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Ubuntu Streaming Install

Big Picture Streaming Diagrams

Here's a diagram showing how the different components of this installation fit together.


Streaming is optimized so that Stream API inputs are threaded as they arrive on the Row64 Server.

Install Components

Sublime Text Editor

For quick cross-platform setup, we often use Sublime Text. It can be installed with the following command:

sudo snap install sublime-text --classic

To open a file in sublime, you can use the subl command. To keep things simple, we show editing with Sublime in these instructions.

Install Row64 Server V3.5

Follow the instructions in the Server category of the V3.5 documentation to install Row64 Server V3.5. You can install Row64 Server on a variety of platforms. Please visit the page that corresponds to your targeted operating system.

The following link will direct you to the Row64 Server setup documentation:
Row64 Server Documentation

Install ByteStream Viewer

ByteStream Viewer is useful for debugging both .ramdb and .dash files. You can watch streaming changes as they happen, so it’s great for diagnostics.

Download row64bsviewer-3.5_amd64.deb here:
http://app.row64.com/Install/V3_5/Ubuntu/row64bsviewer-3.5_amd64.deb

From the terminal, run:

sudo dpkg -i row64bsviewer-3.5_amd64.deb


Pin Bytestream to Favorites

Click the App button in Ubuntu:

Type “ByteStream" and right-click “Pin To Dash”

Test ByteStream

Navigate in Nautilus (Ubuntu File Explorer) to the folder: 

/var/www/ramdb/live/RAMDB.Row64/Examples

Drag in the file Atari.ramdb. Note Table/Text switcher on the top right.

Install Row64 Stream

Download row64stream-3.5_amd64.deb here:
https://app.row64.com/Install/V3_5/Ubuntu/row64stream-3.5_amd64.deb

From the terminal, run:

sudo dpkg -i row64stream-3.5_amd64.deb

Next, connect the streaming API to the server.

From the terminal, run:

cd /opt/row64server/row64stream/install
sudo python3 Connect_Stream.py

Verify row64stream is running

From the terminal, type:

sudo systemctl status row64stream

You should see:

Other useful commands:

sudo systemctl start row64stream
sudo systemctl stop row64stream

Test Examples and Debugging

To confirm that the setup works, run test examples as directed on the following document:
Test Examples

Install Local Kafka

Turn OFF all Streams

Before you install Local Kafka, set all your tests in apiconfig.json to OFF.

Also, run the following command:

sudo systemctl stop row64stream

Local Kafka Features:

For quick testing of row64server & Kafka on the same server/VM:

  • Automatically installs Kafka as a service & all dependencies (including Java)

  • Installs row64kgen (a Kafka producer that streams the Motion example)

  • Good for learning and getting used to the features

  • You can switch out your own Java/Python/Rust/Go producer with the same setup

Requires that row64server and row64stream is already installed.

Local Kafka Install - row64kgen:

Download row64kgen-3.5_amd64.deb here:
https://app.row64.com/Install/V3_5/Ubuntu/row64kgen-3.5_amd64.deb

This will install both kgen & a local Kafka service.

From the terminal, run:

sudo dpkg -i row64kgen-3.5_amd64.deb

Next, connect Local Kafka & kgen

From the terminal, run:

cd /opt/row64server/row64kgen/install
sudo python3 Connect_Ubuntu.py

Test Running KGen (Kafka Producer / Generator)

Run row64kgen from the terminal:

cd /opt/row64server/row64kgen/
./row64kgen

The log should begin to repetitively output a success message.

Second Terminal: See Producer Output

You can log the Kafka producer output in another terminal.

Type:

/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --topic r64_kafka_stream.topic --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

See Local Kafka Drive Dashboard Browser

Edit the streaming config file by typing in the terminal:

subl /opt/row64server/conf/apiconfig.json

And turn all other tests to OFF Turn the example Motion_LocalKafka to “ON” and save the file.

Restart the Stream API with:

sudo systemctl stop row64stream
sudo systemctl start row64stream

Navigate to the following link:
http://localhost/dash/examples/motion

And see the player motion driven by the local Kafka feed.

Connect Cloud Kafka

Cloud Connection Example

Open the apiconfig.json file and study the settings on “Motion_DeltaStream”

It shows an example of an AWS connection.

Other than extra “METADATA” tags it works in the exact same manner as the Local Kafka example. If you have multiple BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS, you can comma separate them.

API Configuration Diagram

Typically when you first start working with streaming, it's easiest to stream a .ramdb file to make a quick test or proof of concept.

When you stream a .ramdb file, you can:

  • Randomly grab row and stream them to the dashboard. This would be "METHOD":"RANDOM".

  • Stream in the order of the file from: row[0], row[1], etc to row[LAST]. This would be "METHOD":"ORDERED"

When you set the "LOGIC" setction, it's similar to adding data to a database. There are different actions you can use to add new data:

  • "UPSERT" will replace the row if it exists. Otherwise, it will add it as a new row. With "UPSERT", you set the "KEY" with the column name you want to base the comparision on. Typically, this is a primary key in the data or a unique identifier you can use for the upsert.

  • "CREATE" replaces the entire dataframe, similar to a CREATE statement in SQL. It's used by the streaming API (which is the fleet traffic demo in this help) to send over the entire dataframe in one shot. If a "KEY" parameter is added to "CREATE", it will just ignore it.