...
CAST provides the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard in a WAR file that must be deployed to a compatible Application Server (see Supported Platforms for information about Application Server support). However, CAST provides two WAR files that contain the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard, as follows:
WAR file name | Description |
---|---|
CAST-AED.war | Traditional "standalone" WAR file containing only the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard (and also the CAST Rest API interface). This document describes the installation using this WAR file. |
CAST-AAD-AED.war | "Combined" WAR file containing both the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard and the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard (plus the CAST Rest API interface). |
You are free to use whichever WAR file you prefer to deploy the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard (the requirements and prerequisites are identical) - however, CAST highly recommends that you deploy the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard from the "standalone" CAST-AED.war file as described in the rest of this document. This is primarily because:
- Each dashboard (CAST Application Analytics and CAST Application Engineering) is aimed at different end users, therefore deploying the dashboards from separate standalone WAR files will isolate the the two use cases and the users of each dashboard - which is better from a security standpoint.
- Deploying each dashboard from its own standalone WAR file will result in two distinct web applications deployed to the application server. This will improve performance and ensure that the target end users can access the data they require rapidly.
However, if your organization is also using the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard, you may want to take advantage of the CAST-AAD-AED.war file to deploy both dashboards from the same WAR file. If you do so, please note the following about using the "combined" WAR file:, however if you are using both the CAST Application Analytics and CAST Application Engineering Dashboard, to fulfil (for example) a "risk and quality" use case, then it would make sense to take advantage of the combined CAST-AAD-AED.war file and deploy both dashboards from the same WAR file. If you do so, please note the following about using the "combined" WAR file:
- There is no need to specifically configure a URL for your CAST Application Engineering Dashboard drilldown (via the "microscope" icon) from the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard - see 2.2.3. Snapshot generation and validation for more information - when using the combined "WAR" file, access to the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard from the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard is pre-configured.
- Security access and authentication is common to both Dashboards. Therefore, if you setup Active Directory authentication in the web.xml file, then this must be used to access both Dashboards - you cannot use "Static List" for one Dashboard and "Active Directory" for the other.
- Role configuration is common to both Dashboards. Therefore "UserA" that has been granted the "admin" role, will have the "admin" role in both Dashboards.
- Data authorization is common to both Dashboards. Therefore if you authorize "UserA" to view Application "B" only via the authorizations.xml file, then this is true for both Dashboards. Note that authorizations based only on Tags and Categories created for the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard (Tags and Categories are a feature that is not available in the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard) WILL be applied in the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard when using the combined war file.
- Group configuration is common to both Dashboards, regardless of the authentication mode in use.
- Role configuration is common to both Dashboards. Therefore "UserA" that has been granted the "admin" role, will have the "admin" role in both Dashboards.
- Data authorization is common to both Dashboards. Therefore if you authorize "GroupDUserA" to view Application "EB" only via the authorizations.xml file, then this is true for both Dashboards. There is no need to specifically configure a URL for your Note that authorizations based only on Tags and Categories created for the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard (Tags and Categories are a feature that is not available in the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard drilldown (via the "microscope" icon) from ) WILL be applied in the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard - see 2.2.3. Snapshot generation and validation for more information - Engineering Dashboard when using the combined "WAR" file, access to the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard from the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard is pre-configuredwar file.
- Group configuration is common to both Dashboards, regardless of the authentication mode in use. Therefore if you authorize "GroupD" to view Application "E" only, then this is true for both Dashboards.
- On login, the user will be presented with a choice of Dashboard as shown below (Image 1) in a "Welcome" page. Clicking Access will take the user to the custom login screen for the chosen Dashboard where a "Return to welcome page" URL is available if the user wishes to login to the other Dashboard (Image 2):
...
Installing the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard (CAST AED) requires the following to be in place before you begin:
...
...
Must be installed on the machine that will host the Application Server. Please see:
- Supported Platforms about JRE support.
- Appendix - Apache Tomcat - IBM Websphere - Java JDK-JRE installation and application server memory configuration for more information about installing this item.
...
