Installing the Repository

The PowerDesigner repository can be used to store your PowerDesigner models and other files relating to your design projects. An administrator must set up the repository, which is stored in a database on a server.

Note: Before installing the repository to a server, you may want to create a local install on the administrator's workstation for testing and experimentation (see Installing a Local Test Repository).

For information about using the repository, see Core Features Guide > Storing, Sharing and Reporting on Models > The Repository.

  1. Choose a server capable of supporting large, long-running transactions to host your repository. We recommend as a minimum, a dual-core machine, with 2-4GB of RAM, but the exact system requirements depend on your DBMS, the number of concurrent users, and the size of your repository.
    Note: To calculate the size required for your repository database, estimate the number of models that will be stored and the period during which they will be developed. An average model containing 100 primary objects (tables, classes, etc.) will have an initial disk size of 5MB and the size of its initial check in will be around 10MB. Assuming an average number of edits, each subsequent check in will add 10% to the size of the file, so that after an average development period of two months (40 working days) with one check in per day, the final model file size will be 10MB*1.140 or approximately 500MB. If your team will develop 20 such models during the course of the year, you should allow 10GB of space for your repository database.

    If you want to use the repository proxy or PowerDesigner Portal, you should install them, by preference, on the same machine where the repository is located to optimize communication between the components. If the repository server is not a Windows server or is unable to support the additional workload, then we recommend installing these components on another machine on the same LAN segment.

  2. Create a database (see Creating a Database to Contain the Repository and a service to run the database (see Running the Database as a Service) using one of the supported DBMSs:
    • SAP® Sybase® SQL Anywhere® v10.x, 11.x, 12.x (bundled with PowerDesigner, see Installing and Authenticating SQL Anywhere), 16.x
    • SAP® Sybase® Adaptive Server® Enterprise v15.x
    • SAP HANA® v1.0 SP05
    • Oracle 9.x, 10g, 11
    • IBM DB2 UDB, DB2 os/390 9.x
    • Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008 - we recommend that you use a server that is not currently managing a high transaction load, since PowerDesigner performs long- running synchronous transactions during Check-In/Check-Out.
    Note: The most up-to-date list of supported DBMSs, is available at http://certification.sybase.com.
  3. Install the repository to the new database (see Installing the Repository to the Server).
  4. [optional] Install the repository proxy on the repository server (see Installing the Repository Proxy).
    The proxy simplifies and offers more security for connection to your repository and may provide performance improvements in environments where clients will be connecting over a WAN or complicated LAN or when dealing regularly with large (15MB+) models.
  5. [optional] Install the PowerDesigner Portal on the repository server (see Installing the PowerDesigner Portal Server).
    The PowerDesigner Portal provides access to your repository models via a Web browser.
  6. Define a password policy, optionally connect to an LDAP server to delegate the authentication of repository users and an SMTP server for notifications, and create groups and user accounts with appropriate rights and permissions to control access to the repository (see Core Features Guide > Administering PowerDesigner > Controlling Repository Access).