Hardware

Please ensure that you size your infrastructure correctly. For more details, please review Define your Fredhopper hardware sizing. You can always contact Fredhopper in case of questions.

CPU

When your Fredhopper machines have more than one CPU (we recommend at least four CPUs) make sure that the operating system is configured in such a way that the Fredhopper processes can really make use of these CPUs. Also make sure that a single Fredhopper Java process, such as the qserver, can use these CPUs at any time in parallel. A qserver that cannot make use of all four (or more) CPUs will run below the specification.

Further, we recommend using a 64bit CPU, although Fredhopper might run on 32bit we cannot guarantee this as it is no longer tested.

Memory

The amount of memory required depends on many factors and is described in Define your Fredhopper hardware sizing

Network

Fredhopper recommends using gigabit network cards for optimal performance.

Storage

Fredhopper requires one of the following file systems:

1. Windows: NTFS
2. Unix/Linux: ext3, ext2, zfs, reiserfs, xfs
3. Solaris: zfs, ufs/ffs

Remote File Systems It is not possible to install Fredhopper on a remote file system such as NFS or CIFS. The disk used for installation must be local, and should not be shared with other machines.

Unix specific: The local disk has to have hard link possibility, file locking must be possible.

All Fredhopper software has to be installed on the same disk partition. It is not possible to move parts of Fredhopper to other partitions and symlink or mount them. Doing so can result in unexpected results.

Software

Operating System

Fredhopper is certified to be used with the following operating systems:

• Linux kernel 2.6+ glibc 2.3.5+ (fedora 2.3.5-10.3+) compiled for 64bit (e.g. Suse10+)

  Linux Distributions Fredhopper suggests selecting a Linux distribution that provides a "long time support" or "enterprise" version to ensure continuous support.

• Windows Server 2012 R2 (x64) is supported starting from FAS 7.5.2.x.
• MS Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with NTFS.

  Note that Fredhopper does not support Windows 2008 R1 and earlier.

• Solaris 10+ with XPG4 shell (default shell /bin/sh is not compatible).

Please contact Fredhopper for other operating systems.

Java

Fredhopper 7.5 requires the Sun/Oracle Java Standard Edition Development Kit version 7, 64bit (JDK1.7).

Please refer to the separate page on how to install and configure Java.

Not all Java versions are compatible with Fredhopper, please check the Install Java page for the exact requirements.

Web browser

The Fredhopper Business Manager is compatible with the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox

The table below lists the specific versions:

Please ensure to have cookies enabled when using the browser to access the Fredhopper Business Manager.

Specific Settings and Considerations

Fredhopper user

Install Fredhopper under a dedicated user, called 'fredhopper'. All Fredhopper related software should reside in the home directory of this user, and all Fredhopper processes should be executed as this user to ensure proper operation.

Time and date settings

Make sure that all system clocks in the entire Fredhopper cluster are in sync. When the systems are not in sync, Fredhopper replication will not work properly.

Network

Make sure all Fredhopper machines are in the same network segment, and that the machines can resolve 'localhost' as well their assigned hostname(s).

Static IP/name association Fredhopper suggests configuring the IP/name association for the Fredhopper servers statically using the "hosts file" on the particular machine, for example for a Fredhopper server fredhopper1.example.com with IP address 192.0.2.5: 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain 192.0.2.5 fredhopper1 fredhopper1.example.com The hosts file is operating system-specific and can be found (typically) in the places below. It may be required to additionally configure the name resolution service to honor the "hosts file". Operating System Path to "hosts file" Configuration of name resolution service Windows %SYSTEMROOT%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts   Unix /etc/hosts /etc/nsswitch.conf

Make sure that HTTP GET, POST, and PUT commands are allowed from the indexer node to each live node port 8177.

Load Balancer

Fredhopper requires the use of a load balancer in production environments to ensure the availability of the query service(s) at all times. The load balancer needs to be able to monitor specific URLs on the Fredhopper instances and react to HTTP status codes to determine the availability of a specific instance.

Fredhopper suggests HAProxy as a reliable and proven software load balancer. Please see Setting up HAProxy as Load Balancer for instructions on how to install and configure HAProxy.

Unix specific preparations

Utilities

Please ensure the following Unix utilities are installed:

• bash
• zip/unzip
• lynx
• wget
• mail
• SSH and scp

Fredhopper user

Install Fredhopper under a special user, called 'fredhopper'. All Fredhopper related software should reside in the home directory of this user.

The Fredhopper user must have a login shell: bash.

Set user Fredhopper number of open files (ulimit -n) to: 2048.

Cron

Make sure the fredhopper user can schedule its own cronjobs.

Windows specific preparations

Ensure that the system path starts with %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%:

1. Open the System Properties (WinKey + Pause)
2. Select the "Advanced" tab
3. Click the "Environment Variables" button
4. Check the PATH variable in the system variables.

Please check the following: Make sure network shaping is switched off. For Windows server 2008 see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc735991%28WS.10%29.aspx make sure you have disabled any anti-virus software installed on the server where Fredhopper is running. Failing to do so will lead to conflicts and malfunctioning of certain Fredhopper processes, specifically indexing. Anti spy-ware must be switched off. Windows indexing service must be switched off. Any other indexing service (Google, A1) must be switched off. Assuming FAS boxes are not exposed to the outside world switch off firewalls. Close any File Explorer windows that have a view on the FAS indices directories. DNS on Windows 2003, check: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/318803

Please ensure the following Windows utilities are installed:

• Windows Process Explorer (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx)
• PsExec (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx)

Windows Task Scheduler

Please ensure that the fredhopper user can schedule tasks using the windows task scheduler.

Windows PowerShell

The Windows PowerShell is not supported for executing the scripts delivered with the Fredhopper deployment package.

Additional Software

Please ensure that your Fredhopper server is dedicated to Fredhopper and that it does not run any other programs. This can affect the performance or operation of Fredhopper. Please do not install any anti-virus or firewall software. Also, be very careful with backup software, do not back up the indices folders!

Ports

For reference see the Ports in use by Fredhopper document for ports Fredhopper is using for communication between instances.