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21.14. mSupply deployment

This document gives an overview of the process of installing mSupply at a new location.

  • A virtual store will usually map to a physical location- either a separate warehouse or an entity within a warehouse that has it's own items and facilities and transactions
    • All virtual stores share the same item and customer/supplier lists, but if an item is not used in all stores, it can be hidden in stores where it is not used. The same applies for customers/suppliers.
  • A transaction refers to a record that records stock movements- from a supplier, to a customer/facility, or to adjust stock
  • A name refers to a customer or supplier.
  • A customer may be a supply point- not necessarily an entity that pays for supplies.

Criteria for for a robust local installation of mSupply:

  • Dry, secure locations with the infrastructure connections as detailed below
  • Management of security for human access.
  • You will need to buy hardware as per specifications on this web site.
  • Scalability- as the size of your installation grows you might have to buy new hardware (more speed, RAM, storage)
    • Expect to purchase a main server plus one extra server for every 35 remote desktop users and one web server for every 1000 sync users.
    • This is much easier for a cloud or virtual server - you just assign more RAM, storage or CPUs to the server
  • Redundancy
    • if hardware failure will create more downtime than is acceptable (realistically it will create one or two days of downtime), then you need to have a redundant system. That is, you need to:
      • replicate the hardware at a different physical location
      • Have a fast network connection between the two sites.
      • The second site will need the same network connectivity for client access as your main site.
      • Have control of DNS to redirect users to the backup site when the primary site fails.
  • Stable, earthed electricity supply
  • UPS systems with enough runtime to cover outages and the ability to communicate with the server so it can gracefully shutdown before batteries are exhausted.
  • A generator system with auto-start might be needed.
  • All of the above at the redundant site as well.
  • Enough ingress and egress network capacity for the software's requirements.
  • Ability to expand the capacity as the system grows.
  • The same capacity at the redundant site.
  • A high capacity network connection between the main and the redundant site for realtime replication of server data so the redundant site is up to date.
  • You may also decide that redundant connections are needed to the primary server site.
  • Sufficient local expertise to distinguish between hardware, software, network and electricity issues.
  • The expertise must be available during all hours the system must be available
  • Written fail-over plans for failures in the above systems.
  • Ability to execute plans on time when there is a failure.
  • Knowledge transfer to new staff when existing staff leave.

It is important to design the overall structure to meet your organisation's needs. This mainly focuses on:

Most sites will have existing lists of items and names. The user guide has sections on:

The permissions system can be set up for individual users, or be based on groups. See Managing users

If your warehouse has existing locations you can import them: Locations and Location types Otherwise you will need to design a location scheme.

Previous: mSupply Server Administration Next: Managing Users

  • Last modified: 2019/09/24 09:50
  • by lou