RHEL Only: Install vFabric SQLFire from an RPM

If your operating system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), you can install vFabric SQLFire from an RPM.

The RPM installation process can be used whether you have purchased the standalone vFabric SQLFire product or vFabric Suite Advanced, which includes vFabric SQLFire. Use the installation procedure that matches the product(s) that you purchased:

See Getting Started with vFabric Suite Suite for more information.

Prerequisites


Install SQLFire as a Component of vFabric Suite Advanced

If you purchased vFabric Suite Advanced, VMware recommends that you install vFabric SQLFire by first installing the VMware RPM repository and then using yum to perform the actual installation. Follow this procedure:


  1. On the RHEL computer, start a terminal either as the root user or as an unprivileged user who has sudo privileges.
    Note: If you are not logged in as the root user, you must use the sudo command to run the commands in the following steps.
  2. Install the vFabric repository RPM using the following wget command, passing it the appropriate URL. The URL differs depending on the version of RHEL you are using.
    Note: You must run the entire wget command on a single line. Be sure you include | sh at the end, or the RPM installation will not work.

    For RHEL 5: 

    wget -q -O - http://repo.vmware.com/pub/rhel5/vfabric/5.3/vfabric-5.3-suite-installer | sh
    For RHEL 6: 
    wget -q -O - http://repo.vmware.com/pub/rhel6/vfabric/5.3/vfabric-5.3-suite-installer | sh
    The command performs the following tasks:
    • Imports the vFabric GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) key.
    • Installs the vFabric 5.3 repository RPM.
    • Launches the VMware End User License Agreement (EULA) acceptance and repository configuration script.
    • Outputs the EULA for you to read; you must answer yes to accept the terms and continue.
  3. Use the yum search vfabric or yum search vmware command to view the list of vFabric components that you can install from the VMware repository. For example (output truncated for clarity): 
    yum search vfabric
...
============================= N/S Matched: vfabric =============================
vfabric-5.3-qa-repo.noarch : vFabric 5.3 internal qa repository configuration
vfabric-agent.x86_64 : VMware vFabric Agent
vfabric-gemfire.noarch : VMware vFabric GemFire
vfabric-hyperic-agent.noarch : VMware vFabric Hyperic Agent
vfabric-hyperic-server.x86_64 : VMware vFabric Hyperic Server
vfabric-insight-dashboard.noarch : com.springsource.insight.dist.vfabric:dashboard-rpm
vfabric-license-server.noarch : VMware vFabric License Server
vfabric-sqlfire.noarch : VMware vFabric SQLFire
...

    The vFabric SQLFire RPM is called vfabric-sqlfire.

  4. Execute the yum command to install vFabric SQLFire: 
    yum install vfabric-sqlfire
    Note: The yum install command installs the most recent version of the vFabric SQLFire RPM that it finds in all installed repository. If you want to install a different version, you must explicitly specify that version with the yum install command. Use yum search vfabric-sqlfire --showduplicates to find all versions that are available in the installed repositories.

    The yum command begins the install process, resolves dependencies, and displays the packages it plans to install and the required space.

  5. Enter y at the prompt to begin the actual installation.

    The installer downloads and installs the package, andn displays Complete! when the installation process is finished.

  6. (Optional.) Specify that the vfabric-sqlfire process should automatically start when the operating system starts by running the following command: 

    chkconfig --level 35 vfabric-sqlfire on

  7. (Optional.) Specify the configuration of the vfabric-sqlfire process by editing the file /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire, which is the file sourced by the script that you will later use to start the SQLFire process (/etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire.)

    The /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file includes many comments to help you decide whether you need to modify it. Here are additional pointers:

    • If you do not modify the /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file but simply use the one installed by default, the vfabric-sqlfire process starts up a server instance in a multicast configuration.

    • If you want the vfabric-sqlfire process to start up using a locator-based configuration, change the LOCATOR property in the /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file to local, as shown: 
      LOCATOR=local

      This configuration allows a local locator process to start along with a local server instance. To add additional remote locators, add their IP address and port to the LOCATOR_IP_STRING as shown in the configuration file as a commented-out example.

    • If you want to start up only a local locator process and not a local server instance, set the LOCATOR property to locator_only. This sets up a redundant locator configuration; be sure you add the locator IP addresses and port numbers to the LOCATOR_IP_STRING; an example is shown in the configuration file.

    • Finally, set the LOCATOR property to remote if you want to start a local server instance that relies on having locator processes running on one or more remote hosts. Specify these remote hosts using the LOCATOR_IP_STRING property.

