Amazon AWS

Get started with ]project-open[ V4.0 in about 10 minutes using Amazon Elastic Cloud.

An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with a full-blown ]project-open[ instance is available at:

 

http://thecloudmarket.com/image/ami-63e8f917 

 

Thanks to our Spanish ]po[ partners Promit  and Solid  Rock IT  for providing this AMI.

  • Please note:
    You will need to choose the "M1 Small" instance type or larger. The cheapest "T1 Micro" instance type is not suitable for running ]po[ (it will run out of memory).

 


Release Notes

Thanks to Ãngel Lafuente from Solid Rock IT for the release notes:

----------------------------------------------------
]project-open[ Amazon Web Services AMI Release Notes
Version 1.5
Release date: 2013-05-22
This is a preview. For latest releases notes, please
refer to ]project-open[ forums and website.
----------------------------------------------------

1- General description
2- Technical description
2.1- Deploying ]project-open[ in AWS
2.2.1- Requirements
2.2.2- Launch ]project-open[ instance
2.2.3- About SWAP
2.2.4- Security
2.2.5- Desktop access to instance via FreeNX
2.2.6- Automatic backup
3- Known issues
4- Changelog
5- Contact & Support



----------------------------------------------------
1- General description
----------------------------------------------------

]project-open[ is an Open Source Project and Portfolio Management Software.
It provides comprehensive project management tool, fully integrated within
an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

]project-open[ offers the following functionalities::

    Project Portfolio Management: Timesheet management, Issue Management,
    Gantt charts, Controlling, Risk Management, Workflow, Resource
    Management, File manager, Expense Tracking, Skills Management.
    CRM: Customer Contact Management, Customer Tracking.
    Finance: Invoicing/Quoting, Financial Reporting.
    HR: Unified Employee File, Employee Payroll Information.
    Knowledge Management: Search engine, Wiki, Portraits, Incident
    Management.
    Translation Industry Solution: Freelance Database, Translation Quality,
    Unified Supplier File.


----------------------------------------------------
2- Technical description
----------------------------------------------------

This AMI contains a fully configured ]project-open[ v4.0.4.0 server.
This is a community AMI for testing purposes. For a production system
deployment, please contact ]project-open[ or Promit Project Management.

Components

- CentOS Linux 5.x 32-bits. Please, update with yum regularly.
- AOL SERVER 4.5.1. (compiled from source code)
- PostgresSQL 8.4.
- Desktop access via FreeNX for projop user.
- ]project-open[ V4.0.4.0.0. Please, update to get last version.


2.1- Deploying ]project-open[ in AWS

If you are reading this file from an AWS EC2 instance, you can skip 2.2.1
and 2.2.2 sections


2.2.1- Requirements

You must sign in Amazon Web Services or use your current account:

https://portal.aws.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html

If you are new to AWS, please consider Amazon Free Tier to get free
(limited) AWS resources during one year at http://aws.amazon.com/es/free/


2.2.2- Launch ]project-open[ instance

Go to AWS Management Console (https://console.aws.amazon.com/console/home)
Choose the region where you need to deploy  the ]project-open[ server.
Go to Images -> AMI and look for ]project-open[ AMI
Select AMI and push Launch button, the Request Instances Wizard will pop-up
and you must setup instance parameters:

Please refer to AWS documentation for in-depth information about AWS EC2:
- Amazon EC2 Getting Started Guide:
  http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/es_es/AWSEC2/latest/GettingStartedGuide/
- Amazon EC2 User Guide:
  http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/

For testing (non production) enviroments, these parameters should be enough:
- Instance Type: T1 Micro (included in AWS Free Tier)
- Launch into: EC2-Classic
- Advanced Instance Options: default ones are right
- Storage Device configuration: you can add more storage ahead.
- Key Pairs: if you have no key pair, create a new one and save
  certificates to connect through SSH to the instance.
- Configure Firewall: only two rules are required to instance.
  Open 80 (http) and 22 (ssh) ports.

After launching, you must wait for a while in order to initialize the
server. In the AWS Management Console you will see the DNS name associated
to the new instance. Write this name onto your favorite browser and you
will access to the ]project-open[ setup wizard.


2.2.3- About SWAP

The AMI contains two volumes:
- 10 GB volume for system and software.
- 1 GB for swap.

This swap volume is only required for T1 Micro instances. Greater instances
(small, medium, etc) have a default swap partition mounted on the ephemeral
volume by default.

