Once you have all the required software and files ready, initiate the installation process.


Step 1: Run Installer


Run the Yellowfin installer as an administrator from its copied location.


  • On a Linux or Mac OS X platform, run the .jar file to start the installer. (As shown in the example image.)
  • On a Windows platform, run the .exe file to start the installer.




Step 2: Language Selection


Before you can begin you will be asked to select a language for the installation process.



Step 3: Welcome Screen


The welcome screen mentions installation prerequisites and other information.

Review the platforms, databases, and Java information, and click the Next button to continue, or click the Quit button at any time to exit the installation process.



Step 4: Terms & Conditions


The terms and conditions page lists the Yellowfin Software License agreement.

The full text of the Yellowfin End-User Software Agreement can be downloaded in PDF format from here


When you have read the license agreement, select the "I accept the terms of this license agreement" option to agree and click the Next button to continue.



Step 5: Components to Install


On this screen, you can select the optional content packs to install. The available content packs include:

ComponentDescription

Core

This is the core software for Yellowfin that must be installed.

Tutorial Content:

This content pack contains Ski Team sample data, views, reports and dashboards that are used in the Yellowfin training and help documentation.

Audit Content

This content pack contains views, dashboards and reports to explore various aspects of your Yellowfin instance, including administration items, content usage and user metrics.

World Countries Pack

This GeoPack provides selected geographic data for every country on Earth. It includes a metric for country population estimates as of 2005.
Note: Several of the national borders contained in this pack are disputed.

US ZIP Code Pack

This GeoPack provides selected geographic data for states, counties and zip codes in the United States. It includes census-derived demographics for population by age, as well as various demographics for area income, labour force and unemployment.

Note: Due to the US Census Bureau's method of converting zip codes to areas there is not 100% correlation of postal zip codes to census collected data. As such there are zip code level land areas for which no data is available.


You will have to install the core software for Yellowfin but you do have the option of installing the tutorial database, sample usage reports, and language translation files.
Click the Next button to continue.



License File


The Yellowfin Installer will ask for a license file. You will have received a license file that uses the computer's host name. This will be delivered to you as a .LIC file.

Select the license file from your file system using the Browse button. Once selected, click the Next button to continue.



General Options


This screen enables you to select the application server port that Yellowfin will listen to for HTTP requests. As per standard internet conventions it will default to port 80. If there are already web servers installed on the machine that Yellowfin is being installed on, then there may be port clashes and Yellowfin will fail to function correctly. Select a port number which is not in current use by a web server on the machine. Port numbers like 8080, 8081 and so on are good candidate port numbers. If there are no other web servers on the machine that Yellowfin is being installed on, accept the default port number of 80.

This screen will also enable you to install Yellowfin as a Windows Service on the server. This will mean that it will automatically start up whenever the Windows Server is booted and save having to be manually started.

Specify a memory size (in MB) that should be used by Yellowfin. Yellowfin should be configured to use at least 2GB of memory. By default, the installer will allocate 75% of the system's memory to the Yellowfin, but this size can be changed here.

Click the Next button to continue.



Database Selection


Choose the database that you wish to install the Yellowfin Repository database into.

You will be able to select from: DB2, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Progress, SQLServer / MSDE.

Based on your selection the next few steps will vary. Click the Next button to continue.



Database Details (Sample)


As an example, if you selected Microsoft SQL Server, these are the options you would have to populate in order to set up the Yellowfin Configuration Database. This is the database that stores all the Yellowfin content definitions, configuration information, and event details. Once a successful connection is made to the database, proceed to the next step.


 


Installation Path


You will have to define the installation directory for Yellowfin. This will default to different directories based on the operating system you are installing to.

You can change the default installation directory by directly typing in a new path, or using the Browse button to navigate the file system.

When you have chosen your installation destination, click the Next button to continue.

Note: Windows users installing into a 64bit version will need to ensure they choose a path outside of the Program Files directory.




Installation Progress


This screen will enable you to observe the progress of the software installation. Depending on the server hardware and software capacity, this could take a few minutes.

You will be able to click Next to move to the next window once the installation is complete.



Installation Completion


This screen will be displayed at the end of a successful installation of the Yellowfin Application Server.

Note: An uninstall function has been created for you under the directory nominated in the database selection step. Select the installation path.

If you do not see this window, contact your Yellowfin representative or contact Yellowfin Support.

Click the Done button to complete the installation procedure.




Directory Structure

Click here to learn about the folders and files present in your Yellowfin directory structure.



Troubleshooting

Most problems related to the Yellowfin application server installation relate to database connectivity and administration issues.

As mentioned previously, a log is kept of the database installation and can be found in $INSTALL_DIRECTORY\uninstall directory.

The most likely problem will be the incorrect setting or misspelling of the parameters entered in Step 7 Configure the Database Connection and User parameters eg. database name, port, IP address etc.

Customers using Microsoft SQLServer or Microsoft MSDE should ensure that the IP addresses and configuration are consistent with the parameter values entered. The Microsoft program svrnetcn.exe (SQLServer Network Utility) can be used to check that the SQLServer IP stack (including the JDBC port number) has been configured correctly. It can be used for both SQLServer and MSDE.

Example

Network error IOException: Connection refused: connect()
This error means that the installer cannot connect to your MS SQL server instance. This error occurs before authentication takes place. This means that either:

  1. SQL Server is stopped on the server you are trying to connect to.
  2. The connection details you entered were incorrect.
  3. You have a network problem that stops the computer you're running the installer on from connecting to the SQL server host (unlikely if you are connecting to your localhost).

Verify these settings on the Configuration DB Parameters screen on the installer.

  1. Database Server Name: This will probably be the "localhost".
  2. Database Server Port: This should be 1433.
  3. Database Name: This is the name of the database you want Yellowfin to install to. This should be "yellowfin". This is used for Yellowfin configuration and operational data. It is not the database you wish to report off.
  4. Create Database: Click this to create the new Yellowfin database. We suggest removing the Yellowfin database if your installation failed previously.
  5. DBA User: This could be "sa".
  6. DBA Password: This could be "sa".
  7. Reports UserId: Set this to "yellowfin_user".
  8. Reports UserId password: Set this to "yellowfin_user" or whatever you prefer.
  9. Create user id: Check this checkbox.

Additional Resources

If you are experiencing other installation issues the Yellowfin forum is a good place to look for answers. Go to http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFForum.i4 to explore previous posts or seek help from other users and Support Members. Some useful troubleshooting posts include:

  1. http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFForum-ERROR-Yellowfin-Installation-on-MS-Server-08-?thread=103838
  2. http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFForum-install-Yelliowfin-on-SQL-Server-2005-?thread=89809
  3. http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFForum-New-installation-of-Yellowfin-but-it-s-not-launching-?thread=105437

If the above posts do not solve the issues you're experiencing, please send an email to support@yellowfin.bi with a clear description of the issue, along with the following:

  1. Screenshots (if applicable)
  2. YellowfinInstallLog-date.log (this can be found in the Yellowfin directory)
  3. All log files found in Yellowfin\appserver\LOGS (if you have any)


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