  8. Start the processes associated with SQLFire by running the following command: 
    /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire start

    By default, the process uses an evaluation license; if you have purchased a production license, see Activating vFabric SQLFire Licensing for information about configuring it in the /opt/vmware/vfabric-sqlfire/vFabric_SQLFire_11/sqlfire.properties file. The RPM installation process creates a skeleton sqlfire.properties file to get you started.

    To stop, restart, and get status about the processes, pass the stop, restart, and status parameters, respectively, to the /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire script: 

    /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire status

Install SQLFire as a Standalone Product

If you purchased the standalone product (rather than as part of vFabric Suite Advanced), follow this procedure to download and install only the SQLFire RPM:


  1. From the VMware downloads page, select VMware vFabric SQLFire. On the SQLFire 1.1 download page, perform the following steps:
    • If you are installing SQLFire for evaluation, click on the "Download Free Trial" link, register an account with VMware (if you have not done so already) and download SQLFire.
    • If you have already purchased SQLFire, locate the vFabric SQLFire licensed offering that you have purchased from the Product Downloads tab. Click on the View Download button.
    • Download the vFabric SQLFire RPM appropriate for your RHEL operating system.
      • RHEL 5: vfabric-sqlfire-1.1-1.el5.noarch.rpm
      • RHEL 6: vfabric-sqlfire-1.1-1.el6.noarch.rpm
  2. On the RHEL computer, start a terminal either as the root user or as an unprivileged user who has sudo privileges.
    Note: If you are not logged in as the root user, you must use the sudo command to run the commands in the following steps.
  3. Run the appropriate command to install the vFabric repository RPMs:
    RHEL 5: 
    sudo rpm -ivh vfabric-sqlfire-1.1-1.el5.noarch.rpm
    RHEL 6: 
    sudo rpm -ivh vfabric-sqlfire-1.1-1.el6.noarch.rpm

    The rpm command begins the install process, resolves dependencies, and displays the packages it plans to install. The SQLFire software is installed into the /opt/vmware/vfabric-sqlfire directory.

    If necessary, the install process creates a sqlfire non-interactive user in the vfabric group. This user owns the installed SQLFire directories and files, including any disk store files that you create later.
    Note: You cannot log in directly as the sqlfire user because interactive login has been disabled. Rather, you must first log in as the root user or as a user with sudo privileges. You can then execute commands as the sqlfire user by using sudo -u sqlfire command_name.
  4. If the installation is successful, you see a [100%] installation status message. For example: 
    Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
   1:vfabric-sqlfire        ########################################### [100%]
  5. If you have not already done so, download and install a compatible JDK or JRE on the RHEL computer or VM.

  6. (Optional.) Specify that the vfabric-sqlfire process should automatically start when the operating system starts by running the following command: 

    chkconfig --level 35 vfabric-sqlfire on

  7. (Optional) Specify the configuration of the vfabric-sqlfire process by editing the file /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire, which is the file sourced by the script that you will later use to start the SQLFire process (/etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire.)

    The /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file includes many comments to help you decide whether you need to modify it. Here are additional pointers:

    • If you do not modify the /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file but simply use the one installed by default, the vfabric-sqlfire process starts up a server instance in a multicast configuration.

    • If you want the vfabric-sqlfire process to start up using a locator-based configuration, change the LOCATOR property in the /etc/sysconfig/sqlfire file to local, as shown: 
      LOCATOR=local

      This configuration allows a local locator process to start along with a local server instance. To add additional remote locators, add their IP address and port to the LOCATOR_IP_STRING as shown in the configuration file as a commented-out example.

    • If you want to start up only a local locator process and not a local server instance, set the LOCATOR property to locator_only. This sets up a redundant locator configuration; be sure you add the locator IP addresses and port numbers to the LOCATOR_IP_STRING; an example is shown in the configuration file.

    • Finally, set the LOCATOR property to remote if you want to start a local server instance that relies on having locator processes running on one or more remote hosts. Specify these remote hosts using the LOCATOR_IP_STRING property.

  8. Start the processes associated with SQLFire by running the following command: 
    /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire start

    By default, the process uses an evaluation license; if you have purchased a production license, see Activating vFabric SQLFire Licensing for information about configuring it in the /opt/vmware/vfabric-sqlfire/vFabric_SQLFire_11/sqlfire.properties file. The RPM installation process creates a skeleton sqlfire.properties file to get you started.

  9. To stop, restart, and get status about the processes, pass the stop, restart, and status parameters, respectively, to the /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire script: 
    /etc/init.d/vfabric-sqlfire status
Parent topic: Installing vFabric SQLFire