Install a JAVA Servlet Container

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SICS API Server is a web application running Java and is designed to be run in any Servlet/JSP-Container compatible with Servlet specification 2.5 or higher and JSP Specification 2.0 or higher.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Servlet_containers for a list of Java Servlet Containers.

The following description shows how to install Apache Tomcat 8.5 which is a free and commonly used Java Servlet Container from Apache using Java 8 or higher. This does not imply that we promote Tomcat 8.5 as a better Java Servlet Container than any of the others referenced above.

  • Install 64-bit version of Java Runtime Environment 8 (JRE 8) or later
  • Install Tomcat version 8.5
  • Configure SICS API Server for Deployment in Tomcat
  • Configure Tomcat for SICS API Server Deployment

SICS API Server has been tested on both IBM WebSphere and Tomcat, see chapter “Software Requirements” in “SICS API Server Technical Paper.doc” for details.

SICS API Server has been designed and developed to work with any Java EE compatible Web Container (running in a JEE Application Server). DXC has actively tested SICS API Server with WebSphere and Tomcat. However, since the number of available Web Containers / Application Servers is high, DXC cannot test them all.

Even though a Web Container formally complies with the Java EE standard, there may be slight variations from one implementation to the other, that could cause problems for applications that run on it (including SICS API Server). Therefore, DXC cannot warrant that SICS API Server will run without any problems on any Web Container / Application Server.

If a customer wants to use a specific Web Container other than WebSphere or Tomcat, we recommend that the customer contacts DXC Reinsurance R&D to clarify support conditions.

In the case of JBoss, DXC is not aware of any issues and DXC will support that customers run SICS API Server with JBoss. In case or problems, DXC is committed to look into these and resolve them in cooperation with the customer.

Installing SICS API Server on Linux

Please note that the instructions in this document are based on installing Java and Tomcat in Windows. For installation on Linux distributions please refer to documentation from Sun and Apache, alternatively the package distribution system of the platform.

Nevertheless the instructions given in this document also apply for Linux with the following exceptions/notes.

Make sure to substitute backslashes in paths \ with forward slashes /.

For installation in WebSphere, the instructions are platform independent. Simply follow the instructions given in “Appendix A - Deployment in IBM WebSphere Application server”

Furthermore it is vital that Tomcat is started up with the Java VM arguments given in section 2.3 “Install Tomcat version 8.5”. Use the appropriate tool to configure Tomcat’s startup command line.

The Java VM heap size is given by the arguments -Xms and -Xmx.

For instance -Xms512m -Xmx1000m instructs Java to allocate 512 MB of heap space but never more than 1000 MB.

After Tomcat has started, you may run the command ps -aef | grep java in a console window. That should give you the complete command line used by Tomcat to start up. Make sure that the -Xms and -Xmx settings are present (more details below).

Install 64-bit version of Java Runtime Environment 8 (JRE 8) or later

SICS (Server) requires Java 8 or later. As of October 21, 2020, the latest Java 8 version is 8.272.10.3. We recommend you always use the latest release.

You may use the JRE or Server JRE.

Install Tomcat version 8.5

Please see Tomcat 8.x - Installation Guide.

Running Tomcat as a Windows Service

Please see Tomcat 8.x - Tomcat as a Windows Service.