Gentics CMS Package - RedHat Enterprise Linux 7.3

1 Installation

1.1 MariaDB SQL Server Installation

You can either install Oracle MySQL or MariaDB (prefered). Please refer to the compatibility list and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 / Oracle Linux 6 – MySQL 5.6.x package if you want to install Oracle MySQL. This guide will show how to install mariadb which is supported by RedHat.


  yum install mariadb-server
  service mariadb start
  systemctl enable mariadb.service

  # connect to the mysql and change your rootpw
  mysql -u root -h localhost -P 3306
  # SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('YOUR_NEW_ROOTPW');
  # DROP DATABASE test;
  # FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/dist/mysql/gentics_custom.cnf /etc/my.cnf.d/

  # Restart the Mysql Server
  service mariadb restart

1.2 Apache Webserver Installation

You can view the available Redhat repositories with yum -v repolist


  # Add optional packages
  subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-6-server-optional-rpms
  yum update

  # Install various dependencies
  yum install httpd php php-cli php-mysql php-gd php-posix php-ldap php-imap sed curl wget ImageMagick mysql sudo php-mbstring
  # Enable the httpd
  systemctl enable httpd.service

  # Change configuration order to enable correct handling of php extensions
  mv /etc/httpd/conf.d/php.conf /etc/httpd/conf.d/015-php.conf

  # Add vhost configuration to /etc/httpd/conf.d/020-contentnode.conf
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/dist/rhel/020-contentnode.conf /etc/httpd/conf.d/

  # Set custom settings for php
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/dist/php/gtx_gcn_custom.ini /etc/php.d/
  chmod +r /etc/php.d/gtx_gcn_custom.ini
  # Set your timezone in the gtx_gcn_custom.ini (default: Europe/Vienna)

1.3 Configure SELinux

Currently SELinux is not fully supported. Please disable SELinux on your server. The features autoupdate and import/export will not work properly when selinux is enabled.

Edit the /etc/sysconfig/selinux file and set the SELINUX flag.


  # Disable SELinux
  SELINUX=disabled

Run:


  setenforce 0

1.4 Configure Firewall

Allow external access to port 80 for http


  firewall-cmd --add-service http --permanent

1.5 Package Setup


  # Move package into place - This step must be omitted when doing a migration
  mv ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node /opt
  ln -s /opt/Node/ /Node

1.6 Java setup

OpenJDK 8:


subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-optional-rpms
yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel
alternatives --config javac
alternatives --config java

or alternatively, download the Oracle Java SE Development Kit 8 rpm:


  rpm -i jdk-8u111-linux-x64.rpm
  ln -s /usr/java/default /Node/java

Please verify that “java -version” prints the right Java version and that the command “jar” (part of JDK) exists in PATH.

1.7 Set the license key


  # Add your license key to /Node/etc/tomcat/gentics/license.key
  echo "1111-2222-3333-4444-5555-6666-7777-8888" > /Node/etc/tomcat/gentics/license.key

1.8 Filesystem permission setup


  # Creation of mandatory groups and permissions
  groupadd node
  useradd -d /Node -g node node
  usermod -a -G node apache
  usermod -G apache node
  /Node/dist_setperm.sh

  # Add this sudo rule to your sudoers file. This allows the apache to execute processes with the node user.
  echo 'Defaults:apache !requiretty' > /etc/sudoers.d/gtx_contentnode
  echo "apache  ALL=(node)NOPASSWD: ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/gtx_contentnode
  chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/gtx_contentnode


  # Restart your apache
  service httpd restart

1.9 Database setup and package configuration

Run the following shell commands. Remove the -p option if there is no password set for the root user.


  # Setup the database
  echo "CREATE DATABASE node_utf8" | mysql -u root -p
  echo "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON node_utf8.* TO 'node_cms'@'localhost' identified by 'YOUR_PASSWORD'" | mysql -u root -p
  mysql -u root -p node_utf8 < /Node/etc/dumps/node_utf8.sql

  echo "CREATE DATABASE contentrepository" | mysql -u root -p
  echo "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON contentrepository.* TO 'node_cr'@'localhost' identified by 'YOUR_PASSWORD'" | mysql -u root -p
  mysql -u root -p contentrepository < /Node/etc/dumps/contentrepository.sql

  # Configure database settings
  # Edit the /Node/etc/conf.d/node.db.conf file and update the following settings.
  # $SETTINGS["server"] = "localhost:3306:/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock";
  # $SETTINGS["login"] = "node_cms";
  # $SETTINGS["pw"] = "YOUR_PASSWORD";

  # Start the Tomcat
  /Node/bin/nodectl start

  # Add cronjob task for node user
  crontab -e -u node
  # * * * * *         /Node/bin/scheduler.sh >> /Node/node/log/scheduler.log 2>&1

You maybe also need to configure SSL properties in the $SETTINGS[“jdbcparameters”] setting. Read the MySQL SSL documentation for more information.

1.10 Startup script


  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/dist/rhel/genticscms.service  /etc/systemd/system/genticscms.service
  systemctl enable genticscms

1.11 Cleanup


  # Remove no longer needed files
  rm -rf ${PACKAGEDIR}

A password for the node CMS user will be generated automatically. See: How can i set the password of the node CMS user?

1.13 Finalizing

Please also check the final recommendations and suggestions for additional information.

2 Migrating to the new package (introduced with 5.16.0)

This section will list a step by step guide to migrate your Gentics CMS installation to the new Gentics CMS package structure introduced in 5.16.0. After this migration, Gentics CMS will use the system distribution Apache and PHP.

