Installation

Install Database

Commander can work with mySQL, MSSQL or Oracle databases. Without going into the specifics of how each database product works the following is a checklist of what needs to be done in order to prepare the database for use with Commander4j.

General recommendations. If we assume that your just wanting to get the application working with the least amount of work then I would recommend installing SQL Server Express for Windows based computers. For MacOS I would recommend mySQL and for Linux you have the choice of mySQL or Oracle. To be accurate most databases will work with most operating systems using Docker these days - but in the interest of simplicity I would use the previous recommendations. Apologies to any Oracle DBA's out there but I would not recommend it unless you have a lot of previous experience.

mySQL

A detailed guide showing how to install mySQL under windows can be found here.

Create a database/schema user account for Commander4j to use.
Create a user which has the newly created database as it's default schema.
Ensure that the new user has sufficient permissions to create tables/indexes/views etc.
Better to grant too much rather than too little initially.
Ensure that the database is using TCP/IP (SQL Server).
Ensure that the database is accepting remote connections (All)
Ensure that the user is allowed to connect remotely (mySQL)

MariaDB

Installation is fundamentally as per mySQL - however when you use the Setup4j program within Commander4j you need to make sure you select the following settings.

Collation      utf8mb4_general_ci
 Char Set      utf8mb4

Microsoft SQL Server

A detailed guide showing how to install MS SQL Server under windows can be found here

Enable the TCP/IP communication protocol as it maybe disabled by default.
Create a database/schema user account for Commander4j to use.
Create a user which has the newly created database as it's default schema.
Ensure that the new user has sufficient permissions to create tables/indexes/views etc.
Better to grant too much rather than too little initially.
Ensure that the database is accepting remote connections (All)
Check firewall rules allow for connections
Ensure that the user is allowed to connect remotely (mySQL)

Oracle

A detailed guide showing how to install Oracle under windows can be found here.

Create a database/schema user account for Commander4j to use.
Create a user which has the newly created database as it's default schema.
Ensure that the new user has sufficient permissions to create tables/indexes/views etc.
Better to grant too much rather than too little initially.
Ensure that the database is using TCP/IP (SQL Server).
Ensure that the database is accepting remote connections (All)
Check firewall rules allow for connections

Install Java

Java 17 is needed if you're installing the core applications into a Linux operating system. It is also needed for the web components of the Application including Apache Tomcat.

Install Java 17

Recommend installing the JDK.

Install Tomcat 10.x

Download from Apache Tomcat Site

Ensure you download the 32/64Bit Windows Service Installer package.

Install Commander4j

Obtain the required installation package.

This can be downloaded from Commander4j Website On a server select the "Full" install option from the setup screen - normally a users PC will require the "Workstation" install.

Run the appropriate installer for your operating system.

Review and agree the licence agreement.

Select the install destination.

Choose the appropriate install type. Select Full if your installing the main machine (server) which will run the interfaces and select Workstation for every other machine.

Amend the name of the folder shortcut if needed. Typically you would change the name if you wanted to install more than one copy of the software on the same computer.

Allow the installer to copy files to the destination.

The software is now installed.

Configure Commander4j

Setup Hosts (Database Connections)

When commander is initially installed you will find a number of dummy database connections are already defined. You may find it easier to amend one of these rather than create a new connection. To manage the database connections you should run Setup4j from the Commander4j program shortcuts.

Configuration

The 1st step is to install and/or identify the database software that you plan to use with Commander4j. As mentioned previously this can be mySQL, Microsoft SQL Server (including SQL Express) or Oracle (including XE).

Configure Tomcat / Web Application

Installing the web element of Commander4j is very simple and requires you to copy 2 files from the Commander4j install directory into the Tomcat directory as follows.

Stop the Apache Tomcat service if it is running.
Copy the file b6web.war which will be found in the Commander4j directory into WebApps subdirectory of the Tomcat installation directory.
Start the Apache Tomcat Service.
You should then notice that the b6web directory has been created under WebApps.
Now update the list of hosts that the web application can connect to by :-
Copy (overwrite) the existing hosts file by copying "Commander4j/xml/hosts/hosts.xml" into "Tomcat/WebApps/b4web/xml/hosts"
You can now confirm that this is working by opening the url http://servername:8080/b6web/