New installer available: Testers wanted

Support - Assistance technique
1

Hi there,

I have managed to get another installer together, for DHIS2 Live
package, this time using BitRock, which seems like a more solid
product than IZPack. They granted us a license for use with the
project.

This installer is intended for Windows only, and uses the H2 database.
A check for java is performed to be sure a valid version exists.

The EXE file is here http://www.mediafire.com/?jute3kuj1um

If there are people that could test on Vista and/or Win7, I would be
very grateful for feedback.

Best regards,
Jason

2

Hi,

I have just tested this on my Win7 machine. The installation per se seems to work fine. The click-next-next process works smoothly. All files seem to be copied to the right place. When starting DHIS 2 Live it hangs on the orange “starting” icon though. Nothing is written to the logs either so I am not sure what’s going on.

I am running the latest Live without any problems. Not sure but it might seem like the Live files in the installer are outdated, the splash screen in use was changed 6 months back.

Lars

···

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

Hi there,

I have managed to get another installer together, for DHIS2 Live

package, this time using BitRock, which seems like a more solid

product than IZPack. They granted us a license for use with the

project.

This installer is intended for Windows only, and uses the H2 database.

A check for java is performed to be sure a valid version exists.

The EXE file is here http://www.mediafire.com/?jute3kuj1um

If there are people that could test on Vista and/or Win7, I would be

very grateful for feedback.

Best regards,

Jason

3

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,
docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,
jason

···

2010/2/18 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Jason Pickering > <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi there,

I have managed to get another installer together, for DHIS2 Live
package, this time using BitRock, which seems like a more solid
product than IZPack. They granted us a license for use with the
project.

This installer is intended for Windows only, and uses the H2 database.
A check for java is performed to be sure a valid version exists.

The EXE file is here http://www.mediafire.com/?jute3kuj1um

If there are people that could test on Vista and/or Win7, I would be
very grateful for feedback.

Best regards,
Jason

Hi,
I have just tested this on my Win7 machine. The installation per se seems to
work fine. The click-next-next process works smoothly. All files seem to be
copied to the right place. When starting DHIS 2 Live it hangs on the orange
"starting" icon though. Nothing is written to the logs either so I am not
sure what's going on.
I am running the latest Live without any problems. Not sure but it might
seem like the Live files in the installer are outdated, the splash screen in
use was changed 6 months back.
Lars

4

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

···

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

5

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is still a need for it.

Ola

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

6

Hi Lars and Ola,

I think it would be possible, but I have no time this week. I will be
in Dushanbe next week, and will have some more time to devote to this
over the weekend, and likely when I am there. Knut has sent me the
source for the installer that he did a few years back, which is a
Postgres-Tomcat installer and they should be able to be reused, and
incldued in the maven framework that I already constructed for the
automated build.

The key problem is the Postgres install. It is possible to do it with
an unattended installation, but I have not yet tried this. There are
just so many permutations and installation on Vista is non-trivial due
to administrative rights.

Write a blueprint, and I will see what I can do. I will have a lot of
time on different planes over the weekend, so I may be able to do
something.

As for Tomcat, I am not sure really what the point of it is? It is a
real requirement? If we can get DHIS2 live installed, with Postgres,
this should cover the "desktop market". Is there a real need to have
an installer, and if so, would it need to install Tomcat? This is
really not a big deal, but I am just not sure it is really necessary.
Blueprint Ola?

Regards,
Jason

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,
docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,
jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.
What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for Windows.
Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our range
of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform package
(Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).
I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the
latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I'm seriously
bogged down with Indian stuff this week...
cheers, Lars

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

7

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is still a need for it.

Okay… that could be good to have too… The reason why I think we should at least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy… Common problems we get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:

  • tomcat simply doesn’t start

  • tomcat is already installed

  • dhis2_home isn’t picked up

I’ve been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well, with a postgres backend its a solid alternative.

···

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Ola

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

8

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install time.

1) Install H2
2) Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended
Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the
user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it
is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install
is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the
installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.
Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it
does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the
biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will
take a look at it on the plane.

