts to run installation on each machine needs to have Run permission as Sudo.

1.5. Prepare Installation Packages

Please make sure that your akaBot Center machine has below installation packages with exact version.

Notes:

• You should use a separate folder to place installation packages in each server. In this guide, we use the folder named: /apps

1.6. Other notes

Please pay attention to below notes to prevent future errors during installation:

1. Please make sure that your folder names do not have spaces.
2. To prevent syntax errors:
   • You should copy the command lines from this guide to your akaBot Center machine to run for convenience.
   • Due to different character encoding modes, please copy the commands into Notepad file before copying again to the akaBot Center machine
   • When updating configuration files, please follow strictly the syntax of the file.

2. Installation

2.1. Install Redis

Redis is not officially supported on Windows. However, you can install Redis on Windows for development by following the instructions below.

Microsoft provides detailed instructions for installing WSL. Follow these instructions, and take note of the default Linux distribution it installs. This guide assumes Ubuntu.

Once you're running Ubuntu on Windows, you can follow the steps detailed at Install on Ubuntu/Debian to install recent stable versions of Redis from the official packages.redis.io APT repository. Add the repository to the apt index, update it, and then install:

Step 3: Start the Redis server like so:

You can test that your Redis server is running by connecting with the Redis CLI:

2.2.  Install ActiveMQ

The High Availability model needs 2 ActiveMQ servers to backup for each other in failover situation.

Please repeat below steps to install and configure ActiveMQ service on 2 separate servers.

2.2.1. Install ActiveMQ

Step 1: Extract the file "apache-activemq-5.15.1-bin.zip" to the desired installation path.

For example: ACTIVEMQ_PATH = C:\akaBot\apache-activemq-5.15.1

Note: The installation path should not contain any spaces.

Step 2: Open Command Prompt with Administrator privileges.

Step 3: Run the file %ACTIVEMQ_PATH%\bin\win64\InstallService.bat to install the ActiveMQ service.

Step 4: Start the ActiveMQ service.

2.2.2. Java Heap Configuration

Step 1: Stop service ActiveMQ

Step 2: Open the file %ACTIVEMQ_PATH%\bin\win64\wrapper.conf and configure the parameters:

• wrapper.java.initmemory: Enter the initial value for the Java Heap memory.

For example, if the server has 32 GB of RAM, you can enter 1024.

• wrapper.java.maxmemory: Enter the maximum value for the Java Heap memory.

For example, with a server having 32 GB of RAM, you can enter 4096.

Step 3: Start ActiveMQ Service

2.2.3. Check ActiveMQ Installation

Step 1: Check the Running status of the ActiveMQ service. If it is not running, start the service.

Step 2: Access the URL http://localhost:8161 to verify the successful installation of ActiveMQ.

2.3. Install ELK Stack

ELK Stack is comprehensive log analysis solution that aids in deep searching, analyzing, and displaying logs produced by akaBot Centers.

Its components including:

1. Elasticsearch is a RESTful distributed search engine built on top of Apache Lucene and released under an Apache license. It is Java-based and can ingest data as well as search and index document files in diverse formats.
2. Logstash is a data collection engine that unifies data from multiple sources, offers database normalization and distributes the data.
3. Kibana is an open source data visualization and exploration tool that is specialized for large volumes of streaming and real-time data. The software makes complex data streams more easily and quickly understandable through graphic representation. This component is optional to install.
4. FileBeat are data shippers that are installed on servers as agents used to send different types of operational data to Elasticsearch either directly or through Logstash, where the data might be enhanced or archived.

        Source: https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Elastic-Stack

To install ELK Stack, please follow below steps:

2.3.1. Install ElasticSearch 

a. Install ElasticSearch

Step 1: Extract the file "elasticsearch-7.17.10-windows-x86_64.zip" to the desired installation path.

For example, ES_PATH: C:\akaBot\elasticsearch-7.17.10.

