Bloody Painful Install - Alfresco-Labs-3c-Linux-x86-Install

[lewstherin]

I am up for any suggestions from anyone and would appreciate any input.

Wow, I mean seriously, wow . . .  :shock:

I have tried everything. I just keep running into not being able to login to blah:8080/share after a "successful" install. I can't believe how obstinate this is being.

Here is scoop:

Installing Alfresco-Labs-3c-Linux-x86-Install on CentOS 4.7 (and also tried a new 5.2 box too get exactly the same)

Following the directions from http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Installing_Labs_3_on_Linux_with_command_line_interface

(I have installed it both in the CLI directly and also X forwarded the GUI client, with exactly the same results. Also note the instructions in the .pdf (Install_Configure_Alfresco_Labs3c.pdf Installing Alfresco on Redhat Linux (excluding JDK))

I then edit /opt/Alfresco/alfresco.sh to point to my java, etc.

I then try to pull up the web page and get the login screen, to which, not matter what I try I am utterly able to log into using admin / admin.  I tried setting up MySQL instead. Same deal. Reinstalled multiple times. Same. Tried setting the update database.scheme to true in the config. Nope. tried the Tomcat bundle (got nowhere with that). Reinstalled again, same. Tried on another clean install of CentOS 5.2. Nope.  Always the result is the same error that the server can not be contacted or the credentials are incorrect. It is impossible to log in after the install finishes.

I search and search through the forums and found many people having the same issue, but no clear solution. I have tried a few things - all to no avail.

I am no java / Tomcat app expert, but this is really insane - and judging from the forum posts I see I am not a alone.

Normally I don't rant so much but wow - this is just really amazing. I installed O3Spaces in about :05 and it works perfectly. I would like to use Alfresco, but the install process appears to have some rather show stopper issues.

I would appreciate any assistance anyone can offer.

Wow.

Here are my Java RPMS

[root@65-110-52-190 Alfresco]# rpm -qa | grep java
sun-javadb-common-10.4.1-3.1
sun-javadb-docs-10.4.1-3.1
sun-javadb-core-10.4.1-3.1
sun-javadb-demo-10.4.1-3.1
sun-javadb-javadoc-10.4.1-3.1
sun-javadb-client-10.4.1-3.1

[root@65-110-52-190 Alfresco]# java -version
java version "1.6.0_12"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_12-b04)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 11.2-b01, mixed mode, sharing)


[root@65-110-52-190 Alfresco]# /opt/Alfresco/alfresco.sh start
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/Alfresco/tomcat
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/Alfresco/tomcat
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/Alfresco/tomcat/temp
Using JRE_HOME:       /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_12/

Nothing useful get logged to alfresco.log, it simply ends with

11:12:46,715 INFO  [org.alfresco.web.site.FrameworkHelper] Successfully Initialized Web Framework
11:13:06,153 INFO  [org.alfresco.web.site.FrameworkHelper] Successfully Initialized Web Framework

[mikeh]

Could you post the rest of the log file anyway?

Also, does this article help any? http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Installing_Alfresco_Community_WAR_on_Centos_5

Thanks,
Mike

[lewstherin]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the link - that looks like it may help.

Is it possible that some of the install trouble comes from the instructions and packages used in examples are based on JDK6 Update 6 where as Update 12 is the current? For example, I see most instruction say to install java-1.6.0-sun-compat-1.6.0.06-1jpp however attempting to install that with update 12 gives:

error: Failed dependencies:
        jdk = 2000:1.6.0_06-fcs is needed by java-1.6.0-sun-compat-1.6.0.06-1jpp.i586
        jpackage-utils >= 0:1.7.3 is needed by java-1.6.0-sun-compat-1.6.0.06-1jpp.i586

If this is needed then is it correct that you really need JDK6U6 and Update 12 is not really compatible with Alfresco 3?

