METADOT OPEN SOURCE PORTAL SERVER
As usual quick and durty ...
...INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
but this time this is version 2.
For support see at
http://www.metadot.com/support.html
support@metadot.com
Everything copyright Metadot. www.metadot.com
---------------------------------------------------
NEW METADOT V2: EVERYTING IS A CHANNEL
Metadot v2 add the capability for end users to have a personalized news page containing external news channels, online discussions, internal news channels. Users can subscribe to channels and get the content delivered to their prefered medium. Internal channels are discussions, news feeds that admins or users creates, anything that is on the Metadot portal site. This gives the end user the possibility to aggregate all information he needs into one page and subscribe to it too.
### UPGRADING TO VERSION 2
*** Please read the upgrade instructions at the end of the file.
*** Do not perform a normal install but only the upgrade instructions!
### INTRODUCTION
In order to run Metadot portal server you'll need a Linux box with Apache, Perl, Mod_perl and MySQL. If you have Windoze 98/NT/2000 then you need IIS, Perl-EX for the speed and MySQL. The lucky part is that Metadot is compatible with Microsoft platforms.
### INSTALLATION OVERVIEW
Install Perl
Install MySQL
Install Apache with Mod_perl
Untar Metadot
Load default data into the database
Configure database username and password
Add contrab entry for Metadot deamon
### THE BIG STUFF
Apache 1.3.6 http://apache.org/
MySQL 3.22.25 http://www.mysql.com/
Don't forget also to install MySQL clients
and MySQL development
Perl 5.005_03 http://www.perl.com/CPAN/
mod_perl 1.21 http://perl.apache.org/
### METADOT PORTAL SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND SETUP
You need to create a operating system user metadot (not completely required but a lot more convenient), the metadot database and the metadot database user with the appropriate privileges:
As root: add a metadot user to your Linux machine.
Go to the metadot user *web* home directory (say /home/metadot/public_html)
Go to the directory in which you wish to install the software then unzip and untar the tarba
ll:
Unzip and untar the tarball
gunzip metadot.tar.gz
tar x < metadot.tar
The tarball will create the following files/dir structure:
metadot/
Perl files
channels/
logs/
html/
README
index.html
files/
images/
perl: contains the software metadot (perl scripts)
html: this is your document root directory
images: needed by the software
files: contains the users' uploaded files
index.html will redirect all calls to metadot/index.pl
It contains the following HTML instructions:
<html>
<title>Loading</title>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;url=/metadot/index.pl">
</html>
You need to change /metadot/index.pl to whatever your path is.
NOTE:
- Based on the server directory config you have you may need to move the folders images/ and files/ and also the file index.html. It often requires a bit of massage specially if you are using virtual servers.
- Make sure the web server is able to write into the files directory.
==> Change the db password variable in the file Metadot.pm to match the new password you jus t set. Look for and adjust the following line:
$gApplication{dbpassword}="newpassword";
### METADOT DEAMON CRONTAB ENTRY
Metadot deamon is metadotd.pl. It builds the portal channels, sends notifications, fetches RSS files, etc..
In order to have the deamon run automatically add these 2 lines in your crontab:
*/20 * * * * cd /home/metadot/metadot/; nice -19 perl metadotd.pl -m -s >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
18 1 * * * cd /home/metadot/metadot/; perl metadotd.pl -o >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
The first line tells metadotd.pl to run every 20 minutes with low priority (nice -19) with the -m option which means deamon mode (normal mode).
The second line tells metadotd.pl to remove any lock file that would have not been removed previously.
==> The directory argument of the cd command needs to be adjusted to where the Metadot perl files are on your local system.
To list your contrab use 'crontab -l' at the prompt.
To edit your contrab use 'crontab -e' at the prompt.
### DATABASE PREPARATION
Use the SQL command file createdbanduser.sql to this:
bash % mysql mysql < createdbanduser.sql
NOTE: on some mysql system the user table requires more information. If you get an error running the above command then edit the file createdbanduser.sql and replace the 'insert into user...' line by the following line:
insert into user values ('localhost','metadot',password('changeme'),'Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y');
==> SECURITY: change immediately the default db user password:
bash % mysql mysql
mysql > update user set password = password('newpassword') where user = 'metadot';
mysql > flush privileges;
As the metadot user:
Load the sql data into the database
bash% mysql -umetadot metadotdb -pnewpassword < sampledata.sql
### PERL PREPARATION
You will need to install many Perl modules. You can download perl modules at
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/
and install them yourself or use the easy way: use the Perl CPAN module installer:
bash% perl -MCPAN -e shell
cpan> install <modulename>
and the magic happens.
The goods things is that the CPAN shell will also downloads and installs
dependencies so you'll save time.
