OpenEFM Installation Guide
Author: Nathan Probst
Version: 06.06.2002
Introduction
The OpenEFM has been designed from the beginning to be as simple to
install, customize and manage as possible. We hope your installation
experience will be quick and painless! However, if you encounter difficulties
or rough edges, we'd like to hear from you so that the OpenEFM can continue
to mature. Please direct your feedback to Nathan Probst at counterclaim.com.
Prerequisites
- Linux/Unix/Cygwin
- Java JDK 1.3 or higher
As with most good OpenSource software, the OpenEFM is developed on
and designed for a Linux/Unix environment. (Ben is checking this
out -->) However, if you are limited to a Windows system, you
can install Cygwin and still use the software.
Preparation
This guide shows you the shortest path to an OpenEFM installation. If
you need to customize any file locations, please see the Developer's Guide for guidance.
You will need to create a few directories and make sure you have read/write
permissions.
mkdir -p /var/OpenEFM/logs
mkdir -p /var/OpenEFM/data/ozone
Make sure you have a Java JDK 1.3 or higher installed and that your
$JAVA_HOME environment variable is set.
echo $JAVA_HOME
Step-by-step installation
- Copy OpenEFM.zip to the directory where you want to install it.
cp OpenEFM.zip
- Unzip OpenEFM.zip. This will create an
./OpenEFM/
directory and subdirectories at your present location.
unzip OpenEFM.zip
- Make sure the startup script is excutable.
cd bin
chmod +x efm.sh
- Run the startup script. It will take a few seconds for the
server to initialize before it will respond to requests. If you have
created your directories properly, every thing should work!
./efm.sh start
Optional
- If the default biling module will be used, enabling fee processing through
Verisgn, then the security certificate will need to be installed. A copy of the
test certificate is included.
cp ./OpenEFM/etc/f73e89fd.0 /var/OpenEFM/
Setup Users and EFSPs
Point your browser at https://localhost:8181/admin/.
Substitute the installation machine name for 'localhost' if you are
now on a different system. You may see a dialog similar to the one
below, which is the browser notifying you that the server's SSL certificate
is not signed by a Certificate Authority, such as Verisign. This is
not a problem for demonstration purposes on a secured LAN. Click "Continue"
and, if you like, "Remember this certificate permanently".
You now should be greeted by a login page. A newly installed system
has one default account: username 'admin' and password 'changeme'. Login
as this user.
This will take you to the "Manage Filings" page. There are no filings
yet, so you should click on "Manage Users" link in the menu bar. Now
you can change the 'admin' password!
Click on the 'admin' user record (which should underline when you hover
the mouse cursor above it). Next you will see the "User Detail" page.
Change your Name and Password here and click "update". Before
continuing, you might want to create a Clerk account as well.
Next we need to setup an account for an EFSP (Electronic Filing Service
Provider) to test with. Click "Manage EFSPs". You need to add
one EFSP for the test in the next section. Enter whatever values make
sense to you and click "Add". (I've used 'Test', 'test', and 'pass'
for the rest of this guide.)
Now you are ready to test the system by filing some LegalXML!
Test
To test the system, we need to emulate an EFSP connecting to the public
interface. The distribution contains a simple FilingClient program
to allow you to test your installation. You can run it from the ./bin
directory. The client has a dependency on Sun's JSSE optional package.
If you are running a JDK prior to 1.4 (which has JSSE integrated), you
must install the JSSE optional package into your current JDK. Go here for instrutions and the
download.
Once you have JSSE installed and working, run the filing-client.sh
script without arguments to get a usage statement.
cd bin
./filing-client.sh
Usage: FilingClient -ffileName [-eendpoint] [-uusername] [-ppassword] [-rrepeat]
So, we need a sample document to file. We have provided just
such a file in the ./sample
directory. Now
try,
./filing-client.sh -f../sample/LegalEnvelope117.xml -utest -ppass
If everything worked correctly, you should see output like this:
(trimmed)
MCBuDQowMDAwMDYwMTAyIDAwMDAwIG4NCjAwMDAwNzU4NTQgMDAwMDAgbg0KMDAwMDA3NTg3NyAw
MDAwMCBuDQowMDAwMDc1OTAwIDAwMDAwIG4NCjAwMDAwNzY0MTkgMDAwMDAgbg0KdHJhaWxlcg08
PA0vU2l6ZSAyNw0vSURbPDRhNTBhODFkN2NiMWRmODY1MTYzYTEzODA4M2YzZDA0Pjw0YTUwYTgx
ZDdjYjFkZjg2NTE2M2ExMzgwODNmM2QwND5dDT4+DXN0YXJ0eHJlZg0xNzMNJSVFT0YN</DocumentContent>
</Attachment>
</LeadDocument>
</Filing>
</CourtFiling>
</Legal>
</LegalEnvelope>
Received:
Success!
[0] Time elapsed: 15673ms
[1] Time elapsed: 2486ms
[2] Time elapsed: 2625ms
Notice that we actually submitted three filings (the default value of 'repeat').
The first filing takes significatly longer for two reeasons: the HTTPS
connection has to be negotiated and the SOAP framework (Apache Axis) has to
initialize.
If your JDK does not have JSSE properly installed, you might see somthing
like this:
Failed to submit filing due to: ; nested exception is:
java.net.SocketException: SSL implementation not available
Now take a look at the web interface again. Click to "ManageFilings"
and you should see three pending filings.
Congratulations! You have just e-filed LegalXML documents with the
OpenEFM! To view the details of a filing and view attached documents,
click on any part of a record. You should see a page like this one:
From this page, you can "Accept" or "Reject" this filing by clicking the
appropriate buttons. You can also view the origional LegalXML by clicking
the button at the upper right. To view an attached document, click
the "View" button at the end of the listing.
Have fun and send feedback!
Next Steps
The OpenEFM handles all the steps required to receive and manage electronic
filings except for the "last mile" to a court's Case Managment System (CMS).
This was necessary to allow the OpenEFM to be useful to everyone, regardless
of the particular CMS they are running. We have provided a simple interface,
the CMS Adapter, which must be implemented for each CMS. The CMS Adapter
handles the task of importing a LegalXML document into the CMS. We
have provided convenience methods to make this process as simple as
possible. However, for the OpenEFM to be of value, this work must be
done.
Of course, a CMS Adpater already exists for counterclaim's flagship product,
fastLaw. We are eager
to collaborate with all courts and vendors to create new CMS Adapters for
other systems. Please call us at 541.484.9235 or send email to openefm@counterclaim.com to
explore your options.