Created by James Hurrell, last modified on Jan 13, 2023
Summary: step-by-step instructions for installing CAST Extend local server.

Microsoft Windows

Download the installation media

Download the latest release of CAST Extend Offline from https://extend.castsoftware.com/#/extension?id=com.castsoftware.aip.extendproxy&version=latest.

Run the installation

Interactive setup

Double click the executable file as provided with the installation media. You may be prompted to allow the installation - click Yes:

The installation wizard will be displayed. Read and accept the license agreement and click Next:

Choose a location on the local machine that will be used for the installation. The setup will suggest: %PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend, but you are free to choose a different location. Click Next to continue:

Fill in the required information. Note that Server name and Server port will form the CAST Extend local server URL that needs to be configured in AIP Console or in Extension Downloader:

Server hostname The setup will use the server's hostname as defined in Windows.
Server port The setup will use port 8085 by default. If you have another service running on this port, you are free to choose a different port number. Note that CAST Extend Offline also uses this port number by default, therefore if you already have CAST Extend Offline installed, please ensure you are not using the same port, or uninstall CAST Extend Offline.
Data folder location

Choose a location to store the CAST Extend local server data - i.e. the extensions that have been downloaded automatically or manually uploaded. The setup will suggest: %PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\Extend.

A brief summary of the chosen options will be displayed. The installation will start when you click Install:

The installation will proceed:

A summary screen will be displayed. Please take note of the following information (note that this information is also stored in the following file %PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend\readme.txt)

  • API key - this will be required when configuring AIP Console to use CAST Extend local server.
  • The CAST Extend local server Administration Center URL - this will be opened in your default browser and allows you to manage the instance - see Manage CAST Extend local server via Administration Center.

Click Next to terminate the installation process:

Silent installation

If you would prefer to run a silent installation, please use the following command line:

com.castsoftware.aip.extendproxy.<version>.exe /SP- /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /LOG="filename.log" /LOADINF="filename.inf"
/SILENT Instructs Setup to be totally silent. When Setup is totally silent the wizard, the background window and the installation progress window are not displayed. Everything else is normal, so for example error messages during installation are displayed. If you do want the progress window to be displayed, use /SILENT instead.
/LOG="filename.log" Allows you to specify a fixed path/filename to use for the log file, for example install.log. If a file with the specified name already exists it will be overwritten. If the file cannot be created, Setup will abort with an error message.
/LOADINF="filename.inf"

Instructs Setup to load the settings from the specified file after having checked the command line, for example install.inf. The file should be defined before running the installation, with the following syntax:

[Setup]
Lang=english
Dir=C:\Program Files\CAST\Extend
Group=CAST Extend
NoIcons=0
Tasks=
ServerName=my_server_hostname
ServerPort=my_port_number
ExtendMail=my_extend_email
ExtendPassword=my_extend_password
DataDir=C:\ProgramData\CAST\Extend

Modify Dir, ServerName, ServerPort, ExtendMail and ExtendPassword to the required values, for example:

  • Dir= the path to the installation location. CAST recommends installing to C:\Program Files\CAST\Extend, but you are free to change this to another location if necessary.
  • ServerName= the host name of the server on which you are installing the service
  • ServerPort= the port number on which the service will run. CAST recommends using 8085, but you are free to change this if necessary.
  • ExtendMail= enter your CAST Extend login email address
  • ExtendPassword= enter your CAST Extend password corresponding to the login you entered for ExtendMail=

Note that the Microsoft Windows UAC prompt will be displayed regardless. It is not possible to supress this.

What is installed?

Files

On completion of the installation, all files related to CAST Extend are stored in:

%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend
%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\Extend

Windows Services

The following Windows Services will be created:

Windows Service name Description Listening Port Auto start? Notes
CAST_ExtendProxy CAST Extend local server service 8085 (default) (tick) You may need to adjust firewall rules on the server to allow incoming connections on the listening port.

