Forum .LRN Q&A: Installation still broken

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Posted by Ben Koot on
I am trying to go back to the latest stable https://openacs.org/projects/openacs/download/one-revision?revision_id=456900
version but it shows the same error I had with 5.3 stable. Somewhere the system is messed up...
why its trying to find a
\'packages-install.tcl file, when there is only an install.tcl file in the
directory its looking in?

My site... http://www.villagetalk.net

I really hope this can be solved very soon.

Thanks
Ben

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Posted by Torben Brosten on
Hi Ben,

Look at the suggestions in this thread for some ideas: https://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=200571

Since the system is likely using freebsd, I would first suspect that the info in the config.tcl file is not consistent with the rest of the installation.

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Posted by Ben Koot on
Torben,

Mark checked my settings versus your's ... Here's his comment... Can you meake or toes out of this?

the nsd.tcl (ie. config.tcl) file is
almost identical to dekka.com's, except for some path changes and minor
variations in stuff like 'maxbackup' and/or upload sizes ...

but ... my VPS is running AOLServer 4.5.0 while his your's still back on 4.0.10
... is there a problem with 4.5.0?

Also, the packages-install.tcl file seems to be found only in:

villagetalk# find . -name packages-install.tcl -print
./packages/acs-admin/www/apm/packages-install.tcl
villagetalk# pwd
/usr/local/www/villagetalk.net/openacs-5.2.3
villagetalk#

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Posted by Torben Brosten on
There doesn't seem to be anything really significant between the config.tcl version you are using and the current one for 4.5 (oacs-5-3):

http://cvs.openacs.org/cvs/openacs-4/etc/config.tcl?r1=1.32&r2=1.39.2.3

Try either using aolserver 4.0.10, or working with a fresh config file.

Also, I have experienced that "packages-install.tcl file not found" error.. when adapting a fresh openacs to freebsd.. I just can't remember the cause/fix right now, but I'm fairly certain it's related to the config.tcl (nsd.tcl) file or the startup script (and environmental variables).

It may be that serverroot or pageroot variables needs to be manually set in the config.tcl file.

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Posted by Ben Koot on
I am lost, why is it impossible to get oacs installed as a clean install, out of the box using the latest stable release? Sorry if this sounds a stupid question. All I am looking for is to get back to what I have been using for over three years. It used to work perfectly.
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Posted by Marc Fournier on
Torben, just curious here ... 8.2.x is creating databases as UTF8 by default ... do you know if there are any problems with UTF8?
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Posted by Torben Brosten on
Hi Marc,

The config.tcl[1] uses utf-8 by default.

1. http://cvs.openacs.org/cvs/openacs-4/etc/config.tcl?view=markup

This install is using a fresh database, right?

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Posted by Torben Brosten on
Just to save you having to respond..

If this install is using a prexisting database, such as from archive, then it is possible/likely that the db has some prexisting references to file paths from the old installation which will break a site unless the new install uses the same file paths.

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Posted by Ben Koot on
Is anyone running OpenACS 5.2.3 with Aolserver 4.5.0 and
PostgreSQL 8.2?. Does anyone know it to be broken with that configuration?

The other thing is ... should that package-install.tcl file be auto-generated or something? It just plain doesn't exist in the distribution, so why is it referencing it??

Thanks
Ben

p.s. we now have an empty virtual machine with no historic files of earlier installations and used the downlaod link as advised on OACS download page. https://openacs.org/projects/openacs/download/

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Posted by Torben Brosten on
Hi Ben,

Looking at the compatibility-matrix[1], compatibility requires postgresql 8.2 from cvs, and the freebsd ports version is most likely based on a tar version.

1. https://openacs.org/xowiki/openacs-compatibility-matrix

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Posted by Marc Fournier on
'k, that matrix doesn't help much ... what date from CVS? :) Like, is that '8.2 from cvs where 8.2.2 is the tar', or 8.2 from cvs where 8.2.3 is the tar'?

