System requirements

Below you will find MFT Server system requirements.

 

Hardware

 

  • 2 Core CPU, 8 GB RAM (minimum). This is considering both operating system and Java Virtual Machine (JVM) RAM requirements. The MFT Server JVM requires its own dedicated memory allocation (heap size). As a guideline, even for a minimum deployment, allocate around 4GB of RAM specifically for the JSCAPE JVM.

     

    Larger environments and higher transfer volumes will require significantly more host memory. See the chart below for more information.

     

    Deployment Type Small Scale Medium Scale Large Scale
    CPU 2 CPUs 4-6 CPUs 8+ CPUs
    Memory (RAM) 8GB 16GB 32GB+
    Heap Size for JSCAPE 4GB 6GB 8GB+
    Storage 20GB+ SSD 50GB+ SSD 100GB+ SSD

     

  • Dedicated Host — For optimal and predictable performance, dedicating the host server solely to JSCAPE MFT Server is strongly recommended.

 

Java

 

  • For MFT Server 2024.x and higher, Java 11 through 17 is supported.

 

  • For MFT Server 12.x through 2023.x, Java 8 or higher is supported.

     

    • Note: If you are using Oracle Java and are running on MFT Server version 12.x - 2023.x, we strongly recommend you use at least Java 8 Update 161. Additionally, you must install the JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files if you are running on a version lower than Java 8 Update 181.

       

  • MFT Server supports JREs from Oracle/Sun, IBM, and OpenJDK.

     

  • For Windows, Mac OS 10.x, Solaris, Linux, Linux Z/OS and AIX 5.x/6.x/7.x platforms:

     

    • Typically Java runtime is all that needs to be installed on the system.

       

To speclify the Java installation you want MFT Server to use, follow the appropriate instructions below.

 

Linux installation

Go to the JSCAPE MFT Server installation directory (for more recent MFT Server versions, the default directory name is mft_server) and edit the script named server.

 

Uncomment the INSTALL4J_JAVA_HOME_OVERRIDE and specify the following:

INSTALL4J_JAVA_HOME_OVERRIDE=/path/to/java/home/directory

 

The Java home directory is the parent directory of the bin subdirectory. A common mistake is to include bin in the path. For example, INSTALL4J_JAVA_HOME_OVERRIDE=/usr/java/jre1.8xxx - Correct, INSTALL4J_JAVA_HOME_OVERRIDE=/usr/java/jre1.8xxx/bin - Incorrect.

Windows installation

Go to the JSCAPE MFT Server installation directory (which by default is Program Files/MFT Server)/.install4j/ and edit the file named: pref_jre.cfg. Replace the existing entry with the full path of your desired Java installation. For example,

C:\Program Files\java\jre1.8xxx

Browsers

 

  • The latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Apple Safari are recommended.

 

Databases

 

MFT Server offers support for various database types to host its backend. Use a supported database type in:

 

  • MFT Server production environments.

     

  • MFT Server evaluation environments with heavy usage.

     

  • MFT Server high availability environments.

 

The embedded H2 database that ships with MFT Server is not intended for production environments and is for evaluation purposes only.

 

For on-prem database installations, the following types are supported:

 

  • MySQL

     

  • SQL Server

     

  • Oracle

     

  • PostgreSQL

 

For cloud-managed database services, the following types are supported:

 

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) RDS — Supported when MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, or PostgreSQL is leveraged.

     

  • Azure — SQL Server Managed Instance (SQL Server), Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for Oracle.

     

  • Google Cloud — Cloud SQL - Supported when MySQL, SQL Server, or PostgreSQL is leveraged, Oracle Database@Google Cloud.

 

The JSCAPE MFT Server database user should be granted only the minimum necessary privileges. Avoid using administrative or root database accounts.

 

Required Privileges — Work closely with your DBA to ensure the database and user are created with the access levels described below.

 

  • Schema Management: CREATE, ALTER, DROP (Required for initial installation)

  • Data Manipulation: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, SELECT (Required for normal operation)

  • Index Management: CREATE INDEX, DROP INDEX (Required for performance optimization)

 

SQLServer — Adding the following roles will suffice:

 

db_ddladmin

db_datawriter

db_datareader

or making the account database owner

 

MySQL and MariaDB — For a quick setup, grant all privileges on the database to the designated MySQL or MariaDB user account.

 

create database jscapedb character set utf8 collate utf8_general_ci;

create user 'jscapeuser'@'%' identified by 'StrongPassword';

grant all on jscapedb.* to 'jscapeuser'@'%';

 

PostgreSQL — For a quick setup, make the account owner of the database.

 

create user jscapeuser createdb password 'StrongPassword';

create database "jscapedb"

with owner "jscapeuser"

encoding 'UTF8'

lc_collate = 'en_US.UTF-8'

lc_ctype = 'en_US.UTF-8';

 

JDBC URLs for each database type:

 

  • MySQL: jdbc:mysql://host:port/<db_name>

  • MSSQLServer: jdbc:sqlserver://host:port;database=<db_name>;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false;encrypt=false

  • MSSQLServer: jdbc:sqlserver://host\instanceName:port;database=<db_name>;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false;encrypt=false

  • PostgreSQL: jdbc:postgresql://host:port/<db_name>

  • Oracle thin driver: jdbc:oracle:thin://host:port/<service_name>

 

The ;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false property is very important for SQLServer. The performance of SQL queries and updates can be slow if this is not set as described.

