File Release Notes and Changelog
Release Name: 1.2.0
Notes:
+==========================================+
+ Release Notes for Release 1.2.0 of BELTS +
+==========================================+
BELTS release 1.2.0 is a major release incorporating some changes to the
way that content is defined in the system as well as a number of minor
patches and enhancements which affect the performance and scalabilty of
the system. The application has been updated to run in the current version
of JBoss (Version 4.0.1).
Content Enhancements
====================
BELTS has been updated to support the concept of resources as defined in
The Learning Exchange. This allows static resources to be downloaded as IMS
packages and used in lessons. Resources are different to normal learning objects
in that they do not contain the educational metadata that is normally used to
filter views. BELTS now has an additional "resource" filter that is displayed
when there are resources in the system.
This has meant there have been some internal changes to the way content is stored
in the system, but this should be largely transparent to the average user.
Searching External Repositories ("Federated Search")
====================================================
BELTS is now able to search for content in external repositories. The "Search
Content" page has been updated to allow the user to select from a number of
external repositories using search facilities provided by EdNA Online
(http://www.edna.edu.au). The content returned from these searches may be viewed
online and added to lessons.
Packaging Enhancements
======================
BELTS is now able to be downloaded as a full package, containing a read-to-run
JBoss Version 4.0.1 environment, or as a 'minimal' package, containing only those
files that are specific to BELTS or have been modified to suit BELTS.
The minimal package is ideally suited to those already running JBoss applications,
while the full version is suited to those who only need to run BELTS.
Fixes/changes for this release
==============================
The following issues have been resolved for this release:
** Technical
* [BLTS-643] - BELTS Memory leak after long periods of use
** Editorial
* [BLTS-665] - Trivial UI no spacing between seperated learning area/strand/year level
** Accessibility
* [BLTS-635] - Internet Explorer not committing search after keyboard entry of ENTER
** Metadata
* [BLTS-670] - Remark field not displayed in BELTS metadata view
* [BLTS-673] - Cannot browse Strands for SOSE, LOTE and HPE
** Useability
* [BLTS-627] - Download "All" only downloads first 20 objects from browse resources
* [BLTS-654] - Learning Areas listed are non alphabetised
* [BLTS-678] - Indicative user notice of search progressing should be considered (Safari esp.)
* [BLTS-685] - Search results none consistent
* [BLTS-686] - Browsing by year level not obvious which year level is filtered
* [BLTS-700] - No Logo prsent for results obtained from 'Education Portal'
** Functional
* [BLTS-653] - Inability to distinguish how many Objects or Resources in belts store
* [BLTS-666] - Non-TLF content cannot be browsed in BELTS
* [BLTS-693] - Government Educational portal differences in searching between EdNA and BELTS
* [BLTS-695] - Differences to search results from design screens
* [BLTS-714] - Unable to synchronise with upstream BELTS
** Bug
* [BLTS-364] - No Learning Objects view Inside BELTS when using Netscape 7
* [BLTS-374] - Teacher/Student Class Search filters not kept after search is ran
* [BLTS-386] - Refine Search needs to be implemented In Repository search area
* [BLTS-468] - Unexplained Failure of Uploading Attachments on Adelaide Server
* [BLTS-497] - Dependent Login Search results check boxes
* [BLTS-503] - Exception displayed at top of resource pages
* [BLTS-603] - Cancelling unpublish from search results jumps user to browse page
* [BLTS-611] - NT curriculum organiser creates start-up problems
* [BLTS-612] - Curriculum organiser validation does not accept user level of 13
* [BLTS-613] - Non Of the new Section Overview Pages have any title text on links
* [BLTS-614] - Netscape 6.2.3 causing consistent distortions in Search section
* [BLTS-638] - Can't use "Search" functionalities in Netscape
* [BLTS-641] - Incorrect SOSE key learning area search
* [BLTS-642] - Browsing for content to add to a lesson can default to the other lesson
* [BLTS-645] - Education value not display under 'Details'
* [BLTS-647] - Metadata header name included in search/browse results
* [BLTS-648] - Cannot search via learning outcome
* [BLTS-649] - Terminology change - for readability - Search
* [BLTS-650] - Safari "Outcome Details" page "Details" and "View" links
