Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/04/11 01:46Cheatsheet for installing Swisscenter on a fresh Ubuntu install. This is an after-the-fact writeup, so might have forgotten certain steps. Hope this will be useful to someone.
SOFTWARE VERSIONS:
Ubuntu Breezy Badger 5.1.0 (server version for me)
SwissCenter 1.15
PHP 4 (stay away from PHP 5 for now - a few issues with Swisscenter 1.15 not true any longer; see end of post)
cd /var/www
mkdir swisscenter
cd swisscenter
wget http://www.swisscenter.co.uk/downloads/swisscenter.zip
unzip swisscenter.zip
cd ..
chown -R www-data:www-data swisscenter
Configure Apache:
Create a config file for the SwissCenter that will be running on a virtual host on port 8080 (in my case). Save it as /etc/apache2/sites-available/swisscenter.conf
do not forget to replace 192.168.10.20 with your server IP address.
Code:
# SwissCenter Apache Virtual Host Configuration file
# located at /etc/apache2/sites-available/swisscenter.conf
Listen 192.168.0.10:8080
<VirtualHost 192.168.0.10:8080>
DocumentRoot /var/www/swisscenter/
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/swisscenter-error.log
# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
LogLevel debug
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/swisscenter-access.log combined
ServerSignature On
<Directory /var/www/swisscenter/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
<IfModule mod_dir.c>
DirectoryIndex index.html index.php
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
Enable this site by creating a soft link in sites-enabled:
Going back to http://yourserver:8080/config,
Enter your credentials for mysql (or keep default) and start configuring.
At a minimum, you will need to enter one media location then start a media search (either go under "video options" and click on "search for new media" or use the setup menu from your media player).
That should be it!
Now point your browser (and your media player) to http://yourserver:8080.
See your content?
Useful troubleshooting commands:
Code:
#tail -f /var/log/apache2/swisscenter-error.log
#tail -f /var/log/apache2/swisscenter-access.log
#tail -f /var/www/swisscenter/log/support.log
# mysql -u swisscenter -p
mysql> use swiss;
mysql> show tables;
Complete list of installed PHP/Apache2/MySQL packages:
In case I forgot to list a mandatory package in my install steps, here's an exhaustive list of PHP/Apache2/mySQL packages I have on my box:
update: php5 is now working! 2 extra steps required:
get all the php packages listed above (replace php4 with php5) + make sure to also get the php5-cli package
ln -s /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini /etc/php.ini
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admin
Admin
Posts: 1912
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/04/11 05:21Fantastic work dmd! Server : Windows Home Server (HP MediaSmart EX470) Player #1: Pinnacle Showcenter 200 (wired ethernet) Player #2: Popcorn Hour A110 (wired ethernet)
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mambok
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Posts: 70
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/04/16 04:08Hi dmd,
Thanx for the guide line. I have tested the installation to see if this solved the 2 problems with an Ubuntu config. 1. Updating. The only way to beat this one is to add require_once("media_search.php"); to do_refresh.php 2. On screen display - ie. information while playing music. There is no work around, or solution for this, as far as I know.
Greetz,
Arie
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dmd
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Posts: 8
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/04/21 03:27Hi Mambok,
Not sure I am entirely following you... Are you having the following 2 issues on your Ubuntu/Swiss install?
1. Updating. The only way to beat this one is to add require_once("media_search.php"); to do_refresh.php
Hmmm, I just double-checked: I do not have this require_once and things seem to work (it checks online and tells me "no update available"). Messages also work - had the beta2 announcement in my mailbox.
2. On screen display - ie. information while playing music. There is no work around, or solution for this, as far as I know.
I have info on the screen. It's ugly (a BLT thing, not SwissCenter) but it's there!
Note that I'm using a Buffalo LT and this might make a difference, at least for issue #2.
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moakesr
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Posts: 1
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/08 05:18These instructions 'almost' work, but I just can't get it to create the database.
