SoftChalk Admin Guide v10

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Feb 10, 2011Version comment
3 min read

Mark J. Norton

Sept. 14, 2009

This document describes installation procedures to enable SoftChalk LessonBuilder to publish completed lessons directly into Sakai as zipped web pages or as a SCORM package. The document assumes some familiarity with building Java-based web applications using a Tomcat container.

Some of the following links may be useful:

The document is broken into two sections: one to install a local copy of Sakai, and one to add SoftChalk support to an existing instance of Sakai (2.5.x).

Local Environment Setup

Creating an instance on your laptop or local machine requires a number of tools (Subversion, and Maven), a database (MySQL is recommended), a Tomcat container, and Sakai sources (2.5.x).
Follow the steps in http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/BOOT/Development+Environment+Setup+Walkthrough very carefully and in order. You can substitute the latest 5.x version of MySQL for the 4.1 version mentioned there, but make sure you get the right JDBC connector (5.x version).

You need to install the full set of Sakai sources, plus the following:

  • wicket
  • scorm player
  • lbgateway

For Sakai sources using subversion to download the 2.5.x Sakai source code:

	svn export https://source.sakaiproject.org/svn/sakai/branches/sakai_2-5-x/

You can put this anywhere on your system, but some place like /dev is recommended.
If your maven settings are setup correctly, you can run the Sakai build using the following shell command:

	mvn clean install sakai:deploy

This should end with “Build Successful”.

Next, build the wicket and scorm player modules:

	cd back to your sakai directory.
	svn export https://source.sakaiproject.org/contrib/wicket/sakai-wicket/branches/sakai_2-5-x/ wicket
	svn export https://source.sakaiproject.org/contrib/scorm/SCORM.2004.3ED.RTE/branches/sakai_2-5-x/  scorm
	cd wicket
	mvn clean install sakai:deploy
	cd ../scorm
	mvn clean install sakai:deploy

Then cd into /dev/sakai_2-5-x (or whatever you called it) and download the following code:

	cd ..
	svn export https://source.sakaiproject.org/contrib/softchalk/branches/lbgateway_2-5-x/ lbgateway

Then build and deploy the lbgateway module:

	cd lbgateway
	mvn clean install sakai:deploy

You must be connected to the internet to run these commands. Once built and deployed, you can disconnect as needed. Start up Sakai by:

	cd $CATALINA_HOME
	cd bin
	bash startup.sh
	tail –f ../logs/catalina.out

This last command will allow you watch the tomcat log of Sakai startup. Watch for exception stacks. Start up is complete when the log indicates “Startup in xxxx ms”.

Now you can try to log into Sakai. In a browser, enter:
http://localhost:8080/portal

You should see a Sakai login prompt. User name is “admin”, password is “admin”. To test if SoftChalk integration is active, try the following URL:
http://localhost:8080/lbgateway/help?

You will need to set up a course before you can publish SoftChalk lessons to it. After logging into Sakai as admin, click on “Administration Workspace”. Select “Worksite Setup” on the left side. Select “New” from links near tool title and press continue. Select “project website”. Enter a title, description, and short description and press continue. Check “Resources” and “Scorm Player” tools. Other tools may be selected if desired. Press continue. Press continue on the Set Site Access page (use defaults). Press “Create Site”.

Your site will be created as a project site. To convert it to a course site (needed for SoftChalk support), select the “Sites” tool from the left hand list. Find the site that matches the short description you just created. Click on it’s Site Id link. Change type from “project” to “course”. Press Save.