skip to main content

Supported Environments for Actuate iHub3F1 BIRT Server Deployments

This document describes the supported environments and policies for Actuate products used as part of an Actuate iHub3F1 BIRT Server deployment.

BIRT iHub Server and System Console Deployment:

Operating SystemVersions
Windows1 7 Professional, 7SP1 Professional, Windows 8.1
Windows Server1 Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 Standard, 2012 R2
CentOS2 6.3, 6.5, 7.0
OpenSUSE Linux2 12.2, 12.3
Oracle Linux2, 3 5.5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS2 5.3 - 5.6, 6.1 - 6.5, 7.0
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server2 11 SP3

Notes:

  • The BIRT iHub Server (as well as all nodes included in a cluster) and the BIRT iHub System Console need to be deployed on machines running under the same operating systems.
  1. Service Packs from Microsoft are supported
  2. On Linux, the libstdc++ library (32 bit and 64 bit) is required and should be installed before installing BIRT Server. This library is present by default on most systems.
  3. Oracle Linux 5.5 is certified only for the iServer encyclopedia database to use the Oracle Database Server version 11G R2

System Requirements

BIRT Server ResourcesType/Amount
Processors Windows: x64 compatible, Pentium 1 GHz or higher
Linux: x64 compatible, Pentium 1 GHz or higher
RAM 8 GB minimum
Free disk space 3 GB minimum
Information ConsoleType/Amount
Processors Same as BIRT Server
RAM 1 GB minimum
Free disk space 300 MB minimum
System ConsoleType/Amount
Processors Same as BIRT Server
RAM 1 GB minimum, 2 GB recommended
Free disk space 1 GB minimum

Notes:

  • Machine configurations are minimum recommended guidelines. Actual hardware configurations required will vary depending on users, load, and data and other factors.
  • Actuate products are 64-bit applications.

Database Software for BIRT Server Encyclopedia

Customers can use their existing database servers (from the supported list below) to store the BIRT Server encyclopedia.

Database ServersServer Versions
Oracle 11g R1 & R2
PostgreSQL Database 9/2 (provided with Actuate products)

Notes:

  • Due to defects in Oracle 11g R1, the workarounds described in Oracle bug references 813946.1 and 814423.1 need to be applied.

Database Software for BIRT System Console

Customers may not use their existing database servers to store the metadata for the BIRT System Console.

Database ServerServer Versions
PostgreSQL Database 9.2 (provided with Actuate products)

Notes:

  • The BIRT System Console uses only the PostgreSQL Database embedded with the install.

 

Browsers and Adobe Reader

For Information Console and System Console

BrowserVersion
Google Chrome (Windows and Linux) 34, 35 and 36
Internet Explorer (Windows only) 8, 9, 10 and 11
Mozilla Firefox (Windows and Linux) 29, 30 and 31
Safari (Mac OS X only) 7.0.4
Adobe Reader (Windows, Linux and Mac) 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0

Notes:

  • Internet Explorer 8 has limited support for HTML5 – some features such as HTML5 charts and visualizations may have performance and rendering issues on this platform that cannot be addressed. Newer versions of Internet Explorer should be used.
  • Internet Explorer version 8 (Windows) and Safari browser (Mac) are not supported for the System Console.
  • There were many fixes for Internet Explorer 11 for major functionality. Users may, however still experience some gaps.

 

Application Servers for Information Console and Actuate BIRT Java Components WAR and EAR deployments

Application ServersServer Versions
Apache Tomcat 6.0, 7.0, 7.0.47 (Included with Actuate Products)
IBM WebSphere App. Server 7, 8.5
JBoss Application Server 7.0.2, 7.1.1
Jetty HTTP & Application Server 7.3.x, 7.4.x
Oracle WebLogic App. Server 10.3, 11g R1(10.3.6), 12c R1

Notes:

  • Applications servers listed should work in any operating system as long as the application server vendor states that it supports the operating system in question.
  • Information Console can only be used with BIRT Server release of the same version. Different versions of BIRT Server and the Information Console cannot be used together.

 

Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE)

JRE VersionSupported OS
JRE Oracle JRE 6.0, 1.7.0_45 Windows, Linux

Notes:

  • Customers must check directly with the JRE and OS vendors and install all the necesary OS patches for their JRE-OS configuration.
  • 1.7.0_45 is included with Actuate products.

 

Server Integration Technology - Actuate BIRT Server APIs and Extensions

Development EnvironmentPlatform
Information Delivery API This is a platform independent, XML API based on SOAP 1.1 specification. Communication with the BIRT Server is through HTTP (version 1.0 and 1.1 are supported).
Java Report Server Security Extension This is a Java based, platform independent interface.