8.2.3 was released Feb 7th ... is the cvs comment in the matrix newer or older then that? :)

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Posted by Torben Brosten on
I don't know. =/

FWIW, editing history for that page shows the comment added by Gustaf Neumann on 5 jan 2007.

The default is "no" compatibility for PG 8.2 with OpenACS 5.2. There is compatibility for PG 8.2 with OpenACS 5.3 core. There are significant differences between OpenACS 5.2 and 5.3 cores. Maybe there is some additional, unpublished developer "magic" needed to get 8.2 to work with 5.2.

To rule out some kind of OpenACS 5.2 tarball problem, I'd try using the oacs-5-2 branch from cvs:

https://openacs.org/xowiki/Get_the_Code

Otherwise, switch to using pg 8.1 which has had the greatest amount of testing against oacs 5.2.

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Posted by Marc Fournier on
k, I just switched down to 8.1 ... from my side, that was the easier one to do ...

I've restarted the server, and now its to Ben to fill in the fields on that first screen ...

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Posted by Ben Koot on
After filling in the screen here the result

OpenACS Installation
Installing the OpenACS kernel data model...

but within a second the answer : "done"

but nothing is installed.

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Posted by Orzenil Silva Junior on
Ben,

A time ago i did an openacs fresh install using aolserver40r10 and postgresql-8.1.5 with the same tarball you are trying now

https://openacs.org/projects/openacs/download/one-revision?revision_id=456900

and the installation failed with this same behavior.

I found that problem was related with file packages/acs-kernel/sql/utilities-create.sql on postgresql-8.x.

Try to replace utilities-create.sql from your tarball with the same file from oacs-5-2 branch. Get this file from cvs:

http://cvs.openacs.org/cvs/*checkout*/openacs-4/packages/acs-kernel/sql/postgresql/utilities-create.sql?rev=1.5.2.1

and proceed to install.

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Posted by Ben Koot on
Thanks for the hint, Orzenil, but unfortunately the problem is still there.

Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.

The proxy server could not handle the request GET /packages-install.

Reason: Document contains no data

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Posted by Marc Fournier on
'k folks, this is getting ridiculous :( I've never seen this sort of headache with any of the OpenACS installs before, and we're running *alot* of OpenACS sites ...

I just re-checked the matrix to make sure that we're not running anything not the right version ...

We're running:

Aolserver 4.5.0
PostgreSQL 8.1.9
OpenACS 5.2.3

Ben is able to enter in all the data on the initial screen, but when he clicks Next, the log files generate:

Error: Unable to source /usr/local/www/villagetalk.net/openacs-5.2.3/packages/acs-bootstrap-installer/installer/packages-install.tcl: file does not exist.

Using find, the only packages-install.tcl that I'm able to find is:

villagetalk# find . -name packages-install.tcl -print
./packages/acs-admin/www/apm/packages-install.tcl

Doing a 'grep -r', I'm not even finding packages-install.tcl referenced anywhere in the whole tree, so not sure how/where its being called from in the first place:

villagetalk# grep -r packages-install.tcl . | grep -v error.log
./packages/acs-admin/www/apm/packages-install.tcl: @cvs-id $Id: packages-install.tcl,v 1.18 2003/09/26 07:50:33 lars Exp $

So ... is packages-install.tcl being mis-referenced? Not that I can find where its being referenced, but someone with knowlege of the code hopefully does? :)

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Posted by Dave Bauer on
Make sure you don't have a partially installed database around. Check the error log for a previous error to this one. Usually you will find it failed somehwere before this, pointing to the actual problem.

Make sure its referencing the correct version of postgresql. If you have two versions in the system, its likely that it is using the wrong psql binary. Set the path to the one you want in the startup nsd-postgres shell script if necessary.

Make sure if you have two different versions of postgresql that psql is connecting to the correct port for the version you want to use.Some versions of psql will connect to a different version of the postgres backend and you won't realize it. Its most likely a misconfiguration in the environment that nsd is running in when it tries to exec psql to load the datamodel.

