Sakai CLE 2.7 install guide (binary)
- Former user (Deleted)
1.0 Get the binary archive
2.0 Verify/Install Java 1.6
2.1 Set Java environment variables
3.0 Install Tomcat 5.5.33
Tomcat 5.5: we recommend Tomcat 5.5.33 in order to avoid certain Tomcat security vulnerabilities present in earlier releases.
Tomcat 6.0 / 7.0: Sakai 2.7 has not been tested in Tomcat 6.0 or 7.0 and will not run in either version of Tomcat without configuration changes. Adopters are advised to stay with the Tomcat 5.5. series.
JAVA_OPTS: running Sakai 2.x in Tomcat 5.5.27+ requires JAVA_OPTS modifications (see below).
Sakai installations should always be accompanied by a fresh install of Tomcat. It provides a clean environment that simplifies troubleshooting if problems are encountered during the startup phase.
The Apache Tomcat servlet container provides an ideal environment for running Sakai as a web application. Tomcat implements both the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) specifications and can be run in standalone mode or in conjunction with a web application server such as the Apache HTTP server or JBoss. Sakai 2.7 works with the Tomcat 5.5 series.
Tomcat can be downloaded as a binary install from http://archive.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-5/
Choose the core distribution. Windows users have the option of downloading either a Windows Service Installer .exe or a binary *.zip archive. We recommend the *.zip archive over the installer because configuration and log viewing are easier. You can later convert the .zip install into a service install by running /bin/service.bat (see below for more details).
Unpack the Tomcat archive into your installation directory of choice, e.g. /opt/. Unix/Mac users should create a symbolic link (e.g., ln -s apache-tomcat-5.5.33) while Windows users should simply rename the base Tomcat directory to /tomcat to simplify the path.
Tomcat pathnames
Windows users should ensure that the Tomcat path includes no spaces as this causes errors with JavaServer Faces (JSF) tools in Sakai.
Good: C:\opt\tomcat\, C:\sakaistuff\installs\tomcat\
Bad: C:\program files\tomcat\, C:\opt\apache tomcat 5.5.33\
Tomcat permissions
Unix/Mac users should make sure that they have write permissions to the Tomcat servlet container files and directories before proceeding or startup permission errors may occur.
Tomcat JDK 1.4 Compatibility Package
Do not download and install the JDK 1.4 Compatibility Package. Sakai 2.7 will not run should you install it.
3.1 Set Tomcat environment variables
By convention, the base Tomcat directory (e.g. /usr/local/apache-tomcat-5.5.31) is referred to as $CATALINA_HOME. As a convenience, you should create a $CATALINA_HOME environment variable. For UNIX operating systems one typically modifies a startup file like ~/.bash_login to set and export shell variables while Mac users typically set and export environment variables in .bash_profile. For Windows, go to Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables and set your Tomcat environment variables via the GUI.
Set the CATALINA_HOME environment variable to point to the base directory of your Tomcat installation and add the Tomcat /bin directory to your PATH variable:
Variable |
Unix/Mac |
Windows |
|---|---|---|
CATALINA_HOME |
|
|
PATH |
|
|
Windows: append string to the end of the Path system variable.
3.2 Configure Tomcat
If you want to run Tomcat on different ports than the defaults, this would also be a good time to make those changes in the server.xml file. See Tomcat's configuration documentation for more details.
If you plan to run Tomcat as a standalone web server as opposed to running it in conjunction with the Apache HTTP server then you will want to make a further minor change that may spare some confusion later. The ROOT webapp is the one served up when a request is made to Tomcat's root URL. If you want users to be re-directed automatically to the Sakai application, you must insert an index.html file into /webapps/ROOT that prompts this re-direction. The index.html file should look something like the following:
<html> <head> <title>Redirecting to /portal</title> <meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="0:URL=/portal"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" onLoad="javascript:window.location='/portal';"> <div style="margin:18px;width:288px;background-color:#cccc99;padding:18px;border:thin solid #666600;text-align:justify"> <p style="margin-top:0px"> You are being redirected to the Sakai portal. If you are not automatically redirected, use the link below to continue:<br/> <a href="/portal">Take me to the Sakai portal</a> </p> </body> </html>
Neglecting this adjustment will force users to append /portal to the URL entered to access Sakai each time. If you intend to connect Tomcat with Apache HTTP server you can configure redirections from within Apache, an option that lies outside the scope of this document.
3.3 Tomcat memory management
You can better manage Tomcat memory usage by creating a setenv.sh/.bat file defining JAVA_OPTS environment variable settings in the tomcat/bin directory.
Mac/Unix: create a file called setenv.sh and add the following line:
export JAVA_OPTS='-server -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m -XX:NewSize=192m -XX:MaxNewSize=384m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dhttp.agent=Sakai -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.STRICT_QUOTE_ESCAPING=false -Dsun.lang.ClassLoader.allowArraySyntax=true'
Windows: create a file called setenv.bat and add the following line:
set JAVA_OPTS=-server -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m -XX:NewSize=192m -XX:MaxNewSize=384m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dhttp.agent=Sakai -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.STRICT_QUOTE_ESCAPING=false -Dsun.lang.ClassLoader.allowArraySyntax=true'
3.4 Set up Tomcat as a Windows service
You can convert the .zip install into a service install by running service.bat from the /bin directory:
C:\tomcat\bin> service.bat install
You can add a service name as a second argument to the above script (the default name is "Tomcat5"). You can uninstall the service by replacing "install" with "remove".
After this you need to set the default startup options:
C:\tomcat\bin> tomcat5 //US//Tomcat5 ++JvmOptions "-Xms512m;-Xmx1024m;-XX:PermSize=128m;-XX:MaxPermSize=256m;-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8; -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.STRICT_QUOTE_ESCAPING=false"
If you choose to do this in the GUI follow these steps: Open the configuration window, issue the following command:
C:\tomcat\bin> tomcat5w //ES//Tomcat5
Replace "Tomcat5" with whatever service name you chose for the install. You'll want to set the service to startup automatically ("Startup Type" under the General tab).
Windows users that have installed Tomcat as a service can set most Java options through the Tomcat service manager GUI, but not all of them are as straightforward as inclusion in a single environment variable. To achieve the equivalent of the "-server" option, you'll need to change the Java Virtual Machine path from ..\bin\client\jvm.dll to ..\bin\server\jvm.dll.
Java 1.6 users will you need add the system property -Dsun.lang.ClassLoader.allowArraySyntax=true. This option is not required for Java 1.5. Please see the Java section above or SAK-15874 for more details.
Be sure to put the remaining JAVA_OPTS on separate lines in the Java Options field of the GUI, e.g.:
-Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=128m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.STRICT_QUOTE_ESCAPING=false -Dsun.lang.ClassLoader.allowArraySyntax=true -Dhttp.agent=Sakai
Samoo has reported that display issues after editing text documents with accented characters using the resources tool. The issue was resolved by adding -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 as a Java option (open command window -> type "tomcat5w" -> "Java" ->"Java Options:").
You can add additional system properties if needed, e.g., -Dsakai.security=C:\tomcat\security.
Finally, clear out the Initial Memory Pool and Maximum Memory Pool values, as those might conflict with the options you're putting in the Java Options field. Then click Apply, restart the service, and double-check the service manager to verify that the values have changed.
Java 1.6 users may encounter the unhelpful system log error "The Apache Tomcat service terminated with service-specific error 0 (0x0)". This can be fixed by copying the file msvcr71.dll from the /bin directory into the server or client directory with the jvm.dll file.
To set up remote debugging, please see (Remote Debugging).