This section describes how to set up the Ed-Fi ODS / API v7.1 source code on a development machine. For those interested in getting an Ed-Fi ODS / API instance up and running quickly, but do not have developer tools or experience we recommend you to consult Getting Started - Binary Installation.

The steps can be summarized as:

Detail on each step follows.

Step 1. Install and Configure Windows Components

Ensure that the following components are installed:

• PowerShell 5.0,7.2,7.3. PowerShell is used to initialize the development environment.
• .NET 68.0 SDK. The .NET 68.0 Software Developer Kit is required for compiling the solution.
   

Step 2. Install and Configure Required Software

Ensure that the following software is installed and configured:

• Visual Studio 2022. Visual Studio 2022 (Community, Professional, or Enterprise edition) or JetBrains Rider version 2021.3+ (an alternative development environment that can be used instead of Visual Studio 2022).

• Microsoft SQL Server 2019. Microsoft SQL Server is used to store the data for the Ed-Fi ODS / API. Local installation of Standard, Developer, or Enterprise Editions are supported. 
• Optional PostgreSQL datastore:

  • PostgreSQL 13.x. PostgreSQL can be used as the datastore for and Ed-Fi ODS / API instance instead of Microsoft SQL Server.

version: '3.7'
services:
    pg13:
        image: postgres:13-alpine
        container_name: pg13
        volumes:
            - pg13-database:/var/lib/postgresql/data
        ports:
            - 5432:5432
        environment:
            - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${PG_PASSWORD}
        restart: on-failure
volumes:
    pg13-database:
        driver: local
        name: pg13-database

PG_PASSWORD=P@ssw0rd

C:\PGDockerSetup>docker-compose up -d

C:\PGDockerSetup>docker-compose down

C:\PGDockerSetup>docker-compose down -v

localhost:5432:*:postgres:P@ssw0rd

C:\> get-item env:pgpassfile

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PGPASSFILE                     C:\PGDockerSetup\pgpass.conf

Step 3. Download the Ed-Fi ODS / API v7.

2 Code

The Ed-Fi ODS / API source code is contained in two Ed-Fi repositories hosted by GitHub. 

Source Code Links

The Ed-Fi ODS / API can be found in the repository links below:

• Ed-Fi-ODS/v7.12

• Ed-Fi-ODS-Implementation/v7.12

Use a Git client (such as GitHub Desktop) or a Git command line tool to Git Clone each of the repository links described above. It is important that both repositories are extracted to the same root directory (for example C:\source). When both repositories have been cloned, there will be two folders for the ODS / API source code as shown below:

$ git checkout tags/v7.1-patch1 -b <branch>

$ git checkout tags/v7.2 -b <branch>

Step 4. Prepare the Development Environment

To prepare the development environment, you'll need to follow the procedures described below.

Configure MSBuild

Configure StandardVersion 

ODS/API 7.x supports building and deploying APIs that adhere to either the Ed-Fi Data Standard v4 or Ed-Fi Data Standard v5. By default, Visual Studio is set up to build using Ed-Fi Data Standard v5. However, if you are building for Ed-Fi Data Standard v4, you must ensure that the “StandardVersion” environment variable is properly configured.

To set the "MSBuildDisableNodeReuseStandardVersion" variable globally:

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type Environment Variables, select Edit the system environment variables, and press Enter. This brings up System Properties. Under Advanced, select Environment Variables. (Alternatively, right-click the Start Menu, select System, and click on the Advanced system settings. Under Advanced, select Environment Variables.)
2. Under User System variables, select New...
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3. For Variable name, enter MSBuildDisableNodeReuseStandardVersion
4. For Variable value, enter 1, and press OK.
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1. 4.0.0, and press OK.
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Verify PowerShell Script Permissions

When opening PowerShell, ensure that Run as Administrator is selected. You may need to change the execution policy for unsigned PowerShell scripts to run on your machine to run the scripts. This can be done by opening a PowerShell console and typing the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

Initialize PowerShell Scripts for Development

There are several databases that must be successfully deployed. PowerShell scripts that initialize all necessary development databases are included in the Visual Studio solution. These scripts are enabled for use within Visual Studio when the Ed-Fi-ODS solution is opened. They may also be loaded for use within a PowerShell console window by running the initialize PowerShell for development script located at:

C:\Ed-Fi-ODS-Implementation\Initialize-PowershellForDevelopment.ps1

When the scripts are loaded, you should see the results shown below:

Initialize the Development Environment

Once the PowerShell scripts for development have been loaded and a development certificate has been installed, the development environment may be initialized by navigating to the Ed-Fi-ODS-Implementation folder.

