While installing Compiere, the leading web based open source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) & CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, on Windows you may face some non-trvivial problems. This document is an overview of the problems you can face while installing Compiere and how to solve them.

First and foremost keep the installation guide open and follow all the provided links. It contains much more than their name suggests. Read this mini-guide whenever you face any problems. Most likely you will find it here. If not let me know and I will add it.

Compiere will work on Java 1.5.0 (full JDK not JRE) and will not work on earlier or even later versions. So you have to install JDK1.5.0 before you begin.

Carefully check the COMPIERE_HOME and JAVA_HOME values before you proceed. If you face any errors simply close the command window and open a new one. Compiere batch files set some environment variable which often conflicts with the succeeding steps.

Initially there were conflicts on port 1099 while setup. So I selected 10990. Similarly I selected port 800 (instead of default 80) and 4430 (instead of 443). These took care of the port related issues.

You have to remember the password for system you specified while installing Oracle XE. Then you need to create a user named compiere with your chosen password.

Do not specify a mail server if you don't have one. The default value are most likely not correct for you.

Note: Compiere actually delete the Oracle user (compiere) that you have created and recreates the same!

Check the errors while importing. Initially I found that none of the data was being loaded. On closer inspection I found that the "create user" statement failed because my password started with a number. So use a password like pass1 instead of 1pass and so on.

Few parting tips:
Keep it simple upfront. Once you get a feel of the system, feel free to tinker with it. Compiere is a big software and so little problems are to be expected.

Also check the known issues and common problems.