Running executables

CAST Extend local server runs under the following executables:

%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend\tools\nssm.exe
%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend\NodeJS\node.exe

Installed third-party software

The following table lists all third-party software that is shipped and installed with CAST Extend local server:

Software Version
Node.js 10.15.3

Docker for Linux

Run the following command to download the image from Docker Hub, create the container and set the required options:

docker run -d --name cast_extend_proxy -p <PORT_MACHINE>:8085 -u 0 -v <FOLDER_DATA_MACHINE>:/opt/cast_extend_proxy/data -e host_port=<PORT_MACHINE> -e host_name=<NAME_OF_YOUR_MACHINE> -e LOGDEBUG=off castimaging/extend-proxy:latest

Where:

  • <PORT_MACHINE> is the port on which you want to run CAST Extend local server - CAST recommends setting this to 8085.
  • <FOLDER_DATA_MACHINE> is a folder on the local machine which will be used to persist the configuration data and any extensions that require storing.
  • <NAME_OF_YOUR_MACHINE> is your machine's FQDN, which you can obtain by running the "hostname -f" command.

When the container is up and running (check using the "docker ps" command) you will need to run the following command to obtain the API key (this will be required when configuring AIP Console to use CAST Extend local server and the CAST Extend local server Administration Center URL:

docker logs cast_extend_proxy

For example:

logs

Initial post install setup

When CAST Extend local server has been installed, browse to the admin URL provided in the last screen of the setup installer, preferably from a different machine on your local network. You can find out more about accessing the Administration Center in Manage CAST Extend local server via Administration Center. For example, change server_name and port to match your installation:

http://<server>:<port>/ui/admin?<unique_guid>

If CAST Extend local server is functioning, the Administration Center will be displayed. You should now make some initial choices about how CAST Extend local server functions - see Manage CAST Extend local server via Administration Center for an explanation of the available options:

Configuring AIP Console to use CAST Extend local server

To use CAST Extend local server in AIP Console there are two methods, available in AIP Console ≥ 1.21.0-funcrel:

Configuration during initial start-up wizard (new installations)

During the initial start-up wizard, an option will be available in Step 4: Connect to CAST Extend:

The required information is as follows:

CAST Extend URL

Enter the URL of your on-premises deployment of CAST Extend local server. This will take the form:

http://server:port

By default CAST Extend local server runs on port 8085.
API key

Enter your CAST Extend local server API key. This will have been generated during the installation of CAST Extend local server and is displayed in the final summary screen of the installer or in the docker logs:

 

Alternatively when installing on Microsoft Windows, you can find the API key in the following location on the server on which CAST Extend local server is installed:

≥ 2.0.0-funcrel
%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\Extend\config.proxy.json
 
≤ 1.3.0-funcrel
%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend\config.proxy.json

The key is located on the line APIKEY:

{
  "PORT": 8085,
  "STORAGE_DIR": "c:/ProgramData/CAST/Extend",
  "PACKAGE_DIR": null,
  "LOG_DIR": "C:/Program Files/CAST/Extend/logs",
  "PUBLIC_URL": "http://WIN10TEST:8085/",
  "EXTEND_URL": "https://extend.castsoftware.com",
  "APIKEY": "<api_key>",
  "ADMI": "admi1b878be2b185ff2ceada943c07b066c3bbfd9f9f5c5d931fe57da43e7b98dd4cad77ad4aacd95141ebb8b27d2edd666b5ab91f76cc95ae4b2e9c7c95121eb5322",
  "SYNC_TYPE": "auto"
}

Configuration in System Settings (existing upgraded installations)

If you are currently using CAST Extend (live) or CAST Extend Offline, you can switch to CAST Extend local server using the CAST Extend - System Settings in the Administration Center. The same settings are required as explained above for the initial startup-wizard:

Updating the available extensions in CAST Extend local server

CAST Extend local server is provided empty but will be automatically populated when an extension is requested by AIP Console/Extension Downloader. It is also possible to update the content manually - see Update CAST Extend local server with new content. 

If you want to simply add all "product", "user community" and "labs" extensions to a bundle (.extarchive file), you can use the following commands:

ExtendCli.exe config set api-key <YOUR API KEY>
ExtendCli.exe bundle clear
ExtendCli.exe bundle template add product
ExtendCli.exe bundle template add community
ExtendCli.exe bundle template add labs
Extendcli.exe bundle pack -o <Folder path>

Proxy configuration

If the AIP Node/Server accessing CAST Extend local server is configured to pass all outgoing connections through a proxy (via the Windows proxy settings or via the AIP Console settings), then you may need to whitelist the IP address/host name of the server running CAST Extend Offline in order to route connections correctly.