...
before you begin:
Java JRE | Must be installed on |
the machine that will host the Application Server. Please see |
Supported Platforms about |
JRE support. |
Application Server | Must be installed on a compatible machine. Please see Supported Platforms about Application Server support. | |||
Web browser | Required for accessing the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard. Please see Supported Platforms about Web Browser compatibility. | |||
Dashboard Service | To ensure compatibility you must only use a Dashboard Service installed with a version of CAST AIP that exactly matches the major, minor or Service Pack release number of the CAST AED WAR that you are installing.
| |||
WAR file | The CAST Application Engineering Dashboard is provided as a .WAR file (CAST-AED.war) - it can be retrieved from the WARS folder located in the CAST installation folder: | |||
License Key | Access to data in the CAST Dashboard Services is governed by a license key - see CAST-AED-RESTAPI - Dashboard Service license key configuration. You must have a valid license key in your possession before you begin. |
Pre-installation check list
Before beginning the installation process, please ensure that you have carried out all of the following tasks and that the following requirements have been met:
Ensure you have read all Release Notes accompanying CAST products for any last-minute information. | |
Decide where the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard will be installed - CAST Administration workstation, separate dedicated machine or existing machine used for the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard/CAST AIC Portal. | |
Ensure that your user login on the target machine has sufficient user privileges to install applications (see Appendix - CAST Administration workstation installation and hardware requirements) | |
Make sure you have the required .WAR file ready for deployment |
Installation procedure
Info |
---|
This document assumes you are using Apache Tomcat in a Windows environment to host the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard. If you are using IBM Websphere Application Server in a Linux environment, please see Appendix - AAD - AED - RestAPI - Deployment on IBM WebSphere Application Server. |
The installation process is divided into various steps:
...
No Format |
---|
<Resource name="jdbc/domains/ADGAED" url="jdbc:postgresql://localhost:2280/postgres" initConnectionSqls="SET search_path TO [Dashboard Central Schema];" username="operator" password="CastAIP" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="org.postgresql.Driver" validationQuery="select 1" initialSize="5" maxActive="20" maxIdle="10" maxWait="-1"/> |
- Set the URL parameter to the server on which the Dashboard Service is located (usually you just need to alter the "localhost" to the name of the server on which the host RDBMS is located).
- Change [Dashboard Central Schema] to the name of the Dashboard Service schema (see Install CAST schemas).
- Ensure the username and password parameters for your target RDBMS/CSS are correct (note that if you need to encrypt the username and password to avoid entering names in clear text, please see: CAST-AAD-AED - Encrypt login and password for datasource and Active Directory)
- You should end up with a section like this:
No Format |
---|
<Resource name="jdbc/domains/ADGAED" url="jdbc:postgresql://NEFYN:2280/postgres" 2280/postgres" initConnectionSqls="SET search_path TO V80_CENTRAL_CSS2;" username="operator" password="CastAIP" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="org.postgresql.Driver" validationQuery="select 1" initialSize="5" maxActive="20" maxIdle="10" maxWait="-1"/> |
...
Note |
---|
Note that it is critically important to configure the initialSize, maxActive, and maxIdle parameters according to your consumption use case and the number of schemas you want to configure. The default values are high but could probably be decreased to limit the number of active connections to your database instance (eg. initialSize="2" maxActive="10" maxIdle="2"). Please see the "Optimize context.xml" section in Configuring the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard for large numbers of Applications for more information about these parameters, or consult the relevant Apache Tomcat documentation: https://tomcat.apache.org. |
Tomcat 8 or 8.5 - configuration for one Dashboard Service stored on CSS2
If you are using Tomcat 88 or 8.5 to host the CAST Application Engine Dashboard and CSS2 to host you CAST Dashboard Services, please follow these instructions:
...
No Format |
---|
<Resource name="jdbc/domains/ADGAED" url="jdbc:postgresql://localhost:2280/postgres" initConnectionSqls="SET search_path TO [DashboardCentral Schema];" username="operator" password="CastAIP" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="org.postgresql.Driver" validationQuery="select 1" initialSize="5" maxActive="20" maxIdle="10" maxWait="-1"/> |
...
No Format |
---|
<!-- <Resource name="jdbc/domains/ADGAED" url="jdbc:postgresql://localhost:2280/postgres" initConnectionSqls="SET search_path TO [DashboardCentral Schema];" " username="operator" password="CastAIP" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="org.postgresql.Driver" validationQuery="select 1" initialSize="5" maxActive="20" maxIdle="10" maxWait="-1"/> --> |
...
