= Opal HowTo Install

Tags: [[HowTo]] [[Opal]]

See: [[http://wiki.obiba.org/display/OPALDOC/Opal+Installation+Guide]]

== Process

We followed the `Installation of Opal Zip distribution` instructions that installed Opal from a zip file.

1. Download Opal distribution into the `/local/` directory
1. Unzip the Opal distribution. Note that the zip file contains a root directory named `opal-server-{version}`.
1. Create an Opal home directory (to facilitate subsequent upgrades) using the command `mkdir opal-home`.
1. Create a symbolic link to the Opal server directory, using the command `ln -s opal-server-{version} opal_server`
1. Copy the `conf` directory from the server directory into the home directory, using the command `cp -r opal-server/conf opal-home`.
1. Create a script called `start_opal.sh` in the `/local/` directory containing the following:

{{{
#!/usr/bin/env bash

echo "Starting Opal"

export JAVA_OPTS="-Xmx2G -XX:-UseCompressedClassPointers"
export OPAL_HOME="/local/opal-home"

/local/opal-server/bin/opal

echo "Ended"
}}}

The java options are:
 -Xmx2G:: increase the memory allocated to Java to 2GB
 -XX:-UseCompressedClassPointers:: Do not compress class pointers (because Opal creates too many classes?)

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