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Posted by Ben Koot on
At last we managed to get things back into working order. One thing however remains a mystery from a a newbie point of view. One would expect a new release to offer an upgraded toolkit. In the OACS world a new release seems to result into no active modules. I don't understand why this is called OACS 5.3.1 final if there is no functionality to download. All I now have is dotlrn, forum and lars blogger. Why don't you ship logger. project manager, photodb, fileshare and all the other stable modules ?

Thanks
Ben

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Posted by Gustaf Neumann on
Ben Koot wrote: "At last we managed to get things back into working order. "

I and maybe some more users of the forum are quite curious, what the source of the strange problem was. How did you fix this problem? This might be helpful in situations somebody else runs into the same situation.

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Posted by Malte Sussdorff on
" Why don't you ship logger. project manager, photodb, fileshare and all the other stable modules ?"

Because there is no maintainer who is saying that the package works in OpenACS 5.3.1. We want to make sure to ship only modules which we know are working.

Additionally, with the many changes with regards to design, project manager does not work on 5.3.1 as it needs some cleanup. I never heard of photodb (or do you mean photo-album) or fileshare for that matter.

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Posted by Aernout Schmidt on
I am one of those other users Gustaf mentions. Ben?
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Posted by Marc Fournier on
Just to summarize ... based on recommendations from Torben, I installed the FreeBSD OpenACS port, which uses 5.3.1 ... based on the aolserver modules that I see installed after using that port (first what I did manually):

aolserver-4.5.0_3
aolserver-nscache-1.5
aolserver-nsopenssl-3.0.b26
aolserver-nspostgres-4.0
aolserver-nssha1-0.1
aolserver-xotcl-1.5.3_5

I had installed everything *except* the xotcl module, so suspect that that was 'the missing link' ... everything else seems to be the same as what I had originally installed ;(

But, now its running with aolserver 4.5.0, postgresql 8.2 and openacs 5.3.1 ...

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Posted by Ben Koot on
I understand the lack of package moderation, but at the same time I am puzzled because the current default release is shipped with 3 packages that do not work but is released as final. Try my install... http://villagetalk.net/ See Marc's explanation of the setup) User profile, Selva and Homework do not work out of the box. Neither does XOwiki, so somehow things are still missing. Server restart after installing modules is also broken by the way. It has to be done manually.

Maybe it's an idea to have a few "dummies" like myself run a test install prior to releasing a new version in future, so we can prevent this kind of discussion in public as if we are serious about marketing the toolkit, this kind of trouble is not really positive. Maybe that's a positive way non developers can contribute to the success of the toolkit.

On the other hand, I agree a stupid dummie question, why would stable modules not work under a new release? there's over 90 oacs modules under various releases, yet the latest only shows about 15. I fail to see the logic. If the result of the lack of package maintainers means with each new release we'll loose more of the non core packages it looks like we have an overall management problem. I don't have the answer to that one right now, but will give it a serious thought and see what I can come up with.

As an end user I am interested in the latest tools and tricks so it's a real disappointment to end up in a catch 22 and having to downgrade because I'll loose core functionality, in favor of a breakthrough like Xowiki. To me a stable release means nothing, I want to use the latest improvements, without loosing the stable core!

I am setting up a Pan African business school and hope to be able to find some keen ICT students that might be able to help set up a team of package maintainers, and at the same time make OACS a part of their curriculum http://venbs.wordpress.com/curriculum/

Ben

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Posted by Gustaf Neumann on
Ah, you installed a different release! The new FreeBSD port by Martin is quite different from earlier versions. The missing xotcl package you are mentioning is by no chance responsible for a missing "packages-install.tcl". Between your last installation (based on 5.2.3) and the current one (based on 5.3.1) there were substantial changes in OpenACS and in the FreeBSD installer. So all i can deduce as a summary is that 5.2.3 installation is broken on FreeBSD, the 5.3.1 port is much better.