* [BLTS-651] - Unusable functionality at top level of browse
* [BLTS-652] - Browse resources available even if no content
* [BLTS-655] - Corrupted Cache? Causing last listing on page to be blanc
* [BLTS-656] - Filter by year level "all" not active
* [BLTS-657] - 'Content type' used in search UI
* [BLTS-658] - Boolean modifiers in Search
* [BLTS-659] - New top level browse UI
* [BLTS-660] - Netscape object display has minor display problem
* [BLTS-661] - Administration page wording...BELTS is lower case
* [BLTS-662] - "Learning outcomes" display field should be "Outcome code"
* [BLTS-663] - Extra line in new top level of browse
* [BLTS-664] - Indented text in top level of new browse
* [BLTS-668] - Search field behaviour not consistent
* [BLTS-669] - Search - not all headers have semi-colons
* [BLTS-672] - Unable to upload resources into BELTS.jacus.com site
* [BLTS-675] - Erroneous search submission loses distributed search options on refresh
* [BLTS-676] - Safari display on "Search Content" page has missaligned distributed search repositories
* [BLTS-677] - GEM repository to have (USA) after it for distinguishing purposes
* [BLTS-679] - Scrolling and misallignment of results display table in Netscape
* [BLTS-681] - Minor display issue in Netscape when browsing
* [BLTS-682] - Browsing including "Show All" does not reset breadcrumb path
* [BLTS-683] - "Fed.gov.com.au" links sometimes have http://belts.jacus.com in url
* [BLTS-684] - Relevance ording issues in search
* [BLTS-687] - "Failed to acquire HTTP client semaphore" failure when synchronising with repository
* [BLTS-688] - Java null pointer exception in wrapper when downloading
* [BLTS-689] - Application 'locks' with arrayindexoutofbounds exception
* [BLTS-690] - 'Next' Button on search results can change number of search results returned
* [BLTS-691] - Search results should display repositories searched on
* [BLTS-692] - Exception when searching is committed not returning any results
* [BLTS-694] - Search pages displaying same results as previous page
* [BLTS-701] - BELTS 'Browse Repository' on 'Other Content' does not display resources without metadata
* [BLTS-702] - Adding 'both' multiples of Local Store objects and URL's causes issues
* [BLTS-704] - The gem_bottom_logo.gif does not appear to load when searching on GEM
* [BLTS-707] - Server error when selecting 'lessons'
* [BLTS-708] - Strand label seen even though no values available
* [BLTS-709] - 'Resources' option still presented in Browse
* [BLTS-710] - Ed Value Statement not truncated?
* [BLTS-711] - Description in search results different to description on details page
* [BLTS-713] - 'Wait' page still comes up even if only searching BELTS
* [BLTS-715] - Unable to set/alter passwords on school-admin desktop
* [BLTS-716] - Loss of school administrator entry data after submission failure
* [BLTS-717] - "Download all" function behaviour on second and subsequent list pages
* [BLTS-718] - "Size" field no longer being populated in browse content view
** Improvement
* [BLTS-175] - Highlight selected menu item required
* [BLTS-248] - Excessive Tables Should be Sortable
* [BLTS-313] - Integrity Check on Learning objects
* [BLTS-509] - Improvements to Detailed Metadata Layout
* [BLTS-512] - Metadata Detailed Sector display improvement
* [BLTS-513] - Metadata Catalogue field display
* [BLTS-527] - Download failure scenario when Objects no longer available
* [BLTS-532] - Top Allign Selection checkboxes
* [BLTS-559] - Content Upload no email sent on failure
* [BLTS-570] - Show "User Level" Field on Brief and Summary metadata pages
* [BLTS-644] - Make BELTS work in Safari
* [BLTS-671] - CR - New order of metadata on Details page
* [BLTS-680] - update BELTS copyright to include "2005"
* [BLTS-699] - Display 'relevance' as a percentage
** New Feature
* [BLTS-674] - CR - New metadata field, date description
* [BLTS-696] - CR - Size of logo from external repository
* [BLTS-697] - Upgrade Jboss to version 4.01
* [BLTS-698] - Include Postgres 8 database support within BELTS
* [BLTS-705] - CR - Availability of ABC Online for distributed search
* [BLTS-712] - CR - New explanatory sentence for searching
** Task
* [BLTS-40] - Review Cocoon component allocation
* [BLTS-94] - Review SQL Indexes
* [BLTS-667] - Clarification - Fields searched using quicksearch
* [BLTS-703] - Check KLA matching for Curriculum Organiser
** Documentation
* [BLTS-646] - Update BELTS site with 1.2.0 changes etc
* [BLTS-706] - Documentation for port configurations and switching web server to Jetty
* [BLTS-719] - Documentation solution to Safari '60 second' timeout
+==================+
+ Installing BELTS +
+==================+
This file provides information on installing BELTS for use by your users.
