NextGen Knowledge Center

Frequently Asked Questions

This section addresses the most common questions users have about Mirth® Connect by NextGen Healthcare.

What is Mirth® Connect?

Mirth® Connect is a versatile, standards-based healthcare integration engine that speeds bi-directional message routing, filtering, and transformation between disparate health-info systems over various messaging protocols (e.g., HL7, X12, EDI, DICOM, XML).

Is Mirth® Connect the same as "Mirth"?

Yes. Mirth 1.0 was released in 2006 by WebReach, Inc. Based on the success of the Mirth application, WebReach, Inc. was renamed "Mirth Corporation" in 2009. To avoid confusion between the new company name and its products, the Mirth application was renamed Mirth® Connect.

As of early 2016, Mirth Corporation, as a business entity, no longer exists, having been absorbed into the Quality Systems, Inc. family of products in Sept. 2013. QSI has since become NextGen Healthcare, and Mirth® Connect lives on with other former Mirth Corporation products as part of the "Mirth Solutions" suite.

What are the key components of theMirth® Connect architecture?

Mirth® Connect consists of the Mirth® Connect Server, Mirth® Connect Administrator, Mirth® Connect Server Manager, and Mirth® Connect Command Line Interface.

  • Mirth® Connect Server contains the back-end for the management interface and the integration engine component, which performs message filtering, transformation, and transmission.

  • Mirth® Connect Administrator is the graphical user interface that connects to the Mirth® Connect Server and allows you to configure interfaces, monitor interface activity, and browse the message store.

  • Mirth® Connect Server Manager is a graphical user interface that manages the Mirth® Connect service, displays log files, and contains other configuration settings for the Mirth® Connect Server.

  • Mirth® Connect Command Line Interface (CLI) is a command line tool that allows connections to the Mirth® Connect Server to deploy/import/export channels and perform other administrative tasks.

How do I start Mirth® Connect?

Once Mirth® Connect has been installed, there are several ways to launch the Mirth® Connect Administrator. On a Windows installation, there is a Mirth® Connect Administrator item in the Start Menu which launches the application directly. If the Mirth® Connect Server Manager is installed, there is a Launch Administrator button in the lower left corner which will also start the application.

If the option is not available, you can connect to the Mirth Connect Administrator launch page which by default should be available at http://\<ip-address\>:8080. Clicking the Launch Mirth Connect Administrator button will connect you to the server which will be listening on https://\<ip-address\>:8443. If running a new installation, the default username and password for the login screen is admin and admin. This should be changed immediately for security purposes!

The Mirth Connect Administrator is a Java application that is downloaded from the Mirth Connect Server and launched on the local system. You can connect to any Mirth® Connect installation by launching its Administrator, regardless of the version.

If you are launching the Administrator for the first time, you will notice that its libraries will be downloaded. This feature allows you run the Administrator from any remote Mirth Connect Server without having to download and install a separate client.

What are the default username and password for Mirth® Connect?

The default username and password are both “admin”. For security purposes, these should be changed immediately when prompted after your first time logging in!

Which ports need to be opened to access Mirth® Connect from outside of a network?

The default ports used are listed below but you may choose to use different ports. When installing using the Mirth® Connect Installer you will be prompted to accept the default values or enter your own values. Or you may update the values in the mirth.properties file.

  • TCP 8080 – Required for viewing the Mirth Connect Administrator launch page.

  • TCP 8443 – Mirth Connect Administrator port for communicating with Mirth Connect Server.

How can I increase the amount of memory allocated to the Mirth® Connect Server/Service?

If you are running the Mirth Connect Server Manager, there is an option for changing the amount of memory the Mirth Connect Service is allocated from the default of 256MB to something larger.

The value can also be changed manually by editing the %MIRTH_HOME%/mcservice.vmoptions file and changing -Xmx256m to a different value. Other JVM options can also be added to this file. You can add one option per line, and the last line in this file must be a blank line.

If you are not using the Mirth Connect Service and are running the Mirth Connect Server manually through its executable (mcserver), then you should edit the mcserver.vmoptions file instead.

How can I change the database that Mirth® Connect uses for its data store?

First, make sure to export your channels and message data (if needed) since the new database you are switching to will not have any of your current data.

If you have the Mirth Connect Server Manager installed, you can change the database type in the Database tab. Set the URL, username, and password, and restart the service. Mirth® Connect will create the necessary tables on the new database.

To manually change the database you can edit the %MIRTH_HOME%/conf/mirth.properties file and set the database property to the database of your choice, choosing from the list of examples in the properties file. You will also need to set the database.url, database.username, and database.password properties.

Import your channels and messages if applicable.

How do I run the Windows installer in unattended mode?

You can run the installer in unattended mode (no user interface with default settings) by adding -q when executing the EXE file.

What is the Mirth Command Center?

