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Appendix C: Octopus Roles and Variables

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    This is a reference list of the various Forsta Roles, and the available Octopus variables. The same information is available when running through the Horizons Octopus setup process.

    Server Roles

    Role name

    Required/Optional

    Description

    Authoring

    Required

    Professional Authoring UI, SurveyEngine Test Modes, Survey Dashboard, Panel UI and other client applications.

    Batch

    Required

    TaskSystem and Microservice Agents. Usually installed on one or more standalone machines.

    BitStreamServer

    Required

    Usually installed on one or more standalone servers or machines with the Batch role.

    CachingService

    Required

    Caching service. Usually installed on machines with the Authoring role.

    CapiSynchronization

    Deprecated

    This role is not used anymore and can be removed.

    ClickOnce

    Optional

    Only required for CAPI. Used to host CAPI download files. Usually installed on machines with the Authoring, Reportal or Deployment role.

    Deployment

    Required

    Surveys, Short Url redirects and Panel UI.

    Digital FeedbackOptionalNew Digital Feedback service.

    DiscoveryAnalytics

    Optional

    Must be installed on machines with the Reportal role. Requires Hub.

    ExternalQuickTest

    Optional

    Support for external quick test. Should be installed on machines that have sticky sessions like the Authoring role.

    HierarchyManagement

    Optional

    Must be installed on machines with the Authoring role. Requires Hub.

    HubUI

    Optional

    Must be installed on machines with the Authoring role. Required for Hub.

    IdentityService

    Required

    Identity Service used for authentication of users and applications. Can be installed on standalone servers.

    MetadataApi

    Required

    Microservices with internal API's.

    PowerMTA

    Optional

    Only used if customer has purchased the PowerMTA software and Forsta Add-on.

    Reportal

    Required

    Reportal and reporting services.

    SearchService

    Required

    This role should be assigned to only ONE machine per environment. Install on standalone machine or together with SiteBootstrapper role.

    SiteBootstrapper

    Required

    This role should be assigned to only ONE machine per environment. Used to run deployment steps that only execute on one machine. e.g. system database(s) creation/update and updating of site config values specified as Octopus variables. Also used for Default Templates.

    SmtpEventSink

    Optional/Required

    Required if not using a 3rd party email service like PowerMTA. Add this role to all machines that also have the Batch role.

    StudioOptionalNew Studio UI. Must be installed on machines with the Authoring role.

    SurveyDesigner

    Optional

    New Survey Designer UI. Must be installed on machines with the Authoring role.

    WebService

    Required

    Used for public web services and API's. Some of these services and API's are also accessed from internal Forsta applications and services.

    Octopus Variables

    These variables are controlled via Octopus. Generally, Octopus will deploy these variables and overwrite conflicting settings on the site. You can test a setting by configuring it directly on the site, and then make it persistent by updating the Octopus variable.

    Important
    If you change a variable here, you will need to update the snapshot variables for the release and force redeploy of the packages. If not, the updated variable will be persisted when the next release is loaded onto the Octopus server.

    Name

    Example Value

    Explanation

    Confirmit.AppInit.Enabled

    TRUE

    Sets whether or not the deployment script will try to start up (prewarm) the application pool

    Confirmit.AppInit.SurveyEngine.InitPage

    /warmup

    This page is called by the AppInit function in IIS for prewarming the Survey Engine

    Confirmit.Connect.Dynamics.AppCertificate*****Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable
    Confirmit.Connect.Salesforce.AppCertificate*****Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.Server.ConfirmitUrl.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta ShortURL database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.ConfirmitUrl.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta ShortURL database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.ConfirmitUrl.ServerName

    confirm_system

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta ShortURL database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.DigitalFeedback.DataPathd:\confirmit_sql_dataSQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Digitalfeedback database
    Confirmit.Database.Server.DigitalFeedback.LogPathe:\confirmit_sql_logSQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Digitalfeedback database
    Confirmit.Database.Server.DigitalFeedback.ServerNameconfirm_systemSQL instance name hosting the Forsta Digitalfeedback database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.DocumentStore.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Documentstore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.DocumentStore.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Documentstore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.DocumentStore.ServerName

    confirm_system

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Documentstore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.NodeStore.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Nodestore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.NodeStore.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Nodestore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.NodeStore.ServerName

    confirm_system

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Nodestore database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Reporting.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Hub database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Reporting.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Hub database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Reporting.ServerName

    confirm_hub1

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Hub database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Search.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Search Service database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Search.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Search Service database

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Search.ServerName

    confirm_system

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Search Service database.

