- Introduction
- Alteryx Server & Components
- Installation
- MyAlteryx
- Downloads and Licensing Portal
- Marketplace Connectors
- Installation Steps
- Order of Installation
- Licensing
- Server System Settings
- Job Assignment
- Authentication Choices
- Forest
- SSL Certification
- Whitelisting
- Logging On for the First Time
- Summary
Introduction
As a previous customer and Sales Engineer, I have seen a need for an open series of blogs to support our Server-purchasing customers. A place where you can come and learn about Alteryx Server and how to implement a standard installation. This blog series may expand further to include some non-standard ways, but one has to start somewhere, so I will keep it as simple as possible to explain concepts, best practices and key decisions you need to make when getting started, owning and using an Alteryx Server. So, strap in, grab a cookie, and let’s get started.
Alteryx Server & Components
When discussing Alteryx Server with your account team you may remember these slides, in case you misplaced them, I have provided them here as a reference. They are great to refer to for understanding what Alteryx Server can bring your organisation and to understand the components of Alteryx Server and what their roles are. Our platform is exceptionally flexible, these components can be installed together or separately, so understanding their roles is important. These are the terms that will be used when engaging with Alteryx Support teams.
Installation
Within this section I am going to introduce you to areas of the Alteryx platform, you may or may not know about yet. Once you have created a login to the Alteryx Community with your employee email used to license your Designer then this will be your gateway to a number of our services. If you are within IT and do you do not have access to Alteryx Designer Desktop licence, but require access to log support cases, download installers and / or license, please reach out to your account team at Alteryx and we can sort that for you.
Now we are getting to it, let me drop the first golden nugget, keep this in mind when installing and administrating Alteryx Server.
Golden Nugget Concept #1:
Treat Alteryx Server like another team member. If you need access to it and you want your team member to be able to run it,
then Alteryx Server also needs access to it. This concept really helps those who manage an Alteryx Server.
When uploading workflows to Alteryx Server, you must be able to communicate effectively with IT and understand the process
and what dependencies are required to ensure that it will work on Alteryx Server. This could be as simple as access to a file
share or database.
MyAlteryx
MyAlteryx is your hub for the Alteryx platform and is a place where you can log in, learn, and reach out to your account team. Here, you will gain access to the download portal (downloads.alteryx.com – whitelist that! I will come back to this!), licenses, value tracking and more.
Downloads and Licensing Portal
You can obviously jump in and start downloading and installing Alteryx Server. No one is going to stop you, you excited puppy. However, a best practice is to think about what you need on your Alteryx Server before rushing in.
Only fools and horses rush in (Source: GIPHY)
Let’s think about what you would like to include in your environment. We obviously want the Alteryx Server installation file, but perhaps you might want to think about some of the following as well:
Required:
- Alteryx Server
- Drivers
Optional:
- Data Packages
- Additional Toolsets
- Predictive Tools
- Alteryx Intelligence Suite
- Marketplace
- Connectors
- Enterprise Utilities
- Starter Kits
This is the Download and License Portal, where you can download your installer files, drivers, data packs and additional toolset from. You will only see the products you are licensed for below.
Remember that you can also come here to solve your license issues by revoking licenses and offline licensing being managed within this space. Offline licensing means that you do not have access to the internet on that machine, or your whitelisting has not yet been finalised. It is a manual method of being able set up your license via this portal and the Activate Offline License button, which is found in the centre at the top.
Marketplace Connectors
No setup is complete without your connector to SharePoint, Tableau/Power BI Output and Enterprise Utilities. So, you need to head to Marketplace to grab hold of these extra tools and include them in your installation.
Then, you may want to ensure that you are licensed for the parts you would like to include; you can do this with your license administrator via licenses.alteryx.com. (Whitelist – Another one!)
Installation Steps
It is important to document your process and understand what elements you would like to include in your installation, so please do that before proceeding.
[I’ll wait 😉 even bullet points will do; one example below; your needs will be different]
Once you have completed your documentation, it's time to install. We are going to stick with default installations here, but yes, you can install on a D drive for the Server and a C drive for Designer. Just be consistent, as your Alteryx Server installation needs to mirror your Alteryx Designer installation. (More of this in blog #2, where we walk through upgrading in more detail.) For example if you install an add-on as an administrator on the Server, do so on the Designer machine too, as this will remove issues and conflicts further down the line.
