Sergiu Dumitriu wrote:
> On 11/02/2009 10:08 AM, Guillaume Lerouge wrote:
>
>> Hi Nigel,
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 3:09 AM, Nigel Smith<[email protected]>wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm a very keen and happy user of xwiki. We use it for our corporate
>>> intranet and our users love it!
>>>
>> Glad to hear that :-)
>>
>>
>>
>>> I generally move directly between major
>>> versions as soon as convenient. The factor that has the most bearing on
>>> when we upgrade is the ease with which we can move between new versions.
>>>
>>> I remember seeing an items relating to simpler installation. I'd like to
>>> ask when that is scheduled to be worked on, and perhaps share some of my
>>> experiences in upgrading and some suggestions.
>>>
>>>
>> A part of it (related to import) is being worked on right now. The work on a
>> full-fledged Extension Manager has not started yet.
>>
>> I'd like to give you an idea of what has to be done to move between
>>
>>> versions. It's a bit long, so bear with me, but here it is:
>>>
>>> * Download the latest xwiki xar to your local machine
>>> * Download the latest xwiki war to the machine which will run xwiki.
>>> * Backup the entire xwiki installation directory (the one that contains
>>> the directories database, jetty, lucene etc), and move the old directory
>>> aside (rename to xwiki.old)
>>> * //We do this to easily be able to get the jetty, hsql, etc dirs back
>>> in place//: Restore the backed up xwiki directory, thus putting the
>>> xwiki dir back in place
>>> * Delete the directory xwiki/webapps/xwiki
>>> * In xwiki/webapps, create an xwiki directory
>>> * Unzip the xwiki war in the xwiki/webapps/xwiki directory
>>> * //Getting our corp logo back//: Copy
>>> xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/skins/toucan/mywiki.jpg to
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/skins/toucan/mywiki.jpg
>>> * //Next few steps: need to merge old config with new config//: Do a
>>> diff between xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.cfg and
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.cfg. Update
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.cfg as needed.
>>> * Do a diff between xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.properties and
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.properties. Update
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/xwiki.properties as needed.
>>> * Do a diff between xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/hibernate.cfg.xml
>>> and xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/hibernate.cfg.xml. Update
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/hibernate.cfg.xml as needed.
>>> * //This is the part we fear the most, for we might accidentally delete
>>> some configuration that we need and we would need to start the whole
>>> process again//: Start XWiki and import the default wiki xar. Be careful
>>> of what you import - read the instructions at
>>>
>>> http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/AdminGuide/Installation#HUpgradingwikidocuments
>>> .
>>> ** The normally excluded pages from import are:
>>> *** XWiki.XWikiPreferences
>>> *** XWiki.XWikiGroups
>>> *** XWiki.XWikiAdminGroup
>>> *** XWiki.WebPreferences
>>> *** XWiki.WebHome
>>> *** XWiki.XWikiUsers
>>> *** XWiki.XWikiAllGroup
>>> *** XWiki.DefaultSkin
>>> *** Main.WebHome
>>> *** Panels.QuickLinks
>>> *** Panels.Search
>>> * //We customise the PDF cover//: The PDF covers files has been manually
>>> modified. Do a diff between
>>> xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/templates/pdfcover.vm and
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/templates/pdfcover.vm. Merge the differences.
>>> * //We customise the PDF footer//: The PDF footers file has been
>>> modified by hand. Do a diff between
>>> xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/templates/pdffooter.vm and
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/templates/pdffooter.vm. Merge the differences.
>>> * //We do this to be able to specify the PDF template to use in "Export
>>> as PDF"//: The Menuitems have to be edited by hand, so that PDFs are
>>> exported using the correct stylesheet. Do a diff between
>>> xwiki.old/webapps/xwiki/templates/menuview.vm and
>>> xwiki/webapps/xwiki/templates/menuview.vm. Merge the differences (there
>>> should only be one line).As you can see, there are quite a few steps,
>>> and it normally takes 1/2hr - 1hr to complete. Note that we will move to
>>> MySQL eventually, but the performance of HSQL is OK ATM.
>>>
>>>
>> Thanks for the feedback.
>>
>> This may not be the most optimal upgrade path, so if there are any clear
>>
>>> improvements you can see, please let me know.
>>>
>>> The part that needs to be improved upon the most, in my opinion, is the
>>> "import default XAR" step because it is easy to overwrite an important
>>> page. I would like to put in a big vote for separating information that
>>> can be modified by the user from information that xwiki needs to be able
>>> to operate, that comes with default xwiki. Perhaps making certain pages
>>> "system" pages so that it is clear that if a page is modified it may
>>> interrupt the operation of the wiki, and may be difficult to upgrade.
>>>
>>>
>> Definitely. This is the most dangerous part and it has triggered manny
>> mistakes in the past. One of the XWiki developers is currently working on a
>> patch that will improve the way the import works: imported pages will add a
>> version to existing pages instead of overriding them. He should be able to
>> commit his patch in the 2.1 timeframe.
>>
>> About marking "system" pages, that has been started a bit too -> you'll
>> notive that in the default XAR some pages are marked as having been modified
>> by the "superadmin" user.
>>
>>
>>
>>> The next most important thing to be improved is the storage of
>>> configuration that now sits in xwiki.cfg and xwiki.properties. This is
>>> difficult to migrate between versions. If this was automatically
>>> migrated between versions like the pages are, this would be much easier
>>> to manage. At our office we have a large system written in Java and we
>>> solved a similar problem using the Java Preferences API.
>>>
>>> Being able to fully customise the PDF layout (not just the stylesheet)
>>> inside xwiki, and also specify a default PDF style sheet to use during
>>> export would be #3 on my list.
>>>
>>>
>> You can already do that:
>>
>> Edit your XWiki.XWikiSkins XClass definition document with the class editor
>> and add the following TextArea properties to it: pdfcover.vm, pdfheader.vm,
>> pdffooter.vm and put your code here. By the way, you can also add a
>> menuview.vm property to your skin XClass and put your code for that vm right
>> in the skin. Then once you define the Skin Document you're using as you'
>> wiki's skin document in the preferences your custom skin will be applied to
>> the wiki.
>>
>
> Better, just add the two files as attachments, without changing the
> class or the object.
>
>
>> You can find out more about using your skin document to override VMs on:
>> http://dev.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Drafts/XWikiNewSkin
>>
>> specifically on:
>> http://dev.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Drafts/XWikiNewSkin#HBWorkingwiththeXWikiXWikiSkinsclass
>>
>> Thanks for your input,
>>
>> Guillaume
>>
>
>
>
Thanks guys!
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