Before You Install

This section provides general information you should review before installing the Ed-Fi ODS / API Admin App.

Prerequisites

The following are required to install the Admin App:

The Admin App provides an interface to administer an Ed-Fi ODS / API. Understandably, you must have an Ed-Fi ODS / API deployed and operational before you can use the Admin App. The ODS / API must be an On-Premises Installation or an Azure Cloud ODS from the Ed-Fi Exchange.
You must have a license to use the Admin App. If you have an installation of the ODS / API, you already have a license. The Ed-Fi License is free and available online. If you haven't done so already, visit the Ed-Fi.org licensing section for details and a link to get started.
Admin App authentication will work via Single Sign-On using either Active Directory or Active Directory for Azure depending on deployment.

Required Information

You will need the following information to complete this installation:

The location of your Ed-Fi ODS / API.
Administrator access and credentials for either on-premises or Azure environment with target Ed-Fi ODS / API.

Installation Instructions

This section provides step-by-step instructions for installation. The specific steps are different depending on the deployment model and version of your Ed-Fi ODS / API.

Compatibility & Supported ODS / API Versions

Currently, the ODS / API Admin App can be installed for use with the Ed-Fi ODS / API v2.6+ and v3.1.1+. See the Ed-Fi Technology Version Index for more details.

Other Versions

The Admin App installers downloadable from this page are compatible with the ODS / API v2.x.

Other installers are available for other versions of the ODS / API:

On-Premises Deployment for ODS / API for v2.6

Each step is outlined in detail below.

Step 1. Select Install Location

Select an installation location. For this walkthrough, we'll set up a test in a local environment.

For local testing, use the following values:

Create a new folder named webapps on your local drive (e.g., C:\).
In the dialog, set the Folder to C:\webapps\AdminApp.

Step 2. Enter Account Information

The Admin App requires a user account under which to run the app pool.

For local testing, you'll use your computer credentials. Use the following values:

User Name: Local Account User Name
Domain: .\ for local
Password: Local Account Password

Step 3. Configure SQL Connection

Next, we'll set up a SQL connection to your local, test server.

For local testing, use the following values:

Server: (local) for testing.
Authentication: Trusted Connection.

We strongly recommend you test that the credentials are correct by clicking Test Sql Connection at this point.

Step 4. ODS / API URL Configuration

At this point, we'll connect to the ODS / API:

For testing against a local ODS / API, use the following values:

ODS API URL: Local v2.6 Setup: http://localhost:54746
ODS DB Name: Local Populated Sandbox: EdFi_Ods_Sandbox_populatedSandbox

The values shown are the default values for an ODS / API v2.6 local developer installation.

Step 5. ODS / API Mode

Next, choose which mode the ODS / API is running under. If the ODS was installed and left in default mode: select "Shared (default)".

If the ODS / API was configured after installation to run in Year Specific mode: select "Year Specific" and provide the configured school year.

For additional information about Year Specific mode and configuring the Admin App or ODS without use of the exe installers, see /wiki/spaces/ODSAPI32/pages/27099724 and Year-Specific Mode (v1.x).

Step 6. Enable HTTPS access

After the URL configuration, we'll need to enable HTTPS access. Use the following steps:

Download and install the Microsoft IIS URL Rewrite Tool: https://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/url-rewrite.
If necessary, restart computer.
Open IIS Manager (inetmgr).
In the Connections pane on the left, expand Sites and select Ed-Fi.
In the Actions pane on the right, click Bindings.
In the Site Bindings dialog box, click Add.
Select type https and IIS Express Development Certificate (For Testing) and then OK to save.
Select type http/Port 81 and then Remove to delete and then Close to save.
Close the IIS Manager (inetmgr).

This is optional, to remove existing HTTP binding.

Step 7. Admin App Licensing & Configuration

This section provides an overview of the initial Admin App configuration. We'll continue using a local test environment.

Connect to the Admin App URL https://localhost/AdminApp to complete the setup.

If you are using Microsoft Edge you may see an active directory security authentication window.

Go ahead and sign in.

You'll see the following screen.

Complete the additional setup and press Continue.

You should land on the Admin App Home page.

Step 8. Restart the ODS / API

To finish the Admin App on-premises setup the ODS / API website must be restarted. If you're performing a production on-premises installation, now would be a good time to review the documentation on Securing the Admin App (v1.x), particularly the material on IIS configuration and NTLM.

Open IIS Manager (inetmgr).
In the Connections pane on the left, expand Sites and locate the Ed-Fi website.
Right-click the website and select Manage Website > Restart.
Close the IIS Manager (inetmgr).

Synchronize Learning Standards

The Admin App can synchronize learning standards provided by Certica Solutions. This section walks through how to obtain a license and populate your ODS / API with learning standards from the AB Connect API.

Step 1. Add Vendor & Application

In this step, we'll add a new vendor and a client application to use with the AB Connect API.

Before starting the steps that follow, open the Visual Studio ODS instance and relaunch the ODS (e.g., clicking CTRL+F5) before continuing below.

If you're not already there, go to the Admin App Home page:

Click Settings and you'll be presented with the screen below. We'll use this screen to add a vendor.

Vendors are global to an ODS / API instance. This means that, for example, if your instance has both a sandbox and a production environment, the settings you configure here will apply to both.

Click Add Vendor. The following screen appears:

We're going to set up a company called AB Connect — which will be used later to synchronize learning standards with the ODS / API. Use the following values:

Company: AB Connect
Namespace Prefix:
- For a v2.x instance, use: http://academicbenchmarks.com
- For a v3.x instance, use: uri://academicbenchmarks.com
Contact Name: Your Choice
Contact Email Address: Your Choice

Now, we'll add an application related to the vendor we just created. Applications are specific to an environment. This allows, for example, application keys and secrets to be unique across test and production environments.

For this local test, we'll select Production to add an application:

Click Add Application. The following screen appears:

Use the following values:

Application Name: AB Connect.
Education Organization Type: Select either option. We'll use Local Education Agency.
Education Organization Ids: Choose any available from the drop-down menu. We'll use Grand Bend ISD.
Claim Set Name: Select AB Connect from the drop-down menu.

Click Add Application to save this vendor.

You will be presented with the Key and Secret at the next screen. Copy this information to a safe place. It's useful to test client system functionality.

Visit the Application Tab after completing the above step. You'll see the new AB Connect application you just added.

Step 2. Sync Learning Standards

In this step, we'll populate learning standards in the ODS / API by using the Admin App to synchronize with the AB Connect API.

To synchronize learning standards in your local environment, select the Learning Standards tab. You'll be presented with the screen below:

The screen contains instructions on how to get an API ID and Key from Certica Solutions. Following the instructions on screen to obtain an ID and Key.

Once you have an ID and Key from Certica:

Enter the AB Connect ID and Key.
Select Enable Learning Standards.

Syncing will begin. A progress bar will show you the current status, and you'll see a "completed successfully" message once done.

At this point, you can click the Setup tab to verify completion.

Optional Verification Step

To confirm that learning standards have been populated, a SQL query, such as shown below, can be run against your ODS / API instance database. The query should return a count in the thousands from a successful learning standards synchronization:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM EdFi.LearningStandard WHERE [Namespace] LIKE '%api.academicbenchmarks%';

Ed-Fi ODS / API Admin App

Admin App v1.5.1 for ODS / API v2.5 or v2.6