Starting and Managing Desktop Client (3.2)

Owned by Jenni Wallin
Last updated: Oct 12, 2023
4 min read

The Desktop Client is started using the Desktop Launcher. 

Desktop via Launcher

Depending on how Usage Engine is installed, the method of connecting them to the platform varies slightly.  The basic functionality is described here, and the more advanced settings are described in Desktop Launcher Settings(3.2).

Follow these steps to install and run the Desktop Launcher

  1. Prerequisite: Download and install Java 17 on the PC that you will use the Desktop on. Both JRE and JDK work.

  2. If LoadBalancer going to be used, special considerations concerning ports are needed, for more information see: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/access-application-cluster/create-external-load-balancer/

  3. Only for Private Cloud installations, adaption of the Ports are needed.

    Private Cloud - handlig of Ports

    In the case of Private Cloud, you cannot use the ports defined in the values.yaml file. Instead, you must use the NodePort number substitutes. You can see this by with the command kubectl get services. See the example below, for example 9000 will be substituted by 30707.

    Example of services for Private Cloud
    $ kubectl get services -n <namespace>

NAME                                             TYPE        CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                         AGE
mz-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service   ClusterIP   10.102.178.52    <none>        8443/TCP                        154m
mzonline                                         NodePort    10.100.195.106   <none>        80:31270/TCP                    154m
platform                                         NodePort    10.111.174.222   <none>        9000:30707/TCP,6790:32481/TCP   154m
wd                                               NodePort    10.101.51.191    <none>        9999:32073/TCP                  154m   

# Note that in the case you use TLS, the Web interface, mzonline port will be 443.

  4. Only for AWS installations,  URLs are constructed like <function>.<domain>. See below:

    AWS - accessing the environment

    In the case of AWS, you must always define the type of interface directly in the URL as stated below:

  5. To download the Desktop Launcher, enter this URL in a web browser: http://<host>:<mz.webserver.port>/launch/desktop . The port is default 9000.

    Example - Desktop Launcher URL

    Examples. Enter the URL in a web browser. Use https if security is defined:

  6. A page with different files to install or start the Launcher will be available in the web browser.


  7. To install the Desktop Launcher, for Windows, download the exe file and double-click to install it. Alternatively download the OS independent  jar file and use java -jar to install it.

    Example - Desktop Launcher via java -jar

    $ java -jar standard standard-mzx-launcher-1.1.4.jar


  8. The Launcher interface will be visible, and you can add the Instances you want to use.
      

    - Add the instance, by defining the Host, Port and a Name. Select Secured Connection if the platform's web interface is defined to use https.
    - For Private Cloud, set Port to the NodePort number substitute for 9000 and Host to the cluster node. Example below.
    - For AWS, define platform.<domain> For the Host.

  9. In the case you are using Private Cloud or pico.rcp.platform.port different from 6790, the Platform RCP port needs to be changed. Click settings    on the Desktop instance and update the pico.rcp.platform.port. For Private Cloud Use the NodePort number substitute for 6790. It is 32481 in the "kubectl get services" example above.