CHITS Installation Guide

Note to users: Herman and Oscar are updating this section. Please stand by for more information. Please read Developer Information for more details. Thanks!

Requirements

• Server: IBM-compatible PC with 512MB memory, 40GB hard disk, ethernet card, running Linux
• Workstations: IBM-compatible PC with 128MB memory, 20GB hard disk, ethernet or Wi-Fi card running Linux (or Windows), Web browser
• 8-port Network hub/switch or wireless router

Installation

SERVER INSTALLATION

Install the Linux operating system on the server. Linux (Debian, Mandrake, or Fedora Core 3, 4) is recommended. Windows can also be used. After installation, the server software required on the server should be installed and configured as well. You can use the package managers of the Linux distribution you are using to install the following.

• Apache Web Server: Version 1.3, 2.0, or 2.2 (not tested). Version 2.0 is strongly recommended. A standard install of Apache with PHP enabled will suffice. Check http://httpd.apache.org∞ for more details.
• PHP: CHITS currently uses PHP4+. A version working on PHP5 is under development.
• MySQL: Make sure the version of MySQL is at least Version 3.23.58 or later. Ensure the set up is that of MySQL-Max. Using Fedora to illustrate, set up MySQL to start automatically during boot time by doing this,
  # chkconfig mysqld on
  
  Start MySQL by doing this,
  # service mysqld start
  
  Create super user in Mysql named chits with password mypassword (Change this to some other password.).
  This is how to create this Mysql user chits,
  $mysql -u root -ppassword
  >GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON game.* TO 'chits'@'localhost' identified by 'mypassword' WITH GRANT OPTION;
  >GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON game.* TO 'chits'@'%' identified by 'mypassword' WITH GRANT OPTION;
  
• Printer drivers: Linux uses the CUPS printing utilities.
• CHITS software:
  • Download site is at https://developer.berlios.de/projects/chits∞.
  • Download sotware file into document_root of web server. For example, the default for Fedora Linux is /var/www/html.
  • Untar the file like so: tar zxvf chits-x.x-tar.gz.
  • Change directory name like so: mv chits-x.x chits.
  • Change owner and permissions like so: chown -R apache.apache chits && chmod -R 750 chits.
  • Using text editor edit a file /var/www/html/chits/config/db.xml
  <?xml version="1.0"?>
  <db>
  <dbname>game</dbname>
  <dbhost>localhost</dbhost>
  <dbuser>chits</dbuser>
  <dbpass>mypassword</dbpass>
  </db>
  
  • Now point your Web browser to http://<server name>/chits

WORKSTATION INSTALLATION

Install the operating system of choice for the workstation. Either Windows or Linux (Debian, Mandrake, or Fedora 3, 4) can be used.

CHITS is a web-based system and resides on the server. Once the server software have been installed, the only software required on the workstations would be the web browser. We recommend using Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org∞) as this has been the platform where the user interface has been extensively tested. Aside from the browser, a workstation may have (1) a printer for printing reports, and (2) a CD-ROM burner for burning backups onto CDs.

Once the server software have been installed, and the network configured, just fire up the browser and type http://[serverip]/info/index.php where serverip is the configured IP address of the server.

NETWORK INSTALLATION

CHITS can be configured to run using a wired or wireless configuration. To use a wireless configuration, you can use a wireless router instead of the network switch or hub. Configure the wireless router or network hub to provide fake IP addresses.

A wireless configuration may be easier to maintain because wires may get cut or stretched causing network malfunction.

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