.. -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

.. _ConfigEnv:

Set-up of a *CubicWeb* environment

==================================

You can `configure the database`_ system of your choice:

  - `PostgreSQL configuration`_

  - `SQLServer configuration`_

  - `SQLite configuration`_

For advanced features, have a look to:

  - `Cubicweb resources configuration`_

.. _`configure the database`: DatabaseInstallation_

.. _`PostgreSQL configuration`: PostgresqlConfiguration_

.. _`SQLServer configuration`: SQLServerConfiguration_

.. _`SQLite configuration`: SQLiteConfiguration_

.. _`Cubicweb resources configuration`: RessourcesConfiguration_

.. _RessourcesConfiguration:

Cubicweb resources configuration

--------------------------------

.. automodule:: cubicweb.cwconfig

.. _DatabaseInstallation:

Databases configuration

-----------------------

Each instance can be configured with its own database connection information,

that will be stored in the instance's :file:`sources` file. The database to use

will be chosen when creating the instance. CubicWeb is known to run with

Postgresql (recommended), SQLServer and SQLite.

but at least one relational database is required for CubicWeb to work. You do

not need to install a backend that you do not intend to use for one of your

instances. SQLite is not fit for production use, but it works well for testing

and ships with Python, which saves installation time when you want to get

started quickly.

.. _PostgresqlConfiguration:

PostgreSQL

~~~~~~~~~~

Many Linux distributions ship with the appropriate PostgreSQL packages.

Basically, you need to install the following packages:

* `postgresql` and `postgresql-client`, which will pull the respective

  versioned packages (e.g. `postgresql-9.1` and `postgresql-client-9.1`) and,

  optionally,

* a `postgresql-plpython-X.Y` package with a version corresponding to that of

  the aforementioned packages (e.g. `postgresql-plpython-9.1`).

If you run postgres version prior to 8.3, you'll also need the

`postgresql-contrib-8.X` package for full-text search extension.

If you run postgres on another host than the |cubicweb| repository, you should

install the `postgresql-client` package on the |cubicweb| host, and others on the

database host.

For extra details concerning installation, please refer to the `PostgreSQL

project online documentation`_.

.. _`PostgreSQL project online documentation`: http://www.postgresql.org/docs

Database cluster

++++++++++++++++

If you already have an existing cluster and PostgreSQL server running, you do

not need to execute the initilization step of your PostgreSQL database unless

you want a specific cluster for |cubicweb| databases or if your existing

cluster doesn't use the UTF8 encoding (see note below).

To initialize a PostgreSQL cluster, use the command ``initdb``::

    $ initdb -E UTF8 -D /path/to/pgsql

Note: ``initdb`` might not be in the PATH, so you may have to use its

absolute path instead (usually something like

``/usr/lib/postgresql/9.4/bin/initdb``).

Notice the encoding specification. This is necessary since |cubicweb| usually

want UTF8 encoded database. If you use a cluster with the wrong encoding, you'll

get error like::

  new encoding (UTF8) is incompatible with the encoding of the template database (SQL_ASCII)

  HINT:  Use the same encoding as in the template database, or use template0 as template.

Once initialized, start the database server PostgreSQL with the command::

  $ postgres -D /path/to/psql

If you cannot execute this command due to permission issues, please make sure

that your username has write access on the database.  ::

  $ chown username /path/to/pgsql

Database authentication

+++++++++++++++++++++++

The database authentication is configured in `pg_hba.conf`. It can be either set

to `ident sameuser` or `md5`.  If set to `md5`, make sure to use an existing

user of your database.  If set to `ident sameuser`, make sure that your client's

operating system user name has a matching user in the database. If not, please

do as follow to create a user::

  $ su

  $ su - postgres

  $ createuser -s -P <dbuser>

The option `-P` (for password prompt), will encrypt the password with the

method set in the configuration file :file:`pg_hba.conf`.  If you do not use this

option `-P`, then the default value will be null and you will need to set it

with::

  $ su postgres -c "echo ALTER USER <dbuser> WITH PASSWORD '<dbpassword>' | psql"

The above login/password will be requested when you will create an instance with

`cubicweb-ctl create` to initialize the database of your instance.

Database creation

+++++++++++++++++

If you create the database by hand (instead of using the `cubicweb-ctl

db-create` tool), you may want to make sure that the local settings are

properly set. For example, if you need to handle french accents

properly for indexing and sorting, you may need to create the database

with something like::

  $ createdb --encoding=UTF-8 --locale=fr_FR.UTF-8 -t template0 -O <owner> <dbname>

Notice that the `cubicweb-ctl db-create` does database initialization that

may requires a postgres superuser. That's why a login/password is explicitly asked

at this step, so you can use there a superuser without using this user when running

the instance. Things that require special privileges at this step:

* database creation, require the 'create database' permission

* install the `plpython` extension language (require superuser)

To avoid using a super user each time you create an install, a nice trick is to

install plpython (and tsearch when needed) on the special `template1` database,

so they will be installed automatically when cubicweb databases are created

without needs for special access rights. To do so, run ::

  # Installation of plpythonu language by default ::

  $ createlang -U pgadmin plpythonu template1

  $ psql -U pgadmin template1

  template1=# update pg_language set lanpltrusted=TRUE where lanname='plpythonu';

Where `pgadmin` is a postgres superuser. The last command is necessary since by

default plpython is an 'untrusted' language and as such can't be used by non

superuser. This update fix that problem by making it trusted.

.. _SQLServerConfiguration:

SQLServer

~~~~~~~~~

As of this writing, support for SQLServer 2005 is functional but incomplete. You

should be able to connect, create a database and go quite far, but some of the

SQL generated from RQL queries is still currently not accepted by the

backend. Porting to SQLServer 2008 is also an item on the backlog.

The `source` configuration file may look like this (specific parts only are

shown)::

  [system]

  db-driver=sqlserver2005

  db-user=someuser

  # database password not needed

  #db-password=toto123

  #db-create/init may ask for a pwd: just say anything

  db-extra-arguments=Trusted_Connection

  db-encoding=utf8

You need to change the default settings on the database by running::

 ALTER DATABASE <databasename> SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON;

The ALTER DATABASE command above requires some permissions that your

user may not have. In that case you will have to ask your local DBA to

run the query for you.

You can check that the setting is correct by running the following

query which must return '1'::

   SELECT is_read_committed_snapshot_on

     FROM sys.databases WHERE name='<databasename>';

.. _SQLiteConfiguration:

SQLite

~~~~~~

SQLite has the great advantage of requiring almost no configuration. Simply

use 'sqlite' as db-driver, and set path to the dabase as db-name. Don't specify

anything for db-user and db-password, they will be ignore anyway.

.. Note::

  SQLite is great for testing and to play with cubicweb but is not suited for

  production environments.