Let us now learn how to install and configure Pentaho Reporting Designer.
Prerequisites
The Pentaho Reporting engine requires Java environment. Therefore, before installing Pentaho Reporting, make sure you have Java on your system. Based on the platform you are working on, use a command from the following table to verify your Java installation.
| OS | Command | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Open command prompt:\>java -version | java version “1.7.0_60″Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_60b19)Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.60-b09, mixed mode) |
| Linux | Open terminal:$ java –version | java version “1.7.0_60″OpenJDK Runtime Environment (rhel-2.3.10.4.el6_4x86_64) OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 60.7-b01, mixed mode) |
| Mac OS | Open terminal:$ java –version | java version “1.7.0_60″Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_60b19)Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.60-b09, mixed mode) |
Download Pentaho Reporting
Download the latest versions of Pentaho Reporting Designer using the following links. For this tutorial, we are using version 3.7.0.
| OS | URL link for download Pentaho Report Designer |
|---|---|
| Windows | Pentaho Report Designer 3.7 for Windows |
| Linux | Pentaho Report Designer 3.7 for Linux |
| Mac OS | Pentaho Report Designer 3.7 for Mac OS |
Install Pentaho Reporting
After downloading the files, you will find an archive file of Pentaho Reporting Designer named prd-ce-3.7.0-stable. That archive should be extracted as explained in the following table.
| OS | Installation Instructions |
|---|---|
| Windows | Extract the downloaded file prd-ce-3.7.0-stable.zip using an Unzip tool.Copy the extracted folder (prd-ce-3.7.0-stable) into c:\ directory.Open c:\prd-ce-3.7.0-stable\report-designer directory.Start Pentaho Reporting Designer by double-clicking on the reportdesigner.bat file. |
| Linux | Extract the downloaded file prd-ce-3.7.0-stable.tar.gz using the following command.$ tar –zxvf prd-ce-3.7.0-stable.tar.gz Copy the extracted folder (prd-ce-3.7.0-stable) into “/usr/local/” directory using the following command.# mv prd-ce-3.7.0-stable /usr/local/ Open “/usr/local/prd-ce-3.7.0-stable/report-designer” directory and start Pentaho Reporting Designer using the following commands.$ cd /usr/local/prd-ce-3.7.0-stable/report-designer $ report-designer.sh |
| Mac | Extract the downloaded file prd-ce-370-stable.tar.gz.You will find that folder in the Finder.Copy and Paste Pentaho Report Designer from Finer into /Application folder.Start Pentaho Report Designer using the following command.$ report-designer.sh |
Install Database Driver
Pentaho Reporting Designer requires a database connection to generate relational reports, therefore you need to have a JDBC driver to communicate with the database. By default, Pentaho provides some JDBC drivers of different vendors to support different databases such as MySQL, H2, HypersonicSQL, Hive, etc.
All the default database drivers are available in the /lib/ directory of the Pentaho Reporting Designer. If you want to use any other database, then download the respective JDBC driver and copy it into the /lib/ directory of Pentaho Reporting Designer. Otherwise, you can use ODBC driver via JDBC-ODBC bridge driver that comes with the JDK and this bridge driver (JDBC-ODBC) is suitable for all database servers.
For this tutorial, we are using MySQL database server and its respective drivers are already downloaded with the Pentaho lib (/lib/ directory of the Pentaho Reporting Designer) files.
Install Additional Fonts
Pentaho Reporting uses different fonts to display text inside reports. When generating PDF files, the Pentaho Reporting Engine needs access to the physical font files. The reporting engine searches system dependent font paths to locate all usable fonts. In addition to these fonts, your Java Runtime Environment may offer additional fonts, depending on your Java and Operating system version.
If you plan to create PDF documents with embedded fonts, please ensure that you only use fonts that are physically accessible for the reporting engine.
Regardless of your operating system, all font files located in JRE/lib/fonts/ are always usable for all exports.