For more complex Content Services installations, or if you wish to use an existing Tomcat application server, you can use the Web Archive (WAR) bundle to install Content Services on any platform. For manual installation, you must ensure that the required software is installed on the machine.

Use this method of installing Content Services if you’ve already have installed a JRE, a supported database, a supported application server, a message broker, and the additional components.

For information about securing Tomcat, see Tomcat security considerations.

Install application server

Install an instance of Tomcat manually and modify it to use the correct directory structure and files for Content Services.

The installation directory for Tomcat is represented as <TOMCAT_HOME>.

1. Download and install Tomcat following the instructions from http://tomcat.apache.org.

   See the supported platforms page for the supported versions.

2. Create an additional classpath to Tomcat, which will be shared among all web applications.

   1. Create the directories required for a Content Services installation under <TOMCAT_HOME>:

      • Create the shared/classes directory.
      • Create the shared/lib directory.

   2. Open the <TOMCAT_HOME>/conf/catalina.properties file.

   3. Change the value of the shared.loader= property to the following:

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       shared.loader=${catalina.base}/shared/classes,${catalina.base}/shared/lib/*.jar
      

3. Copy the JDBC drivers for the database you are using to the lib directory.

4. (Optional) If you plan to use Kerberos authentication.

   By default, Tomcat uses an 8 KB header buffer size, which might not be large enough for the Kerberos authentication protocol. We need to increase this buffer size. To make this change, edit the <TOMCAT_HOME>/conf/server.xml file and change the <Connector> defined for HTTP traffic as follows:

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    <Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
        URIEncoding="UTF-8"
        connectionTimeout="20000"
        maxHttpHeaderSize="32768"
        redirectPort="8443" />
   

5. (Optional) Configure additional connectors.

   You might want to connect from your front end load balancer with a different protocol, like AJP, or you might want to terminate TLS directly in Tomcat.

   In these cases, you need to add additional connectors to Tomcat. Follow the official Tomcat documentation for these use cases, and make sure to increase the maxHttpHeaderSize on these additional Connectors as well (in case you plan to use Kerberos).

6. (Optional) Enable Simple JAR modules.

   The repository allows you to provide extensions outside of the web application, known as simple JAR modules. If you want to enable this mechanism, follow these steps:

   1. Create the following directories under <TOMCAT_HOME>:

      1. modules/platform
      2. modules/share

   2. Copy the files alfresco.xml and share.xml from the distribution zip /web-server/conf/Catalina/localhost to <TOMCAT_HOME>/conf/Catalina/localhost (or hostname).

7. Configure mutual TLS for Solr communication.

   The communication with Solr is encrypted and authenticated via mutual TLS. For this connection, you need an additional Connector.

   Note: This Connector isn’t used by end users. Its sole purpose is to handle the communication with Solr.

   1. Open the <TOMCAT_HOME>/conf/server.xml file.

   2. Add the following Connector:

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       <Connector port="8443" protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol"
           SSLEnabled="true" maxThreads="150" scheme="https"
           keystoreFile="xxxxx"
           keystorePass="password" keystoreType="JCEKS"
           secure="true" connectionTimeout="240000"
           truststoreFile="xxxxx"
           truststorePass="password" truststoreType="JCEKS"
           clientAuth="want" sslProtocol="TLS" />
      

      Note: The keystore and truststore file locations in the above example will be created later, when you install and configure Alfresco Search Services.

      Note: If you’re using a different keystore or truststore type other than the default, JCEKS, you must change the value in the properties file.

8. Save the server.xml file.

Important: Remember to review and update the Connector details in server.xml, including the keystore and truststore file locations, after installing and configuring Alfresco Search Services.

Install Alfresco WARs

A WAR file is an archive file used to distribute a collection of files (JavaServer Pages, servlets, Java classes, XML files, tag libraries, and static web pages) that together constitute a web application.

Use this method of installing if you’ve already installed a JRE, a supported database, an application server, a message broker, and the additional components.

The Content Services distribution file is a zip containing the required WAR files, in addition to the additional commands, and configuration files for a manual installation.

1. Browse to Hyland Community.

2. Download the file: alfresco-content-services-distribution-6.2.x.zip

3. Specify a location for the download and extract the file to a system directory; for example <installLocation>.

   You’ll see the following directory structure - details are described later.

