Server requirements

Instructions for installing total-impact locally

Deploying to a clean Ubuntu 10.04 server:

This is the same whether you are deploying to the production server, an Amazon EC2 instance, or a local VM. Just log into your clean Ubuntu install and run this:

wget -O ti.tar.gz https://github.com/mhahnel/Total-Impact/tarball/master 
tar -xzf ti.tar.gz --wildcards --strip-component=1 '*/deploy/*'
sudo ./deploy/deploy.sh

Installing to your local Ubuntu machine

It's pretty easy; see the bottom half of the /deploy/deploy.sh script for the steps you'll need. This is a good choice if you're already on an Ubuntu box and the server is several layers away from what you're doing (UI stuff, for example). Installing to OSX is harder; most stuff works, but I haven't figured out how to install pecl/http yet, and that's used everywhere. If you're on Win or Mac, or if you're going to be doing anything that might interact with the server environment (plugin/core dev) you may be better off starting a VM, at least for testing.

Deploying to a virtualised test server using VirtualBox

This is your best option for local TI development, as it exactly replicates the production environment. It take an hour or two to set up, although most of that is just waiting for stuff to download and install. When you're done you get the best of both worlds: TI runs from a virtualised dev server completely identical to the production one, but you can edit everything on your own OS with your fancy IDE or whatever.

1. download the the Ubuntu 10.04 server (32-bit) ISO
2. install VirtualBox: download or sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-qt
3. in VirtualBox, make a new VM using the Ubuntu ISO
   1. before you boot the new machine (or just turn it off): under Settings->Network change "NAT" to "Bridged Adapter." This lets your VM use the host network card to get a DHCP-assigned IP on your local network, as though it were just another machine. This can be annoying when the available network requires you to register or login new machines, because the VM needs to do this like anyone else. There may be some complicated ways around this.
4. walk through the Ubuntu install; accept all defaults. Pick any username you fancy (except "ti").
5. After logging in, first fix the annoying slow frame buffer:
   1. sudo sh -c 'echo "blacklist vga16fb\n" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf'
   2. sudo shutdown -r now # reboot
6. Install VirtualBox "Guest Additions," which you need to setup folder sharing:
   1. Click Devices->Install Guest Additions on the VirtualBox machine menu, and follow the prompts to download the ISO and mount it. If that doesn't work, you can download it manually, then mount the downloaded ISO from the Devices->CD/DVD menu.
   2. sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
   3. sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
   4. sudo mount /dev/dvd /cdrom
   5. sudo /cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run ## ignore complaints about Window System drivers.
   6. Done! It's useful to save a snapshot of the machine now, so you can start with a clean machine any time you want.
7. Follow the instructions for "deploying to a fresh Ubuntu server"
8. Run ifconfig to get the VM's IP address; type this into your browser, and you should see TI. It's convenient to put the IP in your host OS's /etc/hosts file under "total-impact.org.vm" or similar, so you don't have to bookmark or remember it.
9. Setup the shared folder according to these instructions. You want to mount your host OS's TI directory to the VM's /home/ti/Total-Impact directory. That way, the VM will be serving files that are actually located on your host OS.