Be careful if you reduce instance type from any size to micro!

If you get a ]project-open[ error (not enough memory) in a micro instance, probably is because the operating system does not have a swap partition.


2.2.4- Security

These are default AMI credentials:
- For SSH root access, use instance key pair.
- For SSH or FreeNX projop user: password = projop
- For web access, check your instance IP and write it onto yout favorite
  browser. Default credentials will be shown on the ]project-open[ start
  page.

Your ]project-open[ server is in the cloud, not in your local network, so
...

PLEASE, ENFORCE SERVER SECURITY AFTER LAUNCHING ]project-open[ INSTANCE!

You should:
- Change projop user password to an strong one.
- Configure ]project-open[ through the wizard and choose a strong
  password for admin users.
- Clean demo data through from Admin Menu or at least change
  passwords and remove them from login screen
  (http://www.project-open.org/en/faq-installation#edit_login_screen).

The Linux firewall is setup by default and accept incoming connections
to 22 and 80 ports to prevent attacks from other EC2 instances.

Please, update with yum update to avoid security issues (mainly SSH security issues).


2.2.5- Desktop access to instance via FreeNX

Desktop access is enabled by default using FreeNX. This could be useful
for developers that need PGAdmin to manage PostgreSQL database

You need to instal NoMachine NX Client available for Windows, Linux,
Mac and Solaris. You can download it from www.nomachine.com/download.php
with installation instructions available at:
http://www.nomachine.com/documents/client/install.php
In order to access the ]project-open[ instance, please refer to this
guide: www.nomachine.com/documents/configuration/client-guide.php
The host parameter is the DNS name assigned to the instance, the user
is projop.

FreeNX uses SSH to access the instance, so no new port must be opened.
The FreeNX server use the default certificate provided with NoMachine Client.

Further detailed information can be found here:
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/FreeNX?highlight=%28FreeNX%29


2.2.6- Automatic backup

Please, review root's crontab: the backup script is ENABLED by default.
If your ]project-open[ data get bigger, /var/backup could fill root filesystem.

There are several options to protect your data
- Mount /var/backup in another EBS volume.
- Mount /var/backup in AWS S3 storage whith S3fs
  (http://code.google.com/p/s3fs/) or transfer backup files to AWS S3
  with S3tools (http://s3tools.org/s3cmd)
- Extract the files from the instance with any other tool you prefer.

And always, extract backup files from AWS. Software freedom is not
freedom if don't own your data.


3- Known issues

- Maximum instance type:
  The AMI is based on a 32-bits Linux, so the biggest instance size you
  can launch is the medium size. Please refer to
  http://aws.amazon.com/en/ec2/instance-types/ for detailed information
  about instance type and their features.


4- Changelog

Changes from version 1.4:

- ]project-open[ updated to current stable version 4.0.4.0
- Added crontab for root user with several script to backup
  ]project-open[ and improve database performance.
- Created /var/backup directory to store ]project-open[ backups.
- Latest operating system patches from yum.
- Release notes preview added to /web/projop directory.
- Some guide style changes in these notes.

Changes from version 1.3:

- Detailed Amazon Web Services AMI Release Notes (this document) published.
- AMI available in all regions except Asia Pacific (Sidney), not only
  Europe (Ireland).

Changes from version 1.2:

- Home Timesheet Tasks disabled on the ]project-open[ configuration
  wizard first page.
- Added swap volume for T1 micro instances.
- /usr/bin/dot soft link at /usr/local/bin for workflow integration.
- Several utils, scripts and packages removed from /tmp and /web/projop.
- Yum update.


5- Contact & Support

This an community AMI created for ]project-open[ open source community
in order to spread ]project-open[ use in the easiest way.

]project-open[ Home:
http://www.project-open.com/

]project-open[ Documentation:
http://www.project-open.org/

AMI support through ]project-open[ forums:
https://sourceforge.net/p/project-open/discussion/295937/

]project-open[ AMI created by Promit Project Management in collaboration
with Solid Rock IT:
http://www.promit-project.com/
http://www.solid-rock-it.com/

 

  Contact Us
  Project Open Business Solutions S.L.

Calle Aprestadora 19, 12o-2a

08902 Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)

Spain

 Tel Europe: +34 609 953 751
 Tel US: +1 415 200 2465
 Mail: info@project-open.com