 

WSDL Toolkits for Information Delivery API

WSDL ToolkitsVersion and Platform
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2008 - Windows only
Apache Axis 1.2, 1.4 - Windows and Linux

 

Email Servers

All SMTP servers are supported that comply with the following IETF standards: RFC 821 and RFC 822. Virtually all commercially available STMP servers comply with the above standards. Examples of emails servers that support this include Sendmail on Linux and Microsoft Exchange 2007 on Windows.

 

X Server

Actuate BIRT Server on Linux requires an X Server for report rendering and printing. Actuate fully supports and tests X11R5.x and X11R6.x X Server installations using graphics hardware. If the Linux machine does not have graphics hardware installed, Actuate also supplies and supports an X Server software emulator, Xvfb (X Server virtual frame buffer).

 

Content Export

BIRT report content can be exported to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint documents in either Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 formats.

Notes:

  • There are known issues with opening old Microsoft Office (2003 or older) documents in Microsoft Office 2010. These issues are attributed to stringent default security settings in MS Office 2010. If using Microsoft Office 2010, Actuate recommends exporting to Microsoft Office 2010 formats (e.g. xlsx, pptx, docx etc.) or updating default settings for Microsoft Office 2010 to allow opening of older file formats.

 

Printers

  • BIRT iHub supports any Windows supported printer.
  • PostScript (Level 3) printers are required for display and selection in the Advanced Schedule dialog for scheduling jobs to generate printed output.

Notes:

  • Actuate uses best efforts to achieve WYSIWYG but this is not guaranteed. Reports may not print identically across platforms as text (fonts), graphs, and images may exhibit differences
  • Linux, color printing for text, images and graphs is only supported for PostScript (Level 3) printers
  • The quality of printed output will vary depending on the capabilities of the printers.
  • Printer Security: The Xerox Internal Electronic Auditron feature is explicitly not supported.

 

Report Designers

BIRT Designer Professional and Open Source BIRT Designer Versions Supported for BIRT iHub

BIRT DesignerStateVersions
Actuate BIRT Designer Professional Recommended 23.0.0
Open Source BIRT Designer Recommended 4.2.3
Open Source BIRT Designer Compatible 2.x, 3.x, 4.1.x, 4.3.x, and 4.4.x

 

BIRT Designer Professional

Operating SystemVersion
Windows 7 SP1, 7 Professional, 8.1
Server 2008, 2008 R2
Server 2012, 2012 R2
Mac 10.8

Notes:

  • Windows Service Packs from Microsoft are supported as long as Microsoft states that the Service Packs are compatible.
  • Both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 Professional are supported.
  • Both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Mac OS-X are supported.

System Requirements

ResourcesType/Amount
Processors 32 bit BDPro - Windows: x86 compatible, Pentium 1 GHz or higher
64 bit BDPro - Windows: x64 compatible, Pentium 1 GHz or higher
RAM 1GB (2GB recommended)
Free disk space 300 MB Minimum

Notes:

  • Machine configurations are minimum recommended guidelines. Actual hardware configurations required will vary depending on users, load, and data and other factors. Total memory and free disk space required should include requirements for operating system and other applications.

 

Databases Sources

Open Source BIRT Designer JDBC Drivers

Database ServerJDBC Driver Version
JDBC Drivers JDBC 2.0 Type 2, 3, 4 and 5 compliant drivers
Apache Cassandra Open source data connector for Apache Cassandra
Apache Derby Database Apache Derby Network Client JDBC driver
Apache HBase Hive JDBC driver for Apache HBase
Hadoop Hive JDBC driver for Hadoop data source
Hive Server 2 Hive ODA Connector for Hive Server 2 data sources
Microsoft Excel Connector for Microsoft Excel files
Mongo DB Open source data connector for Mongo DB data sources

Commercial BIRT Designer Professional JDBC Drivers

Database ServerJDBC Driver Version
Amazon DynamoDB ODA Connector for Amazon DynamoDB NOSQL Database service
Apache Derby Apache Derby Network Client JDBC driver
Cloudera CDH Hive JDBC Driver for Cloudera CDH4 data sources
Cloudera Impala Hive JDBC Driver for Cloudera Impala data sources
Hadoop Hive JDBC driver for Hadoop datasource
IBM DB2 Server DataDirect Connect for JDBC, IBM DB2 Universal JDBC Driver
IBM Informix Server DataDirect Connect for JDBC, IBM Informix JDBC driver
Microsoft SQL Server DataDirect Connect for JDBC
MySQL Enterprise MySQL Connector/J JDBC Driver 5.0, 5.1
Oracle Database Server DataDirect Connect for JDBC, Oracle Thin JDBC driver
PostgreSQL Database PostgreSQL Database
Salesforce.com DataDirect Connect XE for JDBC Salesforce.com
Sybase Adaptive Server DataDirect Connect for JDBC

