Installing Timeline

Before you begin

  1. Make sure your machine does NOT have Redis preinstalled.
    Timeline distributes Redis within the installation process and expects to install Redis itself. This way we ensure that the proper version is used, and Redis is started whenever the machine restarts. If your computer has Redis preinstalled, you may want to run a new virtual machine to avoid issues during installation.
  2. Setup Local Security Policy.
    The user that installs Timeline should have an explicit Log on as service rights. Assign this right to the user in the Local Security Policy settings.
    For more details, refer to Microsoft documentation - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/system-center/scsm/enable-service-log-on-sm?view=sc-sm-2022#enable-service-log-on-through-a-local-group-policy
  3. Enable Windows Features
    If the Microsoft Windows Subsystem Linux feature is disabled, the Timeline Setup will prompt you to enable it. After that, your computer will be restarted automatically. Please save your work before continuing the installation. After restarting, the Timeline installation will resume automatically. If it doesn't run automatically, please run the ABBYY-Timeline-<version>-installer.exe file again.
  4. Log in as a Windows administrator or start Timeline Setup with Run as Administrator.
    To perform all activities below, you must be a system administrator of the computer on which Timeline is being installed.
  5. Ensure the Execution Policy for PowerShell is set to RemoteSigned. To verify the current settings for the execution policy:
    1. Start Windows PowerShell with Run as Administrator.
    2. Use Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned to set the policy to RemoteSigned.
      If the command was executed without errors, go to the Timeline installation procedure by starting the Timeline installer with Run as Administrator.
      If you get an access is denied error, you do not have the permissions to change the execution policy. Please contact your system administrator to have your permissions changed.

Interactive installation

Run the ABBYY-Timeline-<version>-installer.exe file, select the language to run the Installation Wizard and follow the on-screen instructions.

The Installation Wizard will display a sequence of pages with detailed instructions for each installation step. Use the Back and Next buttons to navigate the pages. To quit the Installation Wizard at any stage, click Close.

  1. License Agreement
    Read and accept the license agreement.
  2. Installation Folder
    Select a destination folder where Timeline will be installed.
    The default folder is: C:\Program Files\ABBYY Timeline
  3. Select Database
    Timeline needs access to PostgreSQL. You can install PostgreSQL on a computer along with Timeline or a separate one.
    If you already installed PostgreSQL on another computer, select Connect to existing database. This option is useful if you install the program in a production environment where the host machine is accessible from outside the corporate network. If you prefer to keep Timeline and the database on the same machine, select Install local database. This option is useful if you install the program for testing purposes.
    Go to the next step to specify database connection settings.
  4. Database Connection
    Specify connection parameters to Timeline databases located on a local or remote PostgreSQL.
    1. Install local database
      If you selected this option, you need to configure access to a local PostgreSQL instance. To set up access to an existing PostgreSQL instance, go to step 5b below.
      Using the options specified in this clause, Timeline Setup creates the following databases during the installation process:
      timeline - the Admin database. It contains all information about users, their activity, and projects.
      timeline-log - the Log database. It contains detailed records of Timeline events such as security, errors, and notifications.
      timeline-000 - the User database. It contains information about user repositories.
      1. PostgreSQL user and PostgreSQL password
        Provide PostgreSQL superuser credentials. These will be used by the installation program to create a database user for Timeline.
      2. PostgreSQL port
        Specify TCP/IP port for PostgreSQL. By default, TCP/IP port 5432 is used. Make sure that it is not being used by any other application. For more information, see the Check TCP/IP Port Availability section.
      3. Data directory
        Enter the path where the database needs to be installed.
        The default path is: C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13
    2. Connect to existing database
      If you selected Connect to existing database in step 4, this means PostgreSQL is already installed on a remote or local server. To configure access to the Timeline databases, specify connection parameters for the Admin, Log, and User databases.
      Important. This step requires the database admin user and databases created on your own in advance or configured for the previous installations.
      1. PostgreSQL user and PostgreSQL password
        Provide the credentials of the already existing admin PostgreSQL user who owns the Timeline databases.
      2. PostgreSQL host
        Specify the server name where PostgreSQL is installed. By default, localhost is used.
      3. PostgreSQL port
        Specify TCP/IP port for PostgreSQL. By default, TCP/IP port 5432 is used.
      4. Database name
        A name must be given for each database:
        timeline is the only valid name for the Admin database.
        timeline-log or timeline_log is the only valid name for the Log database.
        timeline-000 or timeline_000 is the only valid name for the User database.
      5. Select Use SSL for the database connection, if your PostgreSQL is configured with SSL support.
        If your PostgreSQL is configured with SSL support and a CA Root certificate file is used, provide the full path to the CA Root certificate file.
  5. Review Database Configuration
    If the Timeline databases already exist on the specified PostgreSQL server and the PostgreSQL version is supported, the Review Database Configuration step will open.
    1. Select Connect to the existing Timeline database if you want ABBYY Timeline to connect to the database that already has Timeline data from previous installations.
    2. Select Reinstall Timeline database tables and user if you have just created the database and it does not have an already-established connection with Timeline.
      Important. The database admin user and databases must be created on your own in advance.
  6. Admin User Account
    Create a first admin user account for ABBYY Timeline. Enter a valid email address using an existing domain name that is configured to receive emails, for example, user@domain.com, and a password. This will be the first user and the one that will have access to the ABBYY Timeline website, where other users can be administered.