Order of Installation
Single node environment:
(this means all parts of Alteryx Server sit on one server)
- Alteryx Server
- Predictive Tools
- Intelligence Suite
- Drivers
- Marketplace Tools
- Enterprise Utilities
- Starter Kits
After each item above, you can take a break, as there is no need to be continuous.
Multi-node environments:
(this means each part of Alteryx Server could be on a different server)
- Alteryx Server (help docs)
- User Managed Database
- Controller / Embedded MongoDB
- Workers
- Gallery
- Predictive Tools
- Drivers
- Intelligence Suite
- Marketplace Tools
- Enterprise Utilities
- Starter Kits
Importantly anything you install to be run as part of a worker (where workflows are executed), i.e. connectors like SharePoint, need to be installed on all nodes that are workers. If your controller is a controller + worker, then SharePoint will need to be installed. If you have 2-10 workers it will need to be installed on them all, same for any specific python libraries. Unless you decide to run tagged server nodes. This will support you only having to install the features on the nodes you need to. However common features such as SharePoint tool, should be considered as part of a standard build for a worker node. More about this later in the Job Assignment Section.
Another handy thing to know is how to restart the services in a multi-node Alteryx Server. If you haven't already worked it out yet, we have an incredible community and knowledge base to support you every step of the way.
Licensing
Licensing when you have installed Alteryx Server, open Alteryx Designer on the Server has been installed and you should be greeted with a pop up. If this doesn't happen initially you can find it via the OPTIONS >> MANAGE LICENSES >> ACTIVATE LICENSE button and it looks like this:
You should see "Start Solving" when successful. At this stage if you are not successful check you are using the right license key, that you have licensed the right number of keys and if you need to revoke to try again to free up the key. This can all be done from the license tab within the license and download portal. If this fails, please raise a case at MyAlteryx.
Server System Settings
Fantastic, we now have everything installed, but how do we know if everything is working? Well firstly, Alteryx Server will not be running until you walk through the System Settings for the first time. This will then create your runtimesettings.xml and then your Alteryx Server Service will start.
There is a lot to learn in this section… please always refer to help to support your decision making.
Alteryx Server System settings is your pathway to turning on your server. There are many parts within here, so I would like to introduce you to help.alteryx.com because I will not go through each setting in this blog. help.alteryx.com is an amazing resource that keeps you updated with all the options available to you and what they mean. Our help pages are also version-dependent, so you can read specifically what is available in your version and not get lost in the latest features.
https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/server/system-requirements.html - this will always be the latest version, note the word 'current'
https://help.alteryx.com/20241/en/server/system-requirements.html - using the version number in YYYYR where Y = Year and R = Release Version, i.e. 1 or 2 release
I want to showcase that each setting within the Alteryx System Settings also has a little ( ? ) bubble. This will update the right-hand side information box to give you specific details on that setting. Just in case you need a reminder on what that setting impacts at the time of update. This image is also an example where we install the whole Alteryx Server on a single machine.
The help files around configuring your Alteryx Server is where you should start: https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/server/configure.html
Job Assignment
When you are in a multi-node environment and you want to set up a dedicated worker node, its best to set up the job assignment tags within your system settings under the worker settings (Job Assignment details on Help).
Pictures save thousands of words: The list provided in Server settings appears in your Alteryx Save As (to Alteryx Server) dialog:
Using a comma separated list, you can add as many assignments as you wish to this worker. You can set these differently on each worker node. The appear in the end users Save As dialog under the Worker Tag drop down menu. End users are then required to set this when in Designer they save their workflow up to Alteryx Server to assign their workflow to a particular worker.
Authentication Choices
This topic is always the one that gets people talking. It’s the most important choice you need to make before you start using your Alteryx Server. Why? Once you have made this choice, your database structure is set, and then you are no longer able to switch it as it will reset your database.
(If you do want to switch, please speak with your account team and engage with professional services.)
Yes, this means it will wipe out your workflows, users, settings, etc. So, it is important to get this one right. (See help docs here.)
