Microsoft Windows installation variables

Overview

A list and explanation of the variables available for an Installation on Microsoft Windows.

config-all.conf (single machine mode)

VariableDescription
PUBLIC_URLDefines the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) for the current machine to allow users to access CAST Imaging over the internal network. For example, imaging.corp.domain.com. If you do not intend to access the installed UI from remote devices in your network (i.e. you will be accessing it from the same machine it is installed on), then you can leave this variable set to localhost.
HOSTNAME_xxxDefines the hostname for communication between specific CAST Imaging services. These variables can be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name), or you can leave these variables at the default localhost since all communication is within the same machine. Whichever you choose, all variables must use the same type, i.e. all must use localhost or all must use the FQDN.
ANALYSIS_NODE_HOSTNAMEDefines the hostname for your analysis-node service. This variable can be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name), or you can leave this variable at the default localhost since all communication is within the same machine.
PORT_xxx or xxx_PORTDefines the TCP port number for each CAST Imaging service. These variables can be customized, or you can leave these variables at the default.
CSS_INFOSDetails of your local or remote CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance in the format HOSTNAME:PORT, e.g. the FQDN or hostname such as css.corp.domain.com:2284. This instance will be used to store the persistence schemas control_panel and keycloak in the postgres database (by default but can be modified). It will also be automatically added as a data storage target for analysis data in the Database Connection List. Only use localhost:PORT if your CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance is installed on the SAME machine as ALL other components. See also Database requirements.
CSS_USER and CSS_PASSWORDCredentials (username/password) for your CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance defined via CSS_INFOS. These fields will be prepopulated with the default operator/CastAIP credentials. Note that if you do not want the password in plain text in the configuration file for security reasons, leave the CSS_PASSWORD entry blank and you will be prompted for the password during the installation process. If you are using credentials other than the default prepopulated values, then you should enter them and replace the default values. In this specific situation (custom credentials), you will ALSO need to enter your custom password in encrypted form using the CSS_ENCRYPTED_PASSWORD field (see below).
CSS_ENCRYPTED_PASSWORDThis variable is specifically and ONLY for use when your target CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance is configured with credentials (either username and/or password) other than the default operator/CastAIP. If this is the case, you should enter the custom username under CSS_USER, the unencrypted custom password under CSS_PASSWORD (you can leave the variable blank and fill in during the installation when prompted if necessary) and you should finally enter an encrypted version of the same password as used for CSS_PASSWORD in CSS_ENCRYPTED_PASSWORD. To encrypt the password use the imaging-encryption-tool.bat tool located in the tools folder in the unzipped installation media.
CSS_SSL_ENABLEDSet this option to true if your target CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance defined by CSS_INFOS is functioning in encrypted TLS mode. Setting this to true ensures that the installer can interact with the encrypted database instance. It also means you must supply values for the following: CSS_SSL_MODE, CSS_SSL_ROOT_CERT, CSS_SSL_CERT, CSS_SSL_KEY, CSS_SSL_KEY_PEM, CSS_INI_FILE_PATH. You can find out more about encrypted modes for your databases instance in Configuring and using an encrypted database instance and Installing or updating CAST Imaging with certificate-based database authentication.
CSS_SSL_MODEOne of disable, allow, prefer, require, verify-ca, verify-full. More details about this setting can be found in https://www.postgresql.org/docs/13/libpq-ssl.htmlexternal link. This variable will match the PostgreSQL parameter PGSSLMODE.
CSS_SSL_ROOT_CERTThe full path to root.crt file on the local file system. This variable will match the PostgreSQL SSL parameter PGSSLROOTCERT. See Generate certificates and keys.
CSS_SSL_CERTThe full path to client.crt file on the local file system. This variable will match the PostgreSQL SSL parameter PGSSLCERT. See Generate certificates and keys.
CSS_SSL_KEYThe full path to client.key file on the local file system. This variable will match the PostgreSQL SSL parameter PGSSLKEY. See Generate certificates and keys.
CSS_SSL_KEY_PEMThe full path to client.pem.pk8 file on the local file system for JDBC connections. See Generate certificates and keys.
CSS_INI_FILE_PATHThe full path to the .ini file containing information about the target CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance. See Configuring and using an encrypted database instance and Installing or updating CAST Imaging with certificate-based database authentication.
V3_DB_NAMEThe database you would like to use to store the control-panel persistence schema (postgres or other custom database). See also Database requirements.
KEYCLOAK_DBThe name of the database you would like to use to store the CAST Imaging authentication system (Keycloak) persistence schema (keycloak). See also Database requirements. Note that in previous releases (3.5.3-funcrel and earlier), this variable was set to keycloak_v3 by default which created a database called keycloak_v3 and used the public schema for tables etc.
INSTALL_DIRRoot installation location for this installer, e.g. C:\Program Files\CAST\Imaging. If the chosen path is anything other than C:\Program Files, it must not contain any white space.
DATA_DIRSets the installation data folder (avoid using a network drive (even mapped)). A default data folder will be assigned if you do not provide a value here, as follows:
  • With INSTALL_DIR set to the default (or any folder in %PROGRAMFILES%), DATA_DIR will be automatically set to %PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\Imaging.
  • With INSTALL_DIR set to a custom location, then a folder called Data will be created in the root of INSTALL_DIR.
AIP_INSTALLDIRCAST Imaging Core component installation location (i.e. where CAST Imaging Core is installed on the local machine) e.g: C:\Program Files\CAST\8.4.
DELETE_ADDITIONAL_DATA_FOLDERSSet to true if you would like the installer to delete the contents of the folders defined by the options SHARED_FOLDER, DELIVERY_FOLDER and DEPLOY_FOLDER (this is recommended when you want to perform a clean install and you want to re-use the same folders). If the option is set to false (default) then these folders will not be deleted and will be re-used during the installation.
SHARED_FOLDER, DELIVERY_FOLDER, DEPLOY_FOLDERDetails of the folder paths for analysis data storage for each node (each path must be distinct). In a single machine installation scenario (all components on one single machine) and you do not intend to add additional nodes in the future, these paths can point to local paths on the machine itself. If no value is assigned, the default paths will be used: C:\cast-node\common-data, C:\cast-node\delivery and C:\cast-node\deploy. See also analysis-node file storage locations and Software requirements for more information about the user account required to run the Microsoft Windows Services when using share network folders.
SOURCES_FOLDER_LOCATIONOptional (only available for single machine/standalone installations): auto configures a path to your application source code for delivery purposes. See Configuring source code delivery from a folder. This path will be checked for validity during the installation - if it is not accessible it is logged in the installation log and will not be configured.
INSTANCE_IDThis variable determines how the name of the Node Service is displayed in CAST Imaging in Services. If you make no change, the default is used: MACHINE_HOSTNAME:8099.
USE_IPADDRESSThis variable is set to false by default and should be left in this position for standalone installations (all on one machine) . Set to true if you are installing CAST Imaging on multiple machines (distributed/enterprise installation) or you are adding additional nodes to an initial installation all on one machine.
XXX_START_AS_USER and XXX_START_AS_PASSWORDThese variables determine the user account used to run the Microsoft Windows services. See also Software requirements.
LICENSE_KEYOptional: The global license key (Contributing Developers) in plain text. This will avoid the need to provide this key during the initial start-up of the imaging-services component. Note that if you intend to use Named Application license keys, do not use this variable (you will need to choose the Named Application option in the initial configuration wizard).
EXTEND_API_KEYOptional: The Extend API key in encrypted format. To encrypt the key use the executable JAR (requires an installation of Java) located in \tools\bin\imaging-encryption-tool.jar in the unzipped global installer folder. This will avoid the need to provide this key during the initial start-up of the imaging-services component.