Before Installing
=================
The Basic E-Learning Tool Set is a sophisticated web-based application.
The software should be installed and configured by an experienced
technician. Technicians should be experienced in securing and
administering web and database servers. These instructions only relate to
the installation of the BELTS application onto an existing preconfigured
operating system. Failure to properly configure the host machine could
result in an unsecured device on your network.
Education institutions should be aware of the software distributions they
are using. All software should be tested and control of distributions
maintained.
Upgrading
=========
Note: Upgrading from Version 1.0.0 of BELTS requires an intermediate
upgrade to Version 1.0.1 if you wish to preserve any data stored in your
original setup. Please refer to the BELTS Development Site
[http://belts.sourceforge.net/] for instructions on obtaining and
installing the 1.0.1 release of BELTS.
Before upgrading BELTS under Windows, please ensure that you uninstall the
service first, as described later in this document.
Procedure 1. Upgrade from Version 1.0.1 of BELTS
------------------------------------------------
1. On the Version 1.0.1 installation, log in as the "bootstrap" user and
export your system data, as outlined in "Exporting Data" (below).
2. Back up your Version 1.0.1 installation. This includes any data files
in /var/lib/belts.
3. Install Version 1.2 of BELTS, as outlined in "Installation" (below).
4. Start your Version 1.2 installation as outlined in "Start the BELTS
server" (below) and wait for the server to do a complete update from the
Exchange.
You can tell when a complete Exchange update has been performed by
watching the file BELTS_HOME/server/default/log/wrapper.log for a line
that looks like
INFO | jvm 2 | 2003/08/28 15:07:07 | 15:07:07,187 INFO [ScheduledUpdate] Update on provider exchange finished
5. Stop your Version 1.2 server as outlined in "Running as a service"
(below).
6. In BELTS_HOME/bin, run the "upgrade" program, with the following
parameters:
- the name of your Exchange provider ("exchange")
- the location of the exported XML file from above
- the location of your Version 1.0.1 BELTS data directory (/var/lib/belts)
- the location of an output directory for the upgraded data (not your Version
1.2 BELTS data directory)
Linux:
$ ./upgrade.sh exchange /tmp/belts-1.0-export.xml /var/lib/belts /tmp/belts-1.2
Windows:
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin> upgrade exchange \tmp\belts-1.0-export.xml \var\lib\belts %TEMP%\belts-1.2
This process could take up to 10 minutes depending on the amount of data
in your Version 1.0.1 installation.
7. Copy your newly-generated data directory over the Version 1.2 data directory
Linux:
$ cp -R /tmp/belts-1.2/* $BELTS_HOME/server/default/data/belts
Windows:
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin>xcopy %TEMP%\belts-1.2 ..\server\default\data\belts /s /e
When asked whether to overwrite files, select "All".
8. Restart your Version 1.2 installation.
9. Using the file generated during the upgrade process, import your system data,
as outlined in "Importing Data". The file name to import will be import-1.2.xml
and will be in BELTS_HOME/server/default/data/belts.
Installation
============
NOTE: Before installing the minimal version, you need to be aware that there
are two JBoss system files that are required to be modified for BELTS. These
files are
BELTS_HOME/server/default/conf/jboss-service.xml and
BELTS_HOME/server/default/conf/login-config.xml
If you are already running other JBoss applications, you will need to ensure that
you merge the changes in these files across, so that you don't owerwrite changes
that have been made for other applications.
JDK Installation
----------------
Installation of this release requires a current 1.4 version of
the Java Development Kit, available from http://java.sun.com/.
The JAVA_HOME environment variable should be set to the home directory
of your JDK installation in a manner appropriate to your operating system.
Create your BELTS User
----------------------
Using the tools appropriate to your environment, create a "belts" user,
giving the user a password appropriate to your organisation.
Note: Under Windows, the user needs to be a member of the local computer
Administrators group. All of the following commands should be performed
while logged in as this user.
Unpack BELTS
------------
Unpack BELTS into a directory of your choosing using the appropriate tool
for your platform.
