SC with FM Server 15: installation and webdirect issues

[kathylin]

Hello,

I am using FM Server 15 on MacOS (10.11.15), and trying to get SuperContainer to work with Web Direct clients. I am having several issues using the Web Direct clients, so I hope someone can help me.

1. First of all, which installation option do I use?

I am referring to the SC Documentation http://docs.360works.com/index.php/SuperContainer#Option_1:_Using_SuperContainer_as_a_standalone_server_application:
Option 1: Using SuperContainer as a standalone server application
Option 2: Installing SuperContainer with FileMaker Server
In both scenarios, I can see FM Server being depicted. What are the pros and cons of using each one?

2. Which http port to use?
Option 1: port 8020?
Option 2: port 80? Do I specify port 80 when I run SuperContainerServer.jar? I get the error message "Could not start/stop SuperContainerProtocol handler initialization failed: java.net.BindException: Permission denied:80." What is the reason for this? Is it because I am using the trial version?
 

I followed the instructions for Option 2. I am unable to use the Mac installer in the SuperContainer zip file. The installation hangs: "Installing latest  360Works Admin application. Installing 360Works Tomcat daemon...". Then I tried to follow the manual installation instructions. I copied the SuperContainer folder into:  /Library/FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/publishing-engine/jwpc-tomcat/ . Then I added 2 lines into the mod_proxy.conf file in /Library/FileMaker Server/Admin/admin-helper/WEB-INF/conf/:

ProxyPass /SuperContainer http://127.0.0.1:16020/SuperContainer 
ProxyPassReverse /SuperContainer http://127.0.0.1:16020/SuperContainer

According to the documentation, this is supposed to "modify the tomcat configuration files to serve SuperContainer content on port 80". Are the steps correct? According to the documentation, adding these two lines is supposed to  Modify the tomcat configuration files to serve SuperContainer content on port 80?

 

The reason I need help to check with the installation is because I am having issues using SCSetBaseURL and SCGetInfo on my web clients. (I did copy the SC companion plug-in into  /Library/FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/publishing-engine/cwpc/Plugins.) Thanks in advance for some guidance!

[ryan360Works]

Hi kathylin,

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1. First of all, which installation option do I use?

Either option is completely viable for use with web direct. There are upsides and downsides to using either. Personally, I like the standalone jar because I find it easier to manage. With that being said, since it looks like you are on a Mac, I recommend using the standalone .jar file because this will allow you to use an image library only available on Macs called Core Image. Core Image will allow SuperContainer to generate thumbnail previews of many different files ( pdf being one of them) that you would not get when using it on a Windows machine or when installing SuperContainer via FileMaker Server. It also does not require any kind of installer to run and is also much easier to modify where the files are saved and what port you want to access your files over via the options menu. When installing via FileMaker Server, you would need to modify a few files, as you have seen with the mod_proxy file. The downside to using the standalone jar is that if the machine it is running on needs to be restarted or is shut down, the .jar file will not automatically start back up. It will either need to be manually started or be set as a start up item. If you have SuperContainer installed via FMS, it will start when FMS is started. 

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2. Which http port to use?

Unless you have a specific reason to change the port, I recommend using the default port (8020 with the standalone, 80 with FileMaker Server). If you choose to use the FileMaker Server option, you will not need to specify the port in your base URL as port 80 is implied for web traffic. If you choose to use the standalone option you will need to specify the port number. So if you choose to use the default 8020, The URL to access SuperContainer would be HOSTADDRESSORIP:8020/SuperContainer. When you set your base URL with the companion plugin the base URL will be HOSTADDRESSORIP:8020/SuperContainer/Files . The reason you saw an error when trying to specify port 80 with the standalone is because FileMaker Server's Web server is already bound to port 80 and thus the standalone can not use it . As for the installer, we are aware of the hanging issues and are currently working on the fix. If you would like to install with FileMaker Server you can follow these instructions located in my post on that thread. If you can't get it to work after following that, please email [email protected] and we will help you to get it installed.  

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The reason I need help to check with the installation is because I am having issues using SCSetBaseURL and SCGetInfo on my web clients. (I did copy the SC companion plug-in into /Library/FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/publishing-engine/cwpc/Plugins.)

Are you getting any particular errors when using these functions?

 

[kathylin]

Hi ryan360works,

I'm so pleased to report that now I can use SCSetBaseURL and SCGetInfo on my web clients. I took your recommendation to use Option 1 installation. I removed the two lines from mod_proxy.conf file. Changed back the http port to 8020 in  SuperContainerServer.jar. And now I can capture file information on my web clients. 

Thank you so much!!!