Configuring Neo4j 4.x server on Windows

Configuring Neo4j 4.x server on Windows:

This is an update from a previous article based on Neo4j v3.x

Yes, there are plenty of tutorials for setting up Neo4j already, but I wanted to focus on a few settings that makes it easier to use it with data integration.

This tutorial will focus on Neo4j server for windows.  It is NOT very complicated, and you'll be up and running in no time flat:

What you need to before you begin

System Requirements: Virtually all modern desktop/server OS are supported JAVA (OpenJDK/OracleJDK/ZuluJDK) 11 Neo4j Server or Desktop Edition.For these instructions I used the community edition which you can download from https://neo4j.com/download-center/#community

1. Extract the archive into the folder you want to be your installation folder
2. Use an editor to modify /conf/neo4j.conf

   Setting	Action	Description
   #dbms.directories.import=import	Comment out	allows custom imports on-demand
   apoc.import.file.enabled=true dbms.security.procedures.allowlist=apoc.coll.*,apoc.load.*,gds.*,apoc.* dbms.security.procedures.unrestricted=apoc.schema.*	add	Allow APOC file imports and apoc procedures
   #dbms.memory.heap.initial_size=5g #dbms.memory.heap.max_size=5g #dbms.memory.pagecache.size=7g	customize memory	Memory configuration will depend on how large your graphDB will become.  Here's a good primer:  https://neo4j.com/docs/operations-manual/current/tools/neo4j-admin-memrec/
   dbms.connectors.default_listen_address=0.0.0.0	uncomment	Allows non-local connections



3. Example Configuration for Plugins*:
   

   Plugin	Description	Download URL	Notes
   APOC library	Don't ask, just install it.  No really!  You want this.	https://github.com/neo4j-contrib/neo4j-apoc-procedures/releases/	Install binary .jar into /plugins folder: You need to MATCH the APOC version with the Neo4j version!
   MSSQL JDBC	Add this if you need to connect to MS SQL	https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2168495	Extract mssql-jdbc-9.x.x.jre11.jar into /plugins folder
   Excel (multiple file formats)	If you need support to import from these formats download the dependencies	https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/poi/poi/5.0.0/poi-5.0.0-javadoc.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/poi/poi-ooxml/5.0.0/poi-ooxml-5.0.0.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/poi/poi-ooxml-schemas/4.1.2/poi-ooxml-schemas-4.1.2.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/xmlbeans/xmlbeans/5.0.2/xmlbeans-5.0.2.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/github/virtuald/curvesapi/1.06/curvesapi-1.06.jar	Place these .jar files into the /plugins folder
   Advantage Database JDBC	To connect to Advantage (sybase) SQL  via JDBC	https://devzone.advantagedatabase.com/dz/content.aspx?Key=20&Release=19&Product=12	This is to support the CRM I use (RangerMSP)


*For most of my installations I ONLY install the APOC plugin.  This is because I typically use an ETL tool like Pentaho Data Integration for ingesting data from other sources (Excel, JDBC, etc), rather than natively from a Neo4j cypher query.  This makes it easier to manage security, tasks and jobs  rather than hard-coding right into a CYPHER statement.


4. Configure Windows Service
   Neo4j should be configured to run as a Windows service. Launch a command shell, and install the service from within the /bin folder
   
   
   neo4j install-service
   
   
   If you are upgrading from an older version, you will need to first unregister the service for the old version:
   neo4j uninstall-service
     
5. Set Initial Password
   neo4j-admin set-initial-password mysupersecretpassword
   
   
6. Start the service
   sc start neo4j
   (or use the service control panel)
   
   
7. Verify your installation.  Browse to http://127.0.0.1:7474
   username: neo4j
   password: <same as you supplied on step 5>
   
   

   

   
   
   That's it!  You should be ready to go with a neo4j server that's ready to connect to SQL Server, import from CSV/XLS files, and you will have the APOC library plugins at your disposal!