Many new customers migrate to Linux environments to host their FME Server installations. Linux Operating Systems often offer a lighter, faster, and less expensive platform for FME Server deployments. This presentation will work through both positive and negative considerations of migrating to Linux. It will also give you clear steps to ensure you are confident in your decision and can get the most out of your deployment, whatever it is.

1. FME Server
and Linux: 0-60

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Richard Mosley, FME Server Support
Specialist
Richard has worked at Safe Software for nearly 7 years. Starting as a live chat
specialist and moving on to the FME Server Team, where he focuses on
integrating FME Server into customer environments. He is excited about the
enterprise direction FME Server is headed and looks forward to discussing the
ways in which FME Server can help and how we can make FME better.
Merline George, FME Server Support
Specialist
Merline joined Safe Software in Oct 2021 on the
Server Support Team and has prior experience as
System Analyst on SDLC projects.
Presenters

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5 years ago it was 35%
50% of FME Server Downloads
are now Linux (excluding docker)

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Performance Tests Suite
Linux: 5h25m
Windows: 6h55m
22% Performance Gain
(Safe Software Performance Suite FME 2022.1)

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FME Server isn’t limited to
Windows installations and you can have a
stable, easily maintained
system with the same
functionality on a Linux
installation with performance
gains

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Agenda
1. Format Integration
2. Pre-installation Considerations
3. Installation and Upgrade
4. Customization
5. Common Questions

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A Guide to FME Server On Linux
http://fme.ly/q45

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Format Integrations

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Format Integration
● The biggest consideration for organizations is the
use of Geodatabase SDE and other ArcGIS formats
that require an ESRI license.
● You can find a full list here:
https://www.safe.com/fme/formats-matrix/#platforms
https://www.safe.com/transformers/matrix/

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ArcGIS / Format Options:
1) Mixed OS-Systems
2) FME has ArcGIS Online Portal Readers / Writers and
Transformers to easily connect with content on ArcGIS
Online
3) FME Support Shapefiles, File Geodatabase (limited
functions)

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Pre Install Considerations

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Pre-installation Considerations
Data Accessibility
• Where is your workspace data stored ?
FME Desktop Integration
• Can I publish from a Windows Desktop ?
• What about Python Compatibility ?

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Data Accessibility
1) Network-based resource- Mounting the remote file share to the linux machine
and then referencing it as an FME Server Network Resource
Common Mounting protocols-
● NFS- used in UNIX and LINUX-based systems
● CIFS- used to mount Windows shares on Linux systems
2) Cloud-based resource- Connecting the data hosted on an online repository like
the AWS S3 Buckets
More Flexible as compared to Network-based resource
Article - Mounting File Share on Linux FME Server

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FME Desktop Integration
● You can publish workspaces from a Windows, Linux or Mac hosted FME
Desktop to a Linux hosted FME Server
Compatibility Matrix- Matrix View of FME Integrations Gallery
● Does your Server and Desktop share access to your local or network drive?
○ Use Published Parameter in workspaces to provide access to workspace
data once pushed to FME Server
● Adding Custom Python Modules into FME is done the same way as Windows
Documentation - Using Python with FME Server

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Installation and Upgrade

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Installation and Upgrade
● NGINX Reverse Proxy
● Online Installations
● Offline Installation
● Uninstalling

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FME Server Web Application and NGINX
Starting in 2022.0 FME Server includes and NGINX reverse proxy
Benefits:
● Allows for use of ports under 1024 without having to give the Web
Application root privileges, which can cause permissions conflicts.
● Allows for easier HTTPS configuration
○ No more keytool commands
○ Less files to configure
○ Easy to drop in new certificates and keys
● Improved Security
○ protection from DDoS attacks

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Online Installation
We have created a checklist (http://fme.ly/kln) to
help ensure your linux deployment goes as
planned.
Confirm if the machine has any additional security
or if it has been used for other purposes.

