Prerequisites

The following must be installed before installation of the Policy Server can begin:

You must also acquire a set of SHAID API keys. These are made available to level 4 OEM members through the developer portal.

Setup Guide

Download the project to your current directory.

git clone https://github.com/smartdevicelink/sdl_server.git
cd sdl_server

The recommended branch to use is master, which should be used by default. Install dependencies.

npm install

The new version of the Policy Server requires a SQL database. Currently the only supported implementation is PostgreSQL. This guide will not cover how to get one running.

Once you set up a database (locally or remotely) you'll need to supply the Policy Server with some environment variables. This Policy Server uses the dotenv module, meaning you can write all your environment variables in a .env file located in the root directory of the Policy Server. The Policy Server will load the variables at .env. .env files will not be tracked by Git.

Here are the environment variables that will most likely be used:

• POLICY_SERVER_HOST: String. The hostname or public IP address which the server runs on.
• POLICY_SERVER_PORT: Integer. The port which the server runs on. It is optional and the default is 3000.
• POLICY_SERVER_PORT_SSL: Integer. The port which the server should listen for SSL connections on (typically 443). It is optional and the default is null (do not listen for SSL connections).
• SSL_CERTIFICATE_FILENAME: String. The filename of the SSL certificate located in ./customizable/ssl. Required if a value is set for POLICY_SERVER_PORT_SSL.
• SSL_PRIVATE_KEY_FILENAME: String. The filename of the SSL certificate's private key located in ./customizable/ssl. Required if a value is set for POLICY_SERVER_PORT_SSL.
• SHAID_PUBLIC_KEY: String. A public key given to you through the developer portal that allows access to SHAID endpoints.
• SHAID_SECRET_KEY: String. A secret key given to you through the developer portal that allows access to SHAID endpoints.
• DB_USER: String. The name of the user to allow the server to access the database
• DB_DATABASE: String. The name of the database where policy and app data is stored
• DB_PASSWORD: String. The password used to log into the database
• DB_HOST: String. The host name or IP address of the database
• DB_PORT: Integer. The port number of the database
• STAGING_PG_USER DEPRECATED: String. The name of the user to allow the server access the database (staging mode)
• STAGING_PG_DATABASE DEPRECATED: String. The name of the database where policy and app data is stored (staging mode)
• STAGING_PG_PASSWORD DEPRECATED: String. The password used to log into the database (staging mode)
• STAGING_PG_HOST DEPRECATED: String. The host name or IP address of the database (staging mode)
• STAGING_PG_PORT DEPRECATED: Integer. The port number of the database (staging mode)
• PRODUCTION_PG_USER DEPRECATED: String. The name of the user to allow the server access the database (production mode)
• PRODUCTION_PG_DATABASE DEPRECATED: String. The name of the database where policy and app data is stored (production mode)
• PRODUCTION_PG_PASSWORD DEPRECATED: String. The password used to log into the database (production mode)
• PRODUCTION_PG_HOST DEPRECATED: String. The host name or IP address of the database (production mode)
• PRODUCTION_PG_PORT DEPRECATED: Integer. The port number of the database (production mode)
• CACHE_MODULE: String. The name of the caching module to use. Currently supports null (no caching, default) or "redis".
• CACHE_HOST: String. The host name or IP address of the cache. Default null.
• CACHE_PORT: Integer. The port number of the cache. Default null.
• CACHE_PASSWORD: String. The password used to log into the cache. Default null.
• AUTO_APPROVE_ALL_APPS: String boolean ("true" or "false"). Whether or not to auto-approve all app versions received by SHAID (except for blacklisted apps). Default "false".

Production/Staging environment variables for the database are now deprecated. Please use the corresponding DB_ values in place of them (ex. DB_USER instead of PRODUCTION_PG_USER or STAGING_PG_USER).

Once these environment variables are set, initialize the database. The database should be given the same name set in DB_DATABASE.

Using the createdb program that comes with the installation of PostgreSQL, for example:
createdb policy_server

The Policy Server comes with migration scripts that can be run using npm scripts. You can see a list of all the possible scripts by looking in package.json, but these are the most important ones:

• start-server: Runs the migration up script which initializes data in the database and starts the Policy Server
• start-pg-staging DEPRECATED: Runs the migration up script which initializes data in the database, sets the environment to staging and starts the Policy Server
• start-pg-production DEPRECATED: Runs the migration up script which initializes data in the database, sets the environment to production and starts the Policy Server
• db-migrate-reset-pg-staging DEPRECATED: Runs the migration down script which drops all the data and tables in the staging database
• dev or start: Starts the server with hot reloading so any changes made to the UI are instantly updated in the browser
• build: Generates a new staging/production build using webpack. This command should only be run if you made front-end modifications to the UI.

Production/Staging scripts are now deprecated. Please use start-server instead of start-pg-staging or start-pg-production.

Run the following command to finalize set up and start the server.

npm run start-server

Verify that it started properly by navigating to your configured host and port, or to the default address: http://localhost:3000/

Now you have a Policy Server running!

• If you wish to enable caching with an unofficially supported datastore, you may create a custom cache module. Do so by creating a folder inside custom/cache with the name of your module. Put your implementation in a file named index.js inside of your module's folder. Your module should export the following functions:
  • get(key, callback): Receives a value from the cache stored at key.
  • set(key, value, callback): Sets a value in the cache stored at key.
  • del(key, callback): Deletes a value from the cache stored at key.
  • flushall(callback): Deletes all data previously set in the cache.
• Set your CACHE_ environment variables to correspond with your new datastore solution and access information.