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IMOS On-Prem - Installing IMOS7

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Last updated: Jan 17, 2024 by
Melanie Whitelock
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View IMOS Documentation in the Help Center.

 This is a Key Topic, with high value for all users.

To set up and install IMOS, follow these steps:

Step

Action

Comment

1.

Make an IMOS home directory, for example D:\veson\.

Install IMOS in a location that users can access: either on a file server, if users will be running IMOS from their desktops, or in a place accessible to a Citrix or MS Remote Desktop Services application server, if IMOS will be accessed that way.

2.

Extract the installer from the downloaded Zip file to the desktop.

The IMOS installer is distributed in a Zip file format. You can download the file from the Client Center: http://clients.veson.com. For sign-in details, contact Veson Nautical Support.

3.

Run imosv#.#.#-extractor.exe, where #.#.# is the IMOS version number.

Click Yes when prompted to extract IMOS. After initial decompression, the IMOS Extractor opens.

Select the directory created in step 1 as the installation location, and click Extract Files for New Install.

The installer requests an installation key, which can be found on the front page of the Client Center, above your account manager's contact details.

Note: If you do not have an installation key, you can still extract IMOS without one. Click No when prompted to input a key, and it will begin the extraction.

The extracted files are placed in the imos folder in the selected directory.

The installer also requests elevated privileges (and admin credentials) via Windows User Access Control if you are not set up as an admin.

4.



Modify the Configuration files provided with the installer:

Move the services folder to the application server (as referenced in IMOS7 Requirements and Recommendations) and edit the configuration files there.

If no application server is used, the config files must be edited on each client computer.

imos\services\imosmsg.exe.config (XML Configuration File)

  • Comment out or remove the line: <add key="authServiceUri" value="..." />
  • Add in a line within <appSettings> for:
    • <add key="vxpPort" value="5922" />
      You can modify the 5922 value to be whichever TCP/IP Port Number you prefer.
  •  <imosEnvironments> Contains IMOS environment.

       The default value provided with the file is <add key="prod" value="prod" />

       For each key in this file; there must be a corresponding line in imos\exe\imosshell.exe.config and imos\services\config\imosEnv.xml

Notes:

  • Best practice for editing .config files is to use Notepad++.
  • For self-install on your local computer, you can keep the initial port of 5922 or change it, as long as ports are the same throughout all .config files.

imos\exe\imosshell.exe.config

On the server, you can configure the IMOS shell to display one or more environment options. When you open d:\veson\imos\exe\imosshell.exe.config (XML Configuration File) in Notepad++, it has the following sections:

  • <configSections>: Leave this section as it is.
  • <appSettings>: Contains key-value pairs for configuring sign-in.
    • Set the value for key "authMode" to "imos" for IMOS Authentication, or "mixed" for Windows Authentication.
      Note: If set to "imos" the Authentication Service must be set to use a nonsecure connection. Edit imos\services\imosauth.exe.config, and set the value for the key "secure" to "false".
    • Set the value for key "authServiceUri" to "vxp://hostname:5922/authServiceUri" with hostname replaced with the application server's hostname or IP. A default value is provided with the file, but it must be changed. Ensure that this value is correct; otherwise, IMOS will not authenticate.
      • You can find the value by opening your SQL Server Manager. It is this name-number [ in the example below: USERNAME-E5470] when you sign in to the server, which will be different based on the server:

  • <imosEnvironments>: Contains IMOS environments.
    The default value provided with the file is <add key="prod" value="prod" /> as well as <add key="test" value="test" />. To enable these environments for use, remove the <!--- … --->. 

    For each key in this file; there must be a corresponding line in imosEnv.xml. (See Step 7 for more information.)

5.

Restore the base V7 database provided with the installer or a V7 database backed up from an existing installation.

First-time installs are typically provided with a base database (with a name like imosv#.#.#-blank-schema#.bak, where #.#.# is the version number) in the imos\db directory that is then populated with initial master data.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rp6qjtyanw6pljj/imos711_onboardtraining_112021.bak?dl=0 

or

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kgwu09xlr4nx4eq/Demo20200605.7z?dl=0

are better example to restore as it contains more data. 

Inside Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, right-click the Databases folder under your database instance and click Restore Database. For Source, select Device and add the .bak file that you received with your first-time install, as per the above location. It will be in the DB folder from the extracted IMOS file.

Right-click the server instance and then click Properties. On the Security tab, change the Server Authentication to SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode.

Then, restart the SQL instance so that the new settings can take effect. (Within SQL Server Studio, Right click on the SQL instance and click Restart)

Note: If the Security tab does not appear in your database, just ensure that the server settings are set up correctly. 

6.

Create a new SQL Server sign-in for IMOS and give it db_datareader, db_datawriter, and db_owner permissions on the IMOS database.

See the screenshots below. Note the password permissions level.

Expand the Security file, right-click Logins, and then click New Login.

7.

Modify the Configuration file provided with the installer:
imos\services\config\imosEnv.xml

This file is used by the Messaging Service running on the application server and maintains database sign-in information for each of the configured IMOS environments. It has the following sections:

  • <imosEnvironments>: Contains connection details for each environment's database.
    • Update the Server section with the hostname and instance of the server the database is stored on (see IMOS - Installing IMOS7#Step 4).
    • Leave Trusted_Connection set to No, because SQL authentication is being used.
    • For Database, enter the name of the IMOS database set up in Steps 5–7.
    • Enter the Uid and Password for the SQL user used to gain access to the database's information created in the previous step.

