Marvin Live install guide

Marvin Live is a NodeJS based application for real time collaboration between chemists. It includes an HTTP and WebSocket server to serve multiple clients running the embedded web application.

Installation is only required for the server, clients access the web server through the configured host and port.

Server requirements

Client requirements

  • Latest Chrome, Firefox 31 or newer, Opera 15 or newer, IE 11 or newer, Safari 9 or newer

Installing NodeJS

You need NodeJS 4.8.0 or newer to run Marvin Live. Download the installer from http://nodejs.org/ and follow the installation wizard. Linux users may install from their mainline repositories if available, or use NodeSource’s fantastic install scripts . NodeJS v4 and v6 LTS releases are supported, but NodeJS v6 support requires newer Linux distributions, with glibc version 2.14 or newer. To verify a successful installation, open the terminal and type:

user:~$ node -v
v4.8.0

NodeJS installs its package manager as well, called npm. To verify it’s been installed:

user:~$ npm -v
2.15.11 

Note 1: if node or npm command are unrecognized, it’s missing from the environmental variables. On Windows, closing and opening the command prompt or restarting the server may help.

Note 2: on Ubuntu servers, if you install NodeJS from the mainline repository, the node executable may be called nodejs.

Prerequisites on RedHat / CentOS 6.x releases

From version v16.11.7, RedHat / CentOS 6.x releases with glibc 2.14 or older require additional steps before a successful installation.

# confirm affected libc version
bash-4.1# ldd --version
ldd (GNU libc) 2.12
 
# install software collections, devtools and enable it
bash-4.1# yum install centos-release-scl
bash-4.1# yum install devtoolset-3-gcc devtoolset-3-gcc-c++
bash-4.1# scl enable devtoolset-3 bash

Installing Marvin Live - network installer

Now you need to point npm to the ChemAxon download site and login. When prompted, provide your username and password, which will be stored in ~/.npmrc for subsequent installations. Optionally, you may set your proxy configuration before login, these setting will be used for outgoing HTTP requests that download Marvin Live and its components.

user:~$ npm set registry https://npm.chemaxon.com/
user:~$ npm set always-auth true
user:~$ npm set http_proxy ...
user:~$ npm set https_proxy ...
user:~$ npm login

Choose an application directory where you want to install the application, to store configuration files and persistent storage. Once there, you can install the application with:

user:~$ mkdir app
user:~$ cd app/
user:~/app$ npm install marvin-live

This will download and install the latest version of the application in the app directory. You can find the full list of recently added features and changes in the History of changes document.

Note: at this point on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, you may get this error: Error: ENOENT, stat 'C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\npm'. This error message is about a missing folder. You can resolve this issue by creating the quoted folder or starting the command prompt as administrator.

Upgrading to a new version

You can upgrade Marvin Live with the install command, which will fetch the latest version. To install a specific version (not recommended), append its version number to the package name with the following syntax: [email protected]

user:~/app$ npm install marvin-live

This will replace the existing Marvin Live installation folder, but leave any configuration, persistence intact.

Installing Marvin Live - offline bundle

With the offline installer bundle, you can warm the cache with all required dependencies that would be otherwise fetched from the NPM repository.

user:~$ ./addcache.sh
...
user:~$ npm install /data/npm/marvin-live-17.2.28-offline.tgz

This will install the latest version of the application in the app directory. You can find the full list of recently added features and changes in the History of changes document.

Note: at this point on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, you may get this error: Error: ENOENT, stat 'C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\npm'. This error message is about a missing folder. You can resolve this issue by creating the quoted folder or starting the command prompt as administrator.

Upgrading to a new version

You can upgrade Marvin Live by re-running the above command and a new offline installer package

user:~/app$ npm install /data/npm/marvin-live-17.3.6-offline.tgz

This will replace the existing Marvin Live installation folder, but leave any configuration, persistence intact.

Configuration

This application requires a configuration file to be passed as a command line argument. The configuration file holds all the key settings regarding networking, security, persistence, plugins and more. A sample file with defaults is provided within the application: ~/app/node_modules/marvin-live/config-sample.json.

Please copy this to your application directory, and rename it to your preference. Do not modify this file in place, and do not store your settings within the node_modules directory, because it is automatically removed / replaced on upgrade !

user:~/app$ cp node_modules/marvin-live/config-sample.json \
./config.json

Note: on Windows, make sure you save the json file with ANSI encoding when editing with a text editor such as Notepad.

