moinsetup

README.txt

56:4a9769fe6ea2
2011-10-15 Paul Boddie Added listing of theme directories to the show_config method.
     1 Introduction
     2 ------------
     3 
     4 The moinsetup script is a utility separate from MoinMoin which attempts to
     5 assist in the configuration and deployment of MoinMoin and extensions. It can
     6 automate the installation of MoinMoin according to recommended practices,
     7 create and initialise new Wiki instances, install extensions, themes and
     8 related resources, and perform certain configuration changes.
     9 
    10 Important Notices
    11 -----------------
    12 
    13 Release 0.3 of moinsetup changes the Wiki instance directory hierarchy so that
    14 the top-level directory, instead of containing the conf and wikidata
    15 directories, contains the Wiki configuration file (unless located elsewhere -
    16 see the site_config setting) plus data, underlay and htdocs directories. See
    17 the migration section below for details.
    18 
    19 Release 0.3 also changes the moinsetup command syntax to require -m (or
    20 --method=) before method names. This fixes a critical ambiguity issue with
    21 option processing.
    22 
    23 Usage
    24 -----
    25 
    26 Running moinsetup as follows will provide a list of methods available:
    27 
    28   python moinsetup.py
    29 
    30 Before any work can be done by the program, a configuration file needs to be
    31 created. See the supplied moinsetup.cfg file for an example file which can
    32 be modified and used for this purpose.
    33 
    34 An alternative configuration file is specified using the -f option:
    35 
    36   python moinsetup.py -f mywiki.cfg
    37 
    38 Configuration files provide information about the MoinMoin installation and a
    39 particular Wiki instance and Web site where the instance is published.
    40 
    41 Migration from moinsetup 0.2
    42 ----------------------------
    43 
    44 The Wiki instance directory hierarchy has changed in moinsetup 0.3 as
    45 illustrated below:
    46 
    47 wiki (old)
    48   conf
    49     (wikiconfig.py)
    50     data
    51     underlay
    52   wikidata
    53     ... (htdocs)
    54 
    55 wiki (new)
    56   (wikiconfig.py)
    57   data
    58   underlay
    59   (htdocs)
    60 
    61 Since the contents of wikidata is generally superfluous, since the files are
    62 mostly shared resources, that directory is no longer created and such shared
    63 resources are no longer copied into it. The htdocs directory is copied since
    64 it can be convenient to maintain a separate collection of static files so that
    65 they can be updated with theme-related changes without modifying common system
    66 files.
    67 
    68 To migrate old Wiki instance layouts, run the following command:
    69 
    70   python moinsetup.py -m migrate_instance
    71 
    72 Add an optional argument after the method name to run the migration method in
    73 test mode:
    74 
    75   python moinsetup.py -m migrate_instance test
    76 
    77 This will just print the actions to be taken when migrating the instance.
    78 
    79 Configuration
    80 -------------
    81 
    82 The configuration file has two sections: "installation" and "site". A brief
    83 description of the settings is given below.
    84 
    85 Installation settings influence the configuration, installation and
    86 customisation of a Wiki and are generally not optional:
    87 
    88 moin_distribution   A path to a MoinMoin distribution directory, which can
    89                     also be a clone of a MoinMoin repository.
    90 
    91 prefix              The directory prefix containing lib, bin and share
    92                     directories where MoinMoin is (or will be) installed.
    93                     Although this follows the layout of the /usr directory (on
    94                     Unix-based systems), it is likely that MoinMoin may be
    95                     installed elsewhere.
    96 
    97 site_packages       The location of a directory which is either a Python
    98                     site-packages directory or something providing a selection
    99                     of different Python packages. If Python packages are
   100                     installed outside the 'prefix' area, perhaps due to a
   101                     distribution-specific mechanism, this setting should be
   102                     used in addition to the 'prefix' setting. Otherwise, it can
   103                     be omitted or left blank.
   104 
   105 web_app_dir         A directory where the moin.cgi program is (or will be)
   106                     installed.
   107 
   108 web_static_dir      A directory from which static resources are to be served.
   109                     This directory need only be specified in a limited hosting
   110                     environment (see below for more details), and only for
   111                     MoinMoin 1.8.
   112 
   113 web_site_dir        The directory where sites available to the Apache Web
   114                     server are defined. This directory may just be a place
   115                     where initial site definitions are written, and after
   116                     manual editing, such definitions may be copied to the
   117                     appropriate location. If this directory is left
   118                     unspecified, a limited hosting environment will be
   119                     assumed.
