Installation

The following are instructions for installing Rodan Client on a Linux environment. For Windows or Mac the steps should be relatively similar except for commands such as git or npm.

For the instructions below, we’ll assume that you are user logged on computer and working in your ~ (home) directory.

Setup Rodan server for the client

You will most likely have to have the Rodan server administrator whitelist the IP and port you wish to host the client on to enable CORS. Furthermore, you will need the following information from the Rodan server:

• server IP, port, and HTTP protocol (http or https)
• authentication method (token or session).

This information will be used later in the installation.

You will also need the Rodan server administrator to create an accounts for those users you wish to have access.

Installation Steps

1. Install Node.js

Rodan Client uses Node.js for many of its dependencies. Installation instructions for various platforms can be found here.

2. Install latest version of npm

npm is a package manager for JavaScript. When Node.js is installed, npm is also installed, but not necessarily the latest version. It is recommended that you install version 3.8.2 or later. Instructions for updating npm can be found here.

3. Clone the repository

The Rodan Client source is hosted on GitHub (which you probably already knew).

user@computer:~$ git clone https://github.com/DDMAL/rodan-client.git

4. Install development dependencies

Part of the deployment of Rodan Client is the installation of build dependencies. These are declared in the devDependencies section of package.json. When npm install is run from the root repository directory (i.e. rodan-client), npm downloads and installs each of the development dependencies in rodan-client/node_modules.

user@computer:~$ cd rodan-client
user@computer:~/rodan-client$ npm install

If you do not already have libgif installed, it is also required.

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ sudo apt-get install libgif-dev

5. Install application dependencies.

The application dependencies are JavaScript applications that Rodan Client requires when running in a browser. These are managed and installed by jspm. jspm was installed as a local development dependency in the previous step.

The binaries for locally-install Node.js applications, such as jspm, are located in rodan-client/node_modules/.bin/.

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ ./node_modules/.bin/jspm install -y

6. Configure

Rodan Client requires very little configuration to get started. Only two files need to be managed:

• rodan-client/configuration.json
• rodan-client/src/js/Plugins.js.

When Rodan Client is cloned, these files do not yet exist. Instead, there is:

• rodan-client/configuration.example.json
• rodan-client/src/js/Plugins.js.example.

First, we need to copy these files without the .example extension.

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ cp configuration.example.json configuration.json
user@computer:~/rodan-client$ cp /src/js/Plugins.js.example /src/js/Plugins.js

Next, we need make small edits to each.

configuration.json

At a minimum, we need tell Rodan Client where the Rodan server is and how to connect to it.

• SERVER_HOST: This is the host name of the Rodan server you want the client to interact with. For example, if the server was at IP 123.456.789.1, you would set "SERVER_HOST": "123.456.789.1".

• SERVER_PORT: This is the port for connecting to the Rodan server.

• SERVER_HTTPS: The client will connect to the server using HTTPS iff SERVER_HTTPS is true. Else, HTTP will be used (not recommended).

• SERVER_AUTHENTICATION_TYPE: This tells the client which authentication type to use - token or session. Token is recommended, but it depends on the Rodan server. For example, if the server uses token authentication, you would set "SERVER_AUTHENTICATION_TYPE": "token".

Note: The WORKFLOWBUILDERGUI settings in configuration.json are the settings for the Workflow Builder GUI plugin. This plugin is discussed below.

js/Plugins.js

Rodan Client comes with a plugin that allows a user to create and edit Workflows via a GUI, the Workflow Builder GUI. js/Plugins.js lets Rodan Client know what plugins exist and where the are located. For a standard Rodan Client install, no modifications need to be made to js/Plugins.js. However, if you wish to add plugins in the future, this file will have to be modified.

7. Deploy

Rodan Client uses Gulp to manage deployment, both for development and production. How Rodan Client can be deployed is defined in gulpfile.js. Just like jspm, Gulp was installed as a development dependency, so its binary is located in `node_modules/.bin’.

The gulpfile.js defines three entry points to deploy Rodan Client. Choose the one best suited for your needs.

Development

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ ./node_modules/.bin/gulp

or

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ ./node_modules/.bin/gulp develop

The develop task is the default task in gulpfile.js. This type of deployment is meant for debugging and development. It will: * link JavaScript source files, resources, styles, and configuration to rodan-client/web * run JSHint on the JavaScript source * start a small web server that hosts the application on your machine’s IP at port 9001.

Production

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ ./node_modules/.bin/gulp dist

The dist task will create a single JavaScript bundle file for the application and copy only those files required for deployment. This type of deployment is meant for production. All files required are stored in rodan-client/dist. You will have to setup a web server to statically serve the contents of this directory.

If you wish to test the bundle, you can run:

user@computer:~/rodan-client$ ./node_modules/.bin/gulp dist:server

This does the same as the simple dist task, but also runs a small development server just as the develop task does on port 9001.