config-imaging-services.conf (distributed / read-only modes)

VariableDescription
PUBLIC_URLDefines the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) for the current machine to allow users to access CAST Imaging over the internal network. For example, imaging.corp.domain.com. This variable must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name).
HOSTNAME_xxxDefines the hostnames for the imaging-services services. All these variables must be identical within the file, must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) and must be identical to PUBLIC_URL.
PORT_xxxDefines the TCP port number for the imaging-services services. These variables can be customized, or you can leave these variables at the default.
CSS_INFOSDetails of your local or remote CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance in the format HOSTNAME:PORT, e.g. the FQDN or hostname such as css.corp.domain.com:2284. This instance will be used to store the persistence schemas control_panel and keycloak in the postgres database (by default but can be modified). It will also be automatically added as a data storage target for analysis data in the Database Connection List. Only use localhost:PORT if your CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance is installed on the SAME machine as ALL other components. See also Database requirements.
CSS_USER and CSS_PASSWORDSee description above.
CSS_SSL_ENABLEDSee description above.
CSS_SSL_MODESee description above.
CSS_SSL_ROOT_CERTSee description above.
CSS_SSL_CERTSee description above.
CSS_SSL_KEYSee description above.
CSS_SSL_KEY_PEMSee description above.
CSS_INI_FILE_PATHSee description above.
CSS_ENCRYPTED_PASSWORDSee description above.
V3_DB_NAMESee description above.
KEYCLOAK_DBSee description above.
SECURED_CONNECTIONUsed for the health check actioned at the end of the component installation process to check that the component is “up” and running. For an initial installation of this component where HTTPS has not yet been enabled, this option must be set to false. If you subsequently enable HTTPS and are performing a component update to a new release, this variable must be changed to true.
INSTALL_DIRSee description above
DATA_DIRSee description above
SHARED_FOLDER, DELIVERY_FOLDER, DEPLOY_FOLDERDetails of the folder paths for analysis data storage for each node (each path must be distinct). In an enterprise/distributed deployment, a mapped network share drive or a UNC path of the network share must be used, for example: \\server\imaging\shared etc., so that all nodes can access common data. If no value is assigned, the default paths will be used: C:\cast-node\common-data, C:\cast-node\delivery and C:\cast-node\deploy and then these must be shared across the network. See also analysis-node file storage locations and Software requirements for more information about the user account required to run the Microsoft Windows Services when using shared network folders.
SOURCES_FOLDER_LOCATIONSee description above.
XXX_START_AS_USER and XXX_START_AS_PASSWORDSee description above
LICENSE_KEYSee description above
EXTEND_API_KEYSee description above

config-analysis-node.conf (distributed / read-only modes)