   120 
   121 Except for the common_dir setting, site settings are generally only relevant
   122 when configuring and installing a Wiki:
   123 
   124 common_dir          The directory in which the Wiki instance being configured
   125                     or managed resides (or will reside).
   126 
   127 farm_config         A specific Wiki farm configuration file for multiple Wiki
   128                     deployments. This overrides the 'common_dir' setting if
   129                     used, indicating that a Wiki farm configuration must be
   130                     edited when configuring a Wiki.
   131 
   132 site_config         A specific configuration file location for a Wiki deployed
   133                     within a Wiki farm. This overrides the 'common_dir' setting
   134                     if used.
   135 
   136 url_path            The URL path (after the host details) of the Wiki.
   137 
   138 superuser           The superuser of the Wiki.
   139 
   140 site_name           The name of the Wiki.
   141 
   142 site_identifier     An identifier used to refer to the site, typically derived
   143                     from 'site_name' if left unspecified, and only really of use
   144                     when an Apache site file needs to be written. In limited
   145                     hosting environments, this setting has no effect.
   146 
   147 front_page_name     The name of the Wiki's front page.
   148 
   149 theme_default       The default theme of the Wiki.
   150 
   151 Working with MoinMoin System Installations
   152 ------------------------------------------
   153 
   154 Where MoinMoin has already been installed using a package supplied by an
   155 operating system distribution (such as Debian, Red Hat, Ubuntu), there is no
   156 need to install the software itself. However, it is still necessary to set up
   157 Wiki instances. The moinsetup.cfg.debian file in the examples directory could
   158 be used as a starting point for configuring Wiki instances on Debian systems.
   159 
   160 Limited Hosting Environments
   161 ----------------------------
   162 
   163 Sometimes, the hosting environment in which MoinMoin is to be deployed will be
   164 restrictive or "limited", meaning that substantial configuration of the Web
   165 server will not be possible for the user installing and configuring MoinMoin.
   166 In such environments, users will typically be allowed to install content in
   167 preconfigured directories for static and dynamic content. For example:
   168 
   169 /path/to/www/cgi-bin    a dynamic content directory, providing CGI scripts
   170 /path/to/www/htdocs     a static content directory, providing Web pages
   171 
   172 To work in such environments, specify the configuration settings in
   173 moinsetup.cfg as follows:
   174 
   175 web_app_dir     = /path/to/www/cgi-bin
   176 web_static_dir  = /path/to/www/htdocs
   177 web_site_dir    =
   178 
   179 If the web_static_dir setting is left blank, the static resources will be
   180 placed alongside the CGI script. Some environments have .cgi files served as
   181 CGI scripts and other files served statically.
   182 
   183 Inside the directory used to hold static resources, a subdirectory will be
   184 created to hold the static content used by MoinMoin.
   185 
   186 Wiki Farm Environments
   187 ----------------------
   188 
   189 MoinMoin supports the notion of a Wiki farm where a single common configuration
   190 is overridden by configurations for individual Wiki instances. To work in such
   191 environments, specify the configuration settings in moinsetup.cfg as follows:
