[Mifos-users] working on Windows install guide for Mifos X, need help with my own install first

[Todd Robinson]

Hello, Mifos community.


I have recently begun volunteering with Mifos, and I am currently working on the Windows Installation Guide for Mifos X (see project page here in the documentation wiki).  Many thanks to Ed Cable for helping me get started.

As part of learning Mifos X and writing this installation guide, I have installed Mifos X on my own personal machine, a Windows 7 laptop.  I am following the technical installation guide here.

I am experiencing an error in my installation.  Please assist me in getting Mifos X running on my machine.


Below are a few relevant notes:


(1) I have a fairly technical background, but am not specifically an engineer or IT person.

(2) I would like to use this process to learn about the support provided via this mailing list.  If possible, please help me get Mifos X running using techniques that a non-technical but computer-savvy user would be capable of.  (If this is not currently possible, that is fine for now -- it is just a preference that would assist in my documentation work for non-technical users.)

(3) Once I get my personal installation running, I will have several technical questions that Ed has asked me to post to this mailing list.  These questions relate to writing the non-technical Windows Installation Guide for Mifos X.  I will ask these questions on a separate post, once I get my own installation running.

(4) There is one technical question I need to bring up now.  I am attempting to run Mifos X without SSL, in order to simulate a non-technical user's environment (and also, it's been years since I configured SSL on a web server, so I would prefer to skip that step on my own machine).

Here is my question to Ed about this, and his response:

Todd:  Is SSL required?  ---  This appears to add quite a bit of complexity to the installation process.  I assume the target audience for the Windows install doc will run Mifos on a single computer, or across their local private network, which presumably has already been secured.

Ed:   I think this is a fantastic question to pose to the mailing list. I was surprised that for any installation we required SSL by default and we should have an open discussion on the mailing list about that. The target audience for this would be those who are installing on a single computer or local network. Where we're looking to scale deployments the most is through our partners, who should be capable enough to configure SSL for their production installs.

I bring up this topic in case my lack of SSL usage is negatively affecting my personal Mifos X installation (other than the obvious lack of encryption without SSL).

(5) I previous had an all-in-one WAMP stack on my machine, called Uniform Server.  This was useful for some PHP web apps I was writing, but caused problems with the Mifos X install (especially MySQL) and was very difficult to remove.  I believe I have completely removed all traces of Uniform Server, including registry entries, and MySQL is now running fine.  I do not think this is related to the error I am getting when launching Mifos, but I wanted to mention for full disclosure.

(6) Here is the error I am getting, in Firefox, when I attempt to launch Mifos X.

( URL = http://127.0.0.1:8080/mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices?tenantIdentifier=default&pretty=true )

----------------------------------------

HTTP Status 404 - /mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices

type Status report

message /mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices

description The requested resource is not available.

Apache Tomcat/7.0.47
----------------------------------------

Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Todd Robinson

Oregon, USA

[Vishwas Babu]

Hello Tod,

>>Is SSL required? 

Yes, by design the platform can only be accessed over a http channel. However, I would think that we are open to having a discussion about having a build without this restriction.

@ Keith, John

What are your views on this?

>>Here is the error I am getting, in Firefox, when I attempt to launch Mifos X.

Could you please share your tomcat logs?

Regards,

Vishwas

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[Vishwas Babu]

*over a https channel

[Todd Robinson]

Hello, Vishwas.  Thanks for helping me.

I will look forward to the discussion on SSL, as it is relevant to the Windows install guide project.

I am not very familiar with Tomcat logging -- which specific log files do you normally want to see from a user to troubleshoot this type of problem?  I assume mifos-platform.log; any others?  This will be helpful for me to know as I work on end-user-facing Mifos projects.

In any case, I went ahead and zipped all log files created since yesterday when I produced this problem, and I have attached the zip to this email (hopefully this mailing list accepts attachments).

Thanks again!

Todd

[Vishwas Babu]

Hi Todd,

>>  I assume mifos-platform.log; any others?  

Yes, mifos-platform.log is sufficient

The error seems to be with connecting to the mifosplatform-tenants database. Can you please cross check that the same can be accessed using root, mysql credentials?

Regards,

Vishwas

[Todd Robinson]

Vishwas,

I forgot to mention that I also can successfully run the following in MySQL Workbench and MySQL Command Line Client:

use mifosplatform-tenants ;

select * from tenants ;

The latter statement brings up one record.

Todd

On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 6:08 AM, Todd Robinson <workisb...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Vishwas.

I can successfully log into MySQL from MySQL Workbench and the MySQL Command Line Client, using the root user and the same password I have placed into the server.xml file.

