metasfresh now supports Ubuntu Server 16.04

With the latest released version 4.36.35 of metasfresh, we’re now officially supporting the latest LTS Version of Ubuntu Server: Ubuntu 16.04 – alias Xenia Xerus.

The following will be the new stack on Ubuntu Server 16.04:

PostgreSQL 9.5
Due to many internal changes of PostgreSQL 9.5, we measured a significant increase in speed with the metasfresh database. By updating to the latest PostgreSQL version, you can expect your live database to be much more responsive.

OpenJDK-8
Since metasfresh version 4.25.24, OpenJDK-8 is a must have requirement and will be automatically installed using the metasfresh installer.
But due to the fact only since Ubuntu 14.10 Canonical decided to add OpenJDK-8 to the distribution’s repository, an additional PPA had to be added to the local sources list.
Using Ubuntu 16.04 it’s no longer necessary to add the PPA in order to install OpenJDK-8 but will be downloaded directly from the official Ubuntu repositories.

systemd
Ubuntu 16.04 uses systemd as an init system. The downloadable metasfresh server installer package is modified to automatically add systemd services if needed.
For your conmmon routine tasks, you might want to take note on how to handle systemd services. Here are the most common commands for controlling metasfresh:
systemctl start metasfresh_server.service – starts the service
systemctl stop metasfresh_server.service – stops the service
systemctl status metasfresh_server.service – displays if the service is currently running and shows the last few lines of the service’s logfile
systemctl restart metasfresh_server.service – restarts the service
systemctl enable metasfresh_server.service – enables start-on-boot for the service
systemctl disable metasfresh_server.service – disables start-on-boot for the service

The easiest and recommended method is to perform a clean installation on a new Server (eg. a VM) and import your current live data to the new system.
Here’s how to achieve this:

1. Update your existing metasfresh server to the latest version (>4.36.35)
2. Dump and store the database of your existing server to a easy to access location (eg. shared network folder)
3. On a brand new installation of Ubuntu 16.04 on a different server, install the latest version of metasfresh (>4.36.35) (attention: keep the hostname of the new server identical to your old server in order to save you trouble with config-changes)
4. Stop metasfresh server on the new Ubuntu 16.04 installation and drop the empty database which comes with the installer
5. Import your stored database-dump into the Postgres 9.5 installation on your new server (set ownership of the database and role-access identical to your old system)
6. Start the metasfresh application server and grant your clients access
7. Update the metasfresh clients on every workstation

If you followed these steps, you’re set for the next generation and can enjoy a faster and more stable system.