- Set the ${domainName} value to ADG AED
- Set the URL parameter to the server on which the Dashboard Service is located (usually you just need to alter the ${host} and ${port} values to the name/port of the server on which the host CSS is located).
- Change ${schema} to the name of the Dashboard Service (see Install CAST schemas).
- Ensure the ${user} and ${password} parameters are correct - use the operator and CastAIP username/password combination (note that if you need to encrypt the username and password to avoid entering names in clear text, please see: CAST-AAD-AED - Encrypt login and password for datasource and Active Directory)
- You should end up with a section like this:
No Format |
---|
<Resource name="jdbc/domains/ADGAED" url="jdbc:postgresql://NEFYN:2280/postgres" connectionInitSqls="SET search_path TO V80_CENTRAL_CSS2;" username="operator" password="CastAIP" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="org.postgresql.Driver" validationQuery="select 1" initialSize="5" maxTotal="20" maxIdle="10" maxWaitMillis="-1"/> |
...
Note |
---|
Note that it is critically important to configure the initialSize, maxTotal and maxIdle parameters according to your consumption use case and the number of schemas you want to configure. The default values are high but could probably be decreased to limit the number of active connections to your database instance (eg. initialSize="2" maxActive="10" maxIdle="2"). Please see the "Optimize context.xml" section in Configuring the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard for large numbers of Applications for more information about these parameters, or consult the relevant Apache Tomcat documentation: https://tomcat.apache.org. |
Configuring access to Dashboard Services stored on Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Server for Tomcat 7/8/8.5
If your target Dashboard Service is located on a Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Server, you need to:
- Remove or re-comment the uncommented template for CSS2/Tomcat 7 from the context.xml file
- Copy the commented template available in the context.xml file for Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Server into uncommented space - ensure you chose the correct template for Tomcat 7 or Tomcat 8 / 8.5.
- Make the same configuration changes as suggested above:
- Set the URL parameter to the server on which the Dashboard Service is located (please see http://jtds.sourceforge.net/faq.html#urlFormat for more information about the Microsoft SQL Server jTDS JDBC driver URL format)
Set the initConnectionSqls parameter to the name of the Dashboard Service {database} or {schema}
- Ensure the username and password parameters for your target RDBMS are correct - these provide access to the Dashboard Service database or schema.
- Following any changes you make, save the context.xml file.
Configuring access to multiple Dashboard Services for Tomcat 7/8/8.5
If you would like to configure access to multiple Dashboard Services for use with your CAST Application Engineering Dashboard, please do as follows:
- For each additional Dashboard Service you want to configure access to, please add an uncommented configuration template (these are supplied in the context.xml file - ensure you chose the correct template for Tomcat 7 or Tomcat 8 / 8.5) for the target RDBMS/CSS2 underneath the section configured for your initial Dashboard Service
- First change the name parameter to something other than "jdbc/domains/ADGAED" (the default "name" used in the pre-provided templates) - CAST recommends using the name of your target Dashboard Service - for example "jdbc/domains/V80_CENTRAL_CSS2" (you must retain the "jdbc/domains" part of the the name). This is because each Dashboard Service you connect to the CAST Application Engineering Dashboard must have a unique "name" parameter
- Set the URL parameter to the server on which the additional Dashboard Service is located (usually you just need to alter the "localhost" to the name of the server on which the host RDBMS is located).
- Then, depending on your target RDBMS/CSS2:
- CSS2: Change [Dashboard Schema] to the name of the additional Dashboard Service schema (see Install CAST schemas).
- Microsoft SQL Server/Oracle Server: Set the initConnectionSqls parameter to the name of the Dashboard Service {database} or {schema}
- Ensure the username and password parameters for your target RDBMS/CSS2 are correct (note that if you need to encrypt the username and password to avoid entering names in clear text, please see: CAST-AAD-AED - Encrypt login and password for datasource and Active Directory)
- Following any changes you make, save the context.xml file.
...
- You should see the login page as follows - this indicates that the initial setup was successful:
Info |
---|
Error messages are documented in CAST-AAD-AED - Error Messages. |
Step 2: Configure user authentication
...