# IDOL Installation and Setup

After you have decided on an IDOL architecture, you must decide on how to set up and distribute your system across multiple machines.

For the simple unified IDOL Server installation for testing, you can usually use a single machine for all components. However, in a more advanced system with a component-based setup, you usually separate some of the components on to separate disks or hardware.

In systems where you have large processing requirements for certain tasks, you can separate the IDOL components onto their own servers. This separation allows you to isolate and scale resources independently for different functions, according to their individual requirements. You can also place the components on their own hardware or virtual machine.

For more information about sizing and scaling your IDOL system, refer to IDOL Expert.

For full details about installing IDOL Server and the components, see Install IDOL.

## Unified Installation

The IDOL Server installer Unified installation option allows you to install a simple unified IDOL Server installation. This option has a very simple installation procedure, and installs:

- the main IDOL Server components (Content, Category, Community, Agentstore, and View)
- the IDOL Proxy component
- the unified IDOL Server configuration file, which contains standard configuration options for the main components
- the Agentstore configuration file, which contains standard configuration options for the IDOL Agentstore component
- all standard modules and libraries for the main IDOL Server components (such as language files, security modules, and KeyView filters)
- the IDOL Server `help.dat` file, which contains the IDOL Server Reference, IDOL Server Administration Guide, and IDOL Expert
- the `admin.dat` file that contains the IDOL Admin interface
- License Server, and the License Server configuration file and `help.dat` file

## Component Installation

The IDOL Server installer Custom installation option allows you to individually select and install components, or sets of components. You can run the installer on each machine where you want to install a selection of IDOL components, and choose the appropriate components.

For each component, the installer provides:

- the component executable file
- a configuration file, which contains standard configuration options for the component
- all standard modules and libraries for the component
- the documentation for the component (in the `help.dat` file, which you can access by using the `Help` action)
- the IDOL Admin interface (in the `admin.dat` file, which you can access by using the `Admin` action)

When you run the installation process, you must select the components and any sub-components that you want to installer.

By default, the Controller component is selected. For IDOL Site Admin monitoring, you must include a Controller on every host machine where you install IDOL services. Clear the Controller installation option only if you have already installed Controller on a particular host.

## Component ZIP Packages

IDOL components are also available to install as separate ZIP packages.

Each component ZIP package provides a configuration file, and the required modules for the component. It also includes a component-specific Reference, which contains the actions and configuration parameters relevant to that component.

To install the component, you extract the ZIP package to the host where you want to run the component. You must also update the `[License]` section of the configuration file to include appropriate license information. If you have more than one version of a component running on the same host, you might also need to update the port information to ensure that each component uses a different port.

After you install each of the components, you must modify the configuration files to ensure that the components can contact any other necessary components. For example, you must configure:

- the IDOL Category component with the details of the data index (IDOL Content component), and the category index (IDOL Agentstore component).
- the IDOL Community component with the details of the agent index (IDOL Agentstore component).
- the IDOL View component with the details of an IDOL Content component that it can use for highlighting.

## Other Component Installations

The IDOL Server installer includes most of the common IDOL components and options. However, most IDOL connectors, some of the front-end applications, and Omni Group Server, are available in separate installers.

For more information about these components, refer to the documentation for the component.

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