The minimum configuration requires port and license attributes to be specified, but a more general sample of the options is below:

{
 "converterService": "http://localhost:8080/webservices/",
 "servicesDirectory": "./services/",
 "port": 80,
 "license": ["./marvin4js-license.cxl", "./mlive-license.cxl"],
 "secretKey": "CHANGETHIS"
 "authentication": {
  "internal": {},
 "external": {}
},
"additionalSnapshotFields": [{
"label": "Status",
"values": ["Not ready for review", "Ready for review", "Approved", "On hold", "Synthesized", "Cancelled"]
}]
}

Below you can find a detailed description for each option:

Note: All relative paths are resolved against the location of config.json.

Parameter name
(environment variable)

Type

Description

converterService
ML_CONVERTER_SERVICE

string

URL to JChem Web Services without the rest-v0/ ending. Marvin Live will proxy requests by Marvin JS to this location for format converters and cleaners.

Required: no

servicesDirectory
ML_SERVICES_DIRECTORY

string

Path to the folder where your real time, resolver, exporter and storage plugins are stored. For further details and examples, check the developer guide .

Required: no

license
ML_LICENSE

string or array of strings

Path to the license file(s) provided by ChemAxon for this application. Accepts wildcards like *.cxl as of v16.12.5.

Required: yes

tls

object

HTTPS server options in key-value pair form.

Name

Type

Description

key

string

Path to the private key of the server in PEM format.

Required: yes

cert

string

Path to the certificate key of the server in PEM format.

Required: yes

ca

string

Path to the trusted certificates in PEM format. If this is omitted several well known "root" CAs will be used, like VeriSign. These are used to authorize connections.

pfx

string

Path to the bundle of private key, certificate and CA certs of the server in PFX or PKCS12 format.

Mutually exclusive with key, cert and ca options.

All options of the NodeJS TLS module are supported. For more configuration options and details please see the official module description .

hostname
ML_HOSTNAME

string

Hostname of the server. Needed only for single sign-on authentication, where a service callback needs to registered.

Required: if SAML authentication is configured

port
ML_PORT

number

The HTTP port you want the application to bind to. Naturally this port needs to be free.

Default: 80

Required: yes

secretKey
ML_SECRET_KEY

string

Key to sign the session cookie with to prevent tampering. This string should be known only to the administrator of the server. The following command will generate a random string you can consider using: 

node -p "require('crypto').randomBytes(20).toString('base64');"

Required: yes

authentication

object

The available identity providers users can authenticate with, in key-value pair form.

Key: identifier or name of the domain, containing only lowercase letters, numbers and -, i.e: [a-z0-9-]+

Value: object containing the settings for the domain and protocol specific settings:

Name

Type

Description

label

string

Human readable name of the domain

type

string

“ldap” or "saml"

LDAP and SAML specific options are documented below in their respective sections.

hideDomainsOnLoginScreen

boolean

Hides the domain picklist from the login page. When set to true, generated login URLs are printed on STDOUT , one for each authentication domain.

Default: false

databaseLocation
ML_DATABASE_LOCATION

string

Path to the folder where databases can be created and kept.

Default: in the folder of config.json

deleteUnusedRooms
ML_DELETE_UNUSED_ROOMS

string

Duration of inactivity in a room before it can be deleted in the following syntax: [0-9]+[m|h|d]. This option is available in authenticated domains as well to control different domains individually.

Examples:

"90m" : delete after 90 minutes of inactivity

"24h" : delete after 24 hours of inactivity

"30d" : delete after 30 days of inactivity

Default: no deletion

databaseCleanupInterval

number

Frequency of checking inactivity in rooms for cleanup, see deleteUnusedRooms. This option is available in authenticated domains as well to control different domains individually.

Examples:

When deleteUnusedRooms is "90m", databaseCleanupInterval could be lowered to 10 minutes by setting 600000.

Default: 3600000 (1 hour in milliseconds)

saveReportOnDelete
ML_SAVE_REPORT_ON_DELETE

string

Path to the folder where an MRV formatted meeting report should be saved before a room is deleted with deleteUnusedRooms. This option is available in authenticated domains as well to control different domains individually.

Default: no automatic saving

themeOverrides
ML_THEME_OVERRIDES

string

Path to a CSS file that adds or changes styles used in the Marvin Live theme.

Default: no custom CSS file

allowCrossOriginUploads
ML_ALLOW_CROSS_ORIGIN_UPLOADS

boolean

Enable CORS on the /upload/api endpoint (URL integration guide).

Default: false

enablePrivateRooms

boolean

Enable or disable the creation of private rooms from the lounge. Only available in authenticated domains, where a persistent user handle is available (username, DN, NameID).

Default: true

enablePublicRooms

boolean

Enable or disable the creation of public rooms from the lounge.

