NIEM Message Exchange Package Builder Files

1 NIEM MEP BUILDER OVERVIEW

The NIEM MEP Builder is a tool designed to assist a user when constructing Message Exchange Packages (MEP)s, formerly known as Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD)s. This tool streamlines the process used to produce these packages to use with the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM).

2 ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW

The NIEM MEP Builder can be deployed to a server or downloaded as a stand-alone application. Once the application has been deployed to your server or downloaded and installed on your computer, the following software requirements apply:
    • Windows 10 operating system
    • Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome web browser
    • Connection to the internet
    • Username and Password (server instance)

Note: If you are an admin for your organization and desire to install a NIEM Tool instance to your server, please consult the NIEM Tool Admin Guide for server installation instructions.

NIEM TOOL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prerequisites

    • Administrator privileges
    • Access to a command-line
    • Username and password for the Github website (optional)
    • Username and password for Docker Hub (optional)
    • Note: This will increase rate limits docker imposes on containers.

Install Docker
https://docs.docker.com/desktop/windows/install/

**Note**

At the time this was written all defaults were selected during install which utilized WSL2.

2. Create Project Directory

This is an optional section to create the directory where the project files will be stored. Follow these steps to create the project directory:
     1. Open the File Explorer and navigate to the C:\ drive
     2. Right-click in the white space and select New > Folder
     3. Name this folder ‘NIEM’


3. Set Environment Variable in Windows via GUI

Follow the steps to set environment variables using the Windows GUI:

     1. Press Windows () + R to open the Windows Run prompt.
     2. Type in sysdm.cpl and click OK.
     3. Open the Advanced tab and click on the Environment Variables button in the System Properties window.
     4. The Environment Variables window is divided into two sections. The sections display user-specific and system-wide environment variables. To add a variable, click the New… button under the system-wide section.
     5. Enter the variable name, “NIEM_DIR”, click “Browse Directory” and navigate to where you want to save NIEM data and select the appropriate folder. If the earlier steps were followed in the ‘Create Project Directory’ section, select the C:\NIEM directory.
     6. Click OK.
     7. You should now see something that looks similar to below. Click OK.
     8. Verify that the new system variable was created as below and click OK.

4. Download & Install NIEM

The following section provides three installation instruction options. Choose to follow only one of the following options which best suit your environment and needs:

     a. Offline Installer (Recommended) – Recommended for most users and/or for air gapped / non-internet connected devices.
     b. Online Installer - For computers with access to GitHub and an internet connection.
     c. Build Installer - For developers who want to rebuild the application.

5. Option 1: Offline Installer

     1. To begin the offline install process, you must first have the Offline_Installer.zip file downloaded to your computer.
     2. Navigate to the zip file in the file explorer. Right-click on the zip file and select ‘Extract All…’
     3. Click ‘Browse’ and browse and select the folder location you wish to extract the project files. If the earlier steps were followed in the ‘Create Project Directory’ section, select the C:\NIEM directory.
     4. Click ‘Extract’.
     5. If the extracted files do not automatically pop-up upon completed extraction, navigate to the directory to where they were extracted.
     6. Open the ‘Offline_installer’ folder.
     7. Type ‘powershell’ in the directory path field and either type ‘Enter’ on your keyboard or click the arrow to go to powershell.
     8. A PowerShell window should appear. Verify that the directory listed is the path to your Online_Installer folder.
     9. Type or copy/paste the following command: docker image load --input niem-api.tar
          a. **NOTE** There are two ‘-’ marks before the word ‘input’
    10. Click the Enter key on the keyboard to run the above command
    11. It will take a few minutes for the image to be loaded. It will be completed when you see the ‘loaded image’ name and the directory path as shown at the bottom of the image below
    12. Repeat steps 9-11 for the following commands:
          a. docker image load --input niem-db.tar
          b. docker image load --input niem-webui.tar
    13. Type or copy/paste the following command:
          a. docker-compose -f offline.yaml up -d
    14. Click the Enter key on the keyboard to run the above command
    15. It will take a few minutes for the image to be loaded. It will be completed when you see three ‘done’ statuses and the directory path as shown at the bottom of the image below
    16. You can now run the application by going to your browser and typing the URL ‘localhost:3000’
          a. **NOTE** Upon initial startup, the webpage may continue to load for a few more moments before it is actually ready.

