Documentation Update

The documentation for the server creation has been updated and is available here:

http://shippb-1.stu.rpi.edu/Full%20Jumpstart%20Guide.txt

Progress on allowing LightHTTPD and apache to run on the same port has been stalled a bit by problems with the how to posts I’ve found online. All of the ones I’ve found require a second IP address, but due to only being able to lease one IP per domain, it is not possible. I’m currently looking for a work around and also looking into the best way to automate installation processes.

Progress Report and Presentation Slides

Currently I’m looking into the documentation for Mongrel and Apache to help bridge the LightHTTPD server and the Apache server to both use port 80. This will solve the problem of not showing the Rails port outside of the campus network but also provide the necessary steps to provide added stability to sites using this documentation to create a map server.

Once I have successfully done this I will be posting the next revision in the documentation that covers the majority of the steps in detail, the ones that vary greatly, such as the SMTP server installation, will be covered briefly with links to more detailed solutions.
The email messages have been fixed by changing the strings used by generators. Not all of the strings have been changed, just enough to create a solid proof of concept and provide documentation on the process as this is something the end user will have to modify themselves as they see fit.

Two weeks ago I gave a presentation to RCOS on this project, the slide show (and voice track narration) can be found here:
http://shippb-1.stu.rpi.edu/3-11-11.pptx

SMTP Capabilities

The goal of adding an SMTP server to the Jumpstart server setup seems to be quite near. I was able to get an SMTP server running on my server (thanks to Brian M. and Moorthy for help with the issue of the campus firewall) and the user authentication system picked it up immediately. No additional configurations were needed in order to have the server send an email for user confirmation. Everything within the email works, including the confirmation link.

The issue now is, to change the template setup within the Rails Port. Instead of writing everything on my domain, it defaulted back to the OpenStreetMap message and everything is based on that domain instead. This should be a relatively simple fix and customization as it looks like the email is generated via a script based on the server output when it was sent.

Progress Report

Over this past week significant progress has been made on two of the intended goals for this portion of the project.

The API problem that was preventing JOSM from communicating with the Jumpstart Rails Port API has been fixed. An ambiguity in the documentation suggested that one step, namely the interval changes on the Rails Port, could be done before performing a test on the system. This will be fixed in the next version of the documentation (due out the beginning of next week).

A possible fix has also been found for the problem stemming from the Rails version of the server (running Rails 2 and 3 on the same server). Several configuration files were found within the Rails Port folder that referenced either the global Rails directory or specified the versions of individual gems installed. This is still a possible fix and will be documented as such. Further testing of this will begin when I install Rails 3 on my system to see if this works well enough to use on the production server.

The documentation will also be expanded on the rails port web display, focused on changing the default view and other settings within the user interface. Considering this is heavily based on the Open Layers javascript framework, it is easy to work with and customize the maps displayed by the Rails Port.

Currently, I’m in the process of two projects with this. First, configuring Apache to work with the Rails Port. If I was not limited to a single port for offcampus connections this would not be an issue. However, there seems to be a fix using either passenger or Mongrel to integrate the two and allow both to access port 80 as needed.

The second is setting up an SMTP server on the server in order to use in conjunction with the Rails Port user authentication. This seems to be relatively simple but focused more on configuring everything properly to work together.

As of right now, http://shippb-1.stu.rpi.edu displays the Rails Port interface and other links for the documentation are not working as Apache is not running (the Rails Port uses webrick to create the web server and display the interface).

Change of Plans

After talking with Jeff Haack again, priority will be given to getting the Rails port up and running with the extra configurations. The three main goals of this are:
1. Setting up the Rails Port properly. It only runs on Rails 2, yet needs to run on a server running Rails 3 apps. This should only be a matter of redirecting the Rails targets to version 2, although there may be complications depending on the global path variables set within the server.
2. Connecting to a mail server. Part of the user authentication plan is to send the user an email confirming the user/pass details.
3. Allowing JOSM use with the API. JOSM is the OSM data editor, and can be configured to different servers to edit the data with proper authentication via a username and password. Currently, the front end portion of it loads but is not able to be accessed via the JOSM editor.

Other minor goals are to get the history and export functions configurable and see what configuration options are needed to change the front page view.

Currently, I’m in the process of reinstalling the rails port from scratch using my documentation previously created and am now editing it to match the updated version changes.

New Semester, New Project

Having finished the documentation of the installation and configuration of the Jumpstart Mapping server, the focus will be shifted towards deployment and customizing the interfaces.

Currently, the primary goal is to write a script to back up the map data by dumping the planet.osm file, dumping the data base, and reimporting the updated planet.osm back into the system. There are various views that are used by Mapnik that need to be reset each time the database is updated. Then it will update the mod_tile configs to point to the right location and render the map data.

Once this is accomplished, the rails port, mainly the frontend for the map server, will be customized to allow for different features to be added to the map server.

Documentation!

Here is a link to the documentation for installing an Open Street Map server with mod_tiles and renderd:

http://shippb-1.stu.rpi.edu/openlayers/html/mod_tile_guide.txt

For the demo server, see here:

http://shippb-1.stu.rpi.edu/openlayers/html/map.html

If it is not working now, it will be working later today. Regions of the UK and China currently have detailed areas due to the hardware limitations. Expect it to be slow, but it does work