Regards,
JPP

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com>

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,
docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,
jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.
What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for
Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our
range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform
package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request
for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with
tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the
Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for
tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is
still a need for it.

Okay.. that could be good to have too.. The reason why I think we should at
least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy.. Common problems we
get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:
- tomcat simply doesn't start
- tomcat is already installed
- dhis2_home isn't picked up
I've been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well, with a
postgres backend its a solid alternative.

Ola
-----------

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the
latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I'm seriously
bogged down with Indian stuff this week...
cheers, Lars

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

9

I think it is fair enough to warn the user to stick with H2 as the default choice unless he has administrative rights. People are used to admin rights being a requirement for installing software, no?

Knut

···

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install time.

  1. Install H2

  2. Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended

Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the

user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it

is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install

is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the

installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.

Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it

does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the

biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will

take a look at it on the plane.

Regards,

JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com:

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for

Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our

range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform

package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request

for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with

tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the

Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for

tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is

still a need for it.

Okay… that could be good to have too… The reason why I think we should at

least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy… Common problems we

get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:

  • tomcat simply doesn’t start
  • tomcat is already installed
  • dhis2_home isn’t picked up

I’ve been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well, with a

postgres backend its a solid alternative.

Ola

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the

latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously

bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

10

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install time.

  1. Install H2

  2. Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended

Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the

user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it

is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install

is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the

installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.

Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it

does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the

biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will

take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.

User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the website and in a Readme. I don’t think we should worry so much about Vista, even MS doesn’t recommend using it now…

Will write a blueprint.

···

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Regards,

JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com:

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for

Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our

range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform

package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request

for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with

tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the

Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for

tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is

still a need for it.

Okay… that could be good to have too… The reason why I think we should at

least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy… Common problems we

get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:

  • tomcat simply doesn’t start
  • tomcat is already installed
  • dhis2_home isn’t picked up

I’ve been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well, with a

postgres backend its a solid alternative.

Ola

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the

latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously

bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

11

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install
time.

1) Install H2
2) Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended
Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the
user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it
is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install
is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the
installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.
Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it
does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the
biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will
take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.
User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the
website and in a Readme. I don't think we should worry so much about Vista,
even MS doesn't recommend using it now...

MS don't make recommendations. They just force you to get it with
your new computer. Soon they will recommend not using win7 :slight_smile:

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>

Will write a blueprint.

Regards,
JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:
>
>
> 2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com>
>>
>> 2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2010/2/18 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> Hi there.
>>>>
>>>> Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
>>>> instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,
>>>> docs, and the installer)
>>>>
>>>> I suspect something was out of date as well.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for testing.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> jason
>>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.
>>> What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for
>>> Windows.
>>>
>>>
>>> Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our
>>> range of installers close to complete, as we already have a
>>> cross-platform
>>> package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).
>>
>> I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request
>> for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar
>> with
>> tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in
>> the
>> Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for
>> tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think
>> there is
>> still a need for it.
>
> Okay.. that could be good to have too.. The reason why I think we should
> at
> least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy.. Common problems
> we
> get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:
> - tomcat simply doesn't start
> - tomcat is already installed
> - dhis2_home isn't picked up
> I've been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well,
> with a
> postgres backend its a solid alternative.
>
>
>>
>> Ola
>> -----------
>>
>>>
>>> I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with
>>> the
>>> latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I'm
>>> seriously
>>> bogged down with Indian stuff this week...
>>> cheers, Lars
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>
>>
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

12

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install time.

  1. Install H2

  2. Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended

Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the

user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it

is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install

is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the

installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.

Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it

does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the

biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will

take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.

User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the website and in a Readme. I don’t think we should worry so much about Vista, even MS doesn’t recommend using it now…

Will write a blueprint.

Here:

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/windows-installer

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Regards,

JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com:

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile (dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for

Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make our

range of installers close to complete, as we already have a cross-platform

package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a request

for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are familiar with

tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in the

Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for

tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think there is

still a need for it.

Okay… that could be good to have too… The reason why I think we should at

least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy… Common problems we

get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:

  • tomcat simply doesn’t start
  • tomcat is already installed
  • dhis2_home isn’t picked up

I’ve been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well, with a

postgres backend its a solid alternative.

