VistA Administration
This page is focused on the efforts that must be made to administer a VistA system, not topics related to the Veterans Affairs Department (which used to be called the Veterans Administration).
Planning
What operating systems can a VistA server run on? The VA has historically run it on VMS, Indian Health and others on Microsoft Windows with Caché, and the Open Source community on Linux with GT.M.
- CentOS A popular Linux operating system for production use with VistA.
- OpenSolaris zones OpenSolaris is an open source release of high-end Unix server software from Sun. Solaris zones function as simple but elegant virtual machines.
- Why Consider Ubuntu -- one of the mostly widely used Linux operating systems worldwide.
- Linux Active Directory How-To Information on how to use Microsoft Active Directory for Linux authentication.
Installing VistA
For a discussion of the issues involved, here are some slide shows presented at VistA Community Meetings about the process of installing a VistA system at a particular site:
When you are ready to install VistA, you have a number of choices.
- Software Downloads provides a fairly current (Jan 2010) comparison of options.
- Installation Overview is mostly of historical interest.
Setup VistA
Configuration is probably the most arduous and expensive step. It never ends.
- Intracare Implementation Log follows I. Valdes MD as he installs VistA with the help of Hardhats
Maintaining VistA
- Drug File~ gives some basic links on this essential part of VistA
- Pharmacy Issues provides more technical detail
Restoring VistA
Your system either has already crashed or it will eventually.