The four options we have are:
- Built-in – this is a very basic and heavy management option. It means you will have full control of the users logging into the Alteryx Server, but it also means you need to manage starters, leavers, etc., because it will not be managed centrally by your IT team. Suitable for small businesses, airlock environments, partners and consultant organizations who want to offer up a Server as a Service, etc.
- Windows Authentication – standard option for most organizations, this is using your network active directory, the login details that you use within your organization to log onto your machine.
- Windows Authentication with Kerberos – same as above, but it uses a more secure protocol. Your IT team will specify if they use Kerberos when you supply the options.
- SAML for SSO – many people expect a single sign-on approach within their business. Therefore, we offer you the ability to set this up with our SAML option.
To configure SAML authentication for Single Sign On (SSO), you must have an account with an Identity Provider (IDP) that supports SAML. Enter the URL and certificate from the IDP and the entity ID for the Gallery. Then click Verify IDP to test the IDP configuration.
For IDPs that require request signing, you can enable the "Enable Request Signing" setting. This setting requires a valid signed certificate with an associated RSA private key to be installed in the Windows Certificate Store. You also need to provide a unique hash for this certificate.
Forest
What does a forest mean, and how does it impact me?
In a global organization, you are not just one company but many under a group. This means within your IT space, you could have what is known as multiple domains (organizations) working as one. Depending on which company/domain you work for, it could cause issues if your Alteryx Server has not been set up well to interact with multiple domains. A forest is another term for multiple domains acting as one, how they are all individually set up, and how they may interact with each other.
Alteryx Server does not typically work with forests i.e. linking to multiple Active Directories; however, we do work with SAML. SAML is a method for single sign on that does work with multiple domains. So, we find that our customers with a more complex setup move towards the SAML and Azure Active Directory, usually with SCIM.
SSL Certification
Should I have a certificate? Should I change my address to https from http? What does all this mean anyway?
Alteryx does recommend using SSL (secure socket layer) to ensure your data is encrypted and secure when interacting with Alteryx Server. In order to enable this, please follow these instructions with your IT team: Configuring TLS/SSL. They are likely to have someone who is responsible for managing certifications within your organization.
SSL is a protocol that encrypts data and authenticates a website's identity to create a secure connection between two devices or applications. SSL is considered an older technology that contains security flaws. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the upgraded version of SSL that fixes these vulnerabilities. TLS authenticates more efficiently and continues to support encrypted communication channels.
Whitelisting
What is a whitelist, and why do I need to do it?
A whitelist is a list of addresses you are allowed to access on the internet. All companies today have a very secure way of interacting with the internet for your safety. To be able to interact with all parts of the Alteryx platform, we recommend you request to whitelist the following in your organisation:
- Whitelist.alteryx.com
- Downloads.alteryx.com
- licenses.alteryx.com
- myalteryxsso.b2clogin.com
- my.alteryx.com
- us1.alteryxcloud.com
- Download.flexnetoperations.com
- Ajax.aspnetcdn.com
Once your installation is complete and you have gone through your system settings and hit the “Finish” button, this is when you have a working server. If you run into any issues at this point, please head to MyAlteryx and open a case, and our wonderful support team will jump on board to help. At this point, it’s likely to be environmental, and additional resources here may help.
Logging On for the First Time
Once your Alteryx Service is started, then navigate to your Alteryx Gallery by using the URL on the start page of your Alteryx System Settings. (Handy hint here; especially if you manage multiple servers 😉)
The individual who you have chosen to be the overall administrator of Alteryx server will need to log into the gallery URL (example http:\\localhost\gallery). Once logged in, they will be able to start setting up users using Windows groups and active directory.
Summary
At this stage, we have walked through obtaining the installation files, installing Alteryx Server, and configuring its settings so that you can get that first user logged onto your Alteryx Server.
If you have been following along with your Sandbox, good on you. If you are touching your production, I question your motives (shame on you 😂)! I’ll see you next time, where I will help you understand how to upgrade your production environment.
If you have any questions, please let me know below, and I will continue to expand on this blog series to help our customers get the best Alteryx Server Success for their organizations.
I have also created a support guide with Customer Success Managers, so reach out to your account team if you would like a more conversational way to engage on installing Alteryx Server, it helps you understand your decisions before you start installing. If you are looking for help installing, we have our amazing professional services team who can support with Alteryx Server Quick Start. We are here to support you.
