Installing Dundas BI on Linux
1. Overview
To install Dundas BI on Linux, download and run the appropriate Dundas BI Linux installer for your Linux server. This will install the Dundas BI Deployment Wizard, which you then use to create and manage instances of Dundas BI.
A Dundas BI instance is a named version of the Dundas BI product. As an example, you can install one instance for development, testing or staging purposes, and then have a second instance dedicated to production usage. Multiple instances of Dundas BI can also reside on the same server computer.
This article walks through installing Dundas BI on Linux directly. You can also run Dundas BI Docker images or use Helm Charts to deploy on Kubernetes. After installation, users can log on to access the entire application from any device running a supported web browser.
1.1. Supported Linux distributions
Dundas BI supports certain versions of the following distributions:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
- Ubuntu LTS
See the Dundas BI - System Requirements for your version of Dundas BI for supported version details.
Docker container images are also provided for deploying Dundas BI on other distributions.
1.1.1. Known limitations
There are certain known limitations when using Dundas BI on Linux.
Unsupported data sources:
- Data source support on Linux is detailed for each Dundas BI version in Dundas BI - System Requirements.
Unsupported Dundas BI features:
- Logging on with Windows (Active Directory)
- UNC path when using file data providers, such as CSV/flat files, Excel, XML (URLs are supported)
- Windows authentication with data providers, including Server Windows credentials, Specified Windows credentials, Impersonated Windows credentials
- SharePoint web part
- XAML diagrams
- Segoe UI font (Dundas BI default font) not supported when views are exported
1.2. .NET Core
The ASP.NET Core Runtime is required and installed for you automatically by the Dundas BI Linux installer for versions 7.0.1 and higher. For more details, see the Dundas BI system requirements.
2. Install the deployment wizard
To start installing Dundas BI, first download the installer file from Dundas and save it locally on the server.
Use the .deb file for Ubuntu, or the .rpm file for RHEL.
On Ubuntu, go to the folder where the .deb installer is saved and run the following command:
sudo dpkg -i [Installer file name].deb
On RHEL, go to the folder where the .rpm installer is saved and run the following command:
sudo yum install [Installer file name].rpm
3. Run the deployment wizard
The Dundas BI Deployment Wizard lets you create and manage instances of Dundas BI on your Linux server.
Launch the Dundas BI Deployment wizard by using the following command:
sudo dundasbi --wizard
4. Create a Dundas BI instance
To create a new Dundas BI instance, Type 1.
5. License agreement
You must agree to the terms of the Dundas BI License Agreement before proceeding. Choose whether you want to view the terms of agreement by typing y or n.
You must accept the license agreement to proceed with the installation.
Type y to access the license agreement.
6. Prerequisites
The installation requires a number of prerequisites to be installed before it can proceed further. If your system has all of the prerequisites, type y to continue.
If your system is missing some of the prerequisites, to install the missing prerequisites either type fixall to install all the missing prerequisites or type the corresponding number to select a prerequisite to install.
Once all of the checks have passed, type y to continue.
7. Instance details
Enter a unique name to the Dundas BI instance.
Note that your chosen instance name cannot have any spaces or special characters. Valid characters are: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and underscores.
Enter a brief description of your instance. This is optional.
8. Database
Dundas BI stores its own data internally using two databases: an application database and a warehouse database.
8.1. Application database
The application database stores the configuration settings of the application and all of the objects that were created using Dundas BI.
Note that the application database is different from your data source database(s).
Choose whether to create a new application database or use an existing one. The latter option is applicable when you have an existing database (or the backup of one) that you want to use.
8.2. Select type
Dundas BI can store its own data using Microsoft SQL Server or the open-sourced PostgreSQL.
Select the type of database server to use to run this instance.
8.3. Database name
Enter a database name or press Enter to use the default database name.
8.4. Application database connection
Enter the server name for the application database, which will be used to run Dundas BI.
Enter the User ID and Password for the application database.
If you use the server authentication option, the login ID and password needs to correspond to a database server account that has db_create permissions for Microsoft SQL Server or usesuper permissions for PostgreSQL.
For more information about using server authentication with Dundas BI, see How to enable SQL Server authentication.
8.5. Warehouse database connection
For the warehouse database connection, you can choose to use the same settings as the application database (except for the database name, which must be different) by typing y.
Type n if you want to provide the connection settings directly as in the previous step.
8.6. Encrypt application database connection string
When selected, this option will encrypt the application database connection string found in the dbi.config file.
Type y to encrypt the application database connection string.
9. Specify website port
You must enter a value for the website port. Ensure to enter a valid port number.
10. Administrator configuration
Choose a username and password for the Dundas BI administrator account.
Enter the email address and password for the administrator.
The administrator username and password are required to log on to Dundas BI for the first time. After logging on, the administrator can change the password as desired.
11. Deployment details
This step lets you review all of the options you selected one more time before proceeding with creating the instance.
To proceed, type y.
12. Configure reverse proxy
After creating the instance, you must configure the reverse proxy. The following steps will set up NGINX as your reverse proxy server.
Launch the Dundas BI Deployment wizard by using the following command.
sudo dundasbi --wizard
Type 5 to begin configuring the reverse proxy. Select an instance from the list by typing the corresponding number for the instance.
Select whether to use SSL by selecting y or n.
Choose y or n to provide a name for the proxy server.
Enter a port number that will be used to access your instance.
Review the reverse proxy configuration details.
To proceed, type y.
Now you can access your Dundas BI website using the reverse proxy port number.
13. X Virtual Frame Buffer Service
To enable exporting dashboards, reports, and other views, you must configure the X Virtual Frame Buffer Service.
Launch the Dundas BI Deployment wizard by using the following command.
sudo dundasbi --wizard
Type 6 to begin configuring the X Virtual Frame Buffer service. The prerequisites check runs. Type fixall to install any prerequisite that is not installed.
After all the prerequisites are installed type y to proceed. Confirm to start creating the X Virtual Frame Buffer Service by typing y.
14. Next steps
After installation, you'll want to:
- Log on for the first time as the administrator (admin).
- Get familiar with the various admin-related functions such as managing user accounts.
- Review configuration settings (including email settings used for features like notifications) and configuration best practices.
- Apply a retail license if needed.