      Note: The following is only an example:

      <imosEnvironments>
      <imosEnvironment name="prod" dbConnectString="Provider=Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server;Driver={SQL Server};Server={USERNAME-E5470\instance};Trusted_Connection={No};Database={v711clean};Uid{username}Pwd={password}" dbSqlId="_sqlid" />

8.

Place the license file provided on the Client Center in imos\services\config.

Each client receives an individual license file that unlocks features in IMOS to match those purchased, for the appropriate number of users.
The password for this .Zip file is in the Client Center instructions. (See also Renewing an IMOS License.)

9.

To register the service, open Command Prompt with administrator privileges (right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator), then, from the imos\services directory, run:
imosmsg /register

The service will be registered and run on the application server.

If you are running multiple instances of the IMOS7 services concurrently (advanced):

  • Give the service a unique label that will be appended to the end of the service name. Set imosMsgInstanceName environment variables before registering the service by running this command (Note that this example uses a descriptive label and the intended port number to help avoid confusion later.):
    • set imosMsgInstanceName=production923
  • Change the port number in imosauth.exe.config, imosmsg.exe.config, and imosshell.exe.config to an unused port (in this example, port 923).
  • Register the service as normal.

10.

Start the IMOS Messaging Service.

Start the service from the Services Control Panel in Windows (Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Services). Double-click the IMOS Messaging Service and set it to start automatically by setting the Startup type to Automatic.

Connecting to Veslink via VXP Method

11.Do this only if you are using Veslink in production:
Connect your Veslink site to your IMOS environment.
    1. Sign in to IMOS.
    2. In the Veslink module center , click Set Up Site Key and Veslink URL.
    3. Enter the Site Key provided by Veson Nautical, and then click Verify and OK. A response indicates that the Site Key has been accepted.
12.Do this only if you are using a Test Veslink site:
Connect your Test Veslink site to your Test IMOS environment.
    1. In the Data Center , click Configuration Flags.
    2. To edit this hidden configuration flag, click .
    3. In the Name field, enter the following: CFGVeslinkMasterDirectoryOverrideURL
    4. In the Value field, enter the following: https://test.veslink.com:229
    5. Click OK.
    6. In the Veslink module center , click Set Up Site Key and Veslink URL. Enter the Site Key provided by Veson Nautical, and then click Verify and OK. A response indicates that the Site Key has been accepted.

Connecting to Veslink via Websocket Method

Note: Websockets are supported on Microsoft Server 2012 and later.

11.Do this only if you are using Veslink in production:
Connect your Veslink site to your IMOS environment.
    1. Sign in to IMOS.
    2. In the Veslink module center , click Set Up Site Key and Veslink URL.
    3. Enter your Site Key.
    4. Enter the Veslink URL as https://veslink.com/websocket/
    5. Click Verify. A response indicates success.
    6. If you are prompted to clear the Veslink data, do not accept this option; instead, click Cancel.
    7. Go to your imosmsg.exe.config and imosshell.exe.config files and add the following line to your <appSettings>:
      <add key="webSocketUrl" value="https://www.veslink.com/websocket/" />

    8. Save the update file and restart your Messaging Service.

12.Do this only if you are using a Test Veslink site: 
Connect your Test Veslink site to your Test IMOS environment.
    1. Sign in to IMOS.
    2. In the Veslink module center , click Set Up Site Key and Veslink URL.
    3. Enter your Site Key.
    4. Enter the Veslink URL as https://test.veslink.com/websocket/
    5. Click Verify. A response indicates success.
    6. If you are prompted to clear the Veslink data, do not accept this option; instead, click Cancel.
    7. Go to your imosmsg.exe.config and imosshell.exe.config files and add the following line to your <appSettings>:
      <add key="webSocketUrl" value="https://test.veslink.com/websocket/" />

    8. Save the update file and restart your Messaging Service.

Other Important Notes

To sign in for the first time after installation, use the default admin User Name and Password for IMOS, which are set up by Veson Nautical.

The IMOS application consists of the \exe, \reports, and \dat directories. Any account that will be running imosshell.exe will require read access to those three directories.

In a high availability environment, we also recommend that you set the Recovery tab to restart the service on failure, and, possibly, to run a program that in some way notifies an administrator. (Alternatively, consider third-party IT software that monitors services.)

Troubleshooting

ErrorResolution

A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error

This can occur for a number of reasons, but if you are confident that the SQL instance is running, will accept remote connections, and has the SQL account setup correctly, then the log file might contain a clue as to the root cause.

Example:

In this case, the log contains:

Initializing database with connection string Server=??VNC-BOS-02-7592\SQLEXPRESS}??;Database=??

which looks like the name within the imosEnv.xml file has been corrupted or contains invalid characters or delimiters. 

The file, when opened with WordPad, contained many invalid characters, as can be seen in the string below:

Server={​​JSMITHY-7438\SQLEXPRESS}​​;Trusted_Connection={​​No}​​;Database={​​imos711_prod

After removing the invalid characters, saving the file, and restarting the Messaging Service, you should be able to sign in. 

Authentication service at vxp://localhost:5922/authServiceUri rejected connection, or a connection to vxp vxp://localhost:5922/authServiceUri could not be established.

There is one configuration file to check to ensure that this error does not occur: imosmsg.exe.config, found in the \services folder.

Ensure that the vxpPort setting has been added under the <appSettings> tag.

<appSettings>
<add key="vxpPort" value="5222" />

If you wish to change this port number, then you must add or amend the setting in the imosshell.exe.config file under C:\Veson\imos\exe so that the two entries are in step. Here is an example:

<add key="authServiceUri" value="vxp://localhost:5222/authServiceUri" />

Remember to restart the Messaging Service for these changes to take effect.

Still need help? Visit the Veson Nautical Help Center.

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