Installing FairCom Products

Quick Installation

This chapter helps you install the FairCom Server, also called the "FairCom Database Engine," the "c-tree Server" or simply the "Advanced Core Engine" (ACE).

For detailed instructions and advanced options, see the Advanced Installation chapter in this guide. For a handy list of installation procedures, see Setting up the FairCom Server.

In This Chapter

Prerequisites

Minimum requirements:

Computer running Windows, Windows IoT, Linux, Raspbian, or Android Things
1 GHz CPU
1 GB RAM
300 MB Disk space

For more information, see Prerequisites and System Requirements.

Downloading

To download the software, visit the product download page on the FairCom website and choose your desired platform.

Installing

Windows and Windows IoT

On Windows, the FairCom Server is distributed as a .zip file. Expand this file in any folder and it will create its own subfolder similar to:

<FairCom-Product>.Win.Server.x86.64bit.v*

Linux, Raspbian, Android Things

On Unix platforms, the FairCom Server is distributed as a .tar file. Expand this file in any folder and it will create its own subfolder similar to:

<FairCom-Product>.Linux.x86.64bit.v*

Other Platforms

The FairCom Server can run on additional platforms. Please contact FairCom to request a download for another platform: FairCom Contact Page

Folders

To see the folders created when you install the FairCom Server, see Exploring in the Advanced section of this document.

For more information, see Installing in the Advanced section of this document.

Licensing

See the advanced installation topic titled Licensing.

Exploring

The following folders are inside the FairCom root folder:

Folder	Description
/config	All server configurations are now located in a single convenient location. Our new server-side Plugins feature use a single JSON-based configuration for each module. This is the default location for ctsrvr.cfg, the master server configuration file. If desired, you can keep your original configuration file location. We check there if this new directory is not present. You have dynamic options at server startup with environment variables and command-line arguments.
/data	The default server working directory. By default, you will find your newly created data and index files in this location. This is configurable with the LOCAL_DIRECTORY server configuration. Contains log files and a subfolder for each database and its data and index files. The FairCom Server ships with a single database named ctreeSQL. Use that name in any of the APIs that ask you to enter the name of your database. It is always recommended to locate this on a large, fast volume to hold all of your application data.
/drivers	Contains a subfolder for each supported programming language and API. Each subfolder contains tutorial code and a readme file that links to the online tutorial documentation. Each tutorial takes only a few minutes to run. The c-tree.drivers subfolder contains the shared components needed by each programming language to run, link, or compile tutorial code.
/server	Contains the FairCom executable, which has been renamed faircom.exe (or faircom for Unix/Linux).
/tools	Contains command-line utilities.
/tranlogs	The FairCom Database Engine has always been able to locate transaction logs on a separate independent storage volume. This folder is easily configured in your server configuration. Look for the default LOG_EVEN, LOG_ODD configurations now present. FairCom recommends that you place it on your absolute fastest drive.

For more about the folders, see Exploring.

Starting

Change into the server folder and run the product executable: faircom.exe (or faircom for Unix/Linux).

For production deployment options, see the Advanced Installation section later in this guide.

For more about starting, see Starting.

Verifying

Linux

ps -ef | grep faircom

s1 8514 7580 0 17:21 pts/0 00:00:00 grep --color=auto ctree

s1 21157 1 4 10:43 ? 00:16:38 ./ctreesql

Windows

The Windows Taskbar Notification Area displays a FairCom icon when the FairCom Database Engine is running:

You can double-click the icon to launch the FairCom Server Control Window. This is a simple UI that tells you the version number, license info, and messages. It also provides menu options for shutting down the server, monitoring messages, and monitoring functions. (FairCom Edge is shown below)

For more information, see Verifying.

Connecting

The FairCom Server provides services over TCP/IP ports and shared memory. These services include APIs and browser-based applications for managing and exploring the Server.

Default FairCom Connection Strings

Protocol	Connection String
ISAM	FAIRCOMS@localhost:5597
iSQL	isql -u ADMIN -p ADMIN 6597@localhost:ctreeSQL
iSQL secure	isql -u ADMIN -p ADMIN ssl:6597@localhost:ctreesql
JDBC	getConnection("jdbc:ctree://localhost:6597/ctreeSQL", "ADMIN", "ADMIN")
Python SQL	pyctree.connect(user='ADMIN',password='ADMIN',database='ctreeSQL',host='localhost',port='6597')
ADO.NET	User ID=ADMIN;Password=ADMIN;database=ctreeSQL;server=localhost;port=6597
PHP SQL	ctsql_connect(":6597@localhost:ctreeSQL", "ADMIN", "ADMIN")

Default Protocols, Ports, and Names

API	Protocol	Port or Name
SQL	TCP/IP	6597
JSON NAV API	WebSocket	8081
MQTT (optional)	WebSocket	8081
MQTT (primary)	TCP/IP	1883
ISAM & CTDB	TCP/IP	5597
ISAM & CTDB	Shared Memory	FAIRCOMS
REST	HTTPS over TCP/IP	8443
FairCom Web Apps	HTTPS over TCP/IP	8443
Replication Manager Web App	HTTPS over TCP/IP	7000

Troubleshooting Connections

If a port is not working, check the following:

Ensure the FairCom server is running.
Ensure your firewall is not blocking the port.
Check to see if another application is already using the port.

Tip: If the localhost domain name does not work, use the IP Address 127.0.0.1.

Browsing

FairCom products include a set of graphical tools you can conveniently run from your web browser:

Monitor – Drill into key performance indicators to troubleshoot the FairCom Server, such as error codes, configuration settings, log events, transaction metrics, open files, connected users, memory usage, current locks, IO, etc.
SQL Explorer – Create SQL tables. Insert, update, and delete records. Query data via interactive and scripted SQL.
MQTT Explorer – Manage and monitor the built-in MQTT Broker and Persistence API.
ISAM Explorer – Manage legacy c-tree data and index files created with the ISAM API. ISAM is lower level and potentially incompatible with SQL. Use SQL Explorer and the NAV API for new projects and tables will be backward compatible with ISAM.

To connect to these tools, open a browser session and insert one of the following addresses:

http://localhost:8080/

https://localhost:8443

When connecting to a remote FairCom Server, replace “localhost” with the IP address or domain name where the FairCom Server process is running.

For more information, see:

Browsing
Web Browser Based Tools.

Securing

The default administrator User ID is "ADMIN" (and is not case sensitive).

The default password is "ADMIN" (and is case sensitive).

Members of the ADMIN group have full control over all operations in the FairCom Server. They are also the only users who can stop the server. Changing the ADMIN password is critical to secure your data from malicious attackers.

Be sure to change to a secure password before you go into production.

For more information, see Securing.

Stopping

In the /tools folder, run the following command line to shut down the FairCom Server:

ctstop -AUTO

For more information about stopping the server, see Stopping in the advanced section of this guide and Stopping the FairCom Server in the Administrator's Guide.

Next Steps

Developers

See the following Quick Start Guides:
Review the Developer's Guides.

Administrators

Start with the Advanced Installation chapter below.
Review the Administrator's Guide.
That book contains details on configuring the FairCom Server, setting up users, changing the ADMIN user ID and password, setting up backups, etc.