Belated 3.8.1 upgrade feedback

RT Developers
1

It works, I love you all :slight_smile:

One question, though: RTFM is able to automagically find my RT install
dir while I need to tell RT’s configure the correct prefix. As the
install system is, from the outsider’s view, quite different, I am not
sure how complicated it would be to have RT do the same as RTFM, but
that is, literally, the only gripe I had. Other than that, it is
perfect; thanks to all involved!

Richard

PS: The docs should perhaps instruct users to shut Apache down, rm -rf
the Mason cache and then restart. I had a co-worker who clicked refresh
the second I cleared the cache and he was quite worried that our RT was
broken due to file system errors for Mason (and yes, my install process
was secure, although the system I actually upgraded was live)

2

It works, I love you all :slight_smile:

One question, though: RTFM is able to automagically find my RT install
dir while I need to tell RT’s configure the correct prefix. As the
install system is, from the outsider’s view, quite different, I am not
sure how complicated it would be to have RT do the same as RTFM, but
that is, literally, the only gripe I had.

That’s good to hear. Part of the trick is that RT uses autoconf, the
venerated build system for “software packages” but RT extensions are
just that – extensions and use simple Makefile.PLs to leverage CPAN
infrastructure.

It’d probably be doable, but I’m not sure it’d be worth the effort.

Other than that, it is
perfect; thanks to all involved!

Richard

PS: The docs should perhaps instruct users to shut Apache down, rm -rf
the Mason cache and then restart. I had a co-worker who clicked
refresh
the second I cleared the cache and he was quite worried that our RT
was
broken due to file system errors for Mason (and yes, my install
process
was secure, although the system I actually upgraded was live)

Want to try your hand at some proposed language?

Thanks!
Jesse

3

That’s good to hear. Part of the trick is that RT uses autoconf, the
venerated build system for “software packages” but RT extensions are just
that – extensions and use simple Makefile.PLs to leverage CPAN
infrastructure.

It’d probably be doable, but I’m not sure it’d be worth the effort.

Well, it makes upgrades a tad smoother & faster, but a large-ish effort
it probably not worth it.

Want to try your hand at some proposed language?

See attached patch. Some minor formatting (trailing whitespaces,
improper use of tabs, correct distances between sections &
section heading cleanup) fixes are included as well. Use Vim’s
:set list to view the patch & what actually changed.

Richard

apache-and-formatting.patch (7.05 KB)

4

See attached patch.

PS: I would suggest to

mv UPGRADING.mysql UPGRADING.MySQL

as else, Vim will syntax highlight it as SQL file.

5

Thanks for this. Can you submit the whitespace changes and the content
changes as seperate patches? Changing formatting and semantic content
in the same patch generally makes it very hard to audit and apply
quickly.

Thanks!

JesseOn Wed, Sep 03, 2008 at 03:55:21PM +0200, Richard Hartmann wrote:

On Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 23:43, Jesse Vincent jesse@bestpractical.com wrote:

That’s good to hear. Part of the trick is that RT uses autoconf, the
venerated build system for “software packages” but RT extensions are just
that – extensions and use simple Makefile.PLs to leverage CPAN
infrastructure.

It’d probably be doable, but I’m not sure it’d be worth the effort.

Well, it makes upgrades a tad smoother & faster, but a large-ish effort
it probably not worth it.

Want to try your hand at some proposed language?

See attached patch. Some minor formatting (trailing whitespaces,
improper use of tabs, correct distances between sections &
section heading cleanup) fixes are included as well. Use Vim’s
:set list to view the patch & what actually changed.

Richard

— rt-3.8.1_orig/README 2008-08-18 17:13:58.000000000 +0200
+++ rt-3.8.1/README 2008-09-03 15:49:21.900440391 +0200
@@ -15,13 +15,14 @@
March, 2005

-REQUIRED PACKAGES:

+REQUIRED PACKAGES
±----------------

o Perl 5.8.3 or later (http://www.perl.com).

  •   Perl versions prior to 5.8.3 contain bugs that could result

  •   in data corruption. RT won't start on older versions.

  •    Perl versions prior to 5.8.3 contain bugs that could result

  •    in data corruption. RT won't start on older versions.

o A supported SQL database

@@ -30,21 +31,22 @@
Oracle 9iR2 or later.
SQLite 3.0. (Not recommended for production)

-o Apache version 1.3.x or 2.x (http://httpd.apache.org)

  •    with mod_perl -- (http://perl.apache.org )

+o Apache version 1.3.x or 2.x (http://httpd.apache.org)

  •    with mod_perl -- (http://perl.apache.org )
   or with FastCGI -- (www.fastcgi.com)
   or other webserver with FastCGI support

   RT's FastCGI handler needs to access RT's configuration file.

o Various and sundry perl modules

  • A tool included with RT takes care of the installation of
  • most of these automatically during the install process.
  •    A tool included with RT takes care of the installation of

  •    most of these automatically during the install process.