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta Survey databases.

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.DataPathN

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for additional Forsta Survey databases where 'N' is the instance ID (e.g. confirmit_surveys1, confirmit_surveys2 ...)

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta Survey databases

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.LogPathN

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for additional Forsta Survey databases where 'N' is the instance ID (e.g. confirmit_surveys1, confirmit_surveys2 ...)

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.ServerName

    confirmit_surveys

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Survey databases

    Confirmit.Database.Server.Survey.ServerNameN

    confirmit_surveys2

    SQL instance name hosting additional Forsta Survey databases where 'N' is the instance ID (e.g. confirmit_surveys1, confirmit_surveys2 ...)

    Confirmit.Database.Server.System.DataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the Forsta System databases

    Confirmit.Database.Server.System.LogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the Forsta System databases

    Confirmit.Database.Server.System.ServerName

    confirm_system

    SQL instance name hosting the Forsta Search Service database

    Confirmit.Database.User.AspState.Name

    ConfirmitASPState

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.AspState.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.AuthorC.Name

    ConfirmitAuthor

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.AuthorC.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.ConfirmitUrl.Name

    ConfirmitURL

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.ConfirmitUrl.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.DeployC.Name

    ConfirmitDeployer

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.DeployC.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.DigitalFeedback.NameConfirmitDeployerSQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.
    Confirmit.Database.User.DigitalFeedback.Password*****Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.DocumentStore.Name

    ConfirmitDeployer

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.DocumentStore.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.Helper.Name

    ConfirmitHelper

    A SQL user used during deployment steps. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.Helper.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.NodeStore.Name

    ConfirmitDeployer

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.NodeStore.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.ReportC.Name

    ConfirmitReport

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.ReportC.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.Reporting.Name

    ConfirmitDeploy

    The SQL User used for the Forsta Hub instance. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Note: These values will be used for all Hub instances unless there is an override.
    To override, specify variables Confirmit.Database.User.Reporting.Name1 and Confirmit.Database.User.Reporting.Password1
    for the first additional instance, then Name2/Password2 for the second additional instance, etc.

    Confirmit.Database.User.Reporting.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.Search.Name

    ConfirmitDeploy

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.Search.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.SurveyC.Name

    ConfirmitSurvey

    SQL User used by the application. Generated automatically during deployment if it does not exist.

    Confirmit.Database.User.SurveyC.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.Surveys.Name

    SA

    The SQL User used for accessing Forsta Survey databases.

    Note: These values will be used for all Survey instances unless there is an override.
    To override, specify variables Confirmit.Database.User.Surveys.Name1 and Confirmit.Database.User.Surveys.Password1
    for the first additional instance, then Name2/Password2 for the second additional instance, etc.

    Confirmit.Database.User.Surveys.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Database.User.SystemAdmin.Name

    SA

    The SQL User used for administrative tasks on databases. This user needs SA permissions, and needs to exist on the main system instance before installation.

    Confirmit.Database.User.SystemAdmin.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Deploy.WindowSize.Authoring

    2

    The amount of servers to deploy the Authoring role to at the same time. Use with caution and ensure that enough servers are available at all time to avoid downtime during deployment.

    Confirmit.Deploy.WindowSize.Reportal

    2

    The amount of servers to deploy the Reportal role to at the same time. Use with caution and ensure that enough servers are available at all time to avoid downtime during deployment.

    Confirmit.Deploy.WindowSize.SurveyEngine

    1

    The amount of servers to deploy the Deployment (data collection) role to at the same time. Use with caution and ensure that enough servers are available at all time to avoid downtime during deployment.

    Confirmit.IsAlive.FilePathisalive.htmPath to the htm file used for the load balancer health check

    Confirmit.IsAlive.Offload.Delay

    20

    The period in seconds the deployment script will wait for traffic to bleed off from a server before performing disruptive steps. Based on renaming an isalive.htm file hosted in \Inetpub\wwwroot

    Confirmit.IsAlive.Preload.Delay

    10

    The period in seconds the deployment script will wait for the application to start up before putting a server back in the loadbalanced group. Based on renaming an isalive.htm file hosted in \Inetpub\wwwroot

    Confirmit.MessageBroker.User.Name

    RabbitMessageBroker

    The username for the RabbitMQ message broker service

    Confirmit.MessageBroker.User.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.NuGet.TentacleDownload

