Installation

Downloading and installing Java

Java provides the cross-platform environment in which Orbeon Forms runs.

If you don't have Java installed yet, download it from https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-downloads.html.

Downloading and installing Apache Tomcat

Tomcat is the container application into which Orbeon Forms deploys. Follow these steps to download and install Tomcat if you don't have it installed yet:

1. Download Tomcat (see supported versions) from the Apache website.

2. Install Tomcat as per the instructions. If you downloaded the installer version (Windows only), run the installer. If you downloaded a compressed archive, uncompress it to the location of your choice. We call the install location TOMCAT_HOME (on windows, this could be c:/Program Files/Apache/Tomcat, on a Unix system, /home/jdoe/tomcat, etc.).

3. Check that your Tomcat installation is working correctly:

   • Run the Tomcat startup script under TOMCAT_HOME/bin (startup.sh or startup.bat depending on your platform), or start Tomcat with the control application (Windows only).

   • Open a web browser and access the following URL:

   http://localhost:8080/

   You should see the Tomcat welcome page.

   

NOTE: We recommend using Tomcat for this tutorial, but Orbeon Forms can deploy into containers other than Tomcat.

Downloading and installing Orbeon Forms

Follow these steps to download and install Orbeon Forms:

1. Download Orbeon Forms.

2. Uncompress the archive into a directory of your choice. We call that directory ORBEON_FORMS_HOME.

3. Under ORBEON_FORMS_HOME, you find a file called orbeon.war. This is the file to deploy into Tomcat. To do so, just copy it under TOMCAT_HOME/webapps (alternatively, if you know what you are doing, you can uncompress it at a location of your choice and configure a context in TOMCAT_HOME/conf/server.xml). The webapps directory is already present after you have installed Tomcat.

Testing your setup

Make sure you restart Tomcat (run the shutdown script under TOMCAT_HOME/bin, and then the startup script again). Then open up with a web browser the following URL:

http://localhost:8080/orbeon/

You should see the Orbeon Forms welcome page: