Go live for production - BA

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This section explains the process for moving Pentaho content and server settings among multiple server instances. Typically, this process includes either two or three separate servers with identical configurations: one for BA content development, one for testing and QA if desired, and one for production. We recommend that you work with a member of Pentaho professional services to help with the preparation work for deployment to production.

Prepare for going live

This section is divided into two parts; the first part serves as a checklist for setting up a Pentaho Server, and the second consists of prerequisites that you must perform before going live with your production server. If you already have your production server ready to go, skip ahead to the tasks listed in the Pentaho Server Set Up Checklist below. table.

Pentaho Server Set Up Checklist
Task	Do This	Notes
Verify System Requirements	Consult the Components Reference Consult the JDBC drivers reference	Acquired one or more servers that meet the requirements. Obtained the correct drivers for your system.
Obtain Software and Install the Pentaho Server	Install Pentaho Suite Download and install the latest service pack Access the User Console	Installed the software. Installed the latest service pack. Accessed the User Console, toured the Administration page, and changed the default administrator password. If you need to, see the next segment to change the fully qualified URL for the Pentaho Server.
Change the Server Fully Qualified URL	Change the Pentaho Server's fully qualified URL if necessary	If you are going to have many machines pointing to one server, make sure you change the fully qualified URL and verify that you can connect to it.
Configure the Server	Manage the licenses Specify the data connections for the Pentaho Server Set up emails for scheduled reports	Added all relevant Pentaho licenses. Set up your data connections. Configured an email server through the Administration page.

This checklist guides you through the tasks you need to do to ensure a smooth transition from a development server to a live production server.

Prerequisites for Go Live - Checklist for Production Server
Task	Do This	Notes
Compare configuration files	Compare configuration Files Verify and increase memory settings	Differences between configuration files are identified. Unified properties file is committed to version control. Memory settings have been increased as applicable.
Verify Data Sources	Specify data connections for the Pentaho Server Define JNDI connections for the Pentaho Server	Make sure data sources are able to be promoted. Established JNDI sources as replacements if needed.
Define Security	Define security for the Pentaho Server Manage Users and Roles Implement Advanced Security	Security is implemented. Users, roles, and permissions are defined.
Upload Content	Upload and download from the Pentaho Repository	Uploaded files and folders.

Compare configuration files

The most important server configuration settings are stored in the /server/pentaho-server/pentaho-solutions/system/ directory. There are also a few core settings inside of the Pentaho WAR archive deployed to your application server, though they should not change at all after your initial server setup is complete.

CautionDo not change the names of any content files, data sources, solution directories, or other file names during the promotion process. Names should be set during solution development and strictly maintained throughout content promotion. Modifying file names can result in complications with BA content that cannot be immediately detected, which will negatively impact your QA process.

To be absolutely certain that you have all of the server configuration files selected, you should compare the following directories in their entirety:

/pentaho-solutions/system/
/WEB-INF/ inside your deployed pentaho.war
/META-INF/ inside your deployed pentaho.war
For JBoss deployments, the PentahoHibernate-ds.xml and quartz-ds.xml files in the /server/default/deploy/ directory

NoteThere are binaries inside of the plugin directories for Analyzer, Dashboard Designer, Interactive Reports, and Community Dashboard Framework. While it may be useful to note any binary differences, which would indicate possible version differences among Pentaho Server or plugin deployments, in general you should be most concerned with XML configuration files and properties files. However, if you have done any plugin customization work, you will need to promote those changes as well.

Move content to production server

This checklist is a compilation of best practices for you to use to promote your Pentaho Server settings, data sources, and content.

Before you dive into going from a development server to your live production server, make sure that you have completed all of the tasks in the Prerequisites checklist.

Task	Do This	Notes
Download Content	Upload and Download from the Pentaho Repository	All desired content is moved to the production server.
Set Up Schedules and Blockout Times	Manage Schedules Prevent Scheduling by Setting Blockout Times	Set up schedules for production server. Set up blockout times for server maintenance tasks.

Next steps

These resources will be helpful to you after your Production server is live.

Fine-Tune Pentaho Systems - provides guidance on how to maintain and fine-tune your Pentaho Server.
Pentaho Training and Education
Support Portal - check with support for service packs.