Step 2: Install the Elasticsearch service
Open the Command Prompt with "Run as administrator" and run the command:

%ES_PATH%\bin\elasticsearch-service.bat install

Step 3: Start the Elasticsearch service using the command:

%ES_PATH%\bin\elasticsearch-service.bat start

b. ElasticSearch Configuration

b.1.  Security Configuration

Step 1: Stop the Elasticsearch service.

Step 2: Open the file %ES_PATH%\config\elasticsearch.yml and add the following configuration at the beginning of the file:

xpack.security.enabled: true 

Step 3: Start the Elasticsearch service again.

Step 4: Open the Command Prompt and run %ES_PATH%\bin\elasticsearch-setup-passwords interactive

Enter passwords for all the built-in users of Elasticsearch.

b.2. Other configuration

Step 1: Open Command Prompt with "Run as administrator" and run the file %ES_PATH%\bin\elasticsearch-service.bat manager to open the configuration management interface for Elasticsearch service.

Step 2: On the General tab, select "Startup Type" and set it to "Automatic."

Step 3: On the Logging tab

Step 4: On the Java tab

c. Check ElasticSearch Installation

Check the Running status of the ActiveMQ service.

Access the URL http://localhost:9200/ to verify the successful installation of Elasticsearch.

2.3.2. Install Logstash

Please follow this guide to Install Logstash: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/installing-logstash.html

2.3.3. Install Filebeat

Please follow this guide to Install Filebeat: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/filebeat-installation-configuration.html

2.3.4. Step 4 - Install Kibana (optional)

Please follow this guide to install Kibana on Windows Server: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/current/windows.html

2.4. Install akaBot Center

The High Availability model needs 2 akaBot Center servers to backup for each other in failover situation.

Please repeat below steps to install and configure akaBot Center service on 2 separate servers.

2.4.1.  Install JDK

Step 1: Double-click the file "jdk-11.0.18_windows-x64_bin.exe" to install JDK/JRE. Please follow the instructions in the installer to proceed.

Open the Command Prompt and enter the command "java -version" to check if the JDK/JRE installation was successful.

2.4.2.  Install Apache Tomcat Web Server

a. Install Apache Tomcat 

Double-click the file "apache-tomcat-8.5.89.exe" to install Apache Tomcat. Please follow the instructions in the installer.

Note: In the final step of the Apache Tomcat installation:
- Uncheck "Run Apache Tomcat"
- Uncheck "Show Readme"
- Click the "Finish" button to complete the installation.

The installation path for Apache Tomcat: %TOMCAT_PATH% = “C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 8.5”

b.  Apache Tomcat Configuration

Step 1: Navigate to the path %TOMCAT_PATH%\bin and double-click the file Tomcat8w.exe to open the Apache Tomcat Service configuration.

Step 2: On the General tab

• Select Startup type: Automatic
• Choose Apply to apply the configuration changes.

Step 3: On the Logging tab

(1) Log prefix: Remove "commons-daemon"

(2) Redirect Stdout: Remove "auto"

(3) Redirect Stderror: Remove "auto"

(4) Choose Apply to apply the configuration changes.

Step 4: On the Java tab

a. Adjust the Java Heap configuration:

• Initial memory pool: Enter a value <= ½ of the server's RAM.

Example: Server RAM = 32 GB -> Initial memory pool should be <= ½ * 16 * 1024 = 16384 MB

• Maximum memory pool: Enter a value <= ½ of the server's RAM.

Example: Server RAM = 32 GB -> Maximum memory pool should be <= ½ * 16 * 1024 = 16384 MB

Note: If you enter a value that is too large, it may prevent Apache Tomcat service from starting and result in errors.

b. Choose Apply to apply the configuration changes.

Step 5: Start the Tomcat Service

On the General tab, select Start to initiate the Apache Tomcat service.

c. Check Apache Tomcat Installation

Step 1: After installation and configuration, go to the Services screen and check the status of the Apache Tomcat service.

• If the Status is not Running, start the Apache Tomcat service.
• If the Status is Running, proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Access the URL http://localhost:8080 in Chrome to verify the successful installation of Apache Tomcat:

2.4.3. Install akaBot Center package

a. Copy and extract war file

Step 1: Stop Apache Tomcat service

Step 2: Delete all folders in %TOMCAT_PATH%/webapps.

