Kete.net.nz: Documentation

Topic: Installation

Topic Type: Topic

An introduction and table of contents for how to install Kete.

Originally written by Walter McGinnis, Kete Project Lead for Katipo Communications, Ltd.

Introduction

This guide will walk you through how to install the Kete software, a knowledge basket of topics, images, audio, video, web links, documents, and discussion.

Kete, like most Ruby on Rails applications, has many installation options. Installing Kete, therefore, can be simple or complex, depending on your needs and situation. We have chosen to outline a simple installation path that is most useful for setting up a Kete demo site or a development environment (but could also be used for a full blown site), as well as a "best practice" for deploying a production ready Kete with an eye toward making it easy to roll out future site upgrades.

To keep things concise, we assume that supporting software, such as the MySQL database, will be installed on the same host as the Kete software itself. In other words you'll be installing everything one computer (or virtual computer, as the case may be). Kete is quite capable of having it's different supporting pieces of software on other hosts though. For the timebeing, we'll also assume you are using MySQL.  If you install via another database like PostgreSQL, please post your details in the comments.

You might find reading these background topics useful before you proceed:

• So you want a Kete of your own?
• Things to consider when planning a Kete installation
• Technical Requirements
  

Important Note: This guide doesn't cover creating backups. You should probably look at Backup Procedures for Kete.

Simple Installation:

Step	Described for:
Preinstall Assumptions:	All platforms
Installing Required Software	Debian Etch | openSUSE | Mac OS X | Solaris 10
Setting up Environment	All platforms
Acquiring Kete code	All platforms
Setting up Databases	All platforms
Configure the Backgroundrb Plugin	All platforms
Prepare the Kete Application	All platforms
Configure and Start Mongrel Cluster	All platforms
Setting up Nginx Web Proxy	All platforms
Configuring your Kete site	All platforms

Optional Best Practices - Managing your Kete application's codebase and deploying it to a production host:

Katipo has found these additional steps provide a more complete set of tools for managing a Kete application's life cycle and a better fit for sites in production. Most notably, upgrading your Kete application's codebase as new features, security fixes, and refinements are added to the Kete software project becomes much easier.

• Establish a Development Environment
• Add Your Kete Application's Code to Version Control
• Set Up Your Production Host for Your Kete Application
• Deploy to Your Production Host with Capistrano
• Configure Your Production Site!

Appendices:

Here are additional notes that you might also find useful, as well as some supporting links.

• Start Your Mongrel Cluster at Boot
• Add Your Kete Application to /etc/hosts
• Don't Forget Log Rotation (and Statistics)
• Additional Development Niceties (Emacs and Aquamacs mainly)
• Example Nginx Configuration File for Simple Installation
• Example Nginx Configuration File for use with Capistrano
• Managing Zebra
• Troubleshooting
• Upgrading Kete to 1.0 Stable Release Branch
• Improving private file download (send_file) performance
• Using Content Licenses in Kete 1.1