Requirements and Prerequisites: Target Systems

Owned by Al Lusher (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 16, 2023 by Jessica Tomkins
2 min read



Supported Target Operating Systems

Remote servers can be any platform supported by Profound.js and Profound API, including:

  • IBM i

  • Linux

  • Windows

Node.js / NPM

Profound Installer uses NPM and Node.js to install Profound.js and Profound API from the NPM online registry. Node.js and NPM must be installed separately on the target system before you can use Profound Installer to install products.

Node.js and NPM are bundled together. There are many options for installing, see here.

  • For Windows and Linux, it’s recommended to use a tool like nvs (Node Version Switcher) as this allows you to install multiple versions of Node/NPM side-by-side and switch between them as needed.


  • For IBM i, the only option is to install from the online repositories provided by IBM, via the yum package manager. See here for detailed information on how to set up yum on IBM i.

The table below shows which Node.js versions are supported for each product version:

Profound.js / Profound API Version

Supported Node.js Versions

Profound.js / Profound API Version

Supported Node.js Versions

6

14, 16, 18


You should always use the most up-to-date compatible version of Node.js/NPM. For example, at the time of this writing the current version of Profound.js was version 6. Profound.js version 6 supports Node 14, 16, and 18. This means that you should generally use Node 18 with Profound.js 6, unless your application requires an older version for some reason.


For IBM i, Profound Installer is able to detect/discover available Node.js/NPM versions on the system and will allow you to select from compatible versions. For other platforms, Profound Installer uses the PATH environment variable to locate Node.js and NPM.

SSH Server (for remote installs only) 

Profound Installer connects to remote systems using SSH. This requires that an SSH server (such as OpenSSH) is running on any remote target systems, and that the PC or computer running Profound Installer can connect to it over the network.

  • For IBM i, the OpenSSH server is included in licensed program 5733-SC1 (Portable Utilities for i), which is already installed on most systems. If the program is not already installed on your system, you can get it from IBM here.

    The SSH server can be started using this command:

    STRTCPSVR *SSHD

    The SSH server can be configured to automatically start after system IPL using this command:

    CHGTCPSVR *SSHD AUTOSTART(*YES)



  • For Windows, see here for instructions on setting up OpenSSH server.


  • For Linux, check your distribution’s documentation for instructions on installing OpenSSH server. For example, see here for Ubuntu.