Linux:
$ cd /usr/local
$ tar xvzf /mnt/cdrom/belts-1.2.0.tgz [substitute actual file location]
$ ln -s belts-1.2.0 belts
$ chown -R belts.belts belts*
Windows:
Use Winzip or similar program to unzip the BELTS distribution
into the desired directory.
The belts-1.2.0 directory created above will be known as BELTS_HOME for
the rest of this procedure. It is helpful to add this variable to your
platform's environment for ease of navigation, as follows.
Linux:
$ export BELTS_HOME=/usr/local/belts-1.2.0
Windows:
C:\> set BELTS_HOME=c:\belts-1.2.0
If you downloaded the minimal installation package, you will need to copy the
unpacked files over a JBoss Version 4.0.1 installation.
Linux:
$ cd /usr/local/jboss [substitute actual location]
$ cp -R /usr/local/belts-1.2.0/* .
Windows:
Use Windows Explorer to copy the belts-1.2.0 directory contents over
the contents of your jboss-4.0.1 directory, electing to overwrite files
if they already exist.
You now need to set BELTS_HOME to point to your JBOSS_HOME directory, as follows:
Linux:
$ export BELTS_HOME=$JBOSS_HOME
Windows:
C:\> set BELTS_HOME=%JBOSS_HOME%
Setup your database
-------------------
BELTS Version 1.2.0 supports PostgreSQL only. Please refer to the
following instructions to prepare your system to run BELTS.
Postgres Installation
---------------------
Notes that BELTS is currently setup to work with PostgreSQL Version 7.4 since
that is the most common version out there at the moment. If you are running a
different version, you will need to download a JDBC2 jar file for your version
from http://jdbc.postgresql.org/download.html and use it to replace
BELTS_HOME/server/default/lib/postgresql.jar.
Linux Installation
------------------
Ensure postgres is installed in your Linux environment by using the
appropriate tool for your distribution to install it. Once installed,
there is often no need to change anything to get BELTS to work
successfully.
Once postgres is installed, BELTS can be installed by extracting the
downloaded file and performing the steps outlined in "BELTS Database
Creation".
Windows Installation
--------------------
There are currently a number of options for installing postgres on Windows.
See http://techdocs.postgresql.org/guides/Windows for information on the best
options available.
Once postgres is installed, BELTS can be installed by extracting the
downloaded file and performing the steps outlined in "BELTS Database
Creation".
BELTS Database Creation
-----------------------
Once postgres is installed, create the BELTS user and database by
performing the following steps:
1. Use createuser to create a postgres user called "belts". This user
does not need to be able to create databases or users. The password for
the belts user is currently set to "verysecret". If desired, this can be
changed by updating BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/postgres-service.xml.
createuser --username=postgres --password
2. Create the belts database
createdb --username=belts --encoding=latin1 belts
Note: The latin1 encoding is not always supported by the postgres servers
for Windows. This doesn't seem to be an issue in our testing.
3. Create the belts database tables
Linux:
$ cd $BELTS_HOME/server/default/setup
$ psql belts belts < tables.sql
Windows:
C:\> cd %BELTS_HOME%\server\default\setup
C:\belts-1.2.0\server\default\setup> psql belts belts < tables.sql
Web Server Port Setup
---------------------
By default, BELTS listens on port 8080 for requests. This can be changed
to any other port by editing
BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/jbossweb-tomcat50.sar/server.xml.
In this file, find the following lines:
<Connector port="8080" address="${jboss.bind.address}"
maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="25" maxSpareThreads="75"
enableLookups="false" redirectPort="8443" acceptCount="100"
connectionTimeout="20000" disableUploadTimeout="true"/>
Change the "8080" to the desired port number.
Note: On Linux, a normal user process cannot open a server on "privileged"
ports. In this environment, you should use Apache's mod_proxy or some
other facility to map a call to a URL on port 80 to your BELTS server
running on port 8080.
On Windows, there are no restrictions on the port you use, but you should
ensure that you do not have IIS or another web server running if you wish
to use port 80 for your BELTS server.
HTTP Proxy Setup
----------------
If you need to use a proxy server to access the internet, you will need to
change some settings. In
BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.
xml, find the lines describing the HttpClientPool service and adjust them
to your settings.
