Read Me

README.txt

You're ready to setup your own Socknet Provider. Good for you. Here's how to install this software:

1. Get yourself a server and a database. This software has only been tested with Apache and MySQL on Linux. If you manage to get it running on something else, let us know on http://foomor-socknet.sourceforge.org/.

2. Log into your database and run all the SQL statements from the table_setup.sql file.

3. Put this software in a directory that your web server software can access.

4. Configure this software by editing the proto.conf file (it contains further instructions).

5. Configure your webserver to use /your-directory/script/proto_***.pl to serve your domain.

If you're using FastCGI, you will add something like this to your webserver configuration:

	DocumentRoot /your-directory/root/

	Alias /static /your-directory/root/static
	<Location /static>
	  SetHandler default-handler
	  Allow from All
	</Location>

	Alias / /your-directory/script/proto_fastcgi.pl/
	<Location />
	  Options ExecCGI
	  Order allow,deny
	  Allow from All
	  AddHandler fcgid-script .pl
	</Location>

This software has only been tested with FastCGI using FCGI, but there are also scripts called proto_cgi.pl, proto_prefork.pl and proto_server.pl, which should work as well. Check out the Catalyst documentation for more about those: http://www.catalystframework.org/.

6. Attempt to run your software by accessing your-domain.com from a web browser. This will probably not work yet.

7. If errors occur, they are saved in the file /your-directory/script/startup.log. View this file to determine what errors occurred. Generally they will involve missing Perl packages, such as Catalyst, DateTime, etc. Install those packages using 'cpan' or 'ppm'.

8. You may need to repeat 6 & 7 several times to get the software working. Ask questions and relay your experiences with the software on the forums at http://foomor-socknet.sourceforge.org/.

9. When the software works, you should create a username and then set is_admin=1 on that username in your database.

10. Finally, you'll need to setup crontabs to run the following in these suggested intervals:

	curl http://your-domain.com/cron/check_newsfeeds every hour
	curl http://your-domain.com/cron/check_watchers every day
	curl http://your-domain.com/cron/clear_statistics every day







When updates to the software are issued, follow these steps:

1. Run any new lines from table_setup.sql (that file will only grow, nothing will ever be deleted).

2. Copy new files to your directory. If you've edited any files, you may need to resolve any conflicts. If you're using svn, it might be able to merge your files automatically. DO NOT OVERWRITE YOUR proto.conf FILE. Maybe keep a copy of that in a safe place.

3. You may need to restart your server to see the changes.






If you know lots about the CPAN:

We could use some help packaging this software for the CPAN. Especially so that it will gather its own requirements. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.