VariableDescription
HOST_HOSTNAMEDefines the hostname for the analysis-node service. This variable must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) and must be identical to PUBLIC_URL.
PORT_ANALYSIS_NODEDefines the TCP port number for the service. This variable can be customized, or you can leave it at the default.
PUBLIC_URLDefines the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) for the current machine. For example, imaging.corp.domain.com. This variable must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) and must be identical to HOST_HOSTNAME.
CSS_INFOSDetails of your local or remote CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance in the format HOSTNAME:PORT, e.g. the FQDN or hostname such as css.corp.domain.com:2284. This instance will be used to store the persistence schemas control_panel and keycloak in the postgres database (by default but can be modified). It will also be automatically added as a data storage target for analysis data in the Database Connection List. Only use localhost:PORT if your CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance is installed on the SAME machine as ALL other components. See also Database requirements.
CSS_USER and CSS_PASSWORDSee description above.
CSS_SSL_ENABLEDSee description above.
CSS_SSL_MODESee description above.
CSS_SSL_ROOT_CERTSee description above.
CSS_SSL_CERTSee description above.
CSS_SSL_KEYSee description above.
CSS_SSL_KEY_PEMSee description above.
CSS_INI_FILE_PATHSee description above.
V3_DB_NAMESee description above.
HOSTNAME_xxxDefines the hostname for communication from the node service to the specific imaging-services services. These variables must always be updated to the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) of the machine hosting the imaging-services component (to match the PUBLIC_URL defined in the config-imaging-services.conf or config-all.conf files) so that the Node can access the required services over the internal network.
PORT_xxxDefines the TCP port numbers for communication from the dashboards service to the specific imaging-services services. These port numbers must match the same variable defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file or config-all.conf file.
SECURED_CONNECTIONUsed for the health check actioned at the end of the component installation process to check that the component is “up” and running. For an initial installation of this component where HTTPS has not yet been enabled, this option must be set to false. If you subsequently enable HTTPS and are installing an additional node or you are performing a component update to a new release, this variable must be changed to true.
INSTALL_DIRSee description above
DATA_DIRSee description above
AIP_INSTALLDIRSee description above
DELETE_ADDITIONAL_DATA_FOLDERSSet to true if you would like the installer to delete the content of the folders defined by the options SHARED_FOLDER, DELIVERY_FOLDER and DEPLOY_FOLDER in the config-imaging-services.conf or config-all.conf files (this is recommended when you want to perform a clean install). If the option is set to false(default) then these folders will not be deleted and will be re-used during the installation.
INSTANCE_IDSee description above
USE_IPADDRESSThis variable is set to false by default and should be set to true if you are installing CAST Imaging on multiple machines (distributed/enterprise installation) or you are adding additional nodes to an initial installation all on one machine.
XXX_START_AS_USER and XXX_START_AS_PASSWORDThese variables determine the user account used to run the Microsoft Windows services. See also Software requirements.

config-imaging-viewer.conf (distributed / read-only modes)

VariableDescription
HOSTNAME_VIEWERDefines the hostname for imaging-viewer service. This variable must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name).
HOSTNAME_CONTROL_PANELDefines the hostname for communication from the imaging-viewer service to the specific imaging-services services, therefore this variable must always be updated to the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) of the machine hosting the imaging-services component (to match the PUBLIC_URL defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file) so that the imaging-viewer service can access the required services over the internal network.
PORT_CONTROL_PANELDefines the TCP port numbers for communication from the dashboards service to the specific imaging-services services. This port numbers must match the same variable defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file.
INSTALL_DIRSee description above
DATA_DIRSee description above
All other PORT optionsThese determine the running port for the various imaging-viewer services. CAST recommends these are left at their default.

config-imaging-dashboards.conf (distributed / read-only modes)

VariableDescription
HOST_HOSTNAMEDefines the hostname for the dashboards service. This variable must always be updated to the current machine’s “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name).
PORT_DASHBOARDSDefines the TCP port number for the service. This variable can be customized, or you can leave it at the default.
DASHBOARDS_START_AS_USER and DASHBOARDS_START_AS_PASSWORDThis variable determines the user account used to run the Microsoft Windows services. See also Software requirements.
INSTALL_DIRSee description above
DATA_DIRSee description above
HOSTNAME_AUTH_SERVICE, HOSTNAME_CONTROLPANEL and HOSTNAME_CONSOLEDefines the hostname for communication from the dashboards service to the specific imaging-services services, therefore these variables must always be updated to the “public” hostname (FQDN - fully qualified domain name) of the machine hosting the imaging-services component (to match the PUBLIC_URL defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file) so that the dashboards service can access the required services over the internal network.
PORT_AUTH_SERVICE, PORT_CONTROL_PANEL and PORT_CONSOLEDefines the TCP port numbers for communication from the dashboards service to the specific imaging-services services. These port numbers must match the same variables defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file.
V3_DB_NAMEMust match the same variable defined in the config-imaging-services.conf file. See description above