The default settings are as follows:
<!-- HTTP Client Pool -->
<mbean code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.http.HttpClientPoolService" name="belts:service=HttpClientPool">
<attribute name="JndiName">belts/httpclient-pool</attribute>
<attribute name="Configuration">
<! [ CDATA [
<client-pool pool-size="4">
<!-- proxy port="" host="" username="" password=""/ -->
</client-pool>
]] >
</attribute>
</mbean>
To change this for your environment, remove the comments around the line
describing the proxy and replace it with your own settings. For example,
at the TLF, the following settings are required:
<proxy port="3128" host="melbourne.cache.telstra.net" username="" password=""/>
Mail Dispatcher Service
-----------------------
In BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.xml,
find the lines describing the SMTPMailDispatcherService and adjust them to
your settings. For example, the BELTS demo site at Jacus uses the
following:
<mbean name="belts:service=SMTPMailDispatcherService" code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.mail.SMTPMailDispatcherService">
<attribute name="Sender">belts@jacus.com.au</attribute>
<attribute name="Prefix">Belts</attribute>
<attribute name="ServerName">localhost</attribute>
</mbean>
In this configuration, mail is sent by localhost and comes from
belts@jacus.com.au. Mail sent by this host is prefixed with 'Belts'
so it is obvious where the mail came from.
Provider Setup
--------------
BELTS Version 1.2 contains definitions of a number of Providers, used to
"provide" content to the BELTS environment. Depending on whether
your system is a BELTS Central server or a downstream client, you will
need to setup a Learning Exchange Provider connection or a BELTS Provider
connection.
BELTS offers the ability to specify that a provider should automatically
download and/or publish new content as it becomes available. In the following
configuration examples, changing autoload to "true" will make the provider
automatically download the content, while changing autopublish to "true" will
make the provider automatically publish the content once it is downloaded.
Learning Exchange Provider
--------------------------
In
BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.
xml, find the configuration lines describing the
belts:service=Provider,name=exchange, remove the lines containing "<!--"
and "-->" and set your username and password. The default values for
these are set to "changeme".
<!--
<mbean code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.provider.ProviderService" name="belts:service=Provider,name=exchange">
<depends>belts:service=ContentStore</depends>
<depends>belts:service=HttpClientPool</depends>
<attribute name="JndiName">belts/content/provider/exchange</attribute>
<attribute name="ProviderClass">au.edu.educationau.belts.content.LoraxProvider</attribute>
<attribute name="Configuration">
<![CDATA[<lorax id="exchange" url="http://lex.thelearningfederation.edu.au/webservices/LearningExchange.asmx" username="changeme" password="changeme" autoload="false" autopublish="false"/>]]>
</attribute>
</mbean>
-->
BELTS Provider
--------------
In BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.
xml, find the configuration lines describing the "belts:service=Provider,name=belts",
remove the lines containing "<!--" and "-->" and set your server URL, username and
password. The default values for these are set to "http://upstream.example.com/belts/provide/"
for the host name and "changeme" for the username and password.
Note that the URL for the BELTS provider is the BELTS server name, plus
the string "/provide". For example, if your upstream BELTS is accessed as
"http://belts.myorganisation.edu", then your BELTS provider should be set
to "http://belts.myorganisation.edu/provide/". If you upstream BELTS is
accessed as "http://www.myorganisation.edu/belts", then your BELTS
provider should be set to "http://www.myorganisation.edu/belts/provide/".
<!--
<mbean code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.provider.ProviderService" name="belts:service=Provider,name=belts">
<depends>belts:service=ContentStore</depends>
<depends>belts:service=HttpClientPool</depends>
<attribute name="JndiName">belts/content/provider/belts</attribute>
<attribute name="ProviderClass">au.edu.educationau.belts.content.BeltsProvider</attribute>
<attribute name="Configuration">
<![CDATA[<belts id="belts" url="http://upstream.example.com/belts/provide/"
username="changeme" password="changeme" autoload="false" autopublish="false"/>]]>
</attribute>
</mbean>
-->
Scheduled Update Setup
----------------------
Having specified the provider to use, it is also necessary to specify an
update schedule, specifying the times at which your provider will be
queried for updates. You will need to setup a schedule for the provider
id that you specified earlier.
In
BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.
xml, find the configuration lines containing the configuration for an
mbean with the name belts:service=UpdateScheduler,provider=changeme and
replace "changeme" with the name of your provider (either "exchange" or
"belts"). You will also need to put the provider id in the
"SchedulableArguments" attribute. The attributes related to the actual
timing of the update are the "InitialStartDate" (in the format "mm/dd/yy
hh:mm am/pm") and "SchedulePeriod" attributes (specified in milliseconds).
