The downloaded tarball is multi-platform, so the same installation works on all the supported versions of Linux. Experian Pandora will work on all OS versions that themselves support Java 1.8. We recommend Oracle JDK but also support OpenJDK.
To install the Experian Pandora server on Linux, follow these instructions.
Before you start the installation process view Environment recommendations and carefully read through our Technical recommendations to determine the correct environment for your set-up type and to get the optimal performance out of your product.
The following pre-requisites are in addition to the space required for data storage.
64bit version of the Linux operating system
The latest version of 64bit Java 1.8 JDK must be installed.
Dedicated Experian Pandora user (default is pandora) with full access to the product and database directories
At least a base data directory for the Experian Pandora database (default is /pandora/data/ note: NOT /home/pandora/data/)
The server and the three required ports (default 7700, 7800 7900) should be made available to all client machines through all intermediate networks and firewalls.
User limits for the Experian Pandora user set to unlimited for each resource.
You can view your system's limits by typing ulimit -a at the command shell.
It is critical that the application can open enough files simultaneously. Ensure this setting is set close to the operating system's limit. For example, for RHEL/Centos set the hard limit to around 64000: When logged in as the Experian Pandora user ulimit -Hn should give the result 64000
Root access is not required for the installation once the pre-requisites are in place and the installation is completed.
For the data storage directories:
All partitions must use a block-size no smaller than 4096 bytes. This is the default for most Linux file systems.
Disable file system journaling or use a non-journaling file system. This will boost performance and is highly recommended. This can be created by running a command such as (consult your system administrator first):
sudo mke2fs -t ext4 -b 4096 -O ^has_journal /dev/xxx
Disable the last accessed time processing (e.g. use the noatime,nodiratime mount options). This will improve the performance of the application since Experian Pandora reads/writes a lot of small chunks of data. This option can be modified at any time after the operating system has been installed.
Access control lists are not required.
Set file systems to write-back mode. This will provide a small performance boost, but exposes you to data loss in the event of power failure etc. Only recommended for benchmarking.
You will have been sent a link to enable you to download Experian Pandora. Follow the link in the email and download the latest tarball file.
The site is password protected and you should have received authentication details from your local Technical support representative via email. Note that these details are different to the login credentials you have been given to login to the Experian Pandora client.
If you haven't received a download link or don't know your authentication details, contact your local Technical support team.
Login in as the Experian Pandora user (default is pandora).
Copy the tar file to the home directory of the Experian Pandora user and un-tar the distribution:
tar –xvzf pandora_tar_file.tar.gz
This will create a new directory, for the user pandora this is /home/pandora/pandora<version>.
Add the <install_directory>/bin to the $PATH environment variable:
export PATH=$PATH:/home/pandora/pandora<version>/bin
This sets the variable for the session. How to make this as a persistent change is dependent on your operating system.
To start the server with default settings, run the following command:
pserver start
If you're happy with the default settings, you can skip this section.
You can configure the following:
For information about any configuration files not documented here, log into the Customer Hub and search for "Experian Pandora advanced Linux configuration settings".
The multi-platform execution script pserver accepts a number of parameters and variables:
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| ? | Lists all available parameters for the script. |
| execute | Executes a beanshell script to run against the server. Arguments can be supplied to specify the hostname for the server, username for the Experian Pandora user, password, port number as environment variables (beginning with PS_SCR_). These have preset defaults. The script is supplied on the command line, but if not supplied then execution is taken from standard input (until CTRL+D is pressed) Any additional arguments supplied are passed directly to the executed script. |
| initialise | Initialises the database. This removes all data but retains metadata such as users, user roles etc. |
| java_version | Outputs the path to Java and the version installed on the system |
| logfile | Returns the name of the current logfile for Experian Pandora. If the server is not currently running it returns the expected logfile name should the server be started now, otherwise it returns the current logfile. |
| patch | Applies a patch to the installation. This expects a single parameter, which is the name of the patch tar file. |
| paths | Returns a list of paths in use by Experian Pandora. These are named the same as the directories in the Storage drilldown in the application, with the prefix PSDIR_ added at the front. These are useful for invoking backup scripts and knowing the location of various Experian Pandora directories to be backed up. |
| relationships | Starts the Experian Pandora server in relationship rebuild mode. |
| restart | Restarts the Experian Pandora server, shutting down a running instance if necessary. |
| start | Starts the Experian Pandora server if it is not currently running. |
| status | Returns the status of the Experian Pandora server with respect to whether it is running or not. |
| stop | Stops the Experian Pandora server if it is running. |
| taillog | Follows the current log file (tail –f) for the Experian Pandora server. |
| viewlog | Views the current log file using the viewer defined by the variable PS_VIEWER which defaults to more. |
In addition to the parameters, the pserver script has the following variables:
| Variable | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS_PRODUCT | Variable | automatic | The name of the product used in various announcing text in the script |
| PS_SCR_ENCR | Variable | false | Denotes if the script execution password is encrypted (true) or in the clear (false) |
| PS_SCR_HOST | Variable | localhost | The server host to connect to when executing a script |
| PS_SCR_PORT | Variable | 7700 | The port for the server host to connect to when executing a script |
| PS_SCR_PWD | Variable | administrator | The application username to use when executing a script |
| PS_SCR_USER | Variable | administrator | The application password to use when executing a script |
| PS_SYNC | Variable | If set to true then the pserver scripts operates synchronously and outputs to standard output. This is useful when the server refuses to start as you can see instantly the reasons why. Do not use this setting for normal operation. | |
| PS_TAG | Variable | PSERVER | Used to identify a running java process that is the server. Change this if it conflicts with other running processes. |
| PS_TEMP | Variable | /tmp | Temporary files used by the scripts |
| PS_USER | Variable | automatic | The user executing the application, defaulted to the user who executed the pserver script (or any of its links) |
| PS_VERSION | Variable | automatic | The current product version |
| PS_VIEWER | Variable | more | The viewer to use when viewing the log |
The default user and install directory can be overridden with environment variables. By default, the **pserver **script takes the home directory of the current user that executes the script to work out the install directory and executing user. These can be overridden prior to execution. Other variables listed below can be set in the etc/env (or etc/environment) file.