The Mirth Command Center is the "dashboard" or "platform" that both Mirth Fully Managed users and traditional Mirth® Connect users can access to manage their servers and channels. Key features included with the Command Center include the ability to see metrics for all of registered servers and enabled channels in an easy to navigate dashboard. Additionally, Command Center clients can opt in to receive notifications via email when various Mirth® Connect thresholds such as errors, queues, and inactivity are reached or exceeded.

How does Mirth® Connect compare to other integration engines?

Based on user feedback, Mirth® Connect's features compare favorably to other commercial integration engines and are usually superior in head-to-head comparisons. Mirth® Connect has NextGen Healthcare's full backing with support, training, and consulting services similar to those of our competitors.

What can I expect next from Mirth® Connect?

Mirth® Connect is continually evolving, and each new version includes various enhancements and new features. To see what's new in any given version, refer to the Release Notes available in the Success Community and the Upgrade Guide which is available both in this guide and in the Success Community.

How fast does Mirth® Connect operate?

Performance varies widely depending on your hardware setup and channel configuration. If there is a performance bottleneck, it is rarely because of Mirth® Connect, but rather because of the underlying database being used, or the storage solution. For large-scale instances we recommend deploying Mirth® Connect with a horizontally-scalable database solution, backed by SSDs. Benchmarks are available for the hardware appliances that NextGen offers.

Is Mirth® Connect hard to install and configure?

No. In fact, we have heard from users that they installed Mirth® Connect and minutes later were processing messages. There are several installation methods, but the easiest is the cross-platform GUI (graphical user interface) installer (the Mirth Installation Wizard) that guides you through the process. If you prefer a more hands-on method, however, we offer a zip/tar.gz distribution.

Do I need Mirth Appliance to run Mirth® Connect?

No, but running Mirth® Connect on the Appliance platform provides such advantages as easy updates, added security and reliability through clustering, and a platform that can host the entire Mirth Solutions suite. To view an extensive list of features, see our data sheet on Appliance solutions.

How do I become a Mirth® Connect expert?

NextGen Healthcare provides extensive Mirth® Connect training and a certification program. More information is available here: Training

What are the system requirements for Mirth® Connect?

Refer to the System Requirements page for full details.

Which databases does Mirth® Connect support for its data store?

Apache Derby (default), PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server, but the Database Reader/Writer connectors can support any type of database if you add the right client libraries to the custom folder in the Mirth® Connect installation directory. Refer to the topic Mirth Connect System Requirements for special version limitations.

Does Mirth® Connect use the Mule ESB?

No. Prior to the release of Mirth® Connect 3.0, Mule was eliminated from the application.

Do I need an application server to run Mirth® Connect?

No. Mirth® Connect runs as a stand-alone executable or service in its own JVM (Java virtual machine).

Can Mirth® Connect send data to __ or transform data from __ to __?

Whichever variables fill these blanks, the answer is generally a resounding Yes! Even if a message standard (protocol) is foreign to Mirth® Connect, advanced Java and JavaScript capabilities are so flexible that almost any data type can be transformed and transferred.

What message standards does Mirth® Connect support?

What transfer protocols does Mirth® Connect support?

How do I transform a data segment?

Use the following example. You have the data segment 20080624175854-0700, and you want to eliminate the hyphen and the four digits after it. The easiest way to do this is to create a new STEP in the transformer with some JavaScript such as:

var originalValue =msg['PID']['PID.18']['PID.18.1'].toString(); //, which represents: 20080624175854-0700

var splittedValueArray = originalValue.split("-"); msg['PID']['PID.18']['PID.18.1'] = splittedValueArray[0]; // splittedValueArray[0], which represents: 20080624175854

// splittedValueArray[1], which represents: 0700

Use of the split function returns an array of the values split by the delimiter.

How can I increase the text size when using the Mirth® Connect Administrator on a high DPI monitor and the text is small and difficult to read?

In Windows, do the following:
  • Ensure you're using Java 9 or greater.
  • Navigate to your Java bin folder.
  • Right-click on java.exe and edit properties.
  • Go to the Compatibility tab and select Change high DPI settings.
  • Check the box next to Override high DPI scaling behavior and select System in the drop-down menu.
  • Open the Mirth® Connect Administrator Launcher.
  • For Java Home, select Custom and enter the path to your Java installation folder.
  • Launch the Mirth® Connect Administrator.
In Linux, do the following:
  • Install openjdk version 9 or greater.
  • Install openjfx.
    • You can run sudo apt install openjfx on DPKG-based distributions.
  • In a Terminal, set GDK_SCALE to 2.
    • Use the command export GDK_SCALE=2
  • From the same Terminal session, launch the Mirth® Connect Administrator Launcher
    • Navigate to the Mirth® Connect Administrator Launcher installation folder.
    • Use the command ./launcher.
  • For Java Home, select Custom and enter the path to your Java installation folder.
  • Launch the Mirth® Connect Administrator.