 

JSCAPE MFT Server includes pre-installed JDBC drivers for the most common databases. Before performing any manual steps, please check if your database is supported out of the box. The following drivers are already located in the libs directory within your JSCAPE MFT Server installation:

 

  • mssql-jdbc-12.2.0.jre8.jar

  • postgresql-42.7.2.jar

  • mariadb-java-client-2.7.4.jar

     

If your database works with one of these drivers, no further action is required.

 

If you are using a different database or a specific version of a driver not listed above, follow these steps to add your own driver:

 

  1. Obtain the correct JDBC driver JAR file for your database and Java version.

     

  2. Place the JAR file in the libs directory within your JSCAPE MFT Server installation.

 

If you need to use a different version of the PostgreSQL driver (e.g., postgresql-42.3.1.jar), you would copy it to the libs directory using the follow Linux command: mv postgresql-42.3.1.jar /opt/mft_server/libs"

 

Oracle

SQL Server

PostgreSQL

MySQL

 

If you are running MFT Server on a Windows OS, with SQL Server as the database, and you wish to use Windows Integrated Authentication, expand the link below.

 

By default, MFT Server comes with a SQL Server JDBC driver that only works with SQL Server authentication.

 

Follow the steps below to configure MFT Server to use Windows Integrated Authentication to connect to SQL Server.

 

  1. Download version 12.2.0 SQL Server JDBC driver from Microsoft.

     

  2. Stop the MFT Server service.

     

  3. There are 2 .jar files inside the JDBC driver archive. One is for Java 8 (*jre8.jar), and one is for Java 11 or higher (*jre11.jar). Use the one for the Java runtime running MFT Server. Copy the appropriate jar file into <MFT Server Installation>\libs directory. Remove the existing the sqljdbc4x.jar that is in libs directory.

     

    Skip Step 3 if running MFT Server 2023.2 or higher.

     

  4. Copy the .dll file found inside the auth directory from the JDBC driver archive into <MFT Server Installation>\libs\jdbc directory. Copy from the x86 or x64 subfolder depending on the type of Windows OS being used.

     

  5. Add the following line into the <MFT Server Installation>\server.vmoptions file: -Djava.library.path=libs\jdbc

     

  6. Add (create) the three following .vmoptions files (you can use Notepad) to the MFT Server installation folder. If MFT Server is not installed under C:\Program Files\MFT Server, then modify each file and change the said path found inside accordingly. The contents for all three files are the same.

     

    Name: js-update-web-resources.vmoptions

    Contents: -Djava.library.path="C:\Program Files\MFT Server\libs\jdbc"

     

    Name: js-import-log-searches.vmoptions

    Contents: -Djava.library.path="C:\Program Files\MFT Server\libs\jdbc"

     

    Name: js-database-configuration.vmoptions

    Contents: -Djava.library.path="C:\Program Files\MFT Server\libs\jdbc"

     

  7. Change the service account of the MFT Server service to an AD account that has access to the SQLServer database for MFT Server. This account must also be given full access to the MFT Server installation directory or be made a local administrator.

     

  8. Start the MFT Server service.

     

If migrating from another database to SQL Server, then proceed with the steps described in Migrating existing data to a centralized global datastore

 

The JDBC URL for SQL Server Windows Authentication is as follows:

jdbc:sqlserver://sqlserverhost[:port];database=<db_name>;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false;integratedSecurity=true;encrypt=false

 

The ;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false property is very important for SQLServer. The performance of SQL queries and updates can be slow if this is not set as described.

 

If you are already using SQL Server and are switching from SQL Server Authentication to Windows Authentication, manually modify the <MFT Server installation directory>\etc\database.properties file and change the "db.url" property and append ";integratedSecurity\=true" like shown below.

 

This has to be done before performing step #8 (Start MFT Server service) above.

 

db.url=jdbc\:sqlserver\://TheSQLServerHost;database\=TheDBName;sendStringParametersAsUnicode\=false;integratedSecurity\=true;encrypt\=false

 

Notes

 

The username / password on the Settings > DATASTORE > Datastore page are ignored when using Windows Integrated Authentication. It is the Widows > Services > MFT Server > Properties > Log On service account that is used to authenticate to SQLServer.

 

Use the MFT Server Manager interface when upgrading MFT Server, instead of using the standalone Windows .exe installer. Go to Settings > UPDATES >  Automatic Updates > Automatic Updates page and click on the Check for updates button.

 

JSCAPE does not have specific hardware requirements for the database because it varies with each user's needs. That said, from experience, we recommend the minimum of 4 core CPU, 8 GB of RAM.

 

For performance and security, it is recommended to install the database on a separate server for JSCAPE MFT Server. This is required for high availability (HA) setups.

 

See also

 

Memory tuning and monitoring resources

 

Redwood University - JSCAPE On-premise MFT Installation. Select Prerequisites.

 

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