The following table provides a set of useful values for the
"SchedulePeriod" attribute.
Table 1. SchedulePeriod Attribute settings
Schedule Period SchedulePeriod Setting
1 minute 60000
2 minutes 120000
60 minutes 3600000
2 hours 7200000
8 hours 28800000
12 hours 43200000
24 hours 86400000
<mbean code="org.jboss.varia.scheduler.Scheduler" name="belts:service=UpdateScheduler,provider=changeme">
<depends>belts:service=ContentStore</depends>
<attribute name="SchedulableClass">au.edu.educationau.belts.content.ScheduledUpdate</attribute>
<attribute name="StartAtStartup">true</attribute>
<attribute name="InitialStartDate">01/01/1970 12:00 am</attribute>
<attribute name="SchedulePeriod">86400000</attribute>
<attribute name="InitialRepetitions">-1</attribute>
<attribute name="SchedulableArgumentTypes">java.lang.String</attribute>
<attribute name="SchedulableArguments">changeme</attribute>
</mbean>
Setup your Curriculum Organiser
-------------------------------
To setup BELTS to use a curriculum organiser for your installation, place
your curriculum organiser file into the directory
BELTS_HOME/server/default/conf/belts.
In BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.xml,
find the configuration lines containing the configuration for an mbean
with the name belts:service=CurriculumOrganiser, remove the lines
containing "<!--" and "-->" and replace "sample-organiser.xml" with the
name of your file.
<mbean code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.curriculum.CurriculumOrganiserService" name="belts:service=CurriculumOrganiser">
<attribute name="JndiName">belts/content/organiser</attribute>
<!--
<attribute name="OrganiserPath">sample-organiser.xml</attribute>
-->
</mbean>
Setup the EdNA Searcher
-----------------------
The EdNA searcher requires a search user to be specified to allow the EdNA team
to track usage of the service. To register and generate a user id, go to
http://search.edna.edu.au/ and select the "Register" link.
In BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts-services.sar/META-INF/jboss-service.xml,
find the configuration lines describing the "belts:service=Searcher,name=edna" and
setup your search user, by replacing "changme" with the name sent to you by EdNA.
<!-- EdNA Searcher -->
<mbean code="au.edu.educationau.belts.management.searcher.SearcherService" name="belts:service=Searcher,name=edna">
<depends>belts:service=HttpClientPool</depends>
<attribute name="JndiName">belts/content/searcher/edna</attribute>
<attribute name="SearcherClass">au.edu.educationau.belts.search.edna.EdNASearcher</attribute>
<attribute name="Configuration">
<![CDATA[<edna id="edna" url="http://search.edna.edu.au/dsm/xml/search" user="changeme" strategy="waitall" sort="relevance" dupes="false" max-results="200" username="" password=""/>]]>
</attribute>
</mbean>
Start the BELTS server
======================
Linux:
$ cd $BELTS_HOME/bin
$ ./belts console
Windows:
C:\> cd %BELTS_HOME%\bin
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin> belts
The server takes around 1 or 2 minutes to startup depending on the
hardware it is running on.
Running as a service
====================
Running as a Windows service
----------------------------
If you wish to have the server started as a Windows service, run the
install batch file in %BELTS_HOME%\bin.
The service will be started automatically the next time the machine is
booted or you can run net start belts to start it immediately. To remove
the service, run the uninstall batch file.
Install the service:
C:\> cd %BELTS_HOME%\bin
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin> install
Start the service:
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin> net start belts
Stop the service:
C:\belts-1.2.0\bin> net stop belts
Running as a Linux service
Under Linux, the BELTS service can be installed in /etc/init.d by copying
the file belts_init.sh from the $BELTS_HOME/bin directory. Use chkconfig
to make BELTS start on startup.
$ cp $BELTS_HOME/bin/belts_init.sh /etc/init.d/belts
$ chkconfig --add belts
Start the service:
$ service belts start
Stop the service:
$ service belts stop
Note that the BELTS init script checks for the BELTS_HOME environment
variable and, if not set, assumes /usr/local/belts.
Accessing BELTS
===============
BELTS can be accessed by loading a web browser and going to
http://localhost:8080/ if you are accessing it from the machine it is
running on. If it is running on another machine, replace localhost with
the name of that machine.
