How to run JasperServer 6.3.0 via systemd as non-root user on Linux

Prerequisities

• JasperServer 6.3.0 installed as root into /opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/
• user apache existing in /etc/passwd (if it is not the case, use other user or create one - shell access not needed... subsequent how to is out of scope of this article)
• tested on CentOS 7, but should be working also on other systems with systemd

Now, let's do it.

Change ownership of installation from root to user

sudo chown -R apache /opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/

Create systemd unit configuration file

sudo vim /usr/lib/systemd/system/jasper-server.service

with this content:

[Unit]

Description=Jasper Server 6.3.0

After=syslog.target

After=network.target

[Service]

Type=forking

User=apache

Group=apache

Restart=on-failure

PIDFile=/run/jasper_server.pid

KillMode=mixed

ExecStart=/opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/ctlscript.sh start

ExecStop=/opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/ctlscript.sh stop

RestartSec=10s

TimeoutSec=900

[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target

Daemon reload after later changes of jasper-server.service file:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Set it to start-up automatically

sudo chkconfig jasper-server on

Then it could be controlled this way:

sudo service jasper-server start

sudo service jasper-server stop

sudo service jasper-server restart

And checked, if running, this way:

ps -ef | grep jasper

Or checked if running locally (in its default configuration on TCP/HTTP port 8080 of Apache Tomcat):

telnet localhost 8080

Troubleshoot, if needed:

cat /opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/apache-tomcat/logs/catalina.out

cat /opt/jasperreports-server-cp-6.3.0/apache-tomcat/logs/catalina.out | grep -i error

If needed, allow JasperServer HTTP port on firewall

CentOS 7 netfilter is controlled by firewall-cmd by default, so when JasperServer / Apache Tomcat is in its default configuration, do this:

sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-port=8080/tcp

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Then it should be accessible from remote browser via http://

:8080/jasperserver

.

Enjoy.