    The password you specified must contain only English letters and digits from 0 to 9. It must be at least eight characters long, contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number.

    Important. It is this user who will have a super admin role and have access to the Admin app. Once the installation is complete, you can log into the Admin app via the Timeline website.
  7. Mail Server Configuration
    Configure the SMTP server access to allow Timeline to send out emails in several features such as Alerting, User invitation, Email verification, etc. For example, during a user registration process, a verification email message is sent to the user. The user won't be able to use Timeline until he completes the instructions contained in the message.
    Provide general information to configure SMTP mail server and specify its security options. To decide which options you have to select, please refer to the documentation of your mail server. The server's basic settings are set during installation. You can change the SMTP Mail Server configuration after installation.
    1. Mail server host
      Enter server name where the SMTP mail server is installed.
    2. Mail server port
      Enter the SMTP mail server port number.
    3. Mail server username and Mail server password
      Enter the SMTP mail server access credentials. Keep these fields empty if your mail server requires no authentication.
    4. Email sender
      Enter the e-mail sender address used to fill the 'From' header field of e-mails.
    5. Mail server security
      Specify mail server security options. To decide which option you have to select, refer to the documentation of your mail server. Mail server basic settings are set during installation. You can change the SMTP Mail Server configuration after installation. For more information, see How to Change SMTP Mail Server Configuration.
      1. Select Non secure in case your SMTP server does not use TLS. This is a typical use case for mock, local mail services, for example, mailcatcher.
      2. Select Require TLS after connection if the initial connection should happen over an unencrypted connection and then the STARTTLS command should be used to upgrade to a secure connection. For example, Microsoft Exchange.
      3. Select Secure from the start of the connection then the app will use TLS to connect to the SMTP server from the start. It is the most secure option, however not all mail servers support this option.
      4. Select Allow self-signed certificate if your mail server uses an unauthorized, e.g., self-signed, SSL certificate.
  8. Timeline Base URL and Ports Configuration
    1. Enter the Base URL that hosts Timeline and via which users will be able to access the Timeline website.
      Base URL must be a fully qualified URL. The lowercase pattern is recommended. Do not use extra spaces and forward slash '/' at the end of the base URL. It should match the computer name on which you are installing Timeline and must be accessible both from the computer on which Recording Service is installed and from the administrator browser. It also is used for links inside email messages sent by the Timeline.

      The Base URL must have the following syntax: http[s]://hostname:port
      If you are using the default port (80 or 443), you do not need to add them to the base URL

      Examples:
      The base URL of the HTTP endpoint, if a custom port is specified: http://mytimeline.com:8080
      The base URL of the HTTPS endpoint, if a custom port is specified: https://mytimeline.com:30443
    2. Specify TCP/IP port for the Timeline website.
      By default, TCP/IP port 80 is used for the Timeline website. Make sure that it is not being used by any other website. For more information, see the Check TCP/IP Port Availability section. You can also set a different port number later.

      Select Use HTTPS if you want to secure data transferred, and then go to the next step to set the SSL connection settings.
      Note. Currently, Timeline does not accept .pfx files. In case you have a .pfx file, you should convert it to .key and .cert files. The key and certificate files must be named server.key and server.cert since Timeline accepts only files with these names.

      Important. If you install the program in a production environment, it is strongly recommended to use HTTPS and highly discouraged HTTP.
  9. Service Setup
    Current user account is used to run the timelinepi service. If the computer is a member of an Active Directory domain, the current domain user account will be set to run the service. If the computer is part of a workgroup, the local computer account will be set. For the service to work properly, specify the valid password for the user account used to install Timeline.
    Important. It is prohibited to change the specified user account after the installation is completed.
  10. SMS Sender
    Important. This option is available only for online installation. In case the offline installation, do not configure parameters below.
    Configure Twilio SMS service to receive SMS notifications from Timeline containing verification codes, alert notifications, and error messages. Twilio account is required to configure and send SMS notifications.
    1. Account SID
      This line contains a Twilio String Identifier (SID), a unique key that is used to identify your Twilio account.
    2. Auth token
      Enter your Auth token, generated for your Twilio account.
    3. Phone number
      Enter the phone number from your Twilio account. It will be the sender's number.
  11. Create firewall exceptions after installation is complete
    Installer does not create any software or hardware firewall exceptions. You must set up exception settings to allow interactions between components to take place inside a network. For example, you create inbound and outbound rules in Windows Firewall. For detailed information, see Network Connection Settings.

Performing health check

Check that Timeline is working properly by doing the following:

  1. Open a browser and enter {timelineURL}:{port} in the address bar, where:
    {TimelineUrl} is the Base URL you specified during the Timeline installation or the public IP address or the full name of the computer on which Timeline is installed.
    {port} is a custom port assigned to Timeline website during the installation process. If you are using the default port (80 or 443), you do not need to add them to the {timelineURL}. By default, TCP/IP port 80 or 443 is used.

    Example: http://mytimeline:8080 or https://mytimeline:30443
  2. If the installation was carried out correctly, the Timeline website will open.
  3. Login using the Timeline admin credentials you specified in the 'Admin User Account' step during the Timeline installation process.

9/5/2024 4:23:54 PM

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