Installation Guide

(Last updated: 2026-04-13)

Prerequisites

Database Driver

• Download: Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server
• If installation fails, you may need to install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable first

Service Manager NSSM

• Download: nssm.cc/download
• Ensure nssm.exe is added to your system PATH

Application Files

• Download the deployment artifacts for Bliksund Analytics Data Processing EWA:
  • analytics-dp-ewa.exe (executable)
  • wheels/ folder (Python dependencies)

Installation

1. If you already have a Data Processing service running, make sure to stop this by following Stopping the service.

2. Store the unpacked artifacts that you downloaded at the place where you want the installation to take place.

3. Set the system environment variable BLIKSUND_ANALYTICS_DP_INITIAL_PATH to the full path of the folder where the exe-file is stored. This path will be used for the log folder and the .env file mentioned later.

4. Configure the installation directory by setting the system environment variable PYAPP_INSTALL_DIR_BLIKSUND-DATA-PROCESSING-EWA. For example, if you set the value to \ProgramData\BliksundAnalyticsDP\installation\2.3.6, this directory is created and the installation will take place here. Any path should be fine, but be sure to update the version number.

5. Open a terminal (for example powershell) in administrator mode.

6. Navigate to the folder where the exe-file is stored:

   cd <PATH_TO_EXE_FILE>

7. Add and update needed configurations

   Create a file named .env in the same folder as the exe-file using New-Item -Path ".env" -ItemType File and add the following information to it:

   BLIKSUND_RUN_SCHEDULED=true
   BLIKSUND_RUN_SCHEDULED_FREQUENCY_MIN=60
   BLIKSUND_LOAD_BATCH_SIZE=50000
   BLIKSUND_LOAD_BATCH_WAIT_TIME=1
   BLIKSUND_LOAD_FULL_ON_SCHEDULE=false
   BLIKSUND_LOAD_FULL_ON_START=false
   BLIKSUND_TRANSFORM_FULL_ON_SCHEDULE=false
   BLIKSUND_TRANSFORM_FULL_ON_START=false
   BLIKSUND_RUN_TAG=false
   
   # Source database connection details (Operational database)
   SOURCE__DATABASE__TYPE=mssql
   SOURCE__DATABASE__USERNAME=
   SOURCE__DATABASE__PASSWORD=
   SOURCE__DATABASE__HOST=
   SOURCE__DATABASE__PORT=
   SOURCE__DATABASE__NAME=
   SOURCE__DATABASE__TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE=yes
   SOURCE__DATABASE__ENCRYPT=yes
   
   
   # Target database connection details (Analytics database)
   TARGET__DATABASE__TYPE=mssql
   TARGET__DATABASE__USERNAME=
   TARGET__DATABASE__PASSWORD=
   TARGET__DATABASE__HOST=
   TARGET__DATABASE__PORT=
   TARGET__DATABASE__NAME=
   TARGET__DATABASE__TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE=yes
   TARGET__DATABASE__ENCRYPT=yes

8. Install the service. This might take some minutes:

   .\analytics_dp_service.exe install

   Note: In some cases the new version is not properly installed. The installer should state the version number "v2.3.6" after running the install command. If this does not appear, stop the install, delete the folder that the system environment variable PYAPP_INSTALL_DIR_BLIKSUND-DATA-PROCESSING-EWA was set to in step 4 above, and then run the install command again.

9. Start the service. The service will start right away, but it will take some minutes before the API is up and running:

   .\analytics_dp_service.exe start

   Note: A log folder (Logging) will be created and placed at the same location as the .exe file during the installation

   Note: It is recommended to set BLIKSUND_TRANFORM_FULL_ON_START to True. See release notes for v2-3-6 for details.

Configuration options

The service can be configured with the following options:

Setting Name	Description	default value
BLIKSUND_RUN_SCHEDULED	true if running the service on a schedule, false if running once	false
BLIKSUND_RUN_SCHEDULED_FREQUENCY_MIN	Minutes between each run	60
BLIKSUND_LOAD_BATCH_SIZE	Number of rows fetched in each batch from the EWA Database	50000
BLIKSUND_LOAD_BATCH_WAIT_TIME	Seconds to wait between each batch of data	1
BLIKSUND_LOAD_FULL_ON_SCHEDULE	true for full load on schedule, false for incremental	false
BLIKSUND_LOAD_FULL_ON_START	true for full load on service start, false for incremental	false
BLIKSUND_TRANSFORM_FULL_ON_SCHEDULE	true for full transform on schedule, false for incremental	false
BLIKSUND_TRANSFORM_FULL_ON_START	true for full transform on service start, false for incremental	false
BLIKSUND_RUN_TAG	false if no run tag is used; otherwise, schemas are prefixed with the tag	false
SOURCE__DATABASE__TYPE	Type of source database (use mssql)	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__USERNAME	Username for source database	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__PASSWORD	Password for source database	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__HOST	Host for source database	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__PORT	Port for source database	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__NAME	Name of source database	(empty)
SOURCE__DATABASE__TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE	Trust server certificate option yes or no	yes
SOURCE__DATABASE__ENCRYPT	Encryption option yes or no	yes
TARGET__DATABASE__TYPE	Type of target database (use mssql)	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__USERNAME	Username for target database	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__PASSWORD	Password for target database	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__HOST	Host for target database	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__PORT	Port for target database	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__NAME	Name of target database	(empty)
TARGET__DATABASE__TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE	Trust server certificate option yes or no	yes
TARGET__DATABASE__ENCRYPT	Encryption option yes or no	yes

Note: If it is a Major version update you normally have to use the setting BLIKSUND_TRANSFORM_FULL_ON_START=True

Logging

Logs are placed under logs/, and if you are running the code as a windows service, the log file will be placed in the same folder as analytics_dp_service.exe.

Stopping the service

Follow this guide if you want to stop an already running service

1. Open a terminal (for example powershell) in administrator mode

2. Navigate to the folder where the old exe-file is stored:

   cd <PATH_TO_EXE_FILE>

3. Stop the service. Use the name of the old file if it has changed:

   .\analytics_dp_service.exe stop