Non-JDBC Drivers

  • Cassandra Scripted Data Sources
  • Flat Files
  • POJO (Plain Old Java Objects)
  • Web Services
  • XML Data Source

Notes:

  • BIRT is expected to work with any JDBC 2.0 Type 2, 3 and 4 compliant database drivers. Note however that use of JDBC-ODBC bridge drivers is explicitly not recommended or supported

BIRT Information Designer

The BIRT Information Designer is available within the BIRT Designer Professional.

Bundled drivers

Database ServersVersionODBC VersionJDBC Version
Oracle 10g R1, 10g R2, 11g R1 DataDirect 7.10.04 DataDirect 5.01.02
IBM DB2 Universal Database 9.5, 9.7, 10.1 (requires IBM DB2 Connect 9.7) DataDirect 7.10.04 DataDirect 5.01.02
Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008 (Original release and Windows only) DataDirect 7.10.02 DataDirect JDBC 5.01.02
Sybase 12.5.3, 15 DataDirect 7.10.02 DataDirect JDBC 5.01.01
Informix 10, 11 DataDirect 7.10.02 DataDirect 5.01.01
MySQL Enterprise 5.1 DataDirect 7.10.04 Connector/J 5.1
PostgreSQL 8.4 DataDirect 7.10.04 JDBC driver version 8.4

Notes:

  • The DataDirect drivers that Actuate supplies can be used only with Actuate products
  • BIRT Information Objects is expected to work with any JDBC 3.0 compliant database driver
  • Microsoft is in Extended Support for SQL Server 2000 SP4. Actuate will drop support for this data base in an upcoming release
  • Any custom data source can be accessed using open-source Eclipse based DTP compliant plugin

Actuate Obsolescence Policy

Major Release Family Definitions:

  • Major Release: Names for Major Release use only whole numbers. This is a full release and there will be significant new functionality including features, supported product updates and maintenance fixes. Customers may need to make minor code changes, recompile reports, or export/import Report Encyclopedia to upgrade to a Major Release
  • Service Pack: Names for a Service Pack use whole numbers followed by the Service Pack number. This is a full release upgrade with additional new features, supported product updates and maintenance fixes. Migration to a Service Pack within the same Major Release will not require code changes.
  • Fix Build: Fix builds are based on the latest Service Pack of a major release to provide relief from product defects. A complete release, product, file/set of files are available as a download from the Actuate Support site, and are available to customers on maintenance.

Lifecycle Guidelines Timetable:

  • Full Support: Major Release Family is shipped with Full Support.
  • Limited Support: When a new Major Release is shipped the prior Major Release moves to Limited Support for 6 Months.
    • All Customer Support Programs are available
    • No new Service Packs will be released
    • Fix builds may be created at Actuate's discretion
    • Shipping may be available on request
  • End of Life: After the 6 months of Limited Support, the release moves to End of Life for 36 months or 18 months after the initial shipment of the next Major Release, if that occurs later.
    • All Customer Support Programs are available
    • No new Service Packs will be released
    • No new Fix builds will be released
    • Shipping may be available on request
  • Extended End of Life: Extended Life Support extends “End of Life” for up to an additional 3 years.
  • Retired: There will be no further Customer Support, Service Packs, Fix Releases or shipping.

Actuate Obsolescence Roadmap for BIRT Server Enterprise Deployments

Current status and forecast for Actuate product family obsolescence based on the product support lifecycle guidelines.

The Actuate BIRT Server product line exists in parallel to the Actuate BIRT iHub product line.

ReleaseRTM DateStatusRetired DateNotes
BIRT iHub 3 December 16, 2013 Full Support   Forecast Retirement: 18 months after Actuate BIRT iHub 4 ships OR 36 months after shipping
BIRT iHub 2 February 1, 2013 End of Life   Forecast Retirement: December 31, 2014*
BIRT iHub 1 January 1, 2013 Retired February 1, 2013 Extended End Of Life support is no longer available

Note: *This is an exception to the standard Obsolescence Policy

Notice: Copyright © 2014 by Actuate Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this document without the express written consent of Actuate Corporation is prohibited.