[xwiki-devs] [Brainstorming] Avoiding user errors when installing XWiki through the standalone distribution and changing the DB
10 Mar
2014
10 Mar
'14
3:45 p.m.
Hi devs,
Some users are making the following mistake:
- download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution (jetty/hsqldb)
- then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql typically)
- then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone distribution the
data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that says the DW has already been
executed and thus do not need to be executed again…
We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
Any idea?
Some ideas:
- Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/ directory if you
change DB
- Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id so that if the DB
changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
Thanks
-Vincent
10 Mar
10 Mar
6:24 p.m.
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 4:45 PM, vincent(a)massol.net <vincent(a)massol.net> wrote:
Hi devs,
Some users are making the following mistake:
- download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution (jetty/hsqldb)
- then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql typically)
- then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
The problem is that they don't/can't understand that in the standalone
distribution the data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that says the DW has
already been executed and thus do not need to be executed again...
We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
Any idea?
Some ideas:
- Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/ directory if you
change DB
- Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id so that if the DB
changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
2 sounds good indeed but I don't know if it's easy to implement.
Thomas should know.
Thanks,
Marius
Thanks
-Vincent
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7:11 p.m.
On 03/10/2014 10:45 AM, vincent(a)massol.net wrote:
Hi devs,
Some users are making the following mistake:
- download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution (jetty/hsqldb)
- then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql typically)
- then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone distribution the
data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that says the DW has already been
executed and thus do not need to be executed again…
We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
Any idea?
Some ideas:
- Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/ directory if you
change DB
- Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id so that if the DB
changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
Idea 3: Store a bit of information in the database itself, maybe just
the artifact coordinates of the installed main UI package. Not sure what
to do if it doesn't match the expected value mentioned in the status.xml
file (or there's no such info at all)... Could be added next to the
database (migration) version.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu
11:11 p.m.
You are saying that users mismatch the DB and the permanent directory, and
you would like to have that fix automagically ? Not only the jobs status
could be there, but also the attachments, and many other permanent data
that will not match the DB.
I completely agree that mixing inconstantly a DB and a permanent directory
is an annoying issue. I am not sure we could do any magic to fix it. What
could be nice to have is a GUID on the main DB, and in the permanent
directory, that in case of mismatch, prevent the wiki to start fully and
inform the user.
WDYT ?
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 3:45 PM, vincent(a)massol.net <vincent(a)massol.net>wrote;wrote:
Hi devs,
Some users are making the following mistake:
- download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution
(jetty/hsqldb)
- then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql
typically)
- then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone
distribution the data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that says
the DW has already been executed and thus do not need to be executed again…
We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
Any idea?
Some ideas:
- Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/
directory if you change DB
- Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id so
that if the DB changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
Thanks
-Vincent
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
--
Denis Gervalle
SOFTEC sa - CEO
11:37 p.m.
Hi Denis,
On 10 Mar 2014 at 23:12:14, Denis Gervalle (dgl@softec.lu(mailto:dgl@softec.lu)) wrote:
You are saying that users mismatch the DB and the
permanent directory, and
you would like to have that fix automagically ? Not only the jobs status
could be there, but also the attachments, and many other permanent data
that will not match the DB.
I completely agree that mixing inconstantly a DB and a permanent directory
is an annoying issue. I am not sure we could do any magic to fix it. What
could be nice to have is a GUID on the main DB, and in the permanent
directory, that in case of mismatch, prevent the wiki to start fully and
inform the user.
WDYT ?
Indeed, each instance already has a unique id (GUID) stored in the DB :)
So we could also store this value in the distribution’s status.xml file and if the GUID
changes (there’s an API to get it) then inform the user that the DB has changed and
explain with a nice message the out-of-sync issue and what he has to do to fix it (most
likely remove the data/ directory which must be in sync with the DB), and throw a servlet
exception.
I agree it’s safer than trying to fix it automatically.
Thanks
-Vincent
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 3:45 PM, vincent(a)massol.net
wrote:
Hi devs,
Some users are making the following mistake:
- download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution
(jetty/hsqldb)
- then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql
typically)
- then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone
distribution the data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that says
the DW has already been executed and thus do not need to be executed again…
We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
Any idea?
Some ideas:
- Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/
directory if you change DB
- Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id so
that if the DB changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
Thanks
-Vincent
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
--
Denis Gervalle
SOFTEC sa - CEO
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
11 Mar
11 Mar
12:24 a.m.
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 11:37 PM, vincent(a)massol.net <vincent(a)massol.net>wrote;wrote:
Hi Denis,
On 10 Mar 2014 at 23:12:14, Denis Gervalle (dgl(a)softec.lu(mailto:
dgl(a)softec.lu)) wrote:
I forget about it, since I never get any in my DB... I am not a good xwiki
citizen, I probably care too much about my privacy :)
You are saying that users mismatch the DB and the
permanent directory,
and
you would like to have that fix automagically ?
