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Prepare Your Windows Environment for an Archive Installation

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This article helps you to prepare your Windows environment for an archive installation. The archive process installs the Pentaho Server on a Tomcat web application server, which is provided by Pentaho. 

For installation of the Pentaho Server on an existing web application server, see Manual Installation of the Pentaho Server. 

Process Overview

Perform the following tasks to prepare your Windows environment for an archive installation of the Pentaho Server. 

  1. Create Windows Directory Structure.
  2. Install Java.
  3. Install the Pentaho Repository Host Database.
  4. Download and Unpack the Installation Files.
  5. Set Environment Variables.

Create Windows Directory Structure

Choose an installation path. We recommend the path in the following steps.

  1. Log on to the machine on which you will run the Pentaho Server.
  2. Create the following directory path. 
    pentaho\server
  3. Verify that you have the appropriate permissions to read, write, and execute commands in the directories you created.

Make sure your users can write to the directory where you install the Pentaho Server.

Install Java 

You must install a supported version of Java.

  1. Check the Components Reference list to see which version of Java Pentaho supports.
  2. Download the supported version of the JRE or JDK from the Oracle site and install it. 

Install the Pentaho Repository Host Database

The Pentaho Repository houses data needed for Pentaho tools to provide scheduling and security functions. It also stores metadata and models for reports that you create. You can host the Pentaho Repository on the following databases:

  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • Oracle
  • MS SQL Server

To install the Pentaho Repository's host database, complete the following steps:

  1. Check the Components Reference section to determine which versions of databases Pentaho supports.
  2. Download and install the database of your choice. 
  3. Verify that the database is installed correctly.

Download and Unpack Installation Files

The Pentaho Server software, data files, and examples are stored in pre-packaged .zip files. You will need to manually copy these files to the correct directories.

Step 1: Download the Files

Download the following installation and plugin files from the Pentaho Customer Support Portal.

  1. On the Customer Portal home page, sign in using the Pentaho support user name and password provided in your Pentaho Welcome Packet. 
  2. Click Downloads, then click Pentaho 8.1 GA Release in the 8.x list. 
  3. On the bottom of the Pentaho 8.1 GA Release page, click the Pentaho Server > Archive Build (Suggested Installation Method) folder in the Box widget and download each of the files listed below.
    Component ZIP File

    Pentaho Analyzer Plugin

    paz-plugin-ee-5.0.0-dist.zip
    Dashboard Designer Plugin pdd-plugin-ee-5.0.0-dist.zip
    Pentaho Server Installation File pentaho-server-ee-5.0.0-dist.zip
    Interactive Reporting Plugin pir-plugin-ee-5.0.0-dist.zip
    BA Operations Mart Files (optional) pentaho-operations-mart-5.0.0-dist.zip

Optionally, on the bottom of the Pentaho 8.1 GA Release page, click the Operations Mart folder in the Box widget and download the Pentaho Operations Mart .zip file. 

Step 2: Unpack the Pentaho Server Installation File

  1. Unzip the Pentaho Server Installation file. Inside is the packaged installation file.

  2. Unpack the installation file by running the install.bat file.

  3. In the IZPack window, read the license agreement, select I accept the terms of this license agreement, and then click Next.
  4. In the Select the installation path text box, browse to or enter the location where you created the  \pentaho\server directory, then click Next.
  5. A warning message that the directory already exists appears. Click Yes. Any existing files in the directory will be retained.
  6. When the installation progress is complete, click Quit.

Step 3: Unpack the Plugin Files

Perform the following steps for each of the plugin files.

  1. ​Unzip the plugin file you would like to install. Inside is the packaged plugin file.
  2. Unpack the plugin file by running the install.bat file.
  3. In the IZPack window read the license agreement, select I accept the terms of this license agreement, and then click Next.

  4. In the Select the installation path text box, browse to and save the file in the pentaho\server\pentaho-server\pentaho-solutions\system directory, and then click Next.

  5. A warning message that the directory already exists will appear. Click Yes. Any existing files in the directory will be retained. 
  6. When the installation finishes, click Quit.

Step 4: (Optional) Unpack the Operations Mart DDL Files

  1. ​Unzip the Pentaho Operations Mart file. Inside is the packaged file.
  2. Unpack the file by running the install.bat file.
  3. In the IZPack window read the license agreement, select I accept the terms of this license agreement, and then click Next.
  4. In the Select the installation path text box, browse to and save the file in the pentaho\server\pentaho-server\data directory, and then click Next.
  5. A warning message that the directory already exists will appear. Click Yes. Any existing files in the directory will be retained. 
  6. When the installation finishes, click Quit.
  7. Unzip the pentaho-operations-mart-ddl-5.0.0.zip file. Move the directory for your database into pentaho\server\pentaho-server\data\<database name> and delete the others. The appropriate database names are shown in the following table:
    If Your Pentaho Repository is On: Copy the Contents of this Directory into pentaho\server\pentaho-server\data\
    PostgreSQL postgresql
    MySQL mysql5
    Oracle oracle10g
    MS SQL Server sqlserver

Step 5: Verify Directory Structure

After you have finished unpacking all of the plugin and Pentaho Operations Mart files, verify that the Pentaho directory structure contains the following subdirectories.

  • pentaho\server\pentaho-server\pentaho-solutions\system\analyzer
  • pentaho\server\pentaho-server\pentaho-solutions\system\dashboards
  • pentaho\server\pentaho-server\pentaho-solutions\system\pentaho-interactive-reporting
  • pentaho\server\pentaho-server\
  • pentaho\server\pentaho-server\data\<database name>

The files extracted from the pentaho.war and pentaho-style.war files will be located in the Pentaho\server\pentaho-server directory.

Set Environment Variables

Perform the following steps to set the PENTAHO_JAVA_HOME  environment variable. 

  1. Set the path of the PENTAHO_JAVA_HOME variable to the path of your Java installation, as shown in the following example: 
    SET PENTAHO_JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk8
  2. Restart your application server.
  3. Verify the variables have been properly set.

If you do not set these variables, Pentaho will not start correctly. 

If you are using a JRE, set the JRE_HOME home environment variable as well.

Prepare Your Pentaho Repository

Once you have finished preparing your environment, you can initialize and configure your Penatho Repository. Select the database that you are using as your Pentaho Repository: