Showing posts with label installation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label installation. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Windows 7

A few days back, I posted about installing Ubuntu on my laptop instead of going with Vista. After some really onerous trials at installing XP went in vain AGAIN, I decided to go with Windows 7 beta (fingers crossed).

That said I can safely say from my experience is - Lenovo's ThinkPad support is a farce and ridiculously incompetent (I heard previously that ThinkPads' support made it a ThinkPad).

It is about 120 days after that I am able to get Windows on my laptop. The laptop is about 120 days old. I refuse to pay for recovery DVDs. I refuse to install Vista.

Update: The only issue I have had so far with Windows 7 is the sound did not work as default (Volume Control Options - Sound Devices - check Speakers).

Update 5/6: Updated to RC (build 7100) from beta build 7077 from here and here

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Mantis BT installation

Mantis Bugtracker


Installation Requirements:

Mantis BT zip files
PHP zip and installer files
MS SQL (or MySQL with GUI tools like MySQL admin)
PHPMailer


- Install PHP: 5.2.8 (installation link):

I used the installer (php-5.2.8-win32-installer.msi) first and then the zip file (php-5.2.8-Win32.zip). PHP extension DLL files (php_mysql.dll or php_mssql.dll) are present in the zip file only. Installed on C:\php\ and also put it on path. Also had to put the C:\php\ext\ on path. Restart web server (at least IIS service).

For configuring PHP with IIS, For 'Default web sites' (not 'mantisbt') do:
In diretory tab, within configuration, add executable 'c:\php\php-cgi.exe' for extension '.php'. Uncheck 'cache isapi extensions' (not sure). For windows server, allow all unknown CGI extensions in IIS - web service extensions is a workaround as a potential security risk.

For configuring PHP with IIS, there are two options: CGI binary (php-cgi.exe in php5) and ISAPI module (php.exe in php5). A server in CGI mode is open to potential security risks so it is fine for intranet use only. A few CGI directives are to be set in php.ini.

For php with CGI binary, for 'Default web sites' (not 'mantisbt') do:
In diretory tab, within configuration, add executable 'c:\php\php-cgi.exe' for extension '.php'. If php is not running still, 'Allow all unknown CGI extensions' in IIS - web service extensions is a workaround but a potential security risk for windows server. 

For php using ISAPI module, for 'Default web sites' (not 'mantisbt') do: 
In diretory tab, within configuration, add executable 'c:\php\dlls\php5isapi.dll' for extension '.php'. Add 'c:\php\dlls\php5isapi.dll' as a web service extension in IIS and allow it. For windows server 64-bit, enable 32-bit applications (on command line - cSCRIPT ADSUTIL.VBS SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 1).

Move php.ini to c:\windows.
php.ini configuration (or place the backed up php.ini file):
[PHP]
extension=php_mssql.dll
include_path (either put it here or in the path variable)
upload_tmp_dir (not sure) and upload_max_filesize (default 2MB)
cgi.force_redirect = 0 (turned off)
[mail function]
SMTP = mail.domainname.domain (for email integration like PHPMailer)
[MSSQL]
mssql.textlimit and mssql.textsize

Check if PHP is installed properly (create phpinfo.php and put <?php phpinfo(); ?>)


- Install MS SQL (or MySQL):

Using MS SQL experimental for mantis. Create the Mantis database and create a system mantis user with access to it. Configure settings in mantis\config_inc.php which overrides the settings in file mantis\config_defaults_inc.php (below). Install the Mantis scripts which creates the tables in the database.

    $g_hostname      = "somehostname";
    $g_db_username   = "someuser";
    $g_db_password   = "somepassword";
    $g_database_name = "somedatabase";
    $g_db_type       = "mssql";

Check if PHP can see the required dll (php_mssql.dll) by putting this in a php file:
<?php if (function_exists('mssql_connect')) echo "GOOD"; else echo "BAD"; ?>


- MantisBT files (manual link):

Mantis 1.1.6 (mantisbt-1.1.6.zip).
Unzip to mantis directory on C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\. In Diretory tab, create application name directory. In Documents tab, add index.php to default document.

Check mantis website. Run the mantis scripts for creating tables in the Mantis BT database.

With this, the mantis should display a login page at least (as PHP is working and MS SQL dll is visible too).


- Install Email (PHPMailer):

Using PHPMailer (2.3). Installation is very simple - put required files in the php\includes directory and putting that directory on the path (follow README).


- Mantis admin console:

There is a /admin directory for checking, upgrading, system utilities etc. which needs to be deactivated after. The administrator account needs to be changed (do not remove without giving someone else admin rights :D). Checking installation displays a few settings in the php.ini file. The file uploads section might need tweaking. The testing smtp email would tell if phpmailer is installed correctly.

With this, mantis should be able to send an email with link for new users for account verification and setup. Remove the directory once done.


- File Uploads (file upload link):

For allowing and increasing the file upload limits, there are more than one places to do it and the effective limit is the lesser of all values.

php.ini
$g_max_file_size
post_max_size
upload_max_filesize

mantis's config_inc.php
$g_max_file_size


- Backups:

With MS SQL, the database backups can be configured. I normally back up the php.ini file, config_inc.php file, or the whole installation directory etc. More on this later.


Current Mantis configuration:
Mantis 1.1.6
PHP 5.2.8
MS SQL 2005 (9.0)
PHPMailer 2.3


Note: 
Previous Mantis configuration (circa 2005)
Mantis 1.0.0a1
PHP 4.3.11
MySQL 4.1.11 with MySQL admin 1.0.20
PHPMailer 1.65

For some reason, I could not get the backups to work properly using mysqldump. So I would schedule a script using task scheduler to create the backup (using MySQLAdministrator.exe) and move the backup file over to a network share.


PS: prone to update


Updated in blue.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Intrepid Ibex

There always seems to be a catch before installing Linux - this time fresh Ubuntu 8.10 /Intrepid Ibex. :P



Update:

One fine morning, I decided to partition (ThinkPad should really provide this by default) my factory-default-only-one-partition drive using GParted (which has got rave reviews) and wiped out the XP installation (no fault of GParted though). Since I "downgraded" to XP from Vista while buying the ThinkPad, Lenovo, in its infinite wisdom, provided me with Vista recovery DVDs and not XP one. The normal XP sp2 installation CD (not from ThinkPad package) is giving a BSoD (still have to confirm the reason for this) during installation. Due to all the mentioned circumstances, I was left with the dilemma to install Vista or .... Linux :P. Guess which way I went. Linux installation was not easy either. After a few hours of tinkering and drinking and eating and sleeping I figured out a way to install Ubuntu on my T400 ThinkPad (note the word dumb in red on the blog :D). Which made me wonder - the user shock that comes with Vista's interface along with its negative reviews (though I think it won't be half as bad as people say it would be) were compelling enough to not go with it but Ubuntu's Intrepid Ibex. Ubuntu's extra visual effects are quite some eye candy.