Not only the jobs status
could be there, but also the attachments, and many other permanent data
that will not match the DB.
I completely agree that mixing inconstantly a DB and a permanent
directory
is an annoying issue. I am not sure we could do
any magic to fix it. What
could be nice to have is a GUID on the main DB, and in the permanent
directory, that in case of mismatch, prevent the wiki to start fully and
inform the user.
WDYT ?
Indeed, each instance already has a unique id (GUID) stored in the DB :)
So we could also store this value in the
distribution’s status.xml file
and if the GUID changes (there’s an API to get it) then inform the user
that the DB has changed and explain with a nice message the out-of-sync
issue and what he has to do to fix it (most likely remove the data/
directory which must be in sync with the DB), and throw a servlet exception.
Not sure the status.xml is the perfect place for it. It should not be
dependent of the DW. This check could probably be done directly in the
instance id manger, when it could not reach a consistant state between the
DB and the FS.
I agree it’s safer than trying to fix it automatically.
Thanks
-Vincent
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
--
Denis Gervalle
SOFTEC sa - CEO
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 3:45 PM,
vincent(a)massol.net wrote:
> Hi devs,
>
> Some users are making the following mistake:
> - download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution
> (jetty/hsqldb)
> - then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql
> typically)
> - then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
>
> The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone
> distribution the data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that
says
> the DW has already been executed and thus do
not need to be executed
again…
>
> We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
>
> Any idea?
>
> Some ideas:
> - Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/
> directory if you change DB
> - Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id
so
that if
the DB changes, the DW can kick in again.
- other?
I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
Thanks
-Vincent
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
--
Denis Gervalle
SOFTEC sa - CEO
_______________________________________________
devs mailing list
devs(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
8:14 a.m.
On 11 Mar 2014 at 00:25:25, Denis Gervalle (dgl@softec.lu(mailto:dgl@softec.lu)) wrote:
On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 11:37 PM, vincent(a)massol.net
wrote:
Yes I agree it should be independent of the DW files. It should be some new file created
and owned by the instance module to ensure synchronisation between the data/ dir and the
DB.
Cool, another use case for the instance module ;)
Thanks
-Vincent
Hi Denis,
On 10 Mar 2014 at 23:12:14, Denis Gervalle (dgl(a)softec.lu(mailto:
dgl(a)softec.lu)) wrote:
I forget about it, since I never get any in my DB... I am not a good xwiki
citizen, I probably care too much about my privacy :)
You are saying that users mismatch the DB and the
permanent directory,
and
you would like to have that fix automagically ?
Not only the jobs status
could be there, but also the attachments, and many other permanent data
that will not match the DB.
I completely agree that mixing inconstantly a DB and a permanent
directory
is an annoying issue. I am not sure we could do
any magic to fix it. What
could be nice to have is a GUID on the main DB, and in the permanent
directory, that in case of mismatch, prevent the wiki to start fully and
inform the user.
WDYT ?
Indeed, each instance already has a unique id (GUID) stored in the DB :)
So we could also store this value in the
distribution’s status.xml file
and if the GUID changes (there’s an API to get it) then inform the user
that the DB has changed and explain with a nice message the out-of-sync
issue and what he has to do to fix it (most likely remove the data/
directory which must be in sync with the DB), and throw a servlet exception.
Not sure the status.xml is the perfect place for it. It should not be
dependent of the DW. This check could probably be done directly in the
instance id manger, when it could not reach a consistant state between the
DB and the FS. I agree it’s safer than trying to fix it
automatically.
>
> Thanks
> -Vincent
>
> > On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 3:45 PM, vincent(a)massol.net wrote:
> >
> > > Hi devs,
> > >
> > > Some users are making the following mistake:
> > > - download the zip/exe and install our standalone distribution
> > > (jetty/hsqldb)
> > > - then they configure xwiki to point to another DB (mysql or postgresql
> > > typically)
> > > - then they start XWiki and they get an empty page and no DW
> > >
> > > The problem is that they don’t/can’t understand that in the standalone
> > > distribution the data/ directory already has a DW status.xml file that
> says
> > > the DW has already been executed and thus do not need to be executed
> again…
> > >
> > > We need to find some strategy to avoid this potential error.
> > >
> > > Any idea?
> > >
> > > Some ideas:
> > > - Idea 1: Improve documentation to explain the need to remove the data/
> > > directory if you change DB
> > > - Idea 2: In the status.xml, store the DW status along with the DB id
> so
> > > that if the DB changes, the DW can kick in again.
> > > - other?
> > >
> > > I personally like idea 2. WDYT?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > -Vincent
> > >
3842
days inactive
3843
days old
6 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
Denis Gervalle -
Marius Dumitru Florea -
Sergiu Dumitriu -
vincent＠massol.net