ProcessMaker Windows Installation

ProcessMaker version 1.6-4260 and later can be installed with a new user-friendly ProcessMaker Windows Installer which automatically installs Apache 2.2.16, MySQL 5.1.50, PHP 5.2.14 and phpMyAdmin 3.3.7 and configures them to function with ProcessMaker.

Description

Unlike the old Installer used in version 1.6-4184 and earlier, the new Windows Installer is compatible with Windows 7 and is designed to be totally automatic and install without asking the user for confusing information such as port numbers for Apache and MySQL and passwords for MySQL and phpMyAdmin. ProcessMaker is now easier to install for inexperienced users who just want to install ProcessMaker for the first time and try it out on their local machine, but more advanced users wanting to customize their installation will now need to do a manual install of ProcessMaker or reconfigure ProcessMaker after using the automatic installer.

The ProcessMaker Windows Installer will automatically detect any previous installations of ProcessMaker and uninstall them. The Installer can be used on a machine which already has an existing installation of Apache, PHP, MySQL and/or phpMyAdmin, but it will not use them. Instead, it installs new versions of Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin all under a unified directory (such as c:\Program Files\ProcessMaker or c:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ProcessMaker in Windows Vista/7), which shouldn't interfere with existing installations of these programs, but the new programs will have to be run off different port numbers. For example, if existing installations of Apache and MySQL are already using the default ports 80 and 3306, then the ProcessMaker Windows Installer will use port 8080 or higher for Apache and port 3307 or higher for MySQL. To make ProcessMaker use the default ports, either uninstall the existing programs before running the ProcessMaker Windows Installer, or do a manual install to configure ProcessMaker to use an existing WAMP stack.

Requirements

• Windows XP or later (32bit or 64bit)
• Mozilla Firefox (recommended) or Internet Explorer 7 or higher

All the dependencies needed to run ProcessMaker are bundled in the easy-to-install WAMP (Windows/Apache/MySQL/PHP) Installer, including Apache 2.2.8, PHP 5.2.5, MySQL 5.2, and phpMyAdmin. Note that ProcessMaker 1.8 and earlier will NOT work with PHP 5.3.X.

Note 1: If VMWare is installed on your computer, it is recommended to disable the VMWare Network Connection during the ProcessMaker Installation. See Disabling VMWare Network Connections.

Note 2: If any programs (such as Skype) use port 80, either reconfigure the program to use a different port or leave it running on during the ProcessMaker installation, so that the ProcessMaker installer will choose a different port. Find out which ports are being used with the DOS command: netstat -anb

Note 3: 32 bit versions of Apache, PHP and MySQL will be installed, which should work in both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows. If you want to use 64 bit versions, then do a manual install.

Installation

Download ProcessMaker-X.X-XXXX-Setup.exe from http://sourceforge.net/projects/processmaker/files. ProcessMaker versions are labeled according to the pattern MAJOR.MINOR-COMMIT, such as 1.6-4260, where 1 is the major version, 6 is the minor version and 4260 is the commit number. Beta versions of ProcessMaker have the word beta appended to the version number. To download a recent version of ProcessMaker, go to the Releases folder and look for the highest version numbers.

After downloading the installer, double click it to begin the installation wizard. If the installer detects that ProcessMaker is already installed, then it will uninstall it, before installing the new version. (It the previous installation is not detected, go to Start > All Programs > ProcessMaker > Uninstall ProcessMaker to uninstall it.)

Click on Next to begin the installation of ProcessMaker.

Mark the option to accept the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 license used by ProcessMaker and then click on Next.

Windows XP and Server 2003
By default ProcessMaker will be installed in the %ProgramFiles%\ProcessMaker\ directory in Windows XP and Server 2003, which on English systems is generally located at C:\Program Files\ProcessMaker\. If installing ProcessMaker as a user without Administrator privileges, then select an installation folder where the user has file permissions (such as C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\).

Windows Vista, 7, Server 2008
Due to new security restrictions in Windows Vista and 7 which don't allow a program running on Apache to write to system files, so ProcessMaker can not be installed in the %ProgramFiles% directory. By default, ProcessMaker will be installed in the user's directory at C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ProcessMaker\.

To install in a different location, click on the Browse button and select a directory where Apache, MySQL, PHP, ProcessMaker and phpMyAdmin will be installed.

To install in a new directory, click on Make New Folder to create a folder and give it a name, such as ProcessMaker.

Next, decide whether to select the following options:

• Install sample processes: This option will install a "sample" workspace with three processes (Invoice Approval, Expense Report and Leave of Absence Request), along with all the users, groups, PM Tables and sample cases to see these processes in action. This option is highly recommended to test out the functionality of ProcessMaker and see good process design.
  However, the "sample" workspace will only work if the MySQL database used by ProcessMaker is running on the default port 3306. If another installation of MySQL is already running on port 3306, do NOT select this option, because it will try to create three "sample" databases there, which might cause problems with the existing installation of MySQL.

• Enable heartbeat: The "Heartbeat" is used to collect anonymous statistics every seven days about the number of workspaces, users and processes being used. This information is collected to help the ProcessMaker developers identify usage patterns and help improve the application in the future. If you do not what this information to be sent to the ProcessMaker developers, do NOT select this option.

Then, click on Next to continue with the installation wizard.

Check the settings for the installation, which are displayed in the dialog box.

Apache will be automatically configured to use an available port. If the default port 80 is already in use, then it will select port 8080. If that port is also in use, it will continue trying successive ports (8081, 8082, 8083, etc) until it finds a free one. Make sure that all Windows services are turned on when running the ProcessMaker installer, so that the installer which know which ports are being used by other services.

If Apache is running on a port other than the default port 80, make sure to write down the port number, since that port number will be part of the web address to login to ProcessMaker.

