Health IT in the Cloud: How to Deploy OpenMRS

This instruction shows you how to deploy one of the most popular web-based electronic medical records OpenMRS to the platform. Actually OpenMRS is both software and a community. They have come together to specifically respond to those actively building and managing health systems in the developing world, where AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria afflict the lives of millions of people.

So let’s deploy OpenMRS to the cloud right now!

Create Environment

1. Log into the platform dashboard.

2. Click the Create environment button:

create environment

3. Choose the instances you want to use (for example, Tomcat application server and MySQL database), set the cloudlets limit and type the name of the environment. Then click Create.

environment wizard

In a minute your environment will be created.

Upload Java Package

1. Go to OpenMRS web-site and copy the OpenMRS Enterprise WAR Package URL address.

download OpenMRS

OpenMRS package

2. Switch back to the platform dashboard and upload Java WAR package using the URL you have just copied.

upload OpenMRS

3. Once the package is in the platform, deploy it to the environment you have just created.

deploy OpenMRS

Note: Do not deploy OpenMRS to the ROOT context (otherwise you will get configuration errors later on!).

Configure Database

1. Click Open in Browser button for MySQL.

2. While you were creating the environment, the platform sent you the email with credentials to the database. Create an account and the database with the application using these credentials.

database add user

create dedicated database

Configure OpenMRS

1. Click Config button for Tomcat and upload MySQL connector to the lib folder.

Tomcat config

upload MySQL connector

2. Create -runtime.properties file in the .OpenMRS folder (home directory) and specify database connection properties there.

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# OpenMRS Runtime Properties file
#
# (comments starting with a pound sign "#" are ignored)
### Database connection properties
### Database connection properties
connection.username=root
connection.password=password
connection.url=jdbc:mysql://mysql-myopenmrs.jelastic.dogado.eu/openmrs?autoReconnect=true
# Allow/Disallow uploading of a module via the web
module.allow_web_admin=false
# If set to true, all patients will be names will be displayed as below
obscure_patients=false
obscure_patients.given_name=John
obscure_patients.middle_name=P.
obscure_patients.family_name=Smith
### Debugging options
hibernate.show_sql=false
###Customization Options
## If the custom setting is a folder, only files contained in the customization will be overwritten
#custom.images.dir={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/images
#custom.template.dir={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/template
#custom.style.css.file={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/style.css
#custom.index.jsp.file={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/index.jsp
#custom.messages={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/messages.properties
#custom.messages_fr={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/custom/messages_fr.properties
### Other
## Set the directory that OpenMRS uses for its application data
## Will be used as base dir for modules, generated reports, etc
## Defaults to C:/Docs&Settings/username/Application Data/OpenMRS for windows
## Defaults to ~/.OpenMRS for *nix
## (As of build 1.2.0.3426)
# application_data_directory=/opt/openmrs
### The following properties are deprecated as of 1.0.43
### Properties can be modified in the Global Properties section of the webapp
###
###formentry.infopath.output_dir={APPDATA}**/OpenMRS/FormEntry/forms
###formentry.starter_xsn_folder_path=C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Tomcat/webapps/openmrs/formentry/forms/starter
###formentry.infopath.server_url=http://localhost:8080/openmrs
###formentry.infopath.initial_url=http://localhost:8080/openmrs/formTaskpane.htm
###formentry.infopath.taskpane_caption=Welcome!
###scheduler.username=admin
###scheduler.password=test

database connection

3. Save the changes and restart Tomcat.

OpenMRS Installation

1. When the deployment is successfully finished, launch the application in web browser. You’ll see OpenMRS setup wizard. Select the language and proceed to the next step.

OpenMRS insatallation wizard

2. Choose the Advanced type of installation.

OpenMRS installation type

3. Specify how to connect to your currently installed database server and the name of the database you have created earlier.

database connection

4. Ask OpenMRS to create the tables for your current database and specify the log in user name and password for your database user.

database credentials

5. If you want to be able to upload modules from the web interface and updates to the database to be automatically applied on startup when a new web application is deployed, pick Yes.

OpenMRS modules