  •    The tool supplied with RT uses Perl's CPAN system

  •    (http://www.cpan.org) to install modules. Some operating

  •    systems package all or some of the modules required, and

  •    you may be better off installing the modules that way.
  • The tool supplied with RT uses Perl’s CPAN system
  • (http://www.cpan.org) to install modules. Some operating
  • systems package all or some of the modules required, and
  • you may be better off installing the modules that way.

GENERAL INSTALLATION
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@

 Check for missing dependencies by running:

  •   make testdeps        

  •   make testdeps

4 If the script reports any missing dependencies, install them by hand
or run the following command as a user who has permission to install perl
@@ -93,28 +95,28 @@
so it may be necessary to install them manually.

5 Check to make sure everything was installed properly.

  •   make testdeps

It might sometimes be necessary to run "make fixdeps" several times
to install all necessary perl modules.

6 If this is a new installation:

  • As a user with permission to install RT in your chosen directory, type:

  •   make install   

  •   make install

  • Set up etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm in your RT installation directory.
You'll need to add any values you need to change from the defaults 
in etc/RT_Config.pm

As a user with permission to read RT's configuration file, type:

  •   make initialize-database 

If the make fails, type:

  •   make dropdb 

and start over from step 6

@@ -122,23 +124,23 @@
7 If you’re upgrading from RT 3.0 or newer:

  Read through the UPGRADING document included in this distribution.

  • It includes special upgrade instructions that will help you get this
new version of RT up and running smoothly.

As a user with permission to install RT in your chosen installation
directory, type: 

  •   make upgrade    

  •   make upgrade

This will install new binaries, config files and libraries without

  • overwriting your RT database. 

  • overwriting your RT database.

Update etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm in your RT installation directory.

  • You'll need to add any new values you need to change from the defaults 

  • You'll need to add any new values you need to change from the defaults
in etc/RT_Config.pm

  • You may also need to update RT's database.  You can do this with 

  • You may also need to update RT's database.  You can do this with
the rt-setup-database tool.  Replace root with the name of the dba
user on your database (root is the default for MySQL).

@@ -149,11 +151,18 @@

    /opt/rt3/sbin/rt-setup-database --dba root --prompt-for-dba-password --action upgrade

  • Stop the web-server (you might need to use 'apache' or 'httpd' instead

  • of 'apache2'):

  •   /etc/init.d/apache2 stop

  • Clear mason cache dir:

  rm -fr /opt/rt3/var/mason_data/obj

  • Stop and start web-server.

  • Start web-server:

  •   /etc/init.d/apache2 start

8 If you’re upgrading from RT 2.0:
@@ -162,11 +171,11 @@
release. You can download it from CPAN here:
RT-Extension-RT2toRT3-1.26 - This tool migrates your RT2 instance to an RT 3.x instance - metacpan.org

-9 Configure the email and web gateways, as described below.
+9 Configure the email and web gateways, as described below.

  • NOTE: root’s password for the web interface is “password”
  • NOTE: root’s password for the web interface is “password”
    (without the quotes). Not changing this is a SECURITY risk!

10 Set up automated recurring tasks (cronjobs):

 To generate email digest messages, you must arrange for the provided

@@ -190,16 +199,15 @@

SETTING UP THE WEB INTERFACE

RT’s web interface is based around HTML::Mason, which works well with
the mod_perl perl interpreter within Apache httpd and FastCGI.

-Once you’ve set up the web interface, consider setting up automatic
+Once you’ve set up the web interface, consider setting up automatic
logout for inactive sessions. For more information about how to do that,
-run
+run
perldoc /path/to/rt/sbin/rt-clean-sessions

@@ -241,6 +249,7 @@

mod_perl 2.xx

@@ -270,6 +279,7 @@

FastCGI

@@ -282,7 +292,7 @@
implications of this configuration, which are discussed in the document
mentioned above.

-To install RT with FastCGI, you’ll need to add a few lines to your
+To install RT with FastCGI, you’ll need to add a few lines to your
Apache configuration file telling it about RT:

@@ -303,7 +313,7 @@

-SETTING UP THE MAIL GATEWAY
+SETTING UP THE MAIL GATEWAY

To let email flow to your RT server, you need to add a few lines of
@@ -340,21 +350,21 @@
RT WEBSITE

-For current information about RT, check out the RT website at

  • http://www.bestpractical.com/

+For current information about RT, check out the RT website at

  • http://www.bestpractical.com/

-You’ll find screenshots, a pointer to the current version of RT, contributed
+You’ll find screenshots, a pointer to the current version of RT, contributed
patches, and lots of other great stuff.

RT-USERS MAILING LIST

±--------------------

To keep up to date on the latest RT tips, techniques and extensions,
you probably want to join the rt-users mailing list. Send a message to:

  •  rt-users-request@lists.bestpractical.com 

  •  rt-users-request@lists.bestpractical.com

with the body of the message consisting of only the word:

6

Thanks for this. Can you submit the whitespace changes and the content
changes as seperate patches? Changing formatting and semantic content
in the same patch generally makes it very hard to audit and apply
quickly.

See attached.

Richard

README.content.patch (1005 Bytes)

README.formatting.patch (6.46 KB)