Step 3: Copy the file akaBot-center-x.x.x.x.war to the %TOMCAT_PATH%/webapps/ directory and rename it to ROOT.war.

Step 4: Restart the Apache Tomcat service and wait for the ROOT.war to be extracted into the ROOT directory.

Step 5: Stop the Apache Tomcat service.

b. akaBot Center configuration

2.5 Install NGINX Load Balancer

2.5.1. Step 1 - Install Nginx package

1. Install Nginx package

cd apps/

sudo rpm -ivh <package name>

Ex: sudo rpm -ivh nginx-1.22.1-1.el8.ngx.x86_64.rpm

2. Start and enable Nginx server

sudo systemctl enable nginx

sudo systemctl start nginx

3. Verify Nginx version

nginx -v

sudo systemctl status nginx

2.5.2. Step 2 - Configure Nginx service

2.5.2.1. Configure Nginx Load Balancing

1. Stop Nginx service (if running)

 sudo systemctl stop nginx

2. Open the configuration file

sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

3. Copy below code into the file

upstream akaBotCenter {

  server <IP-SRV-CENTER-01>:8080;

  server <IP-SRV-CENTER-02>:8080;

}

# This server accepts all traffic to port 80 and passes it to the upstream. Notice that the upstream name and the proxy_pass need to match.

server {

  listen 80;

  server_name  <YOUR-DOMAIN>;

  client_max_body_size 200M; 

  location / {

        proxy_pass http://akaBotCenter;

        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;

        proxy_set_header Host $host;

        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

        # WebSocket support (nginx 1.4)

        proxy_http_version 1.1;

        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;

        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

  }

}

4. Update the variable in file

<IP-SRV-CENTER-01>: IP address of akaBot Center server 01

<IP-SRV-CENTER-02>: IP address of akaBot Center server 02

<YOUR-DOMAIN>: akaBot Center domain.

5. Set the load balancing mode

In order to distribute the request from end user to appropriate akaBot Center server, you need to set the load balancing mode for Nginx as one of below modes:

+ Round robin mode: the requests will be distributed sequentially for each server.

You don’t need to change the file setting and go to step 6 to exit the setting.

+ Weighted round robin mode: based on request processing capacity of each server and its priority, you will assign a weight of priority. The requests will be distributed by servers’ priority.

You add weight setting after server address in upstream configuration as below:

upstream akaBotCenter {

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-01>:8080;

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-02>:8080 weight:2;

}

In this example, request traffic to akaBot Center server 02 will be doubled than server 01.

+ Least Connections: The requests will be distributed in priority order of servers from least to highest active connections. To use it, add below contanst into the upstream configuration:

upstream akaBotCenter {

least_conn;

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-01>:8080;

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-02>:8080;

}

+ IP Hash: The IP Hash policy uses an incoming request's source IP address as a hashing key to route non-sticky traffic to the same backend server. The load balancer routes requests from the same client to the same backend server as long as that server is available. To use it, add below contanst into the upstream configuration:

upstream akaBotCenter {

ip_hash;

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-01>:8080;

server <IP-SRV-CENTER-02>:8080;

}

6. Save changes and exit

Press ESC key and type :wq!

2.5.2.2. Configure Nginx SSL

If you use SSL service from provider, please follow the provider’s guides to install and configure it.

Otherwise, please follow below steps to deploy your own Self-Signed SSL.

