Installing Faspex with a Setup File

Faspex is a file exchange application built upon IBM Aspera HST Server and other Aspera transfer products as a centralized transfer solution. In order to make transfers, Faspex communicates with a node through the Node API. The Node API is a daemon on the transfer server that offers REST-inspired file operations and a transfer management API.

It is possible to automate the installation of Faspex by using setup files to define configuration options that are manually set during a typical installation. You must first use the asctl command to generate a setup file with the desired configuration information. After you have created the setup files, you can use them to install Faspex.

Generate the Setup Files

  1. Install the Aspera common applications and the Faspex packages, in that order. 
    # rpm -Uvh aspera-common-version
# rpm -Uvh aspera-faspex-version
    Note: Do not run the asctl faspex:setup command. That command initiates a typical Faspex installation.
  2. Create the setup files for the Aspera common and Faspex applications.
    The filenames of the setup files must end with the .yml extension. Run the following commands:
    # asctl apache:create_setup_file /path/to/apache_setup_file.yml
# asctl mysql:create_setup_file /path/to/mysql_setup_file.yml
# asctl faspex:create_setup_file /path/to/faspex_setup_file.yml
    You are prompted to set the desired configuration options used to install each application.

Install Faspex Using the Setup Files

Use the setup files to install the Aspera common and Faspex applications.
Run the following commands manually or through a script to install the applications:
# asctl apache:setup_from_file /path/to/apache_setup_file.yml
# asctl mysql:setup_from_file /path/to/mysql_setup_file.yml
# asctl faspex:setup_from_file /path/to/faspex_setup_file.yml

First Time Log In and Licensing

  1. Open a supported browser and enter the Faspex hostname or IP address followed by /aspera/faspex in the browser URL. For example:

    http://faspex.example.com/aspera/faspex

    or
    http://198.51.100.24/aspera/faspex
    Note: For security reasons, Faspex versions 4.0.3 and later by default only allow login using the hostname that is configured in the faspex.yml configuration file (the hostname you designated during installation). If you try to log in to the application from an unlisted hostname or perform a GET request with an unlisted hostname, Faspex returns the error, "Invalid hostname". To access Faspex from an alternate hostname, follow the instructions in Configuring the Faspex Web Server.
  2. Enter the login credentials you created for the admin user and click Login.
    When logging in for the first time, you are prompted to change your password and then asked to login with the new password.
  3. Configure a valid license.
    Click Browse to upload a license file from your computer or paste the contents of your license into the box. Then click Update and validate license. You cannot interact with Faspex until configuring a valid license.