Therefore if you do
cpan> install LWP
cpan> install DBI
cpan> install Mysql
cpan> install Apache::DBI
cpan> install XML::RSS
All the modules in the list below will be installed.
If you are using Windows NT/98/2000 then use Active State Perl ppm.bat (http://www.activestate.com) command to get the modules.
Make sure you have the following perl module available on your system.
DBI-1.13
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DBI
Data-ShowTable-3.3
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Data-ShowTable
Data-Dumper 2.101
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Data-Dumper
TimeDate-1.08
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=TimeDate
Msql-Mysql-modules-1.2209
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Msql-Mysql-modules
ApacheDBI-0.87
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=ApacheDBI
libnet-1.0607
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=libnet
HTML-Parser-2.25
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=HTML-Parser
HTML::FormatText
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=HTML-Format
XML-Parser-2.27
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=XML-Parser
MIME-Base64-2.11
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=MIME-Base64
Digest-MD5-2.09
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Digest-MD5
URI-1.04
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=URI
libwww-perl-5.47
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=libwww-perl
DateManip-5.35
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DateManip
XML::RSS
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=XML-RSS
### CONFIGURE APACHE WITH MOD_PERL
Your Apache conf file (usually /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf) should contain something like:
LoadModule perl_module modules/libperl.so
AddModule mod_perl.c
Alias /metadot/ /home/metadot/public_html/metadot/
<Location /metadot>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::Registry
Options +ExecCGI
</Location>
You will need to put your directory path in place of
/home/metadot/public_html/metadot/ !!
This way each time a user calls a file Apache will execute it using mod_perl
NOTE: make sure you DO NOT have the directive:
PerlSendHeader On
enabled.
If you have this enabled then you will see http headers on top of every page the server sends.
To test your Apache/perl install try to run the helloworld.pl program in the test directory both from the command line and from the web. If it works that's a good start, if it doesn't fix it first then continue with the install.
### TEST PERL INSTAL
Once everything is installed then you can try to run the index.pl file from the command line. Go to the directory in which the Metadot Perl files are located and run the command:
bash% perl index.pl
You should see some output like:
(offline mode: enter name=value pairs on standard input)
Then type control-D and you should see the html output.
If it works try from your browser to access index.pl
e.g. http://<yourhostname[:port]>/metadot/index.pl
If it works on the web then your are set.
### WEB LOG-ON AND PLAY
You should be ready to go online at this time and try to login as the admin:
http://<yourhostname[:port]>/metadot/index.pl
Click login,
username: admin
password: 123
### SET SYSTEM PARAMETERS <=== THIS STEP IS *VERY* IMPORTANT
Switch to edit mode by click on the EDIT ON button then select the admin menu.
Click on modify system parameters and set them in order to match your configuration.
### SITE LOOK AND FEEL CUSTOMIZATION
Color, font, headers and footers are customized in the LOOK & FEEL menu. Only admins can change the look and feel.
### UPGRADING INSTRUCTIONS
If you are install Metadot from scratch then you can ignore this paragraph.
1. Write down the database username and password you have entered in Metadot.pm a while ago.
2. Intall the new Metadot files:
gunzip the metadot.tar.gz
untar metadot.tar
Also make sure you use the new images folder since we added some new icons in it.
3. Edit Metadot.pm and write back your db username and password (I know I know, that should be another config file!)
4. Add XML::RSS to your Perl install:
bash% perl -MCPAN -e shell
cpan> install XML::RSS
4 *** VERY IMPORTANT: RUN THE UPGRADE PROGRAM
bash% perl upgrade
This will modify the table structure and add some default channels.
5. STOP AND RESTART APACHE
Since Apache caches Metadot.pm you need to restart it.
bash% /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd stop
bash% /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd start
bash% /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd status
6. ADD A LINK TO MYPAGE ON ALL SITE PAGES
Add a link to MyPage on the front page close to MyPortal edit Main header, Sub header, Simple Header. Log as an administrator, go to edit mode, click on Style & Color then change the above fields:
Replace :
<font face=times size=5>
<A class=mypage HREF="index.pl?op=myportal">My Portal</A>
</font>
With
<font face=times size=5>
<A class=mypage HREF="index.pl?op=myportal">My Portal</A> |
<A class=mypage HREF="userchannel.pl">My Page</A>
</font>
7. ADD CRONTAB ENTRY
Refer to section METADOT DEAMON CRONTAB ENTRY
and follow the instructions.
### AND NOW...
You are all set. Enjoy the ride.
--The Metadot team.
$Id: README,v 1.7 2000/06/14 02:56:09 supercobra Exp $
$Revision: 1.7 $