Default: true

marvinjs

object

Configure Marvin JS’s display settings (API reference). This option is available in authenticated domains as well to control different domains individually.

Example:

"marvinjs": {
 "displaySettings": {
   "toolbars": "reporting"
 }
}

additionalSnapshotFields

array of objects

Configure what metadata fields - besides Task - should be prompted and tracked for each snapshot made in the application/domain. A field has the attributes:

Name

Type

Description

label

string

human friendly name of the field

placeholder

string

placeholder / example value

pattern

string

validation pattern for accepted values

values

array of strings

precise list of accepted values

Example:

"additionalSnapshotFields": [{
"label": "Series",
"placeholder": "CXN123",
"pattern": "^CXN\\d+$"
}, {
"label": "Chemist"
}, {
"label": "Status",
"values": ["Not ready for review", "Ready for review", "Approved", "On hold", "Synthesized", "Cancelled"]
}],

Available from v16.10.17

Note 1: port 0 is treated as an ephemeral port, i.e: a random open port will be chosen.
Note 2: On Linux/Unix servers non-root processes aren’t allowed to use port <1024, unless you change cap_net_bind_service in setcap. See below for the details of using setcap.

how to change setcap
# Since Linux kernel 2.6.24, you can use the setcap command to set specific capabilities to a program.
# setcap functions per-program, therefore this enables all NodeJS programs to bind on any port lower than 1024,
# and if you update your NodeJS version, you will need to run this command again:
 
 
sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' `which node`

Starting Marvin Live

You can start the server in foreground mode with:

user:~/app$ node node_modules/marvin-live/ -c config.json

When the application is ready to use, it prints Listening on http://localhost:80/.

To stop a running instance, simply press Ctrl+C.

Given the IP or hostname of your server and the port set in the configuration, you may now distribute the web interface link to the users of the application.

Setting up a service

To run Marvin Live as a daemon/service, you could create configurations in supervisord/supervisorctl or use an init script. Below you can find an example for both:

/etc/supervisor/conf.d/marvinlive.conf
[program:marvinlive]
command=/usr/bin/node /home/user/app/node_modules/marvin-live/ -c /home/user/app/config.json
autostart=true  
autorestart=true  
stderr_logfile=/var/log/marvinlive.err.log  
stdout_logfile=/var/log/marvinlive.out.log  
user=user
/etc/init.d/marvin-live
#!/bin/bash
 
# /etc/init.d/marvin-live -- startup script for the Marvin Live
 
################ BEGIN RED HAT init info #######################
# Provides:          marvin-live
# Required-Start:    $local_fs $remote_fs $network
# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $remote_fs $network
# Should-Start:      $named
# Should-Stop:       $named
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Start Marvin Live.
# Description:       Start the Marvin Live nodejs application and frontend.
#
################ END RED HAT init info #######################
 
################## BEGIN Debian/Ubuntu init info ##################
# Provides:          marvin-live
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $named $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $named $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Debian initscript for marvin-live
# Description:       Start the Marvin Live nodejs application and frontend.
#
################## END Debian/Ubuntu init info ##################
name="Marvin Live"
nodejs_bin="/usr/bin/nodejs"
dir_home="/home/user/app/"
app_home="$dir_home/marvin-live"
file_log="$dir_home/log/marvin-live.log"
dir_tmp="$dir_home/tmp"
user=user
date=$(date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
 
f_get_pid(){
 if pid=$(pgrep -f /node_modules/marvin-live);
  then
   echo "PID: $pid"
  else
   echo "$name is not running"
 fi
}
 
case $1 in
 start)
  echo "Starting $name"
  su -s /bin/bash $user -c "echo $date -- Starting $name" >> $file_log
  su -s /bin/bash $user -c "$nodejs_bin $app_home/node_modules/marvin-live/ -c $app_home/config.json >>$file_log 2>&1 &"
  f_get_pid
 ;;
 
 stop)
  echo "Stopping $name"
  f_get_pid
  kill $pid
  su - $user -c "echo $date -- Stopping $name >> $file_log"
 ;;
 
 restart)
  $0 stop
  sleep 2
  $0 start
 ;;
 
 status)
  f_get_pid
 ;;
 
 *)
  echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
  exit 1
esac

Converter and cleaner web services, optional

Marvin Live can forward HTTP requests made by Marvin JS to a converter web service. Your license includes the use of JChem Web Services as that converter, so please follow the JChem Web Services installation guide to set it up - you may skip all database related installation steps. Once done, you can point Marvin Live to it in the configuration’s converterService option.

