How to Install and Configure Connectivity Hub

Satisfy the prerequisites applicable to your environment before proceeding.

The instructions below apply to Connectivity Hub regardless of the search engine you use.

Installing Connectivity Hub

To install Connectivity Hub, use the following procedure:

  1. To install the Connectivity Hub, download the BA Insight Connectivity Hub .zip file from the Upland Community.

    Make sure to unblock the .zip file by right-clicking on the file, selecting Properties and clicking the Unblock button.

  2. Extract the "Upland BA Insight Connectivity Hub-4.x.x-xx" .msi installer package from the downloaded zip file.
  3. Run the downloaded .msi with Administrator privileges.
    Use the steps here or perform a silent installation described in the topic below.
    1. Run a command prompt as an Administrator.
    2. Navigate to your Connectivity Hub installation directory.
    3. Enter the following command: msiexec /i "Upland BA Insight Connectivity Hub-4.x.x-xx.msi"
    4. Press Enter.
  4. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard.

  5. When you are prompted to select an installation folder, note the path of the folder

    Typically, the program is installed in either the default path - C:\Program Files\Upland BA Insight\ConnectivityHub\ - or to a path on an alternate local disk drive such as the D:\ drive.

  6. When you are prompted to specify a service account, be sure to include the user account domain in the "User Name" field.
    1. For example, "DomainName\Username" 

Note: The default port number: 55001. If you specified a different port number, record this number for later use.

Backend Services - Text Extraction

Backend services, including the Tika Text Extraction service in BA Insight Connectivity Hub v4.0+, are installed via the installation wizard.

  1. In the Job Service Port field, accept the default value or enter a new port number.

  2. In the Full Path to java.exe field, Confirm the full path to your java.exe file.

  3. In the Text Extraction Service Port field, accept the default value or enter a new port number.

How to Perform a Silent Install

  1. To perform a silent installation, open a command prompt with Administrator privileges and enter the commands in the example below.

  2. Use the parameters listed below.

Parameters

  • INSTALLDIR:
    • This is the directory in which to install Connectivity Hub.
  • AUTHORIZEDROLE:
    • Optional
    • This is the security group allowed to access the web admin.
    • Default: Administrators
  • SERVICELOGIN:
    • This is the service account that Connectivity Hub runs under.
  • SERVICEPASS:
    • Password for the account.
  • WEBPORT:
    • Optional
    • This is the port number for the admin website.
    • Default: 55001
  • SERVICEPORT:
    • Optional
    • This is the port number for the job scheduler service.
    • Default port: 555

Silent Install Example

Example Code
Copy 
Msiexec  /i "Upland BA Insight Connectivity Hub-4.0.0.0-10255.msi" 
INSTALLDIR="c:\CH" SERVICELOGON="domain\sp_user" 
SERVICEPASS="xx" WEBPORT=5555 SERVICEPORT=556 AUTHORIZEDROLE=Administrators /qn

Post-installation

Adjust your authentication method

In Connectivity Hub 4.0, support was added for the Azure Application Gateway V2 load balancer. This load balancer does not support NTLM authentication, which was the default mechanism for Connectivity Hub 3.x and earlier. As a result, the default authentication mechanism when you install Connectivity Hub has been changed from Windows Authentication to Basic Authentication.

If you don't want to use a load balancer for Multi-Server Configuration, and you want to use Windows authentication, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Open IIS and click on your Connectivity Hub website.

  2. In the middle panel, click Authentication.

  3. In the Authentication list, do the following:

    • Click Windows Authentication, then select Enable from the Actions panel.

    • Click Basic Authentication, then select Disable from the Actions panel.

Automating the Connection to the Connectivity Hub Configuration Database

You can automate the process of connecting to the Connectivity Hub configuration database by running a PowerShell script.

  • Navigate here for the necessary steps

How to Configure Your Database

Use the following instructions to configure your database and complete your Connectivity Hub installation.

Connection Mode: Basic

Due to a vulnerability fix on the SQL Client, the default encryption for SQL Connections has been set to true. This applies to both basic and advanced connection modes. If you do not support encryption in your databases, you must use an advanced connection mode in order to specify Encrypt=false in the connection string. For more information, see Connection Mode: Advanced.
  1. Open a web browser and enter the URL to your Connectivity Hub instance.
    1. On your local server, the address would be http://localhost:<port>. The default port is 55001.
    2. If prompted, enter your user name (domain/username) and password.
  2. From the BA Insight Connectivity Hub, select Tools > Configuration. The Configuration Database tab contains the settings that are required by the Connectivity Hub.

  3. Connection Mode:

    1. Select Basic. This displays the fields for simple configuration database setup.

      • If you want to enter a database connection string, you must select Advanced from the "Connection Mode" menu. For more information, see Connection Mode: Advanced.

    Override default SQL command timeout

    To override the default SQL command timeout, add the Command Timeout parameter to the connection string.

    Example: Data Source=<DB Server>;Initial Catalog=<ConnectivityHub_Db>;Integrated Security=True;Command Timeout=300

    • In this case the default timeout of 30 seconds is replaced with 300 seconds.

  4. Enter the appropriate values in the fields as described in the following steps.
    • Database server: Enter the name of your SQL server.
    • Database name: Enter the name of your SQL database.
    • Authentication mode: Select either Service Account or SQL Account.
      • If you selected SQL Account, enter your SQL credentials in the SQL login and SQL password fields.
    • Version: Click the Upgrade button to update the configuration database to the latest version.
    • Leave the farm: Click to remove the current Connectivity Hub server from the farm.
  5. Click the Connect button.

Note:        To remove a different server from the farm, use the Farm Servers > Remove from farm option

Connection Mode: Advanced

Managed Identity support was added in Connectivity Hub 4.0. You can specify the authentication method in the connection string. To see what authentication methods are supported and any additional configuration steps, see enable managed identities.

  1. Select Advanced from the Connection Mode menu to enable the Connection String field.

  2. In the Connection String field, enter the information needed in SQL string syntax. See the graphic below.

    Due to a vulnerability fix on the SQL Client, the default encryption flag for SQL Connections has been changed to true. As a result, you must specify Encrypt=false in your connection string if you do not support encryption in your database. For example, Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;Encrypt=false;
  3. In the Authentication mode field, select either Service Account or SQL Account.
    • If you select SQL Account, enter your SQL credentials in the SQL login and SQL password fields.

    Note: You must clean up the Connection String field to match Connectivity Hub requirements (Multiple Active Result Sets, and Trust Server Certificateparameters should be removed, if they are present).

  4. Click Connect.

Creating the Configuration Database Manually

Sometimes, the db_creator role cannot be attributed to the service account set up for Connectivity Hub.

In this case, perform the following steps:

  1. Create a blank database and a login with the db_owner role for it.

  2. In the Connectivity Hub Configuration UI:

    1. Complete the fields with your server and recently created blank database

    2. Provide the recently created login credentials

    3. Click Connect.

Note: This same procedure applies to the cache database, if needed.

Configuring Connectivity Hub to Run on FIPS-Compliant Servers

If the Administrator-enabled FIPS policy on the servers where you installed Connectivity Hub, go here to configure Connectivity Hub to run successfully on these servers.