Installation

The native Perl installation of Fautore is currently the only version available. This means there are prerequisite Perl modules that need to be installed. We are working on a compiled version that will ease installation and is expected to be available with the .05 release.

Note
This page describes the process for doing a fresh install of Fautore. Please see the Fautore Update page to upgrade an existing installation.

Preamble

The Fautore program is written in Perl for a number of reasons, not the least of which being portability. Perl runs on about any known operating system (though admittedly some need tweaking). These are first release installation instructions and fairly specific to Linux, specifically LinuxMint 17.1, but should apply to any Linux. Apple and Windows are doable if you clearly understand the details of running Perl on those OS's and can adjust accordingly. We'll be providing OS specific directions as that magical combination of "demand" and "available time" come together to make it happen.

1.1. Registration

You will require a valid Tekadvocates site registration with membership in the "fautore" site group to access the download. To obtain this, first register with the TekAdvocates site, then contact us to request access to download and evaluate alpha releases of Fautore.

1.2. Download

The Fautore application is available to anyone registered on the TekAdvocates site for download from the main Fautore page once established as a "fautore" group member.

1.3. Unzip

Uncompress the downloaded gzip file into a location your account can write on your local computer. The "home" directory for your account is fine for this version. No administrative privileges are required to install Fautore. Administrative privileges may be necessary to install the prerequisites however.

1.4. Install Prerequisites

Modules
The native Perl, uncompiled, interpreted version of Fautore requires prerequisite modules be installed. This can be accomplished easily enough with the following command: 
sudo cpan install JSON DBI Crypt::Rijndael Crypt::DH DBD::SQLite Tk

In cases where modules need closer attention the below command can be run for each module: 

sudo perl -MCPAN -e "install {library name}"

Where {library name} is replaced by each of the below module names. For example, the first installation command would be: 

sudo perl -MCPAN -e "install JSON"

Run the command once for each module:

  • JSON
  • DBI
  • Crypt::Rijndael
  • Crypt::DH
  • DBD::SQLite
  • Tk (optional fauChat support - not recommended for 0.5 or below)
Environment

Until a more formal and complete installation program is implemented the Perl interpreter must be informed where to find the custom modules supplied with Fautore itself. This is achieved by setting the "PERL5LIB" environment variable to the location of the libraries. Assuming the Fautore program is installed to the directory called "fautore" in the home directory of the login "fred" which is located in the standard location "/home/fred" the full path to use would be: "/home/fred/fautore"

This then is the path that should be used for the "PERL5LIB using the following command prior to running Fautore:

export PERL5LIB=/home/fred/fautore


The command must of course reflect the path to your specific Fautore location. The environment setting can be made permanent by adding the entire export command to the /home/fred/.bashrc file.

1.5. Start

#Change your working directory to that of the unzipped files
"cd {directory path}"
  1. Enter this command to start Fautore
    ./fautore.pl start

1.6. Proxy Setup

Optional. (see Fautore Access Options for details)

Fautore configuration management is setup through the web browser. Depending on your needs, there are actually a couple ways to access Fautore by browser. Should you decide you use the proxy method (see Fautore Access Options for details) there is a little setup to be done first.

Any browser offering proxy support will work — which is about any browser. For this example we are using Firefox:

  1. Start the browser
  2. Access preferences
  3. Select "Advanced" in the top tab bar, "Network from the lower tab bar and then click "Settings"
  4. Fill out the "Settings form as illustrated below
  5. Close out of the Firefox preferences gracefully and entirely.

Troubleshooting

Some problems have cropped up with the underlying environment often enough to warrant a few troubleshooting thoughts.

YAML

Problem:
More of an inconvenience that complicates the text of troubleshooting problems when they arise. This issue manifests as a warning something like:

'YAML' not installed, will not store persistent state


Explanation
The perl YAML file used to process configuration files and other data is not installed. This isn't a fatal error, but can be a distracting nuisance when troubleshooting other problems.

Action
Either use the package manage of your Linux distribution to search on and install "build-essential" or use a command line like below:

All Linux
sudo perl -MCPAN -e "install YAML"
DBI Issues

Problem:
DBI module installation fails with an error reference to:

fatal error: sys/types.h: No such file or directory


Explanation
The DBI module needs to be compiled for system specific use. Some Linux systems are installed without the kernel headers necessary to do compilations. (files with ".h" on the end)

Action
Either use the package manager of your Linux distribution to search on and install "build-essential" or use a command line like below:

LinuxMint/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential
RedHat
sudo yum install build-essential