Setting up LDAP authentication

Marvin Live supports LDAP and LDAPS authentication, which works with Active Directory as well. The most common configuration options are supported. Below you can find a sample configuration and a full list of options:

{
 "port": 80,
 "hostname": "example.com",
 "tls": {
   "key": "../certs/example-com-key.pem",
   "cert": "../certs/example-com-cert.pem"
 },
 "secret_key": "lalilulelo",
 "authentication": {
   "corporate": {
     "type": "ldap",
     "label": "ACME Inc",
     "url": "ldaps://ipa.acme.com:636",
     "bindDn": "uid=serviceaccount,cn=accounts,dc=acme",
     "bindCredentials": "BF95KPnVD9FxyGPh",
     "searchBase": "cn=accounts,dc=acme",
     "searchFilter": "(uid={{username}})"
   }
 }
}

LDAP specific configuration options

Name

Type

Description

url

string

full URL of LDAP server, including protocol and port, e.g: ldaps://ldap.company.tld:636/

bindDn

string

DN of user permitted to search the LDAP server within the defined search base

bindCredentials

string

password for bindDn

searchBase

string

part of the directory to search in for the user, e.g: cn=users,dc=company

searchFilter

string

search filter that should match the user with either 1 or 0 entries. Use literal {{username}} to add the given username to the search, e.g: (uid={{username}})

firstName

string

LDAP attribute that holds the display name of the user

Setting up SAML authentication

This application uses HTTP Redirect Binding for its AuthnRequests, and expects to receive the messages back via the HTTP POST binding.

Configuration

First, you’ll need to configure the application with a host. You can do this by setting port, and hostname. Next, it’s strongly recommended to setup HTTPS with the tls settings, to make sure any login details are only transmitted over a secure channel.

config.json:
{
 "port": 80,
 "hostname": "example.com",
 "tls": {
   "key": "../certs/example-com-key.pem",
   "cert": "../certs/example-com-cert.pem"
 }
}

Next, add a secret_key and configure your identity provider in authentication:

config.json:
{
 "port": 80,
 "hostname": "example.com",
 "tls": {
   "key": "../certs/example-com-key.pem",
   "cert": "../certs/example-com-cert.pem"
 },
 "secret_key": "lalilulelo",
 "authentication": {
   "internal": {
     "type": "saml",
     "label": "Example",
     "entryPoint": "http://idp.example.com/oam/SSORedirect/metaAlias/apps/idp"
   }
 }
}

Registering as Service Provider

Using the domain chosen in the authentication settings, in this example "internal", you can now register the Marvin Live service with your SAML provider. A service metadata descriptor is available if you open:

https://example.com/login/internal/metadata

The service’s issuer / entity ID is marvin-live-app and the callback URL is generated from the tls, hostname, port and domain name options.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<EntityDescriptor xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" entityID="marvin-live-app">
<SPSSODescriptor protocolSupportEnumeration="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol">
<KeyDescriptor/>
<NameIDFormat>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:unspecified</NameIDFormat>
<AssertionConsumerService index="1" isDefault="true" Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST" Location="https://example.com:8888/login/internal/callback"/>
</SPSSODescriptor>
</EntityDescriptor>

SAML specific parameters

Name

Type

Description

entryPoint

string

URL for the identity provider.

Required: yes

cert

string

Path to the identity provider’s certificate used to validate any SAML authorization responses.

privateCert

string

Path to the certificate used to sign any SAML authentication requests.

decryptionPvk

string

Path to the private key of the identity provider, used to decrypt any encrypted assertions that are received

decryptionCert

string

Path to the certificate used to attach to the service metadata.

identifierFormat

string

Name ID format to request from the identity provider. The use of unspecified and transient are not recomennded to enable private room usage.

Default: urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress

callbackUrlBase

string

Alternative Marvin Live server URL to use when generating metadata, and in SAML requests. Used when the application is behind a reverse proxy.

Further options are available, please see this third-party module’s options.

Marvin Live behind a proxy

Marvin Live uses a persistent websocket connection between each client and the server for messaging. If you deploy the application behind a proxy, you need to make sure the proxy doesn't interfere with websockets. In case of nginx, you should review the websocket module’s configuration options .

Persistent storage

Marvin Live includes an embedded database that keeps a history of all meeting rooms and their content - chemical structures drawn and comments. The purpose of this database is to prevent data loss during upgrades or configuration changes, but it’s used to store session information as well. To support typical data retention policies, Marvin Live can be configured to automatically delete unused meeting rooms with all included data, see deleteUnusedRooms.

A separate database instance is created per authentication domain - stored in a folder named db-name. If no authentication domain is specified, all meeting content is stored in a db-app folder. Session store is located in sessiondb. The location of these database folders can be changed with the databaseLocation setting.