Windows installer

Installing and uninstalling frePPLe is straightforward. After accepting the license agreement, the installer will guide you to select:

  • The components to install
  • The installation directory
  • The license file, applicable only for the Enterprise Edition
  • The language and database connection parameters
  • Whether or not to register the server as a service

The installer has been tested on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

  1. A prerequisite is to have PostgreSQL installed.

    Install postgreSQL 9.0 or higher, the world’s most advanced open source database.

    FrePPLe assumes that the database uses UTF-8 encoding.

    FrePPLe needs the following settings for its database connections. If these values are configured as default for the database (in the file postgresql.conf) or the database role (using the ‘alter role’ command), a small performance optimization is achieved:

    client_encoding: 'UTF8',
    default_transaction_isolation: 'read committed',
    timezone: 'UTC' when USE_TZ is True, value of TIME_ZONE otherwise.
    

    The default installation of PostgreSQL is not configured right for intensive use. We highly recommend using the pgtune utility (or its online version at http://pgtune.leopard.in.ua/) to optimize the configuration for your hardware.

  2. Create a PostgreSQL database and a database user

    After the installation of the database, create a user and a database for frePPLe.

  3. Prior to the installation, it is recommended to uninstall any previous version.

  4. Start the installer

    ../_images/wininstall0.png
  5. Accept the license agreement

    FrePPLe is released with a dual license: you can choose either to apply the GNU Affero General Public License (aka AGPL) or to buy a commercial license.

    ../_images/wininstall1.png
  6. Select the type of installation

    If you have administrator rights on your computer, the installer will allow you choose to install frePPLe for your account only or for anybody logging in on the machine.

    If you don’t have administrator rights, this screen will automatically be skipped. Nothing to worry about.

    ../_images/wininstall2.png
  7. Select the installation directory

    A default location is selected depending on the installation type.

    ../_images/wininstall3.png
  8. Select the license file

    The enterprise edition requires a license file to be activated. You get the license file when you register your copy on the support section of the website.

    ../_images/wininstall4.png
  9. Select the components to install

    Optional extra components can be enabled.

    ../_images/wininstall5.png
  10. Select the installation parameters

    Two types of parameters are specified during the installation:

    1. Default language for the user interface

    2. Database connection parameters

      You will not be able to the next screen when a test connection to the database fails.

    Your selections are saved in the file custom/djangosettings.py. The file can later be edited with a text editor.

    ../_images/wininstall6.png
  11. Installation

    During the actual installation you can see the list of installed files, and monitor the creation of the database schema.

    ../_images/wininstall7.png
  12. Finish

    At the end of the installation you can choose to start the server immediately.

    For a test or development installation it is recommended to run the server as a system tray application.

    For an installation in production mode AND when you have administrator rights on your computer, you can chose to register and start a service instead.

    ../_images/wininstall8.png
  13. Start the server

    FrePPLe’s user interface is web-based. You need to start the web server first in one of the following ways:

    1. Either it was already started at the last step of the installation process.
    2. Select “Run frePPLe server” from the program menu to start the web server in the system tray. If you’re new to frePPLe, this method is preferred.
    3. Select “Start Service” from the program menu or the Windows service manager. This option is available only when you choose to register a service during the installation.

    FrePPLe in the system tray:

    ../_images/systemtray1.png ../_images/systemtray2.png

    FrePPLe as a service:

    ../_images/winservice.png
  14. Open your browser http://localhost:8000/

    You can type in the URL manually or double click the system tray icon.

    An administrator user account is created initially: admin with password admin.

Tip

Change the password of the admin user as soon as possible.

Leaving the default password may be convenient, but is considered a security risk.

Tip

Multiple versions of frePPLe can be installed on the same machine.

Multiple installations of the same release can’t. If you’ld need such a setup, it is better to install once and create different copies of the custom folder. Each copy will get need different parameter file djangosettings.py.