Hello Team,
After manually installing Helical Insight version 6.1 on a Linux server, how can we configure it to run as a system service?
We would like Helical Insight to start automatically whenever the server is rebooted and also be able to manage the application using standard service commands such as start, stop, restart, and status.
What are the steps to manually configure Helical Insight as a systemd service?
Thank You,
Snow.
Hello Snow,
After completing the manual installation of Helical Insight, you can configure it as a systemd service so that the application can be managed through the Linux service manager and automatically starts after a server reboot.
The following steps explain how to configure Helical Insight as a systemd service on Linux distributions that use systemd (such as RHEL 8/9, Ubuntu, and CentOS).
Note: Stop the Helical Insight/Tomcat process before proceeding. Execute the following steps using the root user or with appropriate sudo privileges.
1. Verify the Tomcat installation
Navigate to your Helical Insight installation directory and verify that the Tomcat installation and startup scripts are available.
For example:
ls -ld /path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11
ls -l /path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11/bin/catalina.sh
Ensure that the Tomcat scripts have executable permissions:
chmod +x /path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11/bin/.sh*
Note: Replace /path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11 with your actual Tomcat installation path.
2. Create the systemd service file
Create a service file using the following command:
vi /etc/systemd/system/HelicalInsight.service
Add the following configuration:
[Unit]
Description=Helical Insight
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11
Environment=“CATALINA_HOME=/path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11”
Environment=“CATALINA_BASE=/path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11”
ExecStart=/path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11/bin/catalina.sh run
ExecStop=/path/to/HelicalInsight/hi/apache-tomcat-11/bin/catalina.sh stop
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
TimeoutStartSec=180
TimeoutStopSec=60
SuccessExitStatus=143
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Replace the example paths with your actual Helical Insight and Tomcat installation paths.
Save and exit the file.
Note: Ensure that the service runs under an appropriate Linux user with the required permissions to access the installation directory, configuration files, logs, and other resources. If a dedicated service user is used, configure the User and Group properties accordingly.
3. Reload the systemd configuration
After creating the service file, reload systemd to recognize the newly created service.
systemctl daemon-reload
4. Start Helical Insight
Start the service using:
systemctl start HelicalInsight
Check the service status:
systemctl status HelicalInsight
The expected status is:
Active: active (running)
5. Enable automatic startup after server reboot
To configure Helical Insight to start automatically whenever the server reboots, execute:
systemctl enable HelicalInsight
Verify whether the service is enabled:
systemctl is-enabled HelicalInsight
Expected output:
enabled
6. Manage Helical Insight using service commands
Once the systemd service is configured, you can manage Helical Insight using the following commands:
| Operation | Command |
|---|---|
| Start | systemctl start HelicalInsight |
| Stop | systemctl stop HelicalInsight |
| Restart | systemctl restart HelicalInsight |
| Check status | systemctl status HelicalInsight |
| Enable auto-start | systemctl enable HelicalInsight |
| Disable auto-start | systemctl disable HelicalInsight |
| Check auto-start status | systemctl is-enabled HelicalInsight |
7. Verify automatic startup
To confirm that the service starts automatically after a server reboot, execute:
reboot
After the server restarts, verify the service status:
systemctl status HelicalInsight
The service should be running automatically if the configuration is correct.
Thank You,
Helical Insight