   192 
   193 farm_config     = /path/to/farmconfig.py
   194 site_config     = /path/to/wikiname.py
   195 
   196 Examples
   197 --------
   198 
   199 Some of the more useful invocation methods are described below using examples.
   200 
   201 To set up MoinMoin and a Wiki instance (useful when installing MoinMoin
   202 yourself):
   203 
   204   python moinsetup.py -m setup
   205 
   206 To set up only a Wiki instance (useful on a system with MoinMoin installed):
   207 
   208   python moinsetup.py -m setup_wiki
   209 
   210 To set up only a Wiki instance, but using a different configuration file:
   211 
   212   python moinsetup.py -f mywiki.cfg -m setup_wiki
   213 
   214 To change a Wiki configuration setting (for example, the default theme):
   215 
   216   python moinsetup.py -m reconfigure_moin theme_default mercurialwiki
   217 
   218 To install a theme from a directory containing a theme module, css and img
   219 directories (for example, MercurialWikiTheme):
   220 
   221   python moinsetup.py -m install_theme /path/to/MercurialWikiTheme/themes/mercurialwiki
   222 
   223 To install an extension package from a directory containing a setup.py script
   224 (for example, EventAggregator):
   225 
   226   python moinsetup.py -m install_extension_package /path/to/EventAggregator
   227 
   228 To install actions from a directory containing action modules:
   229 
   230   python moinsetup.py -m install_actions /path/to/EventAggregator/actions
   231 
   232 To install macros from a directory containing macro modules:
   233 
   234   python moinsetup.py -m install_macros /path/to/EventAggregator/macros
   235 
   236 To install theme-related resources for an extension from a directory
   237 containing css and img directories:
   238 
   239   python moinsetup.py -m install_theme_resources /path/to/EventAggregator
   240 
   241 To add theme-related resources to existing stylesheets (for example, adding
   242 the event-aggregator.css resource to the screen.css stylesheet for all
   243 installed themes):
   244 
   245   python moinsetup.py -m edit_theme_stylesheet screen.css event-aggregator.css
   246 
   247 To make a page package containing pages to be added to a Wiki:
   248 
   249   python moinsetup.py -m make_page_package pages_dir pages.zip
   250 
   251 To install a page package in a Wiki:
   252 
   253   python moinsetup.py -m install_page_package pages.zip
   254 
   255 Contact, Copyright and Licence Information
   256 ------------------------------------------
   257 
   258 See the following Web page for more information about this work:
   259 
   260 http://moinmo.in/ScriptMarket/moinsetup
   261 
   262 The author can be contacted at the following e-mail address:
   263 
   264 paul@boddie.org.uk
   265 
   266 Copyright and licence information can be found in the docs directory - see
   267 docs/COPYING.txt and docs/gpl-3.0.txt for more information.
   268 
   269 Dependencies
   270 ------------
   271 
   272 moinsetup has the following basic dependencies:
   273 
   274 Packages                    Release Information
   275 --------                    -------------------
   276 
   277 CMDsyntax                   Tested with 0.91
   278                             Source: http://www.boddie.org.uk/david/Projects/Python/CMDSyntax/index.html
   279 
   280 New in moinsetup 0.3 (Changes since moinsetup 0.2)
   281 --------------------------------------------------
   282 
   283   * Changed the command syntax to require -m (or --method=) before method
   284     names; improved the error reporting when settings are missing or
   285     inappropriate.
   286   * Flattened the Wiki instance hierarchy, putting the configuration, data,
   287     underlay and htdocs in the same top-level directory. (See the migration
   288     section in the documentation for information on updating the hierarchy.)
   289   * Changed the location of MoinMoin 1.9 resources, installing them in the
   290     prefix hierarchy and copying only static resources into Wiki instances.
   291   * Changed the handling of static resources with MoinMoin 1.9 to serve them
   292     separately just as MoinMoin 1.8 does; this makes performance much better
   293     when CGI is used under Apache.
   294   * Moved the editing of the moin script into the setup method so that no
   295     attempt is made to edit system programs.
   296   * Made moin_distribution optional so that when MoinMoin is installed from a
   297     system package, the non-installation actions can still be performed using
   298     shared data typically found in /usr/share/moin.
   299   * Added support for Wiki farms, separate library/site-packages directories,
   300     and site identifiers (based on site names).
   301   * Improved the MoinMoin version detection.
   302   * Added an event handler installation action.
   303 
   304 New in moinsetup 0.2 (Changes since moinsetup 0.1)
   305 --------------------------------------------------
   306 
   307   * Improved OpenID configuration, supporting MoinMoin 1.9, and added support
   308     for other authentication methods.
   309   * Added support for ACL-capable filesystems when setting Wiki permissions.
   310     It can be more convenient to retain read/write access to the installed
   311     files while also granting the Web server user (who need not be in a common
   312     group) access to read and modify the files.
   313   * Added support for configurations employing a separate static resources
   314     directory (such as a typical "htdocs" directory).
   315   * Added a parser installation action.
   316   * Added support for page attachments in the page-packaging action.
   317 
   318 Release Procedures
   319 ------------------
   320 
   321 Update the moinsetup.py __version__ attribute.
   322 Change the version number and package filename/directory in the documentation.
   323 Update the release notes (see above).
   324 Tag, export.
   325 Archive, upload.
   326 Update the ScriptMarket (see above for the URL).