[OpenGuides] #36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide ------------------------+--------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Version: 0.51 Severity: normal | Keywords: ------------------------+--------------------------------------------------- Currently, the install of [http://search.cpan.org/~dom/OpenGuides/ OpenGuides] is tricky, and doesn't allow a great deal of flexibility:
* Running more than one guide on the same host * Upgrading the software
It is proposed that the install process be split into two distinct steps:
./Build install # install the software, run as root
./Build guide # Ask all the config questions about setting up a guide # Set up the wiki.conf, CGI and database tables, run as www-data
Thus a CPAN(PLUS) or Debian apt-get install will only install the software, and not any guides. This exact mechanism can be used for software upgrades with the minimum of human effort.
As a side effect, the test suite will need revising, as the answers to the config questions about databases will not be known at this point.
Currently, the test suite is run against all the supported database drivers found (MySQL, pg, SQLite). These are destructive tests that are run against the databases concerned, and could have a devastating effect if run against the real production database.
I propose that instead, there are two options for running the test suite, either minimally via an SQLite throwaway database (the default), or running the tests against the full range of databases on the target machine - a full test. To do this will involve another new build target:
./Build testconfig # probe system for database drivers, and get authentification info
Once testconfig has been run, the test suite will run against all test databases, and the schemae and test data will be torn down on completion, and also at the beginning if the databases appear non-empty.
A full test with testconfig against all database platforms is recommended before shipping releases.
Note, this change will also insist on making DBD::SQLite a prerequisite module.
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide ------------------------+--------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Version: 0.51 Severity: normal | Resolution: Keywords: | ------------------------+--------------------------------------------------- Comment (by dom):
Incidentally, my Debian packages have always abstracted guides and the software install. The package sets up a default guide for people but it's easy to add more guides (this is done with a symlink farm when installing as a CGI (ie a symlink to /etc/openguides/$guide/wiki.conf and symlinks to /usr/lib/cgi-bin/openguides/*.cgi from the site's cgi-bin. When mod_perl is [ticket:6 supported] we can just use the OPENGUIDES_CONFIG environment variable (already [changeset:621 supported])).
In my opinion the functionality you describe in ./Build guide should instead be a script - not something that relies on having the source package around. Any user should, given appropriate file permissions, be able to set up a guide.
I've written openguides-setup-db (attached) for this purpose on Debian. It doesn't actually configure it for you but just does the db setup, but this would be a good place to start (renamed openguides-setup or oven ogadm newguide for a more generalised command-line tool).
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Component: openguides Version: 0.51 | Severity: normal Resolution: | Keywords: --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Changes (by dom):
* component: => openguides
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Component: openguides Version: 0.51 | Severity: normal Resolution: | Keywords: --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Comment (by ivorw):
I'm inclined to agree. People will want to be able to add a guide after the build directories have been blown away completely. So, the install will deliver a setup script as part of the "executables" that get installed.
Any user should, given appropriate file permissions, be able to set up a guide.
I think that it's most appropriate for the webserver account to be used to set up new guides, as this will guarantee that the permissions will work. We would need to be careful of the security issues though.
Having said that, there's no reason why this command line script couldn't be turned into a CGI script, making the setting up and changing configuration of guides even easier.
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Component: openguides Version: 0.51 | Severity: normal Resolution: | Keywords: --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Comment (by dom):
What about suExec user CGI though? That's a policy decision and not something the software should be trying to enforce.
I'm not sure it's worth having the guide creation be a CGI script either. You are left with the problem of making that work in a CGI environment then. Though if the logic is separated out into a module which can be driven from the command line instead, I'm not fussed.
#36: Separate out installation of the OpenGuides software from installing a guide --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Reporter: ivorw | Owner: ivorw Type: enhancement | Status: assigned Priority: normal | Component: openguides Version: 0.51 | Severity: normal Resolution: | Keywords: --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Changes (by ivorw):
* status: new => assigned * owner: => ivorw
Comment:
In progress. Just the first bit - decoupling Build.PL from the config questions.
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