    FALSE

    Determines whether or not the tentacle on the application server downloads the nuget package from the nuget feed (TRUE) or the Octopus server (FALSE)

    (If using PowerMTA) Confirmit.PowerMTA.Server.LocalPath.ArchiveLogFolder

    P:\LogFiles\pmta\process

    Sets the location of the logfiles generated by PowerMTA, which will be picked up by the Forsta MTA Notification service

    (If using PowerMTA) Confirmit.PowerMTA.Server.LocalPath.ErrorFileFolder

    P:\LogFiles\pmta\error

    Sets the output location of logfiles the Forsta MTA Notification service is unable to process

    (If using PowerMTA) Confirmit.PowerMTA.Server.LocalPath.ProcessedFileFolder

    P:\LogFiles\pmta\archive

    Sets the output location of logfiles the Forsta MTA Notification service has successfully processed. These files can be stored elsewhere for record keeping

    (If using PowerMTA) Confirmit.PowerMTA.Site.Setting.DeleteFilesOnProcessing

    FALSE

    Determines whether or not the  Forsta MTA Notification service should delete logfiles after processing them

    (If using PowerMTA) Confirmit.PowerMTA.Site.Setting.ProcessedFilesLiveLength

    60

    Sets the time in days logfiles will be stored in the Confirmit.PowerMTA.Server.LocalPath.ProcessedFileFolder before being cleaned up

    Confirmit.Reportal.Pools

    0-3,4-7,8-b,c-f

    Splits up Reports into multiple application pools, and creates IISRewrite rules. Reportal GUID's are based on hex, so this example will create 4 application pools. Single reports can also be split out by having the first part of the Reportal GUID as the first part of the configuration value (<reportGUID>,0-3,4-7,...)

    Confirmit.Server.Certificate.SSL

    Confirmit.Server.Certificate.SSL.Password

    *****

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Server.IIS.WebSite

    Default Web Site

    Determines the website to use

    Confirmit.Server.LocalPath.ConfirmitData

    e:\confirmit

    Local path on the application servers for hosting data files. This folder is recommended to back up.

    Confirmit.Server.LocalPath.ConfirmitProgram

    d:\confirmit

    Local path on the application servers for program files.

    Confirmit.Server.NodeExtraCACertsFilePathc:\\confirmit_prog\\extra_ca_certs.pem

    *Note! The path must have double backslashes.*

    This variable can be used if you use privately signed/self signed certificates in your environment and need to add them to Node.js' list of approved certificate vendors

    When set, the well known "root" CAs (like VeriSign) will be extended with the extra certificates in the .pem file listed here. The file should consist of one or more trusted certificates in PEM format. The .pem file can be placed in this exact path locally on all servers, or a network share (as long as the app pool identity has access there).

    The Confirmit.Server.Bootstrapper package, executed on all servers, will update the web.config at the web site root level, for example c:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config, and add a “NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS” value in the AppSetting section pointing to the specified .pem file.

    This web.config will be used by all services and apps on the server - both existing and future.

    An alternative to this setting is to manually create a variable called ”ConfirmitServerNodeTlsRejectUnauthorizedFlag” (separate section for description)

    Confirmit.Server.User.ConfirmitDeployer.Name

    domain\confirmitdeploy

    Windows user used to deploy files across multiple servers in a Forsta Plus site. Can be a local user or a domain user. Must exist prior to deployment and have a profile on all machines in the site. Must have the permissions Logon as a service and Logon as a batch job on all machines.

    Confirmit.Server.User.ConfirmitDeployer.Password

    Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.ConnectionString#{Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.Host},password=#{Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.Password},ssl=True,abortConnect=FalseGenerates the Redis connection string from the referenced variables

    (BETA) Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.Enabled

    FALSE

    Determines whether or not to use Redis as cache for session state for Reportal and Authoring

    (BETA) Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.Host

    Server01:6379,Server02:6379,Server03:6379

    List of hostname:port of servers hosting the Redis cluster

    Confirmit.SessionState.Redis.Password*****Needs to be set as Sensitive Variable

    Confirmit.Site.Application.Default.SQLServerDataPath

    d:\confirmit_sql_data

    SQL Data (mdf) drive for the default Forsta Microservice databases.

    Confirmit.Site.Application.Default.SQLServerLogPath

    e:\confirmit_sql_log

    SQL Log (ldf) drive for the default Forsta Microservice databases.

