Installation Steps

1. Install JDK

Download OpenJDK 21 from adoptium.net.

Important Configuration:

  • Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to your installation directory
  • Windows Users: Avoid installing to Program Files due to space character issues
  • Add %JAVA_HOME%\bin (Windows) or $JAVA_HOME/bin (Linux/macOS) to PATH

Verification:

java -version

2. Install Apache Tomcat

Download from tomcat.apache.org.

Windows Installation:

  • Use ZIP distribution or Service Installer
  • Extract to a directory without spaces (e.g., C:\tomcat)

Configuration Steps:

  1. Configure JVM Options - Set heap memory settings: 
    -Xms512m -Xmx2000m
  2. Update server.xml - Add UTF-8 encoding to Connector elements: 
    <Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
           connectionTimeout="20000"
           redirectPort="8443"
           URIEncoding="UTF-8" />
  3. Set CATALINA_HOME environment variable (optional but recommended)

Starting Tomcat:

  • Windows: Run bin\startup.bat or start the service
  • Linux/macOS: Run bin/startup.sh

3. Deploy OpenL Studio

Download OpenL Studio WAR

Download the latest WAR file from openl-tablets.org/downloads.

Deploy to Tomcat

  1. Copy the WAR file to <TOMCAT_HOME>\webapps\
  2. Rename to webstudio.war if desired (this sets the context path)
  3. Start or restart Tomcat

The WAR will auto-extract to a directory with the same name.

Access Installation Wizard

Navigate to:

http://localhost:8080/webstudio

The installation wizard will guide you through initial setup.

4. Configure Database (Optional)

For multi-user mode, configure an external database.

Supported Databases

  • MySQL / MariaDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Oracle
  • MS SQL Server
  • H2 (embedded - suitable for development only)

JDBC Driver Installation

  1. Download the appropriate JDBC driver for your database
  2. Copy to <TOMCAT_HOME>\lib\ directory
  3. Restart Tomcat

Common JDBC Drivers:

  • MySQL: mysql-connector-java-8.x.x.jar
  • PostgreSQL: postgresql-42.x.x.jar
  • Oracle: ojdbc8.jar
  • MS SQL Server: mssql-jdbc-x.x.x.jre11.jar

Database Connection Configuration

During the installation wizard, provide:

  • Database URL (e.g., jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/openl)
  • Username
  • Password
  • Driver class name

5. Complete Installation Wizard

The installation wizard guides you through:

Step 1: User Mode Selection

Choose one of the following modes:

  • Single-User: Local development, no authentication
  • Multi-User: Database-backed, with user management
  • Active Directory: Enterprise directory-based authentication (AD/LDAP)
  • SSO: SAML: Single Sign-On via a SAML 2.0 identity provider
  • SSO: OIDC (OAuth2): Single Sign-On via an OAuth2/OIDC identity provider

Step 2: Repository Configuration

Select repository type for storing rules:

  • JDBC: Database storage (recommended for multi-user)
  • Git: Version control integration
  • AWS S3: Cloud storage
  • File System: Local or network drive (single-user)
  • JNDI: Enterprise datasource

Step 3: User Credentials

For multi-user mode, set up the administrator account:

  • Admin username
  • Admin password
  • Email (optional)

Step 4: Finish

Review settings and complete installation.