EnCore installation and configuration

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Definition

This page contains installation tips for enCore MOO.

enCore is an educational MOO server/database and needs some Unix installation skills. It also may run under Windows (not tested).

Installation

Before you install

Read all the official documentation:

• V.5 installation instructions

• enCore Consortium, The enCore Consortium seeks to coordinate and promote the open source development and distribution of the enCore Program.

• v5 Documentation (not meant for end users like non-technical teachers).

Prerequisites

1. You need an Apache/Php web server installed (PHP not too old)
2. If you want file upload, you need a MySQL server (4.x or 5)
3. You need a C compiler, e.g. gcc.

On a Linux system, this ought to be easy. They come as packages with any distribution I am aware off.

Downloads

(tested in March 2007, maybe outdated at some point)

You need both a MOO server and the enCore database. The MOO server implements low level server architecture and the MOO programming language. The enCore database will contain all the necessary objects for running MOO world. Objects are programmed in the MOO language and include things like User classes, various kinds of Rooms (locations) and such. In other words, you can't run a MOO without a database.

Download a MOO server

• We recommend to take the patched Unicode-patched LambdaMOO 1.8.1 server (made by the enCore folks).
• The official LambdaMOOServer will also do (but only provides basic iso-latin support).

Download a MOO database

Take the latest *.gzip version

Take it from here

• enCore Learning Environment Take either version version 5 Beta. It works well enough for a production environment. However you also may take version 4.x (stable)
  • Note the database at eNcore Open Source MOO Project is old. Do not use it !!

File Setup

• In order to find all related files I usually recommend to do the following for software like MOO servers:

• Create a directory like /usr/local/moo and cd there
• We shall put absolutly everything in there ....
• Move the 2 archives to this directory (or if you are expert with tar/gtar put them directly into the src directory)
• Go there and make 2 subdirectories

mkdir bin
mkdir src
mkdir encore (not necessary)

Installing the MOO Server

Note: On a Linux system use: tar instead of gtar (I am working with Solaris)

(1) Make sure that you are in the right directory !!

(2) Unarchive the MOO server

i.e. the file LambdaMOO-1.8.1-unicode.tar.gz

• To make sure the archive is ok type:

gtar ztvf LambdaMOO-1.8.1-unicode.tar.gz

• Unarchive

gtar zxf LambdaMOO-1.8.1-unicode.tar.gz

• The files should be in and you may have to ajust file ownership

./MOO-1.8.1
 chown -R user:group *

• Move the archive to src

mv LambdaMOO-1.8.1-unicode.tar.gz src/

You should wind up up with something like this:

drwxr-xr-x    7 root     other         512 Mar 21 16:16 ./
drwxr-xr-x   41 root     root         1024 Mar 20 22:11 ../
drwxr-xr-x    4 schneide tecfa        4608 Mar 21 16:27 MOO-1.8.1/
drwxr-xr-x    2 schneide tecfa         512 Mar 21 18:40 bin/
drwxr-xr-x    8 schneide tecfa         512 Mar 21 16:16 encore/
drwxr-xr-x    4 schneide tecfa         512 Mar 20 22:37 junk/
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     other         512 Mar 21 16:19 src/

(3) Compile the MOO server

The idea is that we keep the source code in one directory and the binary in an other one.

• Read the README file in the MOO-1.8.2 directory. You will have to do at the least the following:

• run the configure command:

sh configure

• Edit the configuration file options.h
  1. If you want your MOO to send mail or to suppor file upload you must uncomment define OUTBOUND_NETWORK, i.e. you should have a line like this

#define OUTBOUND_NETWORK

• 1. You also may uncomment

 #define LOG_COMMANDS

• Then go to the MOO-1.8.2 directory and compile the server

cd bin
make

• if you look at the directory, you should see a moo executable file (moo*)

ls -latr

• Copy to moo file (or alternatively make a link in the bin directory)

cd ../bin
cp ../MOO-1.8.1/moo .

• Copy the start-up script to the bin directory

cp ../MOO-1.8.1/restart .
 

• You may have to fix the first line of this. E.g on Solaris it should read

 #!/usr/bin/csh -f

and not as under Linux:

   #!/bin/csh -f

(4) Dezip the enCore distribution

• Go to the home directory of your installation (e.g. /usr/local/moo)

• Unzip the enCore archive and adjust file owners if needed

gtar zxf enCore-5.x.tar.gz
chown -R user:group *

• Move the archive to src

mv enCore-5.x.tar.gz src

• Move the enCore MOO database from encore to bin

mv encore/enCore.db bin

Start the MOO server

Contents of the bin directory:

moo
restart
enCore.db

Type:$

restart enCore

End user guides

• For the moment there seems to be none for v5 (Early 2007)

• enCore v.4 User's Guide (as of March 2007 a similar v5 guide does not seem to exist).