ILux for NT and Unix

ILux Windows NT Sybase SQL Server Installation Guide

This document describes several key pieces of information you will need to gather before Installing ILux, including the following.

Note This version of ILux requires the following software installed and running on the machine that will host the ILux server:
  • A Sybase System 11 client with a tested connection to your Sybase System 11 database.
  • Either the Sybase System 11 ODBC driver for Windows that comes with Sybase System 11, or the Intersolv Data Direct Sybase System ODBC driver for Windows.

ILux can be configured for a variety of operating systems and databases. In addition, you can place the various components on one or more servers. This flexibility allows you to adapt ILux to your existing Internet or Intranet server configuration. Because ILux is so flexible, be sure to closely review the information below. For performance reasons, you may at several points in the process find it a good idea to put one of the ILux components on a different server or in a different location.

Contents

A Conceptual Overview of ILux

ILux is a client/server application for analyzing web site usage. ILux is comprised of several components that can be installed in a fully distributed environment. The basic components are:

The ILux Server

The server is the central component, and is used to import, parse, store, and index information from your web server's log files. The ILux Server also serves all ILux client requests. This version of ILux can be installed on Windows NT (versions 3.51 and higher, Server or Workstation). The ILux Server requires a LAN, WAN, or FTP connection to the web site(s) that will be analyzed, and a read/write local or network connection to all ILux components.

The ILux Database

The Sybase version of the ILux Database must reside on an Sybase server that is accessible via an ODBC connection. The database schema is automatically generated during installation.

The ILux Client

The client is a Java-based application and is the user's interface to ILux. The ILux client can be run from any computer.

The ILux Reports

The ILux reports are the final output from all web site analyses. The reports are in HTML format. For the reports to be viewed over Internet, this directory must be located anywhere under a web server's web root directory.

Preparing to Install ILux

The installation procedure requires you to make decisions on directory locations for the ILux components, and provide details about your system.

The ILux Server

The ILux Server occupies approximately 10MB of disk space, and can be installed to any local directory. The default location is:

<windows_drive>:\Program Files\ILux

Sybase Database Preparation

Once you have downloaded the ILux software, and before installation of the ILux Server, you must first select a Sybase server and create a database. Typically this is done by opening the desired registered Sybase server using the "SQL Central" application. Make a note of the case-sensitive SQL Server name, which you will need during installation.

  1. First create a "database device" for the ILux database, for example, ILUXDBDEV. The size of the device should be twice the total volume of log file data that is to be processed over a long period.
  2. Then create a "database device" for the ILux database's transaction log, for example, ILUXLOGDEV. The size of the device should be 20% of the size of ILUXDBDEV, above. If a separate hard drive is available, we strongly recommend that you place this new device on a different drive than the ILUXDBDEV device in the previous step. This will result in higher performance.
  3. Next, create the ILux database. The database must be named "ILuxLog" (use mixed case as shown). For the 'Data' use ILUXDBDEV.
  4. For the 'Transaction Log,' use ILUXLOGDEV. Make sure you utilize the full capacity available for each.
  5. Then "edit properties" on the database; select the options "Truncate log on checkpoint" and "Allow select into /bulk copy".
  6. Next, go to "Logins" and enter the user name that you want to use for your ILux database. Make a note of the user name and the password (which must be at least 6 characters long). You will be asked to enter them when you install ILux. The defaults we offer are "ilux" (all lower case) for the user name and "iluxadmin" (all lower case) for the password.
  7. Then, edit the properties of the new login to add an alias to the "dbo" for the ILuxLog database.
  8. Select the database "tempdb" and expand the size by 50MB, or by 20% of the database size, whichever is larger.

This completes the creation of the database. This database is initialized during the ILux Server Setup.

Distributed ILux Server and Sybase Server

For performance reasons, You may choose to use separate computers for your ILux Server and your Sybase server. If you choose this option, you must install a Sybase client on the computer where the ILux server resides.

Your Web Site(s)

The ILux server needs the following information for each web site to be analyzed. For each ILux server, you can monitor up to three web servers. However, you should consider possible performance degradation when monitoring more than one.

Site name

The URL of the web site, for example, webserver.mydomain.com

or

www.mydomain.com

IP address

For example,

NNN.NNN.NNN.NNN

Web root directory

The directory under which all web files are served. If you have a network connection with read access you can specify the web root directory by UNC name or DOS path, such as:

\\webserver\html (UNC)

or

h:\html (DOS path)

You can also access the web directory structure via FTP, using a normal or anonymous login, such as:

ftp://userid:password@ webserver.mydomain.com/html (normal)

or

ftp://webserver. mydomain.com/html (anonymous)

Log File Directory

If you have a network connection and appropriate privileges you can specify the log file directory by UNC name or DOS path, such as:

\\webserver\logs (UNC)

or

h:\logs (DOS path)

If you do not have a network connection, you can also access the web directory structure via FTP, using a normal or anonymous login, such as:

ftp://userid:password@ webserver.mydomain.com/logs (normal)

or

ftp://webserver. mydomain.com/logs (anonymous)

Name of Log File(s)

Identify the naming pattern of your web server's log files. To choose a range of log files, use wildcards. (For example, access*)

Case Sensitive Log Files

If the web server to be monitored is on an operating system with a case-sensitive file system (For example, UNIX), select this option. If the web server is on an operating system with a case insensitive file system (For example, Windows), do not select this option.