MySQL will also be automatically configured to use an available port. If the default port 3306 is already in use, then it will select port 3307. If that port is also in use, it will continue trying successive ports (3308, 3309, 3310, etc) until it finds a free one.

Note that the "root" user in MySQL will be installed with a blank password, since this Installer is only meant for trial purposes where ProcessMaker is run on a local machine. If installing on a network or planning to use ProcessMaker in production, then it is strongly recommended to set a root password for MySQL after installing ProcessMaker. Then, reconfigure ProcessMaker to use that new root password.

If these settings are acceptable, then click on Next to begin the installation.

Please wait while the WAMP stack and ProcessMaker are installed.

When the installation has successfully completed, a dialog box will appear, with the following options:

• View Readme: Check this option to see the "Readme" file for ProcessMaker.
• Launch ProcessMaker: Check this option to open ProcessMaker in the default "workflow" workspace, which is an empty workspace where new processes can be designed.
• Launch ProcessMaker with sample processes: This option will only appear if the Install sample processes option was checked in the previous configuration screen. Check this option to open ProcessMaker in the "sample" workspace, which is ready to run cases and test out ProcessMaker's functionality on 3 existing processes.

Click on Finish to complete the installation process. If one of the options to Launch ProcessMaker is checked, then the default web browser will open and redirect to the ProcessMaker login screen:

To login for the first time, enter:

• User: admin
• Password: admin
• Language: English

Remember that ProcessMaker is only compatible with Mozilla Firefox (all versions) and Internet Explorer 7+. If your default web browser is not compatible with ProcessMaker, then open a compatible web browser and manually enter the login URL. To login in the future, in the main Windows menu, go to Start > All Programs > ProcessMaker > ProcessMaker to use the "workflow" workspace (or ProcessMaker Sample to use the "sample" workspace). For more information, see Login.

After installing ProcessMaker, configure the Windows server to periodically execute cron.php.

Note: It is a good idea to reset the administrator's password to something more secure in the future before using ProcessMaker in production.

Manually Entering the Login URL

To go directly to the login screen, open a compatible web browser and in the address box enter the URL:
     http://localhost
If the installer configured Apache to use a different port that the default port 80, then enter:
     http://localhost:<PORT>
For example:
     http://localhost:8080

The web browser should then redirect to the login screen at:
     http://localhost/sys/en/green/login/login

To login for the first time, enter:

• User: admin
• Password: admin
• Workspace: workflow   or   sample
• Language: English

Errors during Installation

If an error occurs during the installation, check the installation log file:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\install_log.log
Generally it will be found at:
     C:\Program Files\ProcessMaker\install_log.log

Depending on the errors found in the installation log file, check the following files:
The Apache configuration file:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\apache\conf\httpd.conf
     (This file should have an Include statement to pointing to the pmos.conf file.)
The ProcessMaker web site configuration file for Apache:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\apache\conf\pmos.conf
The PHP configuration file:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\php\php.ini
The MySQL configuration file:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\mysql\my.ini
The ProcessMaker configuration file where components are installed:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\processmaker\workflow\engine\config\paths_installed.php
The ProcessMaker configuration file for database connections:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\processmaker\shared\sites\workflow\db.php
The ProcessMaker redirection to login screen:
     <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>\processmaker\workflow\public_html\index.html

If the following error appears at the login screen:

This error indicates that the installer was unable to access the MySQL databases to install the translations. Try uninstalling ProcessMaker and then reinstalling it without the options Install sample processes and Enable heartbeat. If that doesn't work, then ask for help on the forum.

Uninstalling ProcessMaker

To uninstall ProcessMaker, in the menu go to Start > All Programs > ProcessMaker > Uninstall ProcessMaker.

To uninstall ProcessMaker and the WAMP stack it runs on, click Yes.

Wait until ProcessMaker finishes uninstalling.

Click on Finish to end the installation.

Uninstalling a previous Installation

During a new installation, the new Windows Installer will detect the previous ProcessMaker installation (whose ProcessMakerApache and ProcessMakerMysql services are running). The new installation cannot continue without removing the previous installation.

Click on Yes to uninstall the previous installation.

Click on Yes to confirm the removal of the entire WAMP stack.

The previous installation of ProcessMaker will now be uninstalled.

Disabling VMWare Network Connections

During the installation it is recommended to disable VMWare Network Connections, because they can produce a conflict.

• Open the Panel Control --> Network Connections
• Disable every Connection that is not related with your LAN Ethernet Adapter. Right click on the connection icon and choose the option "Disable" from the pop-up menu
• After that execute the ProcessMaker installer.
• Once the installation has finished, the network adapters can be enabled again:
  Open the Panel Control.
  Then, open Network Connections.
  Right click on the connection icon and choose the option Enable from the pop-up menu.

Setting the Default Time Zone

To set the default time zone for the ProcessMaker server, open the file <INSTALL-DIRECTORY>/workflow/engine/config/paths.php with your preferred plain text editor. Search for line 121 that defines the TIME_ZONE constant:

     define('TIME_ZONE', 'America/La_Paz');

Replace the default value 'America/La_Paz' with your time zone. A list of available timezones can be found at: http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

For example, to change the time zone to Vienna's time:

 ///************TimeZone Set***************//
   if(!defined('TIME_ZONE')) {
     define('TIME_ZONE', 'Europe/Vienna');
   }

Examining the ProcessMaker Databases

ProcessMaker uses 3 databases in MySQL for each workspace. The databases can be easily examined using phpMyAdmin, a graphical, web-based tool. To see the databases used by ProcessMaker, enter the following URL in the address bar of a web browser:
     http://IP-ADDRESS/phpmyadmin

For more information, see Consulting the ProcessMaker databases.