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- by Vinod Kurup
+
Table of Contents
- - This document will describe how to install, configure, and - maintain an installation of OpenACS 5.0.0a1 on a Unix-like - system, including all supporting software. All examples - in this chapter are part of the OpenACS 5.0.0a1-P or - OpenACS 5.0.0a1-O Reference Platform, which use Red - Hat 8.0. Differences between the Reference Platform - and common alternate platforms (Red Hat 9, Debian) are noted where known. -
- You will need a PC (or equivalent) with at least these minimum - requirements: -
Pentium processor
128 MB RAM - (much more if you want Oracle)
4 GB hard drive
You will need all everthing marked REQUIRED in Section�, “Individual Programs”.
- If you want to serve pages to people outside of your machine, you'll - need a network connection of some type. -
- Running a reliable database-backed web server requires experience - with the server's environment, in this case UNIX. UNIX is not always - an intuitive environment and this guide cannot hope to explain every - nuance. You should be comfortable with the following tasks before - attempting an installation: -
- Adding users, groups, setting passwords -
- (For Oracle) Starting an X server and running an X program remotely -
- Basic file management using cp, rm, - mv, and cd -
- Compiling a program using ./config and make. -
- You can complete this install without the above knowledge, - but if anything goes wrong it may take extra time to - understand and correct the problem. Some useful UNIX resources. -
- All of the software that you will need is free and open-source, - except for Oracle. You can obtain a free copy of Oracle for - development purposes. This is described in the Acquire Oracle section. -
- The basic steps to getting OpenACS up and running are: -
Install an OS
Install a database (Oracle or - PostgreSQL)
Install a webserver (AOLServer)
Copy the OpenACS files into place and start the OpenACS installer, which will configure a database instance.
This is text you will see on - screen, such as a or link - in a radio button list or menu.
This is text that you will type.
This is text from a program or file which you may need to -examine or edit:
if {$database == "oracle"} {
- set db_password "mysitepassword"
-}This is text that you will -see and type in a command shell, including text you may have to -change. It is followed by a list of just the commands, -which you can copy and paste.
[root@localhost root]# su - nsadmin
-[nsadmin@localhost aolserver]$ svc -d /service/server1
-[nsadmin@localhost aolserver]$ dropdb server1
-DROP DATABASE
-[nsadmin@localhost aolserver]$ createdb server1
-CREATE DATABASE
-su - nsadmin
-svc -d /service/server1
-dropdb server1
-createdb server1- We'll do our best to assure that following our instructions will get - you to the promised land. If something goes wrong, don't - panic. There are plenty of ways to get help. Here are some tips: -
- Keep track of the commands you are run and record their output. I - like to do my installations in a shell inside of emacs - (M-x shell) so that I can save - the output if needed. An alternative would be to use the - script command. -
- We'll point out where the error logs for the various pieces of - software are. Output from those logs will help us help you. Don't - worry if you feel overwhelmed by all the information in the error - logs. Over time, you'll find that they make more and more - sense. Soon, you'll actually look forward to errors so that you - can run to the log and diagnose the problem. -
- Search the bboards at - openacs.org - you'll often find many people who have - struggled through the same spot that you're in. -
- The bottom of each page has a link to OpenACS.org, where you can post - comments and read other users comments about the - contents of the page. -
- Ask questions at the irc channel on openprojects.net - (#openacs). They're knowledgeable and quite friendly - if you can keep them on topic. -
- Post a question on the bboards. Make sure - you've done a search first. When you do post, be sure to include - your setup information (OS, etc) as well as the exact commands - that are failing with the accompanying error. If - there's a SQL error in the TCL error or in the log, - post that too. -
- If you find errors in this document or if you have ideas about - making it better, please post them in our - BugTracker. -
- - After reading through this tome, you may ask yourself if there is a - better way. Well, not quite. Jonathan Marsden has created RPMs (at - http://www.xc.org) - for OpenACS 4.5 but there are not yet any for version - 5.0.0a1. There has been talk about automating the install process, - but that hasn't happened yet. Stay tuned! - -
- This document was created by Vinod Kurup, but it's really - just plagiarism from a number of documents that came before it. If - I've used something that you've written without proper credit, let me - know and I'll fix it right away. -
Versions 4.6.2 to present were edited by Joel Aufrecht. -
These are a few of my sources:
- Please also see the Credits section for more acknowledgements. -
- Here's a list of some helpful documentation for various OS's -
- Painless Debian - GNU/Linux by Stephen van Egmond -
- - Official - Debian Guide - -
- - RedHat - -
- - Mandrake - -
- - SuSE - -
- Once you get your OS installed, it's imperative that you secure your - installation. As Jon Griffin repeatedly warns us, "No distribution is - secure out of the box." The Reference Platform implements - some basic precautions, but security is a process, not a - condition. If you are responsible for a computer hooked to the - internet, you are responsible for learning some rudiments of - security, such as monitoring the state of a computer, - maintaining patch levels, and keeping backups. We recommend - these resources: -
- Here are some resources that OpenACS users have found useful. -
- - Philip - and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing - A very readable - guide to database-backed community websites. - -
- - UNIX - Power Tools - An excellent introduction to the - command line tools and basic programs of UNIX - -
- - UNIX - System Administration Handbook (formerly the "red book" - - now the "purple" book) - -
- - UNIX - System Administrator's Bible - (LePage and Iarerra 1998; - IDG) - -
- - Running - Linux
- - Linux - in a Nutshell - -
- - The UNIX - Reference Desk - -
- - LPI - certification exam preps - A series of articles from - IBM developerworks on basic and intermediate Linux skills - (requires registration) - -