SharePlex 12.0 - Installation and Setup Guide

Ensure that SharePlex can resolve host names.

If you find that SharePlex cannot connect to a host, try mapping the host name to an alphanumeric alias in the following locations:

Unix and Linux: Local /etc/hosts file

In these files, put each entry on an individual line. The following is an example, where sysA and sysB are aliases:

111.22.33.44   sysA.company.com   sysA   # source system
55.66.77.88    sysB.company.com   sysB   # target system

Verify the SharePlex port number.

By default SharePlex uses the port number 2100 (hex equivalent is 834) for both TCP/IP and UDP. If port 2100 is available to SharePlex, no further action is needed. You will need to enter the SharePlex port number during the installation procedure, at which time you can specify a different port number if needed.

Important! The SharePlex port number must be the same one on all machines in the replication configuration so that they can communicate through TCP/IP connections. Make certain the SharePlex port number is open for TCP/IP on the firewall.

Assign a directory to store the downloaded SharePlex installation package.

This directory requires approximately the following disk space:

• Linux: 200 MB

It can be removed after SharePlex is installed.

Plan the SharePlex product directory.

You can create a directory for the SharePlex software files or let the SharePlex installer create it.

This directory requires approximately the following disk space:

• Linux: 600 MB

Install this directory on the following:

• Linux: a separate filesystem from the one that contains the database.

Do not install SharePlex on a raw device.

Plan the SharePlex variable-data (working) directory

This directory is installed by the SharePlex installer with a name of your choosing. It contains the working data and varies greatly in size in correlation to the volume of data being generated. Install this directory on a separate file system from the one that contains the database, but not on a raw device.

To estimate the required disk space:

1. Estimate the longest time that a replication outage can be tolerated.

2. Use the following formula to estimate the amount of data SharePlex would replicate during that amount of time.

   [size of a WAL log] x [number of log switches per hour] x .54 x [number of hoursdowntime] = required disk space

   For example:

   [500 MB WAL log] x [5 switches per hour] x [.54] x [8 hours] = 10.54 GB disk space

To replicate data from more than one database on a system, use a variable-data directory for each one. Ideally they should be on different file systems.

Do not install the variable-data directory within the SharePlex product directory. Both directories contain identically named files, and SharePlex utilities that clean up the environment (if this becomes necessary) could remove the wrong files. You can install both directories under one parent directory if desired.

NOTE: Always monitor disk usage when there is an active SharePlex configuration, especially when there are peaks in transaction activity.

Create the SharePlex security groups.

SharePlex provides three security groups to enable access control through sp_ctrl. On Linux, unless you install SharePlex as a root user, the SharePlex Administrator user and the SharePlexPostgreSQL admin group must exist prior to installation. For more information, see Assign SharePlex users to security groups in the SharePlex Admin guide.

Note: If you install as root, you are prompted by the installer to create these groups.