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Offline Installations
Key points:
● The FME Server installer auto-downloads third party
dependencies/ packages for the server and engine
components during the installation process.
● Lack of network connection affects these downloads and
they need to be identified and manually downloaded
sudo apt install <package-name>
To find dependencies for engine component, the installer is
extracted and Debian Package Manager is run to show
information of .deb or .rpm engine package
Packages change with FME Server version and its best to
check each time you install.
● For the FME Server component - zip, unzip, perl and
postgresql packages need to be installed
See article for more details.

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Silent Installations
Take advantage of silent install parameters,
and deploy and limit human error, or
enabled them on a bootstraps.
Useful Silent Parameters
● FIRSTLOGINCHANGEPASSWORD
● ADMINUSERNAME
● ADMINUSERPASSWORD

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Uninstalls
● Postgres and NGINX are not uninstalled. However they will be re-used in a
subsequent installation and no intervention is needed.
● If you want though you can remove these parts and install new Postgres and
NGINX package then you can remove these components in-between
installations.

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Customization

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Customization
FME Server can be adjusted to match the needs of
your organization.
Common customization options include-
● Changing the FME Server user
● Disabling FME Server’s NGINX reverse proxy in
favor of your own.
● Moving the Engines to a different location
● Setting up the FME Server processes as services

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Can I run the FME System Services Under a
Different Account ?
Why ?
Distributed installation- Data hosted in multiple hosts,using Multiple
Engines
Have a specific account created to access data across a network ?
Need to manage account with your enterprise IAM ?
Default service account on Linux is the “fmeserver” account
How?
1. Change the owner of all Logs files and folders to new account that
has read/write rights to the FME Server FileShare and the install
directory
2. Edit the startServer.sh and stopServer.sh script to replace all the
super user “su” references to the said account
Optionally, if Systemd scripts or SysV scripts are configured to run at
system start-up - Change file ownership and super user references to the
said account.

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Can I disable the NGINX reverse proxy?
Why ?
Native reverse proxy already setup
Installing more proxies than CPU cores on a machine may increase
load/response times.
Additional proxy increases complexity / number of points of failure
How?
1. Remove reference of loopback address from tomcat server.xml file to
allow traffic from outside of the machine and replace it with the wildcard
character * .
Optionally, replace Connector port="8080" to 80/any port number if
required.
2. Stop, uninstall NGINX and remove the related configuration files and
from the system
3. Reboot the host.

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Can I move the Engines to a new directory ?
Why ?
In some cases, you might want to specify the directory to install FME
Engines. FME Server engines can’t be installed to a different directory
directly. However, it is possible to move the engines to a new directory
after installation.
How?
1. Install FME Server with Engine
2. Stop FME Server
3. Move Engine directory to its new location and remove old Engine
directory
4. Under the Admin section of the processMonitorConfigEngines.txt file,
● Add the following line: NODE_OVERWRITE = true
● Change TEMPLATE_START_ENGINE component to use the new
directory.
5. Start FME Server

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Can I setup the FME Server Process as a
service ?
Why ?
For starting the FME Server on boot or restart a FME Server in the
event of a system failure
Add custom variables such as FME_TEMP
Change the owner user account starting the services
How?
Edit the systemmd script and the sysV script provided with the FME
Server installer package.
Documentation- Configuring FME Server as a System Service (Linux)

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Common Questions
1. Are you supporting CentOS Steam, Red Hat 7 and Centos 7?
2. What Mix and Match (Win / Linux) options are available ?
3. Does Windows IWA / SAML/ Azure AD work on FME Server?
4. Do readers or workspace connections with IWA work?
5. I have postgres already installed on my machine, will an
express version work?

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Troubleshooting
Visit our article for more information and
troubleshooting tips.
A Guide to FME Server on Linux
http://fme.ly/q45

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FME Server on Linux is a
fast, stable, customizable
installation you can
fearlessly embrace.

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Resources
Jump on the
community and
share your
successes
Test out your
Architecture with a
Free Trial Licence
Check out our
Linux and FME
Server Article

32. Thank You!
richard.mosley@safe.com
merline.george@safe.com