Overview

Whether you're running Yellowfin from your laptop, the cloud or a server, the deployment process is the same. The first time you start Yellowfin, you will also need to configure some settings to match your environment. 

First-time deployment steps

Each of these steps is covered in the section below on this page.

1. Start the Yellowfin application server (this will automatically start the database).
2. Login with the default admin credentials. (and change your password).
3. Configure the External Base URL.

Post-deployment steps

We highly recommend you spend some time learning more about Yellowfin before diving in with your data. The steps below contain links to other pages and sections within the wiki. Each link provides valuable information that will help you set up Yellowfin without the guesswork.

1. Learn about log files and their contents.
2. Learn about the Yellowfin directory structure.
3. Learn what new users see when they first log in.
4. Learn more about Yellowfin administration.

First-time deployment procedure

Start the Yellowfin application server

Before you log into Yellowfin, you must start the Yellowfin application.

If you're running Yellowfin within a container such as Docker, the start-up process is covered in our Install in a Container section (find your environment type for full details).

If you're running Yellowfin directly from a cloud marketplace (such as Yellowfin for AWS), the start-up process is covered in our Install in the Cloud section (find your cloud type for full details).

If you're running Yellowfin on a server or a local machine using Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, follow the steps below.

1. Find the new Yellowfin directory: this was shown on the Installation Complete page at the end of your installation, or you can find it manually via your installation path > appserver folder > bin folder
2. For Windows, locate the startup.bak file and double-click on it
   
3. For Mac OS X or Linux, locate the Startup (terminal).command file and double-click on it (if you'd prefer to run it in the background, use  Startup (background).command instead)
   
   A terminal window will open and the Yellowfin application will start; this takes 60-90 seconds the first time, and 30-60 seconds after that (the time is shown at the end of the server start-up process):
   
   
   

Windows - start the Yellowfin service

On Windows, you have an additional option of starting Yellowfin as a service. 

1. On your keyboard press the Windows+R keys to open the Run dialogue box
2. Type services.msc and press the Enter key
   
   
3. Find the Yellowfin service in the list and right-click on it to display a pop-up menu
4. Click on the Start menu option
5. If you'd like Yellowfin to start automatically with your computer, double-click on the Yellowfin service to open the Yellowfin Properties dialogue box
6. From the Startup Type dropdown, select Automatic, then click on the OK button.
   
   
7. To stop the Yellowfin service, right-click on it and select Stop

Log in to Yellowfin

When the Yellowfin application server has started, you can use a web browser to go to the Yellowfin client login page. Yellowfin supports the following web browsers:

• Chrome
• Firefox 2+
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera 8+
• Safari 2+

Please note that Microsoft is phasing out support for its browser, Internet Explorer 11. As a result, Yellowfin software is no longer supported to run on IE11 and we can no longer guarantee that all Yellowfin features will be available should you choose to continue to use IE11.

If you installed Yellowfin locally, make sure you access the Yellowfin client from the same computer.

If you installed Yellowfin on a shared server, you can access the Yellowfin client from the same computer or any other computer that has access to the shared server.

1. Open a supported browser of your choice
2. Enter the URL that matches the server host and port details you provided during installation (for example, localhost:8080 for a local installation, or server-name.yourcompany.com for a shared server installation)
   The Yellowfin splash screen will appear, prompting you for your username and password
   
3. Enter the default login details, shown below, then click on the Login button
   Username: admin@yellowfin.com.au
   Password: test
   
4. Follow the prompt to change your password to something more secure

Configure the External Instance Base URL 

Setting the External Instance Base URL ensures that email links and JS API access to Yellowfin are enabled. 

1. In Yellowfin, click on the menu on the left and click on Administration, then Admin Console, then Configuration
   
   
2. Click on the Admin button at the top
   
   
3. Click on General Settings and locate the field called External Instance Base URL
   
4. Change the text from localhost to whatever your actual external URL is to access your instance of Yellowfin
   
   
5. Click on the Save button in the top right corner

Yellowfin is now minimally configured to run. Please see the list in the Post-deployment steps section above to learn about logging and other useful administration information.

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