Importing Data
==============
When BELTS is first installed, there is a single user defined (the
"bootstrap" user). At the login screen, enter "bootstrap" as both the
username and password and press the Login button. You will then be
presented with a simple home screen. Select the Bootstrap link on the
left of the screen to have the opportunity to import some basic data into
the system.
Note: For security reasons, you should change the password of your
bootstrap user once you have imported your initial data. This can be done
by editing BELTS_HOME/server/default/conf/belts.users and changing the
line:
bootstrap=bootstrap
to
bootstrap=newpassword
where "newpassword" is the desired password.
Importing Core Data
-------------------
The first data to import is the core data. Press the Browse button and
navigate to BELTS_HOME/server/default/bootstrap/core-data.xml, then select
Import. If all goes well, you will see a message indicating that the
import was successful.
You are now in a position where you have an administrative user called
"beltsadmin" with a password of "beltsadmin". You can now log in as this
user to set up your schools, etc.
Importing Test Data
-------------------
To import some test data, import the file
BELTS_HOME/server/default/bootstrap/test-data.xml. This sample data
contains the following users:
- System Administrators
- test-administrator-1
- test-administrator-2
- Content Manager
- test-manager-1
- test-manager-2
- Users from test-school-1
- test-school-admin-1 - a school administrator
- test-teacher-1 - a teacher
- test-student-1 - a student
- Users from test-school-2
- test-school-admin-2 - a school administrator
- test-teacher-2 - a teacher
- test-student-2 - a student
All of these users are given an initial password of "belts".
Exporting Data
--------------
If you wish to export your existing data, log in as the bootstrap user, go
to the Bootstrap link and select Export.
This will display the current database contents in an XML format that can
be saved and used as an import file later on.
Note: For security reasons, your bootstrap user may have had its password
changed during installation. The password can be determined by looking at
BELTS_HOME/server/default/conf/belts.users and finding the line with the
username and password. It will look something like:
bootstrap=newpassword
Miscellaneous Installation Tips
===============================
Configuring The Viewing Area for Netscape 6
-------------------------------------------
The Viewing area for Netscape 6 is a set display area. This is due to the
non-scalability of objects within this particular browser because of a
browser limitation. Depending on your setup and/or preferred screen
resolution then you may want to alter the display area for the objects.
The change needs to be made to an xslt file located in:
$BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts.ear/belts-web.war/xsl/object-width.xslt
Simply modify the settings for Pixel width and height as appropriate to
your needs. Any edit to this particular file should not be performed
unless the user is familiar with xslt. Incorrectly editing this file will
break the entire server. i.e. no pages will be served.
Potential Problems
------------------
When attempting to view an object then nothing is displayed (A blank/white
viewing area is displayed). Some browsers (eg Internet Explorer) will
automatically detect that this is the case and will direct you to an
install. Others (eg Netscape) will simply remain as a blank white screen.
The likely problem here is that your browser does not have the correct
plug-ins installed to display the particular object you are trying to
view. Resolution: Depending on the object type then the likely fix to
this is to visit the website http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/. At
this site you should download both the latest version of Macromedia Flash
Player and Macromedia Shockwave Player. Before running each of these
files it is recommended to shutdown all instances of your browser before
running each install.
Increasing the allowed size for uploaded content
------------------------------------------------
If you find you get errors from the web server when you try to upload
extremely large files, change the following line in
BELTS_HOME/server/default/deploy/belts.ear/belts-web.war/WEB-INF/web.xml
<init-param>
<param-name>upload-max-size</param-name>
<param-value>16777216</param-value>
</init-param>
This is the value (in bytes) of the maximum allowable uploaded file size.
Safari browser 60-second timeout
--------------------------------
If you use the Safari browser on Mac OS X, you may find that the 60-second browser
timeout is shorter than the amount of time it takes for high end cache
regeneration and synchronisation functions to be acknowledged (you may also be
experiencing timeout issues with other websites using the safari browser).
Repeating the submissions may not resolve the problem due to a 60 second timeout
setting within Safari.
To overcome this issue you may want to install SafariNoTimeout
(http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/snt), a free extension that will increase the
60-second timeout to 10 minutes.
Known Issues
============
For an up to date track of known issues within the project please check
out the Jira issue tracking for the BELTS project:
http://jira.thelearningfederation.edu.au/secure/BrowseProject.jspa?id=10010
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