If there are multiple TIBCO Spotfire servers in a cluster, can some of them be on Linux and others on Windows?

If there are multiple TIBCO Spotfire servers in a cluster, can some of them be on Linux and others on Windows?

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Article ID: KB0070210

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Updated On:

Products

Spotfire Server

Description

The customer had a query about whether he can use Linx and Windows mixed OS to make the Spotfire Server cluster and similarly for the Web Player and Automation Services.

Note:  Spotfire 12.0.0 LTS onwards you can configure Web Player and Automation Services on the below supported Linux O.S.
  • 12.0.0 LTS:  Debian 11
  • 12.2:  Debian 11, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • 12.3:  Debian 11, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • 14.0.0 LTS:  Debian 11, Debian 12, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Issue/Introduction

If there are multiple TIBCO Spotfire servers in a cluster, can some of them be on Linux and others on Windows? Similarly, If there are multiple Spotfire Web Player instances in a cluster, can some of them be on Linux and others on Windows?

Environment

Linux and Windows

Resolution


It's generally doable to mix Windows and Linux Operating Systems in the Spotfire Server cluster, but this can add complexity as some tasks need to be done twice. It's usually recommended to standardize on one OS and then handle exceptions accordingly. For example, if Linux is chosen as the default OS, then special cases like old analysis files that rely on customer extensions only available on Windows can be addressed. Vice versa, if Windows is the default, selecting Linux may bring advantages like Docker support for data function services.

For Spotfire Server Service it is possible to mix Operating Systems but will not work completely out of the box as the import and export folder for the library cannot be shared between Windows and Linux as they use different path styles. So you would need to specify different import/export folders for the different OS/types but not recommend mixing Spotfire Server OS types. However, you can just use overrides for the "other" OS (when using set-config-prop) to the path.

The best approach for Web Player and Automation Services depends on what the customer is trying to achieve. While it works, there are differences in how Linux/Netcore works compared to the Windows/Net framework. Additionally, all customer C# extensions need to be rebuilt, and other drivers need to be installed. However, this can be managed with resource pools and routing rules. For instance, if a Spotfire dashboard uses something that is not available on the Linux Web Player, it can be routed to the Windows Web Player.

Know the limitations of using Linux for Web Player and Automation Services on the Linux O.S.
https://docs.tibco.com/pub/spotfire_server/latest/doc/html/TIB_sfire_server_tsas_admin_help/server/topics/running_web_player_or_automation_services_on_linux.html
Note: There are some differences when using Web Player or Automation Services on Linux, compared to Windows.

  1. Formatting of numbers and dates can have minor differences,
  2. Available fonts may differ when running on Linux and Windows.
  3. Analyses with linked data to files are generally not supported on Linux due to differences in file paths and case sensitivity on Linux and Windows.
  4. Custom extensions must be compiled for the target framework, which differs in Linux and Windows.
  5. The information available from certificates when running on Windows and Linux is slightly different.
Note: The following capabilities are not supported on Linux.
  • Kerberos is not supported on Linux.
  • Some data connectors are not supported on Linux: Vertica, SAP, Oracle Essbase & Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)
  • The two Automation Services tasks "Set Data Source Credentials" and "Set Credentials for External Connection" are not supported on Linux.
  • Windows Metafiles (WMF & EMF) are not supported in visualizations when running on Linux.
  • The legacy "Export to PDF" functionality is not available on Linux, including when used via Automation Services.
  • The scheduled updates cache is not available when running a Web Player service on Linux. This means that if a Linux node running scheduled updates is restarted, scheduled updates will need to load the data from the sources again, rather than reading data from the cache on disk.
  • Data functions using Spotfire® Statistics Services are not supported in Web Player or Automation Services on Linux.

Best Approach?

  • Typically the one where the admins are comfortable configuring, monitoring, and doing admin tasks on the O.S. 

  • But in general, enough resources and only a single service per machine.

Additional Information

Doc: Running Web Player or Automation Services on Linux Doc: Spotfire Server System Requirements Doc: Spotfire Web Player System Requirements Doc: Spotfire Automation Services System Requirements Doc: Spotfire Service for Python System Requirements Doc: Spotfire Service for R System Requirements Doc: Spotfire Enterprise Runtime for R System Requirements