For a SQL Server backing datastore, type the following into a PowerShell command prompt:

initdev

For a PostgreSQL backing datastore, use the following:

initdev -Engine PostgreSQL

For building Data Standard 4.0, use the following:

initdev -StandardVersion 4.0.0

To get full details on initdev parameter options, use the following:

get-help initdev -detailed

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This command creates databases, generates code templates, and compiles projects in the solution. Some considerations while running the script:

• The initdev script may not finish with a command prompt when it is automatically loaded with the solution in Visual Studio in some circumstances. Simply press Enter, and ignore any messages that appear in the console window.
• Initializing the development environment will take several minutes to complete. Some developers report encountering an error during the initialization process the first time it is run. This is due to an intermittent timing issue. The issue generally resolves itself when the initdev process is run a second time.

A successful initdev execution will display the tasks executed and their duration as shown below:

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Another Option for Setting MSBuildDisableNodeReuse

The most convenient method for developers is to set the MSBuildDisableNodeReuse variable globally. However, you can also set the variable per command prompt session. Both options instruct the compiler to create a new process for each build job. As a side effect, this action also releases any resources that may be held by inactive compiler processes.

If these settings are not applied, Visual Studio or MSBuild may lock resources during build. Restarting Visual Studio (or the command prompt session) will resolve the problem for the first build after the restart. Waiting for up to 15 minutes between builds will also achieve this.

Set "MSBuildDisableNodeReuse" per Command Prompt Session

If the "MSBuildDisableNodeReuse" variable is set within a command prompt session, the Visual Studio development environment must be launched using the devenv command (rather than from an icon):

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This command creates databases, generates code templates, and compiles projects in the solution. Some considerations while running the script:

• The initdev script may not finish with a command prompt when it is automatically loaded with the solution in Visual Studio in some circumstances. Simply press Enter, and ignore any messages that appear in the console window.
• Initializing the development environment will take several minutes to complete. Some developers report encountering an error during the initialization process the first time it is run. This is due to an intermittent timing issue. The issue generally resolves itself when the initdev process is run a second time.

A successful initdev execution will display the tasks executed and their duration as shown below:

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Step 5. Build the Visual Studio Solution

To build the solution from within Visual Studio:

1. Ensure that the MsBuildDisableNodeReuse flag is set (see Configure MSBuild, above).
2. If the above flag has been set globally, start Visual Studio normally. Otherwise, open Visual Studio from the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt (where you set the flag value by typing devenv).
3. Within Visual Studio, open the "Ed-Fi-Ods.sln" solution file from the C:\Ed-Fi-ODS-Implementation\Application directory.
4. Select Build > Build Solution (or press Ctrl+Shift+B).
    

Msbuild /nr:false /t:clean;build Ed-Fi-Ods.sln

Step 6. Set Startup Projects

The Visual Studio Solution for the Ed-Fi ODS / API consists of several "Startup Projects" that work together. Each of these projects needs to be running for the system to be fully functional.

To set the Startup Projects:

1. Select the Set StartUp Projects… context menu by right-clicking on the solution file in the Solution Explorer.
   
   
   
2. Within the Startup Project property page, select the Multiple startup projects radio button and enable the following projects:
   • EdFi.Ods.SandboxAdmin
   • EdFi.Ods.SwaggerUI
   • EdFi.Ods.WebApi
   
   

3. Click OK to accept the changes to your local development settings.

Step 7. Run the Solution

The projects in the Ed-Fi-ODS-Implementation repository are configured to run the desktop version of Internet Information Server (i.e., IIS Express). This server is installed with Visual Studio and facilitates easy debugging with minimal configuration. After the startup projects are set, you are ready to run or debug the Ed-Fi ODS / API.

Running the solution

• To run the Ed-Fi ODS / API without debugging, press Ctrl+F5.
• To interactively debug the Ed-Fi ODS / API solution, press F5 (or press Start in the Standard Toolbar).

Notes on Running the Solution

• The solution builds and starts each of the projects that were added to the startup projects list. Each web application starts an instance of IIS Express. By default, the websites are configured according to the following table:

• At this point, you're ready to explore the system.