Ola

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with the

latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m seriously

bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

13

At first glance, this seems like the best option..

http://www.enterprisedb.com/learning/pginst_guide.do#noninteractive

Unless there are objections, I will go for this.

Regards,
JPP

···

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install
time.

1) Install H2
2) Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended
Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the
user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it
is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install
is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the
installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.
Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it
does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the
biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will
take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.
User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the
website and in a Readme. I don't think we should worry so much about Vista,
even MS doesn't recommend using it now...
Will write a blueprint.

Here:
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/windows-installer

Regards,
JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:
>
>
> 2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com>
>>
>> 2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2010/2/18 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> Hi there.
>>>>
>>>> Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
>>>> instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile
>>>> (dhis2,
>>>> docs, and the installer)
>>>>
>>>> I suspect something was out of date as well.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for testing.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> jason
>>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.
>>> What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for
>>> Windows.
>>>
>>>
>>> Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make
>>> our
>>> range of installers close to complete, as we already have a
>>> cross-platform
>>> package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).
>>
>> I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a
>> request
>> for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are
>> familiar with
>> tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in
>> the
>> Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for
>> tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think
>> there is
>> still a need for it.
>
> Okay.. that could be good to have too.. The reason why I think we
> should at
> least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy.. Common problems
> we
> get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:
> - tomcat simply doesn't start
> - tomcat is already installed
> - dhis2_home isn't picked up
> I've been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well,
> with a
> postgres backend its a solid alternative.
>
>
>>
>> Ola
>> -----------
>>
>>>
>>> I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with
>>> the
>>> latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I'm
>>> seriously
>>> bogged down with Indian stuff this week...
>>> cheers, Lars
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>
>>
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

14

Oh, my other question would be as well, should Java be installed as
part of the installation?

Right now, the installer checks, and bails if an accepted (1.6.0_18)
is not installed. Installing Java should be a easy, but it causes
problems on stupid WHO Synergy machines, but I must hope that these
types of machine will not be the standard ones the installer is
intended for.

Packing both Postgres and Java will certainly up the size of the
installer, but maybe this will still be ok for people that will
distribute locally on CD. If you have a decent connection, I guess it
does not really matter. I would think these two packages would add at
least 60 MB to the final installer size, which would mean the total
footprint would be around 120 MB.

What about Firefox? DHIS2 has some, ahem, issues in IE. Unless these
are fixed, I would think it should be a part of the installation
process, and a hook should be included in the Live package to launch
DHIS2 in Firefox, overriding the default browser choice...it really
starts to get complicated...

Nighty night...

JPP

···

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>:

At first glance, this seems like the best option..

http://www.enterprisedb.com/learning/pginst_guide.do#noninteractive

Unless there are objections, I will go for this.

Regards,
JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install
time.

1) Install H2
2) Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended
Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the
user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it
is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install
is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the
installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.
Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it
does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the
biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will
take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.
User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the
website and in a Readme. I don't think we should worry so much about Vista,
even MS doesn't recommend using it now...
Will write a blueprint.

Here:
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/windows-installer

Regards,
JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>:
>
>
> 2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad <olatitle@gmail.com>
>>
>> 2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@gmail.com>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2010/2/18 Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> Hi there.
>>>>
>>>> Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my
>>>> instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile
>>>> (dhis2,
>>>> docs, and the installer)
>>>>
>>>> I suspect something was out of date as well.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for testing.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> jason
>>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.
>>> What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for
>>> Windows.
>>>
>>>
>>> Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make
>>> our
>>> range of installers close to complete, as we already have a
>>> cross-platform
>>> package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).
>>
>> I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a
>> request
>> for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are
>> familiar with
>> tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in
>> the
>> Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for
>> tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think
>> there is
>> still a need for it.
>
> Okay.. that could be good to have too.. The reason why I think we
> should at
> least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy.. Common problems
> we
> get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:
> - tomcat simply doesn't start
> - tomcat is already installed
> - dhis2_home isn't picked up
> I've been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well,
> with a
> postgres backend its a solid alternative.
>
>
>>
>> Ola
>> -----------
>>
>>>
>>> I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with
>>> the
>>> latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I'm
>>> seriously
>>> bogged down with Indian stuff this week...
>>> cheers, Lars
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net
>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs
>>> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>
>>
>
>

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

15

Oh, my other question would be as well, should Java be installed as

part of the installation?