In case it is helpful, I have attached my server.xml file.  I made as few changes as possible from the default server.xml, only those that were needed to fulfill the requirements of the technical install doc.

Thanks,
Todd

[Todd Robinson]

Hi Vishwas.

I can successfully log into MySQL from MySQL Workbench and the MySQL Command Line Client, using the root user and the same password I have placed into the server.xml file.

In case it is helpful, I have attached my server.xml file.  I made as few changes as possible from the default server.xml, only those that were needed to fulfill the requirements of the technical install doc.

Thanks,
Todd

On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 5:35 AM, Vishwas Babu <vishwa...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Vishwas Babu]

Tod,

My Bad, the error seems to be while connecting to a particular tenant database (so for the default installation 'mifosplatform-default')

The details of all tenants are located in the tenants table of mifosplatform-tenants schema. Can you verify the that schema_username and schema_password has been updated to reflect the credentials of your mysql server?

Regards,

Vishwas

[Todd Robinson]

Vishwas,

Thanks again for helping.  I now see that I missed an important step for a successful installation.

The technical install document mentions the default root password of "mysql" at this link: https://github.com/openMF/mifosx/blob/develop/INSTALL.md#22-mysql-setup

However, it does not clarify that the tenants table needs to be updated with the user's chosen MySQL root password in mifosplatform-tenants.

So, because I am a using a test MySQL root password of "password", I ran the following:

use mifosplatform-tenants ;

update tenants set schema_password = 'password' where id = 1 ;

This appears to have worked, as I'm now getting a new error:


----------------------------------------
Secure Connection Failed

An error occurred during a connection to 127.0.0.1:8080.

SSL received a record that exceeded the maximum permissible length.

(Error code: ssl_error_rx_record_too_long)

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
----------------------------------------

I am guessing this is related to the SSL issue we discussed previously.

I have attached my mifos-platform.log file, in case that helps you.

Is there anything that can be done, via my server.xml file or otherwise, to allow a non-SSL connection to launch Mifos X?  Or is this going to require a code change?

Regards,
Todd

[Vishwas Babu]

Tod,

>>Is there anything that can be done, via my server.xml file or otherwise, to allow a non-SSL connection to launch Mifos X?  Or is this going to require a code change?

No, we explicitly disallow HTTP requests in the Platform, so would need to edit an XML file in the codebase to remove the same.

On second thought, we might not want to remove the same immediately ( as we would expect most real world MifosX deployments to compulsorily use HTTPS ), as this would necessitate maintaining two different download artifacts which would be an overhead given our frequent releases cycles..

Regards,

Vishwas

[Todd Robinson]

Vishwas, others:

I will look forward to the discussion about requiring SSL for small installations.  It is one of many potential pitfalls in supporting installations by non-technical users, but I also understand the factor of managing the development artifacts.

Let's have that discussion in a separate thread as needed, and keep this thread focused on my own installation.  I want to get Mifos X running locally so I can confirm that I understand the installation steps.  (I am also very interested in getting familiar with the software.)

I messed around with SSL some more, and got it working on my machine; I am able to successfully access https://localhost:8443.

I now get the same error text as I initially got (but now using the 8443 port, and after updating schema_username and schema_password, as we discussed previously):

( URL = http://localhost:8443/mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices?tenantIdentifier=default&pretty=true )

----------------------------------------

HTTP Status 404 - /mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices

type Status report

message /mifosng-provider/api/v1/offices

description The requested resource is not available.

Apache Tomcat/7.0.47
----------------------------------------

The new mifos-platform.log is attached.

Thanks again!
Todd Robinson

[Vishwas Babu]

Todd,

Can you share your latest server.xml ? Also can you ensure that a Resource similar to

<Resource driverClassName="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver" factory="org.apache.tomcat.jdbc.pool.DataSourceFactory" initialSize="3" logAbandoned="true" maxActive="10" maxIdle="6" minEvictableIdleTimeMillis="60000" minIdle="3" name="jdbc/mifosplatform-tenants" password="mysql" suspectTimeout="60" testOnBorrow="true" testOnReturn="true" testWhileIdle="true" timeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis="30000" type="javax.sql.DataSource" url="jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mifosplatform-tenants" username="root" validationQuery="SELECT 1"/>

is present?

Regards,

Vishwas

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[Todd Robinson]

Vishwas,

I do have the JDBC <Resource> entry that you mentioned.  My server.xml is attached.

Thanks!
Todd

[Ed Cable]

Todd,

Just as a heads-up and to other's on the list, during our developer meeting (this Thursday at 1300GMT) we're going to be doing a tutorial on getting your Windows environment set up. 