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    alfresco-pdf-renderer
    amps
    bin
    licenses
    web-server
   

   Important: If you don’t apply the Share Services AMP to the repository, Alfresco Share will not work correctly, and when you start up Share, you will see the message: “Alfresco Content Services is running without Share Services. See your System Administrator for more details.”

4. Move the WAR files from /web-server/webapps to the appropriate location for your application server.

   For example, for Tomcat, move the WAR files to the <TOMCAT_HOME>/webapps directory. If you already have a web application that’s running in the server root, see Installing into an existing web application for instructions on how to merge the files into your application.

5. Move the contents from /conf, and /lib under /web-server to the appropriate location for your application server.

   For example, for Tomcat, move the files to the existing directories under <TOMCAT_HOME>.

6. Remove all directories in <TOMCAT_HOME>/webapps.

   If you don’t remove these directories, then the WAR files aren’t deployed when the server starts.

7. Set the global properties as shown:

   1. Copy /web-server/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties.sample to <TOMCAT_HOME>/shared/classes.

   2. Replace the sample configuration with the following:

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       #
       # Set this property unless you have explicitly chosen to expose some repository APIs without authentication
       solr.secureComms=https
      
       #
       # Custom content and index data location
       #
       dir.root=/srv/alfresco/alf_data
       dir.keystore=${dir.root}/keystore
      
       #
       # Sample database connection properties
       #
       db.username=alfresco
       db.password=alfresco
      
       #
       # Choose DB connection properties for your database, e.g. for PostgreSQL
       #
       db.driver=org.postgresql.Driver
       db.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/alfresco
      
       #
       # URL Generation Parameters (The ${localname} token is replaced by the local server name)
       #-------------
       alfresco.context=alfresco
       alfresco.host=${localname}
       alfresco.port=8080
       alfresco.protocol=http
       share.context=share
       share.host=${localname}
       share.port=8080
       share.protocol=http
      

8. Save the file without the .sample extension.

9. Install Alfresco Search Services.

   See Install Alfresco Search Services for more information.

You’re now ready to install any additional software that you require, and install integrations.

Note: If you deployed previous versions of Content Services, you must remove any temporary files created by your application server. Use the clean_tomcat.bat or clean_tomcat.sh command.

Note: If you’re include Alfresco Content Connector for AWS S3 as part of your installation, don’t start Content Services before applying the S3 AMP file.

Important: After installation, you must generate and install your own certificates to secure the installation. For more information, see Generate secure keys.

Directory structure

After you’ve extracted the Content Services distribution zip, several directories and configuration files will be available in the Content Services home directory. This includes the required WAR files, additional commands, and configuration files for a manual installation. For example, the web-server directory has a standard Tomcat structure, and web-server/shared/classes contains the configuration files.

Tailor your installation

When installing Content Services, an important part of the configuration process is the removal of any unused applications. Use this information to determine any applications that you might want to remove from your installation and how to remove them.

For example, if you want a Share-only tier, remove the Alfresco WAR file and any Solr configurations. Likewise, if you want an Alfresco-only tier, remove the Alfresco Share WAR file and any Solr configurations.

Remove the alfresco.war file

The Alfresco WAR file is a bundle file containing the required WAR files, additional commands, configuration files, and licenses for a manual installation. Use this information to remove the alfresco.war file from your application.

If you want a Share-only tier in your application, you will need to delete the alfresco.war file from your application server. The alfresco.war file is stored in the <TOMCAT_HOME> directory.

1. Navigate to the <TOMCAT_HOME>/webapps directory.

2. Delete the alfresco.war file.

You’ve successfully removed the alfresco.war file from your application server.

Remove the share.war file

Use this information to remove the share.war file from your application.

If you want a Content Services-only tier in your application, you’ll need to delete the share.war file from your application server. The share.war file is stored in the <TOMCAT-HOME> directory.

1. Navigate to the <TOMCAT_HOME>/webapps directory.

2. Delete the share.war file.

You’ve successfully removed the share.war file from your application server.

Next, you can customize applications such as the configuration for Content Services, Alfresco Share, and Alfresco Search Services.

Adding a reverse proxy in front of Content Services

It’s good security practice to have a reverse proxy in front of your Content Services infrastructure. This proxy is then configured with a whitelist of allowed URLs, and blocks everything else.

You can find a sample NGINX configuration in our GitHub project, and the corresponding image in Docker Hub.