Right now, the installer checks, and bails if an accepted (1.6.0_18)

is not installed. Installing Java should be a easy, but it causes

problems on stupid WHO Synergy machines, but I must hope that these

types of machine will not be the standard ones the installer is

intended for.

As you say we have two scenarios: Offline, where it would be useful to include java, and online, where user feedback would be sufficient. Launch4j has a nice feature where you are redirected to the java download page if java is not already installed. Could that be done with Bitrock?

Packing both Postgres and Java will certainly up the size of the

installer, but maybe this will still be ok for people that will

distribute locally on CD. If you have a decent connection, I guess it

does not really matter. I would think these two packages would add at

least 60 MB to the final installer size, which would mean the total

footprint would be around 120 MB.

What about Firefox? DHIS2 has some, ahem, issues in IE. Unless these

are fixed, I would think it should be a part of the installation

process, and a hook should be included in the Live package to launch

DHIS2 in Firefox, overriding the default browser choice…it really

starts to get complicated…

We are actually just a few fixes away from being compliant with Chrome and Opera, IE 8 shouldn’t be too hard either. What we could do is to detect the current browser when logging in to the system and display a message if it is not among the supported ones.

···

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Nighty night…

JPP

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com:

At first glance, this seems like the best option…

http://www.enterprisedb.com/learning/pginst_guide.do#noninteractive

Unless there are objections, I will go for this.

Regards,

JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com:

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there. I think we should focus on giving the user a choice at install

time.

  1. Install H2
  1. Install Postgres

This is pretty simple. Now the question is how easy is an unattended

Postgres install. We can easily package the Postgres MSI and have the

user click through. Now, any number of problems can occur there, so it

is probably not a good idea. I think the unattended Postgres install

is the best option, but it requires administrative rights, which the

installer can request, but there is no guarantee they will be granted.

Knut previous work includes many of the pieces of the puzzle, but it

does not solve the unattended Postgres install,which I see as the

biggest risk. If that does not install, then you are stuffed.

Write up a blueprint and include the actual requirements, and I will

take a look at it on the plane.

The user option for choosing database sounds really good to me.

User rights will always be an issue, we can make people aware of it on the

website and in a Readme. I don’t think we should worry so much about Vista,

even MS doesn’t recommend using it now…

Will write a blueprint.

Here:

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/windows-installer

Regards,

JPP

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com:

2010/3/1 Ola Hodne Titlestad olatitle@gmail.com

2010/3/1 Lars Helge Øverland larshelge@gmail.com

2010/2/18 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Hi there.

Try building everything from the latest version of the files, per my

instructions sent in an earlier mail for the complete compile

(dhis2,

docs, and the installer)

I suspect something was out of date as well.

Thanks for testing.

Regards,

jason

Hi Jason, sorry lost focus on the installer for a while.

What we badly need is an installer with DHIS2 Live + Postgres for

Windows.

Been getting quite a few requests for this lately and it will make

our

range of installers close to complete, as we already have a

cross-platform

package (Live) and a tomcat+postgres for linux (deb).

I would like to add tomcat+postgres on Windows as well. I saw a

request

for this on the users list this morning. Many users/admins are

familiar with

tomcat and would like to use it instead of jetty (which is included in

the

Live package). We had a pretty well functional windows installer for

tomcat+postgres 1-2 years ago ( the bitrock installer), and I think

there is

still a need for it.

Okay… that could be good to have too… The reason why I think we

should at

least prioritize Live now is that it makes life easy… Common problems

we

get with tomcat which embedded jetty avoids are:

  • tomcat simply doesn’t start
  • tomcat is already installed
  • dhis2_home isn’t picked up

I’ve been testing Live for a long time now and it really works well,

with a

postgres backend its a solid alternative.