Ed

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--

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Mifos Community Manager

Director of Community Programs, Mifos Initiative

edc...@mifos.org | Skype: edcable | Mobile: 484.477.8649

Collectively Creating a World of 3 Billion Maries | http://openmf.org  

Note: As of Jan 1, 2014 my email has changed from edcable@openmf.org to edcable@mifos.org. Please update your address book accordingly.

[Todd Robinson]

Hi, Ed.  Thanks for the heads up.  I will try to attend that developer meeting -- looks like the info to connect to that meeting is here: https://mifosforge.jira.com/wiki/display/RES/Mifos+X+Developer+Meetings

I believe it will be very helpful, while I work on documentation for less-technical users, for me to have something more towards a developer-level understanding of the platform.

I think I am currently following all the steps correctly from the technical install doc, with the added item I learned from Vishwas, to set schema_username and schema_password in the mifosplatform-tenants db.

I will look forward to more input from Vishwas once he reviews my server.xml.

Thanks!
Todd

[Vishwas Babu]

Hi Todd,

The server.xml looks fine. Are you still facing the issue?

Can you confirm that the server.xml is from the tomcat you are starting? (i.e you do not have any environment variables like CATALINA_HOME which point to a different tomcat instance?)

If you are still facing issues, maybe we could set up a call with one of the developers (Madhukar in cc) and try to figure out what could be going wrong...

Regards,

Vishwas

[Todd Robinson]

Hi, Vishwas.  I did another full removal and reinstall of Mifos X, in preparation for creating the non-technical installation document.  It looks like the program is running correctly now.  I believe I am understanding everything fairly well at this point, and I was able to successfully launch the platform and the community app.

I now need to learn the default user name and password, to confirm I can get into the application.  I believe the default administrator user name is "mifos", but I am not sure of the password.  Could you provide this?  (Or someone else, such as Ed?)

Thanks!
Todd

[Vishwas Babu]

Hi Todd,

>> I believe the default administrator user name is "mifos", but I am not sure of the password. 

The Default password is password

Regards,

Vishwas

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[Todd Robinson]

Hi, Vishwas.  Prior to exchanging email with you on April 8th, I had tried using a variety of default passwords for the Mifos X community app, once I got my install working.  I had tried password, password1, admin, (blank), and so on, as well as a variety of user names.

Once you confirmed the default is mifos/password, I triple-checked my spelling, caps lock, etc., but was still not able to log in.

I then tried deleting the tables from the database, so that Mifos would recreate them when the application first opens, but the problem persisted.  I deleted and recreated the entire database just to be sure, but that also did not work.  I tried other common troubleshooting steps as well, such as restarting the browser, restarting MySQL, restarting my computer, etc.

I was not able to work on this problem last week due to other responsibilities.  Then, today, I got up early to look into this further, prior to our bi-weekly documentation team meeting.

I finally solved the problem.  Working from the default community app URL given on the technical install md ...

https://[server ip address]:8443/community-app?baseApiUrl=https://[server ip address]:8443/mifosng-provider/api/v1/

... I realized that I had replaced the FIRST "[server ip address]" with "localhost".  However. I had NOT replaced the SECOND "[server ip address]".

Once I replaced the 2nd with "localhost", I was able to log into the community app successfully.

It only took me a few minutes to solve this problem today.  I feel a bit dense for missing this simple fix when I worked on this last.  At the same time, this is a type of problem that end users may have, so perhaps it is a good experience for me to go through.  :-)

I also wanted to mention the error message I received, when I still had "[server ip address]" for the 2nd spot in the URL.  After I entered "mifos" for the user name and "password" for the password, the following text appeared, just to the left of the user name input box: "Please try again, your credentials are not valid."

This is obviously an inaccurate error message, as the problem from the end user perspective was not the password, but the invalid baseApiUrl variable in the querystring.  We will document the correct procedure for changing of the URL, as clearly as possible, in the installation instructions.  But, if it is an appropriate use of developer resources, it would be preferable to capture the occurrence of an invalid baseApiUrl, and then give the end user a corresponding message indicating that fact.  This would have saved me some time and hassle personally, so it may also help Mifos X users in the future.

Anyway, thanks for your assistance with the process of getting my own Mifos X install running!  I appreciate the help.

Regards,

Todd
 

[Vishwas Babu]

Hi Todd.

>> I feel a bit dense for missing this simple fix when I worked on this last.  At the same time, this is a type of problem that end users may have

Agree completely

>>   But, if it is an appropriate use of developer resources, it would be preferable to capture the occurrence of an invalid baseApiUrl, and then give the end user a corresponding message indicating that fact

Agreed Todd, we will make the required changes in an upcoming release

Regards,

Vishwas

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