That might be a problem though as I can't seem to get the earlier version from Sun any more?

http://java.sun.com/products/archive/j2se/6u6/index.html

That link does not seem to allow downloads anymore "Your download can not be authorized"

Also, I see some instructions reference setting up MySQL, for which I assume mysql-connector-java-5.1.5.tar.gz is required? I see the instructions at http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Installing_Alfresco_Community_WAR_on_Centos_5#mysql-connector-java show setting this up for a Tomcat install - but what about the binary installer version? I can't seem to easily find an rpm of this, and am not sure it if is required as custom-repository.properties says:

# MySQL connection (This is default and requires mysql-connector-java-5.0.3-bin.jar, which ships with the Alfresco server)

So . . . still plugging away at it.

I do appreciate the link, and I don't mean to sound negative - but man, a lot of users are just never going to persist and overcome these issues just to test drive Alfresco.

I look forward to checking it out though - I really want to use it to manage some projects we have, but I just don't have a lot of time to spend setting it up.

The really aggravating thing is that it is actually installed and I get the login screen it just won't authenticate. And it looks like this is far from an uncommon issue.

I think this looks like an interesting project and a good product, but sincerely (and I don't mean to sound snarky) the developer team should try installing the binary version on a clean CentOS / Red Hat / Fedora box. They will discover you can't authenticate after the install. The solution is likely simple, but without it - the show stops pretty much there.

Thank you for you assistance though - I do appreciate it.

Pete

[lewstherin]

Hi everyone,

So is mysql-connector-java required to be installed from a source such as:

http://download.softagency.net/MySQL/Downloads/Connector-J/mysql-connector-java-5.1.5.tar.gz

Where does mysql-connector-java-5.1.5-bin.jar get placed (binary installation)

I am seeing the login screen, but now changes are being made to the MySQL table, it just remains empty?

Thanks,
Pete

[lewstherin]

Oh . .

I see it is included in the binary install at:

/opt/Alfresco/tomcat/common/lib/mysql-connector-java-5.1.6-bin.jar

Hum . . . so why is the alfresco database completely empty?

Has anyone really got the binary release working on CentOS 5.2?

Cheers,
Pete

[mikeh]

Could you post the contents of the startup log file - alfresco.log?

Thanks,
Mike

[lewstherin]

Howdy Mike,

You bet - it is at:

http://65.110.52.190/alfresco.log

Thanks for taking a look at it, I appreciate it.

Pete

[mikeh]

By default, Alfresco ships with the default Derby database configured; which is ideal for quick evaluation purposes.

In order to use MySQL instead you need to follow the steps outlined at http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Installing_Alfresco_Community_WAR_on_Centos_5#Modifying_the_basic_Alfr...

Before restarting the server, clear out the contents of the alf_data folder, otherwise any existing indexes will be out-of-sync with the new database and you'll get errors in the bootstrap.

Incidentally, it looks like the default Derby database is failing because of trailing spaces after the username and/or password fields. Have you edited a custom-repository.properties file already? If so, be aware that trailing spaces may cause issues.

Thanks,
Mike

[lewstherin]

Hi Mike,

I know that Derby is the default database scheme on the binary install, but it does not appear to work out of the box - I have gotten the same authentication error on three clean binary installs on both CentOS 4.7 and 5.2. I only tried going to MySQL when I could not get Derby to work. And you are right on the trailing spaces, I noticed that as well - however it did not resolve the issue. I am still unable to authenticate using either the Derby or MySQL method and I have cleared all data out of alf_data several times. The authentication error messages continues despite anything I seem to do.

As a note, I am able to get to /share but not /alfresco - I get a 404 when I go there. Still trying to investigate why that is.

If you have any other suggestions from the log, etc. I would appreciate it. Unfortunately I will not be able to continue researching this much more as it is becoming time prohibitive - I just only have a few hours a week for research projects and although Alfresco looks like a promising project, there appears to be some issue with the install phase of the product. I am sure these will be addressed in the long run.

Thank you for looking at the logs and offering your assistance.

Cheers,
Pete

[mikeh]

I'm not sure what else to suggest if you're still getting that exact same error as in the posted log.

There is one other option: you can try a hosted trial (http://www.alfresco.com/community/register/?source=hostedtrial) if installation is proving cumbersome and time is short.

Thanks,
Mike