Instead of migrating you can also do a new Gentics CMS installation and then move the database, the /Node/node/content/dbfiles and the node configuration, however this way is not documented at the moment.

The MySQL steps are only necessary if you are still using the MySQL-server from the old Gentics CMS package inside /Node, running on port 42006. The minimum MySQL server version should be 5.5.

2.1 Backup

Create a backup of your package installation and MySQL database (/Node directory)


  sudo -u node php /Node/.node/setup-database.php
  mysqldump --max_allowed_packet=512M -u root -h localhost -P 42006 -p contentrepository > /Node/etc/dumps/pre-update-cr.sql
  /Node/bin/nodectl stop
  cp -ra /Node /Node.pre-update

2.2 Update Gentics CMS

Update your Gentics CMS installation to 5.16.0 or newer.

2.3 Distribution update

Make sure your distribution is updated at least to the earliest supported version.

2.4 Download contentnode-package

Download the latest package .tar.gz file (see: Downloads) for the version you want to update to.
Extract the file in a temporary location (e.g: /var/tmp/).

We’ll use some files form the archive to augment the existing installation.


  cd /var/tmp
  tar xfvz contentnode-package-5.16.0.tar.gz
  export PACKAGEDIR=/var/tmp/package

2.5 Package MySQL migration

Please note that the package MySQL Server will no longer be supported. Install the MySQL database server according to the system specific installation. Dump your MySQL databases and migrate the data to the distribution MySQL Server. The Gentics CMS database user is stored in various stored procedured and triggers.

Please remove these procedures and triggers when the username and or the used connection ip / hostname changes because those elements contain a reference to the previously used login.

We highly recommend to host the MySQL Server for the Gentics CMS installation on the same system as Gentics CMS is running on.

It is advised to update the database settings (/etc/mysql) and restart the server before starting the MySQL migration.

See MariaDB SQL Server Installation for the MariaDB server installation steps

2.6 Database migration

Run the following shell commands. Remove the -p option if there is no password set for the root user.


  # Create SQL Dump and delete old mysql installation
  mysqldump --max_allowed_packet=512M -u root -h 127.0.0.1 -P 42006 -p node_utf8 > /Node/tmp/node_utf8-postupdate.sql
  mysqldump --max_allowed_packet=512M -u root -h 127.0.0.1 -P 42006 -p contentrepository > /Node/tmp/cr-postupdate.sql
  /Node/bin/nodectl stop
  rm -rf /Node/mysql*

  # Update MySQL Server configuration
  cp ${PACKAGE}/dist/mysql/gentics_custom.cnf /etc/mysql/conf.d/
  /etc/init.d/mysql restart

  # Create the desired users and insert the data
  mysql> create database node_utf8;
  mysql> create database contentrepository;
  mysql> grant all privileges on node_utf8.* to 'node_cms'@'%' identified by 'pass';
  mysql> grant all privileges on contentrepository.* to 'node_cr'@'%' identified by 'pass';
  mysql> flush privileges;

  mysql -u root -p node_utf8 < /Node/tmp/node_utf8-postupdate.sql
  mysql -u root -p contentrepository < /Node/tmp/cr-postupdate.sql

  # Update your mysql settings in your /Node/etc/node.conf (or /Node/etc/conf.d/node.db.conf)
  vi /Node/etc/node.conf

Please keep in mind that it might be needed to update the Content.Repository connection settings within the Gentics CMS administration area. Those settings must be updated otherwise the publishing process will fail.

2.7 Package directory migration

The following folders and files are no longer needed and can be removed.


  rm -rf /Node/apache
  rm -rf /Node/httpd-2.2.22
  rm -rf /Node/var/httpd/cgi-bin
  rm /Node/etc/my.cnf
  rm -rf /Node/etc/httpd
  rm /Node/etc/httpd.custom.conf
  rm -rf /Node/etc/mysql
  rm -rf /Node/etc/php
  rm -rf /Node/var/httpd/httpd*
  rm -rf /Node/var/httpd/mysql

Sanitize the /Node/bin directory.


  cd /Node/bin
  rm -rf /Node/bin/*
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/bin/nodectl .
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/bin/env.sh .
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/bin/scheduler.sh .
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/bin/java.sh .

Please update your scheduler tasks if needed since some might use the /Node/bin/ tools (eg.: rsync)

Sanitize the /Node/lib directory.


  rm -rf /Node/lib
  cp -ra ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/lib /Node/lib

Customize the node.conf file.


  mkdir -p /Node/etc/conf.d
  mv /Node/etc/node.conf /Node/etc/node.main.conf
  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/etc/node.conf /Node/etc/node.conf

From now on the node.conf should never be edited directly. Instead custom files should be added to the conf.d directory. The files should be grouped by functionality or feature. (e.g: conf.d/node.alohaeditor.conf, conf.d/features.conf, conf.d/node.db.conf)

2.8 Package Apache webserver migration

Install and configure the Apache webserver according to the installation steps.

Apache Webserver Installation

2.9 Additional migration steps


  # Add new apache vhosts inclusion files from the package
  cp -ra ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/etc/apache /Node/etc

2.10 System changes

Remove the node_public group from the system. This group will no longer be used. When not removed the system will not be able to function correctly after the migration has been performed.


  cp ${PACKAGEDIR}/Node/dist_setperm.sh /Node/

Setup the filesystem permissions

Gentics CMS Documentation