| Variable | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PATH | Variable | /home/ [Category] /bin | /install_directory/bin needs to be added to the $PATH e.g. PATH=$PATH:/home/ [Category] / [Category] [Status]/bin |
| PS_HOME | Variable | /home/ [Category] | The installation directory for the server, automatically determined as the home directory of the executing user |
| PS_GROUP | Variable | automatic | Defaults to the effective group id of the executing user |
The server.properties file on the server can contain a wide range of configuration parameters that can be set. There are some additional tuning parameters that are not documented and should not be set without advice from your support representative.
The following settings may be required if you wish to configure the directories used to store the Experian Pandora database before the server is first started. Changing these settings allows you to move, for example, the root path for the database, or to move the Temp directory to a different physical drive to the rest of the database.
| Property | Default value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DirName.ROOT | /pandora | The root database directory |
| DirName.DATA | /pandora/data | The root variable data file directory |
| DirName.INDEX | /pandora/data/index | Directory for semi-permanent indexes |
| DirName.TABLE | /pandora/data/table | Directory for tables (one sub-directory per table) |
| DirName.TEMP | /pandora/data/temp | Directory for temporary files |
| DirName.EXPORT | /pandora/data/export | Directory for exported tables |
The default port number used by the Experian Pandora client is 7700. Should you wish to change this, the line to look at in the server.properties file is:
Server.port=7700
When setting up the Experian Pandora server, as much RAM as possible should be made available on the system. It is not necessary to dedicate all available memory to the Experian Pandora application, as there is a benefit to leaving memory for the OS file cache. This is something that can be adjusted at a later time based on resource needs or performance requirements.
These settings can be modified on Windows by editing the corresponding .ini file in the Experian Pandora installation directory (e.g. Experian Pandora service 64bit.ini) or on Linux in the installation directory under …/etc/<PLATFORM_NAME> in the corresponding files located there (e.g. pserver).
This is the maximum amount of memory to be used. This is a loose limit as some memory will be allocated directly from the operating system, and, in general, should be set to around 75% of available system memory.
Default value: (70% of System memory between 1GB and 32GB system memory)
-Xms70:1000:32000P
Example: to specify a fixed 24GB for the application: -Xms24g
This is the initial amount of memory to use upon start up. For the best performance this should be the same as the Xmx setting to avoid fragmentation of memory.
Default value:
-Xms70:1000:32000P
These are the number of threads used for garbage collection (background de-allocation of server memory) and should be set to half the number of available processor cores on the machine.
Default values:
-XX:ParallelGCThreads=2
-XX:ConcGCThreads=2
If your Experian Pandora client(s) are already installed, follow these steps to connect them to the server, otherwise follow the instructions to install the client(s) on the target machine(s).
On the machine where the client is installed:
From the Start menu, click Experian Pandora Client <version>.
In the pop up dialog, enter the server address and port number, your credentials and click Login. The default credentials are:
username: administrator
password: administrator
We recommend that you change the default credentials immediately after initial installation (in the Experian Pandora client, right-click Home > User > Change password…). For other users, we recommend that the administrator logs in and either changes the passwords before handing out login details or deletes them and creates their own set of users. The other default users (other than admin) are mainly for getting started or demonstrations.
Got an error message? Click here to troubleshoot.
If you don't already have a license key, you will need to request one when you first log into Experian Pandora. On the License Key screen, clicking the Email button will populate an email with the information. Send the email, and when you receive your license key, paste it here.
You're all set!
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