Crossbill stack server preparation

1. Infrastructure planning

Before Crossbill stack on-premises installation, prepare a target server environment:

Plan the number of physical servers or virtual machines:
- The basic installation can be done using a single server or a single virtual machine.
- The advanced installation may include multiple servers in a server farm. The current server roles available for farm installation are:
  - database server (or database cluster),
  - application server (for Crossbill Signalman application),
  - licensing server (for Crossbill Central Agent application),
  - front office web server (for Crossbill Cone and Crossbill Cone API applications),
  - back office web server (for Crossbill Bone and Crossbill Bone API applications).
  For farm installation, use the same installation instructions while selecting only components for a specific server role or changing the Crossbill Install's config.jsconf file accordingly. Contact support if you need more information on the server farm deployment.
Prepare a physical server or start a virtual machine which meet the system requirements
For the physical server, install a Linux or Windows operating system.

2. Configure the DNS names (domain names)

To access the Crossbill stack's web applications, it is recommended to use the DNS names (domain names). The domain name should point to your server's public IP address. There are some configuration options available:

For a public web portal deployment, consider purchasing a domain name from any ICANN authorised registrars or configure a subdomain for any name you already have.
For a local network deployment, consider configuring a local network's DNS records.
If you deploy the system locally on a computer for development purposes, consider configuring a local hosts file to any name you like. On Windows the file is located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts On Linux the location is /etc/hosts

For Crossbill stack, the following DNS configuration is recommended:

Crossbill stack's component	Suggested DNS name pattern	DNS record type	DNS record points to	Optional / Mandatory
Crossbill Cone Web	my-domain.com	A-record	Public IP address of a web server	Mandatory
Crossbill Bone Web	bone.my-domain.com	A-record	Public IP address of a web server	Mandatory
Crossbill Central Web	central.my-domain.com	A-record	Public IP address of a licensing server	Mandatory
Crossbill Cone API	coneapi.my-domain.com	A-record	Public IP address of a web server	Optional
Crossbill Bone API	boneapi.my-domain.com	A-record	Public IP address of a web server	Optional

Note that there are no restrictions on domain names and domain name levels. So, it is up to you to use almost any domain name pattern.

Single domain deployment scenario notice

The recommended DNS configurations assume a domain-per-application deployment scenario, although another approach exists. There is a single domain deployment scenario available. In this scenario, the Crossbill Basement application can be deployed as a top level website when other products (Cone, Bone, Nest, etc.) are deployed in a subdirectory of the top level domain. This scenario requires a separate configuration in Crossbill Install's config.jsconf. The DNS configuration in this scenario uses only one DNS A-record for the top level domain.

Although the DNS names approach is recommended, you may wish to address your server by a public IP. In this case, you have the following options:

Use a single domain deployment scenario described above.