Setting up and Accessing XperienCentral

Owned by Matthew Wagner
Last updated: Sept 05, 2024
3 min read

In This Topic


Required Software

Download and install the following software:

  • Download and install the latest version of Apache Maven
  • Java — See the Hardware and Software Requirements for what the supported Java version(s) are for the version of XperienCentral you plan to use.
  • 7zip (Optional - Windows Explorer is able to read and unpack ZIP files since Windows 10)
  • Node.js (Only required when building/installing XperienCentral from the source code)
  • NPM (Only required when building/installing XperienCentral R45 and higher)

Install one of the following databases:

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Check the System Settings

Install Java and Maven. Make sure that Java and Maven are in your PATH and JAVA_HOME variables:

  1. Open the System properties of your PC.
  2. Select the [Advanced] tab.
  3. Click the button [Environment variables].
  4. Ensure that the variable JAVA_HOME exists under system variables and/or user variables.
  5. If the JAVA_HOME variable is not present, click the top [New] button and enter JAVA_HOME as the name and then add the path to Java (C:\GX\Java\jdkx.x.x_XX, for example).
  6. Click the top [New] button and enter PATH as the name and enter the values for the following directories:
    1. JAVA\bin
    2. Apache Maven\bin
    3. 7zip
    (C:\GX\apache-maven-x.x.X\bin;C:\GX\Java\jdkx.x.x_XX\bin, for example).


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Installing XperienCentral

Perform the following steps to install XperienCentral:

  1. Make sure one of the supported databases is installed. It is most easy to use MySQL or MSSQL.
  2. Create a folder for the XperienCentral installation, for example C:\GX\XperienCentral\. This folder will be used as an example in all the instructions underneath.
  3. Unzip the XperienCentral release zip file in this folder.
  4. Open the settings.xml and modify it according to your local settings:

    1. At ActiveProfiles, change the externaldb profile and the jcr-standalone .  When you use MSSQL the defaults can be used. For MYSQL change this to externaldb-mysql and jcr-standalone-mysql. Do the same for Oracle.

    2. Change the webmanager.project.basedir to (C:\GX\XperienCentral, in this example).

      You must use either forward slashes in the pathname or double backslashes (C:/GX/XperienCentral-mywebsite or C:\\XperienCentral/XperienCentral-mywebsite).



    3. Check the properties beneath the header <!-- webapp settings -->. By default don't change them.
    4. Check the database settings and adjust the following properties for externaldb and jcr-standalone.:
      1. dbport
      2. dbuser  
      3. dbpassword
      4. Optional: dbname  

    5. Change localRepository from a relative path to an absolute path.

  5. Create a file named cleaninstall.bat in the root of XperienCentral release folder C:\GX\XperienCentral and add the following commands:
    1. The command to create-mssql-db , should be replaced when using MySqL or Oracle.
    2. The version number of Apache Tomcat should be changed depending on the version that is included in the SDK.

      rmdir apache-tomcat-9.0.21 /s /q
      7z x ext\apache-tomcat-9.0.21-windows-x64.zip
      rmdir /Q /S C:\GX\XperienCentral\work\
      call mvn -s settings.xml -P build-project
      call mvn -s settings.xml -P create-mssql-db
      call mvn -s settings.xml -P configure-jcr-repository
      call mvn -s settings.xml -P configure-tomcat
      pause

  6. Reboot your PC to make sure the environment variables are set and the database is started. 
  7. Double-click C:\GX\XperienCentral\cleaninstall.bat (XperienCentral is now built) and follow the progress, you can adjust the Command Prompt properties to have more Screen size and buffer.
  8. You should see four "Build Success" messages in the Command prompt. Wait for the message Press a key… to appear -  XperienCentral is now successfully installed.

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Start and Stop XperienCentral

You run XperienCentral by executing the following file:  C:\GX\XperienCentral\apache-tomcat-8.5.31\bin\startup.bat. Wait until you see the message INFO: XperienCentral started successfully in X ms in the Tomcat log window; XperienCentral is now fully operational. The backend of XperienCentral is available at:

http://<webmanager.backendservername>:<webmanager.portnr>/web/edit

There are two users present in XperienCentral, with the following usernames and passwords:

  • Administrator/Administrator
  • Developer/admin

The frontend of XperienCentral is available at:

http://<webmanager.frontendservername>:<webmanager.portnr>/web/show

Once XperienCentral and its required software components are successfully installed on your workstation, XperienCentral can be used to create websites. First XperienCentral has to be started, secondly the Workspace environment can be used to create the websites, and thirdly the sites can be accessed through the visitor environment. To fine-tune the settings of the websites, the Setup tool can be accessed (see Setup Tool). Finally, XperienCentral can also be stopped, reset, and uninstalled.

You stop XperienCentral by executing the following file:  C:\GX\XperienCentral\apache-tomcat-8.5.31\bin\shutdown.bat

See Logging in to XperienCentral for complete information on logging in.

 

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Resetting the Whole Installation

During development you sometimes want to start all over. To do so, remove everything from the SQL database, clean up the JCR and start with a fresh XperienCentral. In order to do so, perform the following steps:

  1. Stop Tomcat, .\apache-tomcat-9.0.58\bin\shutdown.bat 
  2. Double-click C:\GX\XperienCentral\cleaninstall.bat.


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Uninstalling XperienCentral

To remove a manually installed XperienCentral, perform the following steps:

  1. Remove the folder C:\GX\XperienCentral (if you want to remove all your installations of XperienCentral plus additional software, you can also remove the complete C:\GX\ folder).
  2. Remove the database that is being used by XperienCentral. Remove the database with the database administration that comes with the database software.


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