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Install Frontline Connector

This guide shows how to install the Frontline Connector on Windows. The Frontline Connector is an additional service, that integrates the customer's Warehouse Management System (WMS) into the Frontline Command Center.

Prerequisites

1. Download the .jar file of the Frontline Connector from our precompiled Connector Application with XLSX and CSV import. Alternatively, users can download the project template implementing their custom backend integration.

2. Create a home directory for Frontline applications and configure a system environment variable FRONTLINE_HOME that points to it.

Note: The Frontline Connector and the Frontline Command Center usually run on the same host. In such cases, use the same FRONTLINE_HOME directory for both.

Wrapping the JAR

Provide the .jar file as a service. Windows users can download a .xml file for the configuration.

To install the service using WinSW:

1. Put the wrapper and the .jar file in the same directory.

2. Execute the following command in the command center.

frontlineconnector.exe install

3. Check Windows services to confirm the installation.

Note: Users can use any other service wrapper or wrapping method of their choice. For users with a Linux server, look up the method for your specific OS and version.

Configuring the Connector

1. Start the service using the GUI or with the command:

net start frontlineconnector

Configuration files are created during the first lunch of the service in the FRONTLINE_HOME directory.

3. Open the file %FRONTLINE_HOME%/config/configuration/xservice.properties.

4. Configure the "xserver.url" and "xserver.port" parameters of xserver.remote.address=${xserver.url}:${xserver.port} 

Users should have something like xserver.remote.address=http://123.456.789.10:8080.

fcc.remote-address=${fcc.url}:${fcc.port}
fc.url=${FC_URL}:${FC_PORT}
fcc.api.key=${FCC_API_KEY}
server.servlet.context-path=/connector/

Example

service.port=8081 
fcc.remote-address=http://123.456.789.10:8080
fc.url=http://123.456.789.10:8081/connector
fcc.api-key=687ae1dc4e40423c9d88b37b220a4328
server.servlet.context-path=/connector/

Configure the API Key

In order to connect to the Frontline Command Center, an API key is required for authorization of the connector.

fcc.api-key=${api.key}

To get an API key,

  1. Log in to the Frontline Command Center as sysadmin.
  2. Navigate to Configuration and then Users.
  3. In the Users list, double-click on the user named "Frontline Connector".
  4. A detailed view opens with the key in the "User Info" section.

Note: Firewall configurations should allow access to the ports used in the settings.

5. Restart the service. If the configurations were successful, the logs display lines like these:

25 Sep 2018 15:31:27,660 INFO  ServiceController - Registering EVENT-Service with xServer
[...]
25 Sep 2018 15:31:27,933 INFO  ServiceController - Registering TROUBLESHOOTER-Service with xServer
[...]
25 Sep 2018 15:31:27,957 INFO  ServiceController - Registering inspection-Service with xServer
[...]
25 Sep 2018 15:31:28,201 INFO  ServiceController - Registering PICKING-Service with xServer
[...]
25 Sep 2018 15:31:30,519 INFO  IntegrationService - Started IntegrationService in 8.665 seconds (JVM running for 10.55)

If the Frontline Connector has the web UI enabled, it can be accessed using the URL configured in the properties (e.g. http://123.456.789.10:8081).