6. Option 2: Online Installer

    1. Navigate to the NIEM GitHub page and click on the Releases link
    2. Select the release you would like to deploy
    3. View that the release will have several assets.
    4. Click on ‘Online_Installer.zip’ to download it to your machine
    5. View the zip file by either clicking ‘Show in Folder’ on the browser download pop-up (see image above) or navigating to your system’s default download folder
    6. Right-click on the zip file and select ‘Extract All…’
    7. Click ‘Browse’ and browse and select the folder location you wish to extract the project files. If the earlier steps were followed in the ‘Create Project Directory’ section, select the C:\NIEM directory.
    8. Click ‘Extract’
    9. If the extracted files do not automatically pop-up upon completed extraction, navigate to the directory to where they were extracted.
   10. Open the ‘Online_Installer’ folder
   11. Type ‘powershell’ in the directory path field and either type ‘Enter’ on your keyboard or click the arrow to go to powershell.
   12. A PowerShell window should appear. Verify that the directory listed is the path to your Online_Installer folder.
   13. Type or copy/paste the following command: docker-compose up -d
          • **NOTE** Depending on the permissions of the container repo you may be required to login with “docker login” and a personal access token will need to be created in Github.
   14. Click the Enter key on the keyboard to run the above command
   15. It will take a few minutes for the images to be pulled. They will be completed when you see three ‘done’ statuses and the directory path as shown at the bottom of the image below
   16. You can now run the application by going to your browser and typing the URL ‘localhost:3000’

7. Option 3: Build Installer

    1. Navigate to the NIEM GitHub page and click on the Releases link
    2. Select the release you would like to deploy
    3. View that the release will have several assets.
    4. Click on ‘Build_Installer.zip’ to download it to your machine
    5. View the zip file by either clicking ‘Show in Folder’ on the browser download pop-up (see image above) or navigating to your system’s default download folder
    6. Right-click on the zip file and select ‘Extract All…’
    7. Click ‘Browse’ and browse and select the folder location you wish to extract the project files. If the earlier steps were followed in the ‘Create Project Directory’ section, select the C:\NIEM directory.
    8. Click ‘Extract’
    9. If the extracted files do not automatically pop-up upon completed extraction, navigate to the directory to where they were extracted.
   10. Open the ‘Build_Installer’ folder
   11. Type ‘powershell’ in the directory path field and either type ‘Enter’ on your keyboard or click the arrow to go to powershell.
   12. A PowerShell window should appear. Verify that the directory listed is the path to your Build_Installer folder.
   13. Type or copy/paste the following command:
        • docker-compose -f fresh_build.yaml up -d
   14. Click the Enter key on the keyboard to run the above command
   15. The container images will build and deploy. This process initially takes about 20-30 min. Once the deployment is complete, you will see three ‘done’ statuses and the directory path as shown at the bottom of the image below
   16. You can now run the application by going to your browser and typing the URL ‘localhost:3000’
        • **NOTE** Upon initial startup, the webpage may continue to load for a few more moments before it is actually ready.
        Click the source code asset corresponding to the operating system you are deploying NIEM on. (Zip for Windows; tar.gz for Linux)
        Navigate to the downloaded archive. Right click and select “Extract All”
        Extract the folder to a location on your C Drive. This location will be used to create the NIEM Environmental Variable. Then Select Extract
        Final step… docker-compose up -d offline.yaml

    1. Ensure Docker is running by opening Docker Desktop. Notice the Green Bar at the bottom left.
    2. In Windows Explorer Navigate to the directory where you extracted the NIEM archive.
    3. In the address bar type “powershell” and hit Enter to open a Powershell in the NIEM_DIR.
    4. In the newly opened Powershell Type “docker-compose up -d fresh_build.yaml” and hit Enter.
    5. The container images will build and deploy. This process initially takes about 20-30 min. Once the deployment is complete you will be able to see them running in the Docker Desktop UI.
    6. Open a browser and navigate to localhost:3000.
    7. The NIEM Application is now up and running