Port number

The TCP/IP port that is used by the web server for HTTP communication. Typically, this is port 80.

The ILux Client

During ILux server install, two sets of ILux client files are created. One set is for launching the ILux client as a Java applet from any Java enabled web browser, while the other set is a client installation for launching ILux as a Java application from a Java virtual machine.

The files for the web browser based ILux Java Applet must be placed under a web server root on the SAME machine as the ILux Server and its storage requirement is approximately 1.2MB. Its default location is:

D:\www\html\ilux\client

The ILux Java Application client installation files (sample/) reside in a separate directory under the main ILux server directory. The default location is:

<windows_drive>:\Program Files\ILux\Client Install

For convenience, this directory and its contents should be later placed in a shareable directory for ease of client installation.

ILux Report Directory

ILux produces all its reports in HTML format. For the reports to be viewed by a browser, the report directory must be located anywhere under any web server's web root directory. Because the nature of the ILux reports are typically for internal usage, we suggest that the reports are stored on a password protected Internet location or an Intranet web server.

SMTP Server

ILux allows e-mail notifications to be sent to users for certain events, such as when reports have completed. Therefore, ILux requires the SMTP mail server's DNS name or IP address used by the domain, such as postmaster.mydomain.com.

Installing the ILux Server

Before beginning installation, be sure you have collected all the information described in the previous portions of this Guide.

To install ILux, simply double click on the self-extracting file iluxsybase.exe in the same location as this file. Follow the install instructions step by step. After you complete installation, review the remainder of this Guide.

Verify the Database Initialization

During the schema generation portion of the installation process, ILux writes a log errors text file during database initialization. This file is called RESETDB.LOG, and is always stored on the root directory of the C: drive. Here is an example of an error FREE database initialization:

iodbc Ver. 0.11 (Beta 2) Copyright 1995 FFE Software, Inc. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; type 'help ?' for details. 

1> 2> 
(0 rows affected)
1> 2> 
(0 rows affected)
1> 2> 
(0 rows affected)
1> 2> 
(0 rows affected)

This specific type of warning is *not* an error:

1> 2> Msg 3701, Level 16, State S0002: [INTERSOLV][ODBC Sybase driver][Sybase Server] Cannot drop the table 'Alert', because it doesn't exist in the system catalogs.

All other errors are to be considered initialization failures. The text of any errors should provide important clues to the problem. After correcting the problem, run the RESETDB.bat utility in the ILux \BIN directory, with the database user name and password as parameters. For example:

<windows_drive>:\Program Files\ILux\bin\RESETDB ilux iluxadmin

Then, check the C:\RESETDB.LOG to verify that all errors are resolved. As a secondary verification, use SQL Central to inspect the TABLES section of the ILuxLog database. The existence of over 30 tables is a strong indication that the installation was successful.

Starting and Stopping
the ILux Server

Starting the ILux
Log Reporting Service

After making sure the Sybase database server is running properly, start the ILux log reporting service.

  1. From the Control Panel, launch the 'Services' applet.
  2. Select 'The ILux log reporting service', and click 'Start-up...'.
  3. Click 'This account' and then browse by clicking the button marked '...'
  4. Select a user. This user must have the following privileges:
    • At least read access to the web root directory or equivalent FTP location for each of the web sites that you have defined.
    • At least read access to the log file directory or equivalent FTP location for each of the web sites that you have defined.
    • Write access to the directory in which you want to place the completed reports.
  5. Highlight the selected user and click 'Add' and then 'OK'.
  6. Enter the password for this user in the 'Password' field, and re-type the password in the 'Confirm password' field.
  7. Click the 'start' button.

ILux Server Parameters

You can use these parameters for the ILux server.

To review this list of parameters on line, go to the directory where ilux.exe resides and run "ilux.exe -?"

Stopping the ILux Server

Stop ILux from the Services applet in the Control Panel.

Legal Notice

Limited Warrenty Information in this document is periodically updated. Changes, technical inaccuracies, and typographic errors will be corrected in future editions. Portfolio Technologies Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents of this manual.

trademarks ilux and the ILux lighthouse logo are registered trademarks of Portfolio Technologies Inc. Windows is a registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and marks are the property of the respective owners.

Copyright noticeEntire contents Copyright © 1998 Portfolio Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this online help may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose without the express written permission of Portfolio Technologies Inc., with the following exception: end users are granted permission to print a single copy for their sole personal use.

Sybase Server Last Updated January 1998