Server Plugin Management-FineReport Help Document

Last update： 2023-08-03

Overview

Version

Report Server Version

Functional Change

11.0

11.0.18

Optimized plugin management overall:

Divides the plugin management interface into App Store and My Plugins, and adopts a new interface style.

App Store supports operations of plugin browsing and installation.
My Plugins provides information about installed plugins and supports various plugin management operations.

Application Scenarios

If your project is deployed on a server, you can download plugins on the server as needed.

Functions

This document introduces how to use Plugin Management.

App Store: supports installation of plugins from the store and from the local.

My Plugins: provides information about installed plugins and supports various plugin management operations, including Delete, Update, andDisable/Enable.

Note:

The function is not supported in Internet Explorer 8 and earlier versions.

Plugin Management has the following features:

1. Supports hot deployment and requires no restart after you install, delete, update, disable, or enable a plugin.

2. Requires no restart after you configure a license.

3. There are dependencies between automatic installation and plugin updating (including dependencies between plugins).

4. Automatically deletes unused files and service dependencies.

5. Automatically detects whether the plugin is compatible in a remote environment and synchronizes the running status of the plugin in real time.

Note:

1. If you need to use a plugin normally in the server (connected with the designer remotely), ensure that the plugin is installed in both the server and the designer.

2. For details about downloading plugins in FineReport Designer, see Designer Plugin Management.

3. If you select a remote environment in Switch Working Directory in FineReport Designer, there is no Plugin Management option in the System Management tab page of the server under the remote environment.

Plugin Installation

There are three methods to install plugins on the server: Install, Local Install, and manual installation.

Installing

1. Log in to the decision-making platform as the admin, choose System Management > Plugin Management > App Store, enter the plugin name in the search box to search, select the plugin to be installed, and click Install.

2. After the plugin is successfully installed, a prompt pops up as shown in the following figure.

Local Installation

1. Download the required plugin from FineReport Community, and the downloaded compressed file is shown in the following figure.

Note:

To download plugins, you need to log in to FineReport Community with your FanRuan account.

2. Log in to the decision-making platform as the admin, choose System Management > Plugin Management > App Store, click Local Install, and select the downloaded (or prepared) plugin's compressed file (in ZIP format).

After the plugin is installed successfully, a window pops up. Click OK.

Note:

Do not unzip the compressed file obtained above. Install it directly.

Manual Installation

Note:

When the user environment does not support file uploading or deployment of WAR files, the plugin can be manually installed.

Deciding Folders of Plugins

1. The folders of plugins installed in FineReport Designer are stored in the path %FR_HOME%\webapps\webroot\WEB-INF\plugins.

Note:

The folders under the path must be generated after plugins are installed in the designer, rather than the folders obtained by unzipping the plugin's compressed file downloaded from FineReport Community.

2. You can open the plugin file (in XML format) in a specific plugin folder to check what plugin it is.

Copying and Pasting the Plugin Folder

Copy the needed plugin folder plugin-com.finebi.plugin.bi.upgrade-4.3.4 under the path %FR_HOME%\webapps\webroot\WEB-INF\plugins, and paste the folder under the path %Tomcat_HOME%\webapps\webroot\WEB-INF\plugins.

Restarting the Report Project

After manually installing the plugin, you need to restart the report project to make the plugin take effect.

Demonstration

After restart, log in to the decision-making platform as the admin, choose System Management > Plugin Management > My Plugins, enter the plugin name in the search box to search, and the plugin appears in My Plugins.

Managing Plugins

Log in to the decision-making platform as the admin, and choose System Management > Plugin Management > My Plugins. You can hover the cursor on a plugin to see its information or select the plugin to manage it.

Plugin information: plugin name, version, to be updated (only appear when the plugin is updatable), cost category, and status.

Plugin operations: Search, Update, Disable/Enable, and Delete.

Disabling/Enabling a Plugin

In My Plugins, select a plugin, click Disable/Enable, and a prompt pops up, indicating that the plugin has been disabled/enabled.

Deleting a Plugin

In My Plugins in the server, select the plugin to be deleted, click Delete, and click OK on the pop-up window.

Updating a Plugin

In My Plugins in the server, select the plugin to be updated, click Update, and click OK on the pop-up window.

Notes

Disabling Automatic Update Function

Some plugins will be automatically detected (version state) and updated at the project starting time, after a period of starting, and at 11:00 PM every night.

Super admins can disable the automatic update function of these plugins through the FINE_CONF_ENTITY Visual Configuration plugin. The settings take effect after the server is restarted.

Parameter Name	Description	Parameter Value
UpdateConfig.launchSwitchMap.plugins	Check whether the startup update of plugin automatic update is enabled.	Modify the parameter value to false if you need to disable the plugin automatic update after project startup, otherwise no modification is required.
CronUpdateConfig.typeMap.plugins	Check whether the regular update of plugin automatic update is enabled.	Modify the parameter value to false if you need to disable the plugin update in the external network at 11:00 PM every night after the project starts, otherwise no modification is required.
DelayUpdateConfig.delaySwitchMap.plugins	Check whether the delayed update of plugin automatic update is enabled.	Modify the parameter value to false if you need to disable the plugin automatic update after a period of the project startup, otherwise no modification is required.

Plugin Integrity Verification

Function:

The function of verifying plugin integrity is provided to prevent malicious tampering of codes in the plugin package when you install plugins locally or manually.

This function is enabled by default.

If the plugin fails in the integrity verification when you install it from the store or the local, a prompt pops up, indicating that the signature of the plugin installation package is damaged and you cannot install for the sake of security.

Solution:

To disable the function of plugin integrity verification, the admin can modify the field value of the PluginFileValidateConfig.fileValidateOpen in FineDB to false.

If you need to enable the function of plugin integrity verification and install a plugin (such as a secondary development plugin) that cannot pass the verification simultaneously, you can install the plugin manually.

For details, see Explanation of Third-Party Plugin Installation Failure.