SCS v5 User Manual
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SCS Installation

Installing SCS

While installing SCS isn't always trivial, many of the complexities SCS have been minimized through the installation wizard SEG has provided.  Installing SCS can be as simple as clicking "Next" repeatedly or moderately complicated if you choose to install on multiple servers. 

 

If you have an existing SCS installation which you are replacing it is highly recommended you back it all up prior to proceeding with these instructions.  It is also advisable to:

 

Single Server Installation

If you want to have everything running on a single server, whether two large servers where one acts as a backup, or if you only have a single box (smaller deployments with lower resource requirements) the installation process is straight-forward.

 

The single server will have all SCS services, host the website and host the database.  The installer will setup the database to have slightly more resources allocated to it than to the web server or SCS services but both will share everything available on the one host.  This is a good setup if you only have a single server, or if you want to setup two independent boxes (one in production/active, one as a spare) and is similar to the model used in previous SCSv4 installations (SCS-A and SCS-B).

 

 

 

  1. Procure hardware and/or validate that the intended host meets the prerequisites for your use case.
  2. Obtain a copy of the latest SCS installation media.
  3. Prepare the host and run setup.exe
    1. It is recommended you utilized a RAID, a SAN/NAS or implement a software defined version such as Storage Spaces Direct.
    2. It is recommended you create a partition or volume mounted to the "D:\" drive for storage of all SCS related files and data
    3. Open the installation media and launch the setup.exe file (you will need Administrative rights on the server to do this)
    4. Read and accept the licensing agreement to continue (signed MOUs are no longer required for non-NOAA users)
    5. Select Ship: Choose your ship from the dropdown list.  If you do not see your ship then select Other Ship and type her name in the input box which appears below.
    6. Server Setup Type:  For a Single Server Installation be sure to choose Single Machine.
    7. Select Drive for Installation: Choose the drive you setup in Step (1) above as the target for SCS files and logged data
    8. Enable FSDB Sync: Unless you selected Other Ship in Step (6) this should be checked as it enables real-time replication of your configuration with a shore based system for backup and restoration purposes.  If you are not a large NOAA ship then this should be unchecked as you generally will not have the shore-side half of the system setup and running to sync with.
    9. Enabled NCEI Submission: If you wish to use SCS to submit your data to the NOAA archives this should be checked.
    10. Enabled SAMOS Submission: If you wish to use SCS to submit subsets of your data to SAMOS/FSU this should remain checked (all large-NOAA vessels should leave this enabled)
    11. Enable TSG Submission: If you wish to use SCS to submit your TSG data to AOML this should remain checked.
    12. SMTP Host: If you have a ship based mail server you may enter it's DNS name here.  NOAA vessels should use the shore-side gmail server smtp.gmail.com.  SCSv5 is tolerant of network instability and is able to queue and send any emails which fail to make it to shore when your network re-establishes itself.
    13. SMTP Port: The port to use when sending email, gmail / TLS requires 587.
    14. SMTP Credentials: The username and password to use when sending emails via the host specified in Step (13).  If you are a NOAA vessel and using gmail be sure to add the domain to your username (eg john.katebini@NOAA.gov) and to use an application password instead of your 'real' password to account for 2-step verification restrictions.
    15. The installation wizard will take care of the rest.  This can take some time, get some coffee and come back in a bit.
    16. Once the installation completes it's recommended you install and use a valid certificate or downgrade your system to HTTP (note HTTPS is required for all US Gov installs) and perform an FSDB sync from CFE (assuming you have a shore side repository of your previous configuration).

 

 

 

 

Split Responsibility / Multi-Server Installation 

If you have two servers the recommended approach is to split the functionality of SCS up between the two of them.  This way both servers are utilized while still covering each other in case of a hardware failure.  Similar to setting up two Single Server Installations as detailed above, except rather than having the second server as a spare it is actively involved in the production system, thus effectively doubling the compute power you have at your disposal.  To accomplish this the installer allows you to setup a machine with a primary focus on being the database or a primary focus on being the website/application server.  Both servers will have both roles, however resources will be allocated differently depending on which primary role you have assigned (eg the database server will allocate the majority of memory to the database, etc).  

 

The primary interface for users would be the web/app server which would (behind the scenes) use the database server as it's backend.  This offloads all the data storage and querying to the second server freeing up resources on the web/app server to perform better for the users.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uninstall

The uninstall process for SCS is essentially the same as you would do for any other application installed in windows. 

  1. Backup all data you might want to keep or image the machine
  2. Open Add Remove Programs
  3. Find the SCS program
  4. Right click and choose Uninstall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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