Ola

I was wondering if you would have time to compile such a package with

the

latest dhis? I know I could have dug into this myself but I’m

seriously

bogged down with Indian stuff this week…

cheers, Lars

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

–

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260968395190

16

As you say we have two scenarios: Offline, where it would be useful to
include java, and online, where user feedback would be sufficient. Launch4j
has a nice feature where you are redirected to the java download page if
java is not already installed. Could that be done with Bitrock?

Yes, it already performs a check, and aborts the install. I guess we
could try and open up the web page for them. BitRock could even
download it for them automatically as part of the installation
process. This might be a better option for an online install.

Will wait for the fixes then, and not worry about packaging FireFox.

Also, can someone comment on this blueprint?

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/new-installer

I am not sure if Saptarshi is builing a NetBeans installer as well,
but it would seem that BitRock would be able to deliver an installer
for any platform. if there is a compelling reason to use NetBeans, I
suppose we could go that way as well, but I would assume that the
NetBeans installer is actually Java and not a native package, as is
produced with BitRock?

17

As you say we have two scenarios: Offline, where it would be useful to

include java, and online, where user feedback would be sufficient. Launch4j

has a nice feature where you are redirected to the java download page if

java is not already installed. Could that be done with Bitrock?

Yes, it already performs a check, and aborts the install.

Your check is too stringent - I think requiring 1.6.0-14 is sufficient.

I guess we

could try and open up the web page for them. BitRock could even

download it for them automatically as part of the installation

process. This might be a better option for an online install.

Pointing them to the right place for download is definitely useful. Not sure how the automatic download would work if there is no connection? Or if the user has Java available.

The two main alternatives is to 1) use the Java installer (either provided on a CD/USB or prompting the user to download it) or 2) to have an alternative where an “unzipped” JRE is packaged with the installer and placed in the DHIS folder (and probably used only for DHIS, not generally available on the users machine). The latter alternative would ensure that things work well and can be done silently, with the only downside being a somewhat increased download (15 MB?).

Will wait for the fixes then, and not worry about packaging FireFox.

Also, can someone comment on this blueprint?

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/new-installer

I see your requests for feedback but not how to respond to them in LP. The history of this is that after I had made the BitRock installers and it needed updating and some more work, I saw that Saptarshi had made a NetBeans installer for OpenMRS and thought it might be a good idea to switch to that if he was willing to maintain it.

I am not sure if Saptarshi is builing a NetBeans installer as well,

but it would seem that BitRock would be able to deliver an installer

for any platform. if there is a compelling reason to use NetBeans, I

suppose we could go that way as well, but I would assume that the

NetBeans installer is actually Java and not a native package, as is

produced with BitRock?

I think we should forget about the NetBeans option now - many more important things for Saptarshi to work on.

Knut

···

2010/3/2 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

Post to : dhis2-devs@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Cheers,
Knut Staring

18

Your check is too stringent - I think requiring 1.6.0-14 is sufficient.

This is easily changed.

Pointing them to the right place for download is definitely useful. Not sure
how the automatic download would work if there is no connection? Or if the
user has Java available.

The installer already does this, by opening up
http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp\. Now, we could try and
download a URL as part of the install, but it will just need to abort
if there is no connection. If they are not online, and do not have
Java, and we do not package it, then they will be stuffed.

The two main alternatives is to 1) use the Java installer (either provided
on a CD/USB or prompting the user to download it) or 2) to have an
alternative where an "unzipped" JRE is packaged with the installer and
placed in the DHIS folder (and probably used only for DHIS, not generally
available on the users machine). The latter alternative would ensure that
things work well and can be done silently, with the only downside being a
somewhat increased download (15 MB?).

Seems like a pretty good alternative. But we could also use the Java
installer in Silent mode. Of course, there is a risk that it may fail
(as is the case with Synergy machines) or that I will be abducted by
Oracle covert ops. We could package the JRE as you mention fairly
simply. However, I guess there would need to be some sort of variable
that DHIS2 would know to use to access that particular JRE. Not
really sure about this, but having a dedicated version of Java for
DHIS2 could result in less problems in the long run, if we just
package everything together.

