Installation

Before you install the software, make sure you meet the following requirements:

• you have at least a few GB of storage for the data.

• your networking environment does not block TCP connections between components.

The installation procedure covers the server and the agents.

Server

The server binary is distributed as both deb and rpm packages. First of all, you need to download the server installation package for your platform and architecture. If you want to serve the workstation application from the Flopsar server, download flopsar-workstation.zip file too. For Debian based distributions you can install it by executing the following command:

# dpkg -i flopsar-server.<arch>.deb

For Red Hat based distributions you can install it by executing one of the following commands:

# rpm -ih flopsar-server.<arch>.rpm
# zypper install flopsar-server.<arch>.rpm
# yum install flopsar-server.<arch>.rpm

In both cases, the installation procedure performs the following operations:

• installs flopsar-server binary

• creates a flopsar user, which is used to run the server

• adds a flopsar systemd service

• creates a global configuration at /etc/flopsar

Environment Installation

When the server is installed, next you need to create a new Flopsar environment where the data will be stored. You have two options at your disposal, either bundled environment or separated one.

Workstation Included

Copy flopsar-workstation.zip to your destination machine. Now, you need to create a new Flopsar environment by executing the following command:

$ flopsar-server create --app flopsar-workstation.zip <server_home>

where <server_home> is a path to the location where the server home directory will be created. If the command executes successfully, it will create a new directory at the specified path.

Workstation Excluded

You need to create a new Flopsar environment by executing the following command:

$ flopsar-server create <server_home>

where <server_home> is a path to the location where the server home directory will be created. If the command executes successfully, it will create a new directory at the specified path.

Note, since the workstation application is not served from the Flopsar server in this case, you need to download the flopsar-workstation.zip file and install it on your own web server.

For example, in nginx web server you should add the following location sections to your server configuration:

nginx.conf

server {
  .....

  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
  }
  location /api/ {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:9443;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
  }
 
  ....
}

The example above assumes that the Flopsar server listens to requests on localhost:9443 socket address and the Flopsar server has its ssl.enable configuration option value set to false. Obviously, you should adjust the proxy_pass option to your own needs according to the server configuration.

If you start the server using systemd, note that it will run it as flopsar user by default. Make sure this user has read/write permissions to the environment directory.

Server Configuration

The server stores its configuration globally in /etc/flopsar/settings.yml file. You must edit this file to make at least two changes. The first one is required and you must accept the EULA by setting option eula: true otherwise, you will not be able to run the server. The second one is to set the data option, which points to you environment directory.

This new environment will be created with some default settings. Adjust these settings to your needs accordingly. Please, refer to the server configuration for more details.

Running the Server

Finally, you can start the server by executing the following command:

# systemctl start flopsar

If you installed the workstation application bundled with the Flopsar Server, then you can access the application at the address specified at the server configuration. If you installed the workstation application outside the Flopsar server, you can access it at the address specified in your web server configuration. In either case, you should be able to access the workstation application login page at the address: https://<YOUR_IP>:9443

Workstation Login Page

Default credentials are: admin/flopsar

Docker Image

Alternatively, you can use a Docker image which has preinstalled the server along with the workstation. All you need to do is pull the image.

$ docker pull flopsar/server:6.2

Quick start

Next, run the server by executing the following command:

$ docker run -d -p 9443:9443 -p 9000:9000 -p 4137:4137 -p 4138:4138 flopsar/server:6.2

or if you use podman:

$ podman run -d -p 9443:9443 -p 9000:9000 docker.io/flopsar/server:6.2

Please note, if the server is run in this way, the EULA is accepted automatically.

External storage

Alternatively, if you want to store the Flopsar data outside the container execute the following command:

$ docker run -d --name flopsar -p 9443:9443 -p 9000:9000 -p 4137:4137 -p 4138:4138 \\
    -v /your/directory:/opt/flopsar flopsar/server:6.2

The Flopsar server is run by flopsar user (uid=999), so make sure they have write access to /your/directory.

Quick Sample Installation

This section presents a sample, quick installation of the Flopsar server. First download the installation package along with the workstation application. Next, execute the following command:

$ sudo dpkg -i flopsar-server.amd64.deb

or if you use rpm package:

$ sudo rpm -i flopsar-server.x86_64.rpm

Next, let's create a new Flopsar environment at /opt directory:

$ sudo flopsar-server create --app flopsar-workstation.zip /opt/flopsar

If the environment has been created successfully, the following output should be displayed:

 Creating a new Flopsar Server environment...
 Unpacking Flopsar Workstation application...
 Flopsar Server environment created successfully.

Next, change the ownership of the environment directory to flopsar user:

$ sudo chown -R flopsar /opt/flopsar

Next, open the /etc/flopsar/settings.yml file:

eula: false
name: my environment
data: /change/me
max_ext_size: 1MiB
agent:
  server_ip: 0.0.0.0
  server_port: 9000
ui_srv:
  server_ip: 0.0.0.0
  server_port: 9443
  ssl: false
otlp:
  enable: true
  http:  
    server_ip: 0.0.0.0
    server_port: 4318
  grpc:
    server_ip: 0.0.0.0
    server_port: 4317
    ssl: false
ssl:
  cert: server.crt
  key: server.pem
logger:
  backend: Local
  max_size: 50MiB
  max_files: 5
archive:
  enable: false
  policy: purge
  start_at: 03:00:00.0
  retention: 3days
pass_policy:
  enable: false 
  min_len: 8
  digits: false 
  special_chars: false
  capital_letters: false
  forbidden_chars: ''

and make changes in both eula and data options (line 1 and 3):

eula: true
name: my environment
data: /opt/flopsar
max_ext_size: 1MiB
agent:
  server_ip: 0.0.0.0
  server_port: 9000
ui_srv:
  server_ip: 0.0.0.0
  server_port: 9443
  ssl: false
otlp:
  enable: true
  http:  
    server_ip: 0.0.0.0
    server_port: 4318
  grpc:
    server_ip: 0.0.0.0
    server_port: 4317
    ssl: false
ssl:
  cert: server.crt
  key: server.pem
logger:
  backend: Local
  max_size: 50MiB
  max_files: 5
archive:
  enable: false
  policy: purge
  start_at: 03:00:00.0
  retention: 3days
pass_policy:
  enable: false 
  min_len: 8
  digits: false 
  special_chars: false
  capital_letters: false
  forbidden_chars: ''

And finally, start the server:

$ sudo systemctl start flopsar

Now, you should be able to access the workstation application at https://localhost:9443

Agent

To install the Flopsar agent, follow carefully the instructions below:

1. select the agent library file for your platform and architecture.

2. copy the agent library to your server machine.

3. configure the agent.

4. restart your application.

OpenTelemetry Agents

To install OpenTelemetry agents, please refer to OpenTelemetry documentation and the server section.