1. Create SSL Certificate (Self-Signed SSL)

sudo mkdir /etc/ssl/private

sudo chmod 700 /etc/ssl/private

sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout /etc/ssl/private/nginx-selfsigned.key -out /etc/ssl/certs/nginx-selfsigned.crt

2. Create Diffie-Hellman

sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 2048

3. Create configuration file

sudo vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

4. Copy below code into the configuration file:

server {

    listen 443 http2 ssl;

    listen [::]:443 http2 ssl;

    server_name <YOUR-DOMAIN>;

    client_max_body_size 200M;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/nginx-selfsigned.crt;

    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/nginx-selfsigned.key;

    ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem;

########################################################################

    # from https://cipherlist.eu/                                            #    ########################################################################

    ssl_protocols TLSv1.3;# Requires nginx >= 1.13.0 else use TLSv1.2

    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

    ssl_ciphers EECDH+AESGCM:EDH+AESGCM;

    ssl_ecdh_curve secp384r1; # Requires nginx >= 1.1.0

    ssl_session_timeout  10m;

    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;

    ssl_session_tickets off; # Requires nginx >= 1.5.9

    ssl_stapling on; # Requires nginx >= 1.3.7

    ssl_stapling_verify on; # Requires nginx => 1.3.7

    resolver 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 valid=300s;

    resolver_timeout 5s;

    # Disable preloading HSTS for now.  You can use the commented out header line that includes

    # the "preload" directive if you understand the implications.

    #add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload";

    add_header X-Frame-Options DENY;

    add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;

    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";

    ##################################

    # END https://cipherlist.eu/ BLOCK #

    ##################################

  location / {

        proxy_pass http://akaBotCenter;

        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;

        proxy_set_header Host $host;

        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

        # WebSocket support (nginx 1.4)

        proxy_http_version 1.1;

        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;

        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

  }

}

5. Update server_name variable in file as your akaBot Center domain.

server_name <YOUR-DOMAIN>;

6. Configure redirect from HTTP to HTTPS (optional)

server {

    listen 80;

    listen [::]:80;

    server_name <YOUR-DOMAIN>;

    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

}

8. Save changes and exit

Press ESC key and type :wq!

9. Enable configuration change for Nginx service and restart nginx

sudo nginx -t

sudo systemctl restart nginx

2.6. Configure Catalina.out

By default, Tomcat will write out the logs into catalina.out file which may cause dramatic increasing of the file size and decrease the performance. To stop this, change the configuration in Catalina.out as below:

1. Open the file

sudo vi /opt/tomcat/bin/catalina.sh

2. Press ESC then type: “:229” to the line 229

3. Comment out this line to stop writing log to catalina.out.

#CATALINA_OUT="$CATALINA_BASE"/logs/catalina.out

4. Add below line affer the commented line.

CATALINA_OUT=/dev/null

5. Save changes and close the file

Press ESC then type: “:wq”

DONE!!! You have successfully completed the akaBot Center installation and configuration in High Availability model.

Wish you a wonderful experience with akaBot Center in your automation journey!!

3. Troubleshoot issues

The installation may encounter various issues due to a variety of akaBot Center machine environments, account permission and regulative settings in each organization context. This section aims to guide you to self-troubleshoot some typical issues (continuously updated) and provide akaBot contact information for expert’s support.

3.1. Self-Troubleshoot

If any raised issue during your installation, please follow below actions to self-troubleshoot.

3.1.1 Step 1 - Detect issue

Please use the logs to detect the issue.

• Issues related to Tomcat service start, please use Tomcat log file: /opt/tomcat/logs/catalina.out
• Issues related to akaBot Center, please use Center log file: /opt/tomcat/logs/center/akaCenter.yyyy—mm-dd.0.log

1. Remove the log of previous run by navigating to log folder then remove all the log files.

2. Start service again to generate log.

3. Open the log file to detect the issue.

3.1.2 Step 2 – Troubleshoot issue

3.1.2.1. Issue 1: Could not commit with auto-commit

Issue: Could not commit with auto-commit as below image:

 Solution:

1. At step 2.2.4 Step 4: Configure Tomcat service, please add below option into the JAVA-OPTS variable into service configuration file.

-Doracle.jdbc.autoCommitSpecCompliant=false

2. Continue to follow the next steps in the guide.

3.2. Contact akaBot team for Expert’s support

If your self-troubleshooting endeavor does not work, akaBot team is always here to support your installation success, please contact akaBot team to get our expert’s support through:

• contacting your project coordinator (if have)
• or sending an email to [email protected]
• or leaving a message on akaBot website.