I think this point again to multiple installers for multiple
scenarios. Therefore, I would like a clear blueprint of what the
scenarios are.

1) A postgres install with all dependencies (included JRE, include
Postgres, BIRT, etc). The final size could be over 200 MB
2) A "lite install" allowing the user to download and manually
install, with H2. . Footprint is around 60 MB.
3) A demo install, using H2 and packaged with the SL database. Final
size seems to be around 100 MB. This is more or less what we have now.

Thoughts?

···

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190

19

Your check is too stringent - I think requiring 1.6.0-14 is sufficient.

This is easily changed.

Pointing them to the right place for download is definitely useful. Not sure

how the automatic download would work if there is no connection? Or if the

user has Java available.

The installer already does this, by opening up

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp. Now, we could try and

download a URL as part of the install, but it will just need to abort

if there is no connection. If they are not online, and do not have

Java, and we do not package it, then they will be stuffed.

The two main alternatives is to 1) use the Java installer (either provided

on a CD/USB or prompting the user to download it) or 2) to have an

alternative where an “unzipped” JRE is packaged with the installer and

placed in the DHIS folder (and probably used only for DHIS, not generally

available on the users machine). The latter alternative would ensure that

things work well and can be done silently, with the only downside being a

somewhat increased download (15 MB?).

Seems like a pretty good alternative. But we could also use the Java

installer in Silent mode. Of course, there is a risk that it may fail

(as is the case with Synergy machines) or that I will be abducted by

Oracle covert ops. We could package the JRE as you mention fairly

simply. However, I guess there would need to be some sort of variable

that DHIS2 would know to use to access that particular JRE. Not

really sure about this, but having a dedicated version of Java for

DHIS2 could result in less problems in the long run, if we just

package everything together.

I think this point again to multiple installers for multiple

scenarios. Therefore, I would like a clear blueprint of what the

scenarios are.

  1. A postgres install with all dependencies (included JRE, include

Postgres, BIRT, etc). The final size could be over 200 MB

Lets not put BIRT in, we have Jasper, if people want BIRT they can download and install it separately, its quite big…

  1. A “lite install” allowing the user to download and manually

install, with H2. . Footprint is around 60 MB.

This sounds good to me. I am envisioning this range of downloads:

A. Cross-platform Live package

(DHIS 2 Live with H2 as we have it today, no installer)

B. Windows on-line installer

Similar to your 2. alternative.

C. Windows off-line installer.

Similar to your 1. alternative. A dedicated Java sounds like a good idea. Can we achieve this simply by setting JAVA_HOME “temporarily” while starting DHIS? I guess Bitrock allows for this…?

D. Linux debian package

Bob’s deb as we have it today.

···

2010/3/2 Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

20

Lets not put BIRT in, we have Jasper, if people want BIRT they can download
and install it separately, its quite big...

Fine, but I need it here, and this was the original reason for the
installer, so I will have another version with BIRT.

2) A "lite install" allowing the user to download and manually
install, with H2. . Footprint is around 60 MB.

This sounds good to me. I am envisioning this range of downloads:

A. Cross-platform Live package
(DHIS 2 Live with H2 as we have it today, no installer)

Well, we can build multiple native installers for the Live Package. it
is just an extra line in the Pom. If we need a multiple platforms
(Mac, Linux, etc) we can build it during the installer build. Of
course, people can just grab the zip file if they want, but BitRock
can build for multiple platforms.

B. Windows on-line installer
Similar to your 2. alternative.
C. Windows off-line installer.
Similar to your 1. alternative. A dedicated Java sounds like a good idea.
Can we achieve this simply by setting JAVA_HOME "temporarily" while starting
DHIS? I guess Bitrock allows for this..?

BitRock can do this, but it may influence other programs. Could the
Launch4j wrapper be used for this, or maybe an alternative environment
variable?

D. Linux debian package
Bob's deb as we have it today.

BitRock can also produce a RPM, Deb packages (somehow) but I have not
looked at the details. We might consider rolling all of this up into
BitRock at some point, but it is good to have the deb installer as
well.

Regards,
JPP

···

--
--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260968395190