[limesurvey-developers] Command-line installation

[Julian G. <ju...@d-...>]

I'm trying to get back to setting up a Debian limesurvey package after
my rubbish inactivity, and several other attempts which struggled.

There are a few difficulties, and perhaps someone has some good ideas
about this.

The first is the initial installation.  Debian packages have to be
installable without any manual intervention.  Answering questions
(such as supplying postgresql or mysql passwords) pre-installation is
acceptable, but after that, it all has to run automatically.
Unfortunately, it seems that part of the setup process is done via a
web interface; this would have to be moved into a script of sorts.

Furthermore, the packages contain a static list of distributed files,
along with a small list of configuration files; none of these can be
deleted after they are installed, so the instruction to "now rename or
delete the admin/install directory" cannot be followed.  The
alternative would be to run the contents of those scripts from a
script during the installation process without having them accessible
to the webserver.

The next is upgrading.  Some of the instructions refer to saving files
and then reinstalling them; this will be a little difficult with a
Debian package.  The upgrading process will happily run a script
before and after upgrading, and the upgrading consists of removing the
old files and installing the new ones.

I know this has been a long-standing problem, but I'm still rather
stuck on how to handle it.

Any suggestions?

   Julian