Photo credit - Kateryna Babaieva
Introduction
openMAINT is a ready-to-use CMMS program (Computerized Maintenance Management System) created and maintained by Tecnoteca Srl. It is a powerful tool that, when configured to suit the needs of your enterprise, can transform the way you organaize and manage your work. openMAINT is a “verticalized” solution built on top of CMDBuild, also maintained by Tecnoteca, Srl.
Check out Tecnoteca’s What is openMAINT page to learn more about the project, or request a demo to see if openMAINT might work for you.
Installing the base system
Photo credit - Field Engineer
To continue, we will assume you have already installed a fresh copy of Debian 11 “Bullseye” (stable) running openssh-server (or your preferred SSH server of choice), with root access enabled. A desktop environment is not required to set up an openMAINT server.
Follow my guide on installing Debian 11 if you’re unsure of how to get a Debian system up and running. Also, follow my other guide on installing and setting up a SSH server if you’re unsure of how to do that.
Once the above requirements are satisfied and you are able to remotely connect to your Debian server, continue to the next step.
Logging in for the first time
We will mainly be interacting with our server by using the SSH protocol. From any terminal, use the ssh command to log in with the user you created while setting up Debian. In our case, I’ve named the user openmaint:
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ssh openmaint@<server_ip>
Make sure your user has access to sudo privileges by issuing the whoami command. The console should return root:
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sudo whoami
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We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:
#1) Respect the privacy of others.
#2) Think before you type.
#3) With great power comes great responsibility.
[sudo] password for openmaint:
root
Updating the system
Before we install any software, make sure your system is up to date. We will accomplish this by running apt update & apt upgrade. Use the -y flag to save time and skip “yes” prompts.
Download updated package information from all configured sources:
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sudo apt update -y
Upgrade all installed packages to their latest versions:
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sudo apt upgrade -y
Installing utilities
In order to bring about the successful installation of openMAINT (and all its dependencies), we will be working with a few commandline utilities. These utilities are gnupg2, wget, unzip, git, curl, and nano.
Install them all simultaneously with the following single command. Use the -y flag to save time and skip “yes” prompts:
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sudo apt install -y gnupg2 wget unzip git curl nano
Installing dependencies
Now that our system is up-to-date, it is time to install dependencies required by openMAINT 3.4. Use the -y flag to save time and skip “yes” prompts.
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sudo apt install -y openjdk-17-jdk
To make sure OpenJDK 17 has been installed correctly, and that your $JAVA_HOME environment variable is correctly configured, use the java -version command:
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java -version
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openjdk version "17.0.2" 2022-01-18
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.2+8-Debian-1deb11u1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.2+8-Debian-1deb11u1, mixed mode, sharing)
At the time of writing, the most up-to-date build is 17.0.2. If you don’t see at least version 17.x.x, you may have to configure alternatives for Java:
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sudo update-alternatives --config java
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There are 2 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/bin/java 1711 auto mode
1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java 1111 manual mode
2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/bin/java 1711 manual mode
Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
In my case, I also had OpenJDK 11 installed. Simply type the correct number and press <enter>.
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0
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/bin/java to provide /usr/bin/java (java) in auto mode
Next, we must add PostgreSQL repos to our sources list.
Run the following command to install the GPG key:
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wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
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Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
OK
Next, add PostgreSQL repository to your apt sources:
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echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ `lsb_release -cs`-pgdg main" |sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list
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deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ bullseye-pgdg main
Update your system. Use the -y flag to save time and skip “yes” prompts:
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sudo apt update -y
Finally, install PostgreSQL. Use the -y flag to save time and skip “yes” prompts:
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sudo apt install -y postgresql-13 postgresql-client-10 postgresql-10-postgis-3 libpostgis-java
Once PostgreSQL is installed, it is time to pick a strong password and apply it to the user postgres.
Use passwd to set your new strong password:
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sudo passwd postgres
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New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Next, we must update the postgres role with the new password. Use the su (switch user) command to switch to the postgres user:
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su - postgres
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Password:
Use psql to alter the password for postgres:
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psql -d template1 -c "ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'StrongPassword';"
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ALTER ROLE
Then type exit to log out:
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exit
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logout
Installing openMAINT
Now that openMAINT’s dependencies are installed and properly configured, we can now move forward and install openMAINT.
Use wget to download the latest .war file for openMAINT. At the time of writing, the latest version is openmaint-2.2-3.4.
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wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/openmaint/files/2.2/Core%20updates/openmaint-2.2-3.4/openmaint-2.2-3.4.war
Now, execute the install script with java:
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java -jar openmaint-2.2-3.4.war install
Follow through the prompts. You may leave all of the defaults as they are by pressing <enter> on each line. Make sure you enter your strong password you created for the postgres user.
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CMDBuild interactive install wizard - welcome!
this wizard will guide you in the process of installing and configuring a new instance of CMDBuild!
Press <enter> to leave the default install location:
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tomcat install location </home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30> :
Press <enter> to leave the default http port:
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tomcat http port <8080>:
Press <enter> to leave the default shutdown port:
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tomcat shutdown port (offset already applied) <8005>:
Press <enter> to leave the default debug port:
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tomcat debug port (offset already applied) <8000>:
Press <enter> to leave the default postgres database host/port:
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postrgres db <localhost:5432> :
Input your strong password for the postgres user:
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postrgres admin account <postgres/postgres> : postgres/StrongPassword
Press <enter> to leave the default database name:
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WARNING: server version 10.20 is not supported, you may encounter problems
cmdbuild posrgres database name <cmdbuild_a70b> :
To initialize openMAINT with a blank database, load empty.dump.xz:
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database dump to load <demo> : empty.dump.xz
Look over your inputs and verify the configuration is correct:
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we're ready to begin, this is your configuration:
tomcat: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30
http port: 8080
shutdown port: 8005
debug port: 8000
postgres database: localhost:5432/cmdbuild_a70b
database dump: empty.dump.xz
if everything is ok, press ENTER to begin installation
<press enter to begin>
Press <enter> to begin installation:
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BEGIN installation
install tomcat...
OK
create database...
create database cmdbuild_a70b empty.dump.xz
apply patches
adjust configs
done
OK
cmdbuild successfully installed! you can find startup/shutdown scripts in dir /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30/bin
openMAINT and its dependencies are now successfully installed.
Starting openMAINT
Now that openMAINT and its dependencies are installed, it is time to start the server up. Navigate to the bin directory to find the startup script:
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cd ~/cmdbuild_30/bin
Run startup.sh:
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./startup.sh
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Using CATALINA_BASE: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30
Using CATALINA_HOME: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30/temp
Using JRE_HOME: /usr
Using CLASSPATH: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30/bin/bootstrap.jar:/home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
Using CATALINA_OPTS:
Using CATALINA_PID: /home/openmaint/cmdbuild_30/bin/catalina.pid
Tomcat started.
That’s it! openMAINT is now running on your local server and is accessible via http://<server-ip>:8080/cmdbuild/ui.
For further reading, check out my other guide Securing Your openMAINT Server on Debian 11 with SSL.
For help onboarding, see Onboarding openMAINT 3.4.
Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with Tecnoteca Srl., nor am I maintainer of either openMAINT, or CMDBuild. This guide is written in good faith, and in the spirit of contribution towards the Free Software Movement, for consumption as-is.
Some of the steps listed in this guide may break or cease to function as software packages are updated, deprecated, or become obseleted.