    Confirmit.Site.Application.Default.SQLServerName

    confirm_system

    Default SQL server instance name for databases from microservices deploying their own database. Can be overridden per microservice by specifying variables Confirmit.Site.Application.<name of microservice>.SQLServerName,Confirmit.Site.Application.<name of microservice>.SQLServerDataPath and Confirmit.Site.Application.<name of microservice>.SQLServerLogPath

    Confirmit.Site.HostName.Authoring

    author.site.com

    Base URL for the Forsta Authoring application

    Confirmit.Site.HostName.Reportal

    reportal.site.com

    Base URL for the Forsta Reportal application

    Confirmit.Site.Id

    CustomerName_Site

    Site name displayed in the Forsta application

    Confirmit.Site.Identity.ClientKeyGeneratorSecret

    Automatically generated

    Secret used for generation of trusted subsystem client keys. Default value is a new Guid unique to this environment. This value should not be changed after initial installation

    Confirmit.Site.IdentityDomain

    idp.site.com

    Base URL for the Forsta Identity provider application

    (BETA) Confirmit.Site.LogDestination.Address

    logstash.site.com

    The domain name of the logstash server for log collection

    (BETA) Confirmit.Site.LogDestination.Port

    9998

    The port of the logstash server for log collection

    Confirmit.Site.LogPath

    D:\Logfiles

    The location of the Forsta Application log files. Please refer to logging for more details. This folder will host logfiles which will need to be handled in accordance with your log file policies

    Confirmit.Site.Url.QuickTestUrlhttps://quicktest.site.com/confirm/wixURL to the quicktest service

    Confirmit.Site.SSLEnabled

    TRUE

    Determines whether or not to create SSL endpoints

    Confirmit.Site.SSLAccelerator.ModeFALSEFor defining if SSL offloading is done by a loadbalancer on the site.
    Confirmit.Site.SSLAccelerator.Port81If SSL Accelerator Mode is TRUE, this defines the port that SSL traffic will flow from the loadbalancer to servers.

    Confirmit.Site.UncPath.FtpRootPath

    \\filecluster\FTPRoot

    UNC path to the FTP server share

    Confirmit.Site.UncPath.ImageUploadRootFolder

    \\filecluster\ImageUpload

    UNC path to the Image Upload folder

    Confirmit.Site.UncPath.SharedData

    \\filecluster\ConfirmitShared

    UNC path to the common Shared Data folder

    Confirmit.Site.Url.DictionaryRestApi

    http://rest.site.com/api

    URL to the Dictionary service, needs to point to servers with the MetadataAPI role

    Confirmit.Site.Url.DownloadBaseUrl

    http://author.site.com

    Base URL for hosting console application files like CAPI

    Confirmit.Site.Url.MetaDataRestApi

    http://rest.site.com/confirmit/metadata

    URL to the Metadata/ REST API service, needs to point to servers with the MetadataAPI role

    Confirmit.Site.Url.ShortUrlApi

    http://ws.site.com/confirmit/ConfirmitUrl/api/urls

    URL to the ShortURL service, needs to point to servers with the Deployment and Webservice role

    Confirmit.Site.Url.ShortUrlRedirect

    http://short.url/r/api/urls

    URL to the ShortURL service, needs to point to servers with the Deployment and Webservice role

    (Add-on) Confirmit.Site.Url.TextAnalyticsWorkflowRestApi

    http://ws.site.com/textanalytics/api

    Only in use if using the TextAnalytics service.

    Confirmit.Site.Url.WebServiceBaseUrl

    http://ws.site.com

    Base URL for Forsta external API/ Webservices, needs to point to servers with the Webservice role

    (Optional) Confirmit.SurveyEngine.WixPools

    0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

    Leave empty if not in use. This setting is to reduce memory strain on individual application pools. This setting splits Surveys into multiple application pools, and creates corresponding IISRewrite rules. The redirects will be to /wix/0, /wix/1/ ... This example will create 10 application pools.

    (Optional) ConfirmitServerNodeTlsRejectUnauthorizedFlag 0Disables server certificate verification for Node based apps. This is typically useful in cases where self signed certificates are used since Node apps only allow certificates from Mozilla’s list of approved certificate vendors. Please note that turning this check off makes these applications vulnerable to man in the middle attacks. A recommended approach is to use the other variable, Confirmit.Server.NodeExtraCACertsFilePath

    Octopus.Acquire.MaxParallelism

    20

    This setting determines how many packages can be downloaded from the Octopus server simultaneously.

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