Re: [VuFind-General] [VuFind-Tech] VuFind Developers Call Agenda - 6/14/11

[Demian K. <dem...@vi...>]

> > 7. VuFind 1.2 Release Date / Key Features
> 
> Release date & features: earliest possible with already stable
> features.
> 
> The reasoning for this is that generally new systems are rolled out
> during breaks at least at this University, but I would guess it goes the
> same way in others. Hence, it would be better to have an stable version
> *before* the summer break, and spend the time between summer and before
> the winter break for the next version.

Because of various administrative details (mainly gathering translations of new phrases for all the language files), it will take at least a month or two to get things ready for a new release even if we freeze the features as they are right now.  That being said, I would like to get things ready as soon as possible -- I'm just not sure if it will be possible to have it out in time for a lot of summer preparation.

> 1. Making it easier to install as non-root:
> 
>    1. local PEAR installroot
> 
>       Using "pear install --installroot=..."
> 
>       Thus, no need to touch and potentially disrupt the system PHP/PEAR
>       install. Also, allows for having VuFind instances with different
>       requirements (e.g.: VuFind 1.2 & VuFind2).

I'm already planning that VuFind 2.0 will include all dependencies bundled in, so there won't be any PEAR install process at all -- it seems easier to burden the user with the work of deleting duplicate files if they really care about saving a few K of disk space, rather than worrying about potential conflicts.  In the meantime, perhaps we can add a new parameter to the install script to allow optional use of the installroot parameter.  If you think that's the way to go, please open a JIRA ticket as a reminder.

>    2. auto-running Solr as non-root
> 
>       I see three possibilities:
> 
>       1. use the user crontab and the @reboot time specification
>       2. use a distro-provided Solr
>       3. modify the vufind.sh to detect when running as root and run the
>          service as a configured user
> 
>       By using 1 we can actually discard 3, 2 would provide the best
>       integration with the native boot system and take advantage of the
>       configuration and security of the OS.

For what it's worth, here's how we configured things at Villanova (sort of a combination of 1 and 3 above):

1.) We created a VuFind-specific user.
2.) We set up a crontab for this user to load new records nightly and to regularly restart Solr.
3.) In the server startup folder (/etc/rc.d/init.d), we have two scripts:

vufind_run:

#!/bin/sh

# This script starts, stops or restarts vufind.  It is designed
# as a support script for the main vufind script, which executes
# these actions as the vufind user.  This should not be called
# directly!
cd /usr/local/vufind
./vufind_cron.sh $1

vufind:

#!/bin/sh

# Start VuFind as the vufind user.
/bin/su - vufind -c "/etc/rc.d/init.d/vufind_run $1"

As you can see from the comments, we use the vufind script in the various system startup folders, and then it calls out to the vufind_run support script, which in turn runs the cron-friendly VuFind startup script as described in the Wiki.  We could probably shave some steps out of this process if we put our mind to it...  but you get the basic idea!

Regarding the idea of using a distro-provided Solr, I don't think that's too likely to happen -- Solr changes a lot between versions, and VuFind is trying to keep pretty close to the bleeding edge; bundling Solr saves us from a lot of compatibility headaches and other complications...  though there's certainly no harm in posting instructions in the wiki about how to use a distro-provided Solr if it happens to be compatible.

- Demian