Installing Faspex with a Remote Node

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.

When installing Faspex on the same workstation as the transfer server, Faspex automatically configures the local node's aspera.conf configuration file and sets up a Node API user to communicate with the Node API. When installing Faspex on a machine without a transfer server, you must configure a remote transfer node for use with Faspex and connect that node to Faspex during the installation process.

Some use cases may require a user to install Faspex and the transfer server on separate machines. In such a case, first, configure the remote transfer server as a node. Then, install and configure the Faspex application.
Note: Before installing Aspera Faspex, make sure you disable SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) on your RedHat, CentOS or Fedora machine. SELinux, an access control implementation, causes the Faspex installation to fail with an error. Disable SELinux on your machine by following the instructions inDisabling SELinux.

Before You Begin...

Before beginning the installation process for Faspex, you must be logged into your computer as an admin .

  1. Review the System Requirements
  2. Download the latest version of IBM Aspera High Speed Transfer Server,Common Components and IBM Aspera Faspex installers from the following locations:

Install the Remote Transfer Server and Configuring the Node API

Nodes do not have to run on the same platform as the Faspex server. To set up your machine to run as a node, follow the instructions pertinent to the platform of the workstation.

The following instructions describe how to

Install Faspex on the Workstation

  1. Install the IBM Aspera Common Components.

    Use the following commands with proper administrative permissions to run the installers (replacing version accordingly): 

    # rpm -Uvh ibm-aspera-common-version.rpm
  2. Launch the Faspex installer.
    Note: The installer attempts to create a faspex system user and the associated /home/faspex directory. If your organization does not allow you to use the /home directory, first create the faspex user and configure the user directory with the following commands:
    # mkdir -p /home/faspex/faspex_packages
# chown faspex:faspex /home/faspex/
# chown faspex:faspex /home/faspex/faspex_packages
    The installer uses the faspex user that you created and does not need to create the faspex user directory.

    Use the following commands with proper administrative permissions to run the installers (replacing version accordingly): 

    # rpm -Uvh ibm-aspera-faspex-version.rpm
  3. Launch asctl to continue the Faspex setup process. Run the following command: 
    # asctl faspex:setup
  4. When prompted to perform a streamlined or detailed setup, choose to perform a detailed (d) setup.

    Follow the configuration instructions to complete the setup. The prompts the installer presents depends on whether this is a streamlined or detailed setup. See the table below for more information.

    Prompt Description Streamlined or Detailed Setup?
    What base port should the Mongrel servers start at? The default is 3000 Detailed setup
    Do you want to run the transfer server locally? (y/n) You must choose n. Detailed setup
    What address or hostname should the Faspex web server use to communicate with the transfer server? The hostname or IP address of your remote transfer node.
    Note: You can change this after installation using a rake command. For more information, see Configuring Server Settings with Rake Tasks.
    		 Detailed setup
    What address or hostname should end users (with Aspera Connect) use to communicate with the transfer server? The hostname or IP address of the remote transfer node. Detailed setup
    Choose a login name for the new admin user The login name for the new Faspex admin user account. Both
    Enter the email address for admin The email address to associate with the Faspex admin user account. Both
    Enter the password for admin The password for the Faspex admin user account.
    Note: When you log in for the first time, Faspex requires you to change your password.
    		 Both
    Do you want to update SSL DHParams? The default is y. Both
    Do you want to install the HTTP fallback gateway service? Install the HTTP Gateway service to make transfers when IBM Aspera Connect is unavailable. This service is in beta. See HTTP Gateway [BETA] Service to determine if you should enable this beta service. The default is y Both
    What port would you like MySQL to listen on? The default is 4406. Detailed setup
    Please enter a new MySQL root password The password for the MySQL user account. Both
    Mysql will need to start/restart during configuration. Continue (y/n)? You must choose y. Both
    Enter IP address of network interface for apache to listen on The hostname or IP address of the workstation. Detailed setup
    What hostname or IP address should Apache use to identify itself ( in the SSL certificate)? The default is 127.0.0.1. Both
    What port would you like to run Apache http on? The default is 80. Both
    What port would you like to run Apache https on? The default is 443. Both
    Would you like to generate a self-signed SSL certificate, or install your own? ([g]enerate, [c]opy) The default is generate (g). Detailed setup
    Aspera Central will need to restart when setup completes. This will stop any active transfers. Is this okay (y/n)? If you choose n, you must restart these services yourself after installation. See Restarting Aspera Services. Both
    Aspera Node Server will need to restart when setup completes. Is this okay (y/n)? If you choose n, you must restart these services yourself after installation. See Restarting Aspera Services. Both
    Aspera HTTPD will need to restart when setup completes. This will stop any HTTP fallback transfers. Is this okay (y/n)? If you choose n, you must restart these services yourself after installation. See Restarting Aspera Services. Both

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.

Provide Faspex with Credentials to the Remote Node

  1. Go to Server > File Storage.
  2. Select Edit from the drop-down menu.
  3. Enter the Node API user credentials in the Username and Password fields.
  4. Click Test Connection.
    If Faspex displays an error instead of the message "Connection succeeded!", see Troubleshooting File Storage Errors for help understanding the error.
  5. Click Update Node.