Configuring server profiles

Server profiles allow you to run multiple, independent instances of SPSS® Modeler Server from a single installation. To a client, they will appear to be separate servers located on the same host but listening on different port numbers. Having multiple instances sharing one installation benefits administrators because it simplifies maintenance. Subsequent instances after the first can be created and deleted more quickly than would be required for a full installation and uninstallation, and Fix Packs only need be applied once.

The reason for running multiple server instances on the same host is to be able to configure each instance separately. If all the instances are identical, there is nothing to be gained. In particular, if the instances run non-root (so that all sessions share the same user account), each instance can use a different user account to provide data isolation between user groups. For example, a user logging in to an instance A will be allocated a session owned by some particular User-A and will have access only to that user's files and folders, whereas a user logging in to instance B will see a different set of files and folders accessible to User-B. This can be used in conjunction with group configuration so that logging on to a particular instance is restricted to specific groups, meaning that end users can only log on to the instance (or instances) appropriate to their role. See Configuring groups.

In a standard SPSS Modeler Server installation, the folders config, data, and tmp are specific to a server instance. The purpose of the config folder is for the instance to have a private configuration, and the data and tmp folders support data isolation. Each instance has a private copy of these folders, and everything else is shared.

Note that much of the server configuration can remain common (database settings, for example), so a profile configuration will override the common configuration. The server will look first in the profile configuration and then fall back to the default. The files that are most likely to be changed for a profile are options, groups, and passwords.

See Profile structure for more information.

For information on how to configure a profile to use SSO, see Configuring single sign-on. This requires you to register a Service Principal Name (SPN), perform some configuration if the Windows Service account is not local, and in some cases enable group lookup.