The screen comes up, I click the create database button and nothing happens.
The support log contains nothing useful, says loaded language EN and then says it can't connect to the database.
Anything I can do to get any more debugging information?
Cheers,
Richard
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devanb
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Posts: 13
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/14 22:07Dmd,
Thank you. Your walk through helped me quite a bit. I'm installing swisscenter on an AMD64 server and the only part of the walk through was the names of the PHP and mysql servers. I had to do a sudo apt-cache search commands to find the right ones, but once installed, the walk through helped.
My next problem is figuring out what the best file format is to stored ripped DVD's. The 2GB limitation in PHP/Apache makes me want to split my DVD's into the intended VOB chapters. What is anyone else doing?
Devan
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/26 03:52can i use mysql 5? or are there issues with swisscenter 1.15?
why did you choose mysql 4.1 over 5?
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admin
Admin
Posts: 1912
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/26 04:21You should be able to use PHP5 with the 1.15 beta2 version. Server : Windows Home Server (HP MediaSmart EX470) Player #1: Pinnacle Showcenter 200 (wired ethernet) Player #2: Popcorn Hour A110 (wired ethernet)
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 06:48chown -R www-data:www-data swisscenter
I'm getting this error msg chown: cannot access `swisscenter': No such file or directory
anyone know why?
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 07:11ok I've followed every instruction perfectly, but i am getting these errors when i restart apache:
~$ sudo apache2ctl restart apache2: Could not determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 192.168.1.5 for ServerName [Tue May 30 12:10:42 2006] [error] VirtualHost _default_:8080 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results
can you please tell me where I went wrong with the setup?
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gcclinux
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Posts: 19
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 07:33Hi,
To fix the full qualifying name, I had to add the name and IP on the hosts file:
I cant seem to find the folder /etc/hosts, doesnt exist in my directory, i probably did a total mess up in the installation of ubuntu, but this is a fresh install.
Code:
Is the port 8080 available on your /etc/servers?
same with /etc/servers folder cant find it either! don't quite know how to do this, just followed the instructions on this post.
Apart from that could you please post the part of your apache server configuration file where you specify the virtual host. where would this part be?
I am a total newbie when it comes to linux
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 07:57I think I messed up the installation, certain folders doesn't seem to be there! Going to start all over again.... ai... another 3 hours installing ubuntu haha... does anyone know anyway of resetting ubuntu to factory default? save me the hassle of doing the long ass installation...
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 15:10okay.. I've redone everything fresh install... still getting the same error?
Warning: fopen(/var/www/log/support.log) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/swisscenter/base/file.php on line 75
Am I missing something in the setup? user accounts?? setting up apache2 and php4 .ini files?
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 15:15
or is the ".conf" extension missing from the end of this command?
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 15:21AAAAAH, OK i am really frustrated now, double checked, triple checked everything don't know whats wrong.... pls help!
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hoiung
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Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 15:22
Code:
# apache2ctl restart
apache2: Could not determine the servers fully qualified domain name, using 192.168.1.5 for ServerName
[Tue May 30 20:22:15 2006] [error] VirtualHost _default_:8080 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results
I still get this error
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hoiung
User
Posts: 15
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/05/30 16:04okay here is a summary of all the problems I am having.
# apache2ctl restart apache2: Could not determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 192.168.1.5 for ServerName [Tue May 30 20:55:05 2006] [error] VirtualHost _default_:8080 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results
I understand the domain part and using 192.168.1.5 for servername which isn't the real issue, since I am not running my servers within a domain with a dns resolver. But the ports 8080 is a problem.
When i open a web browser and try to go to the address: http://localhost:8080/swisscenter/ Thie error msg appears everywhere. Warning: fopen(/var/www/log/support.log) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/swisscenter/base/file.php on line 75
Here is the file.php where the line 75 lies in:
Code:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Routine to add a message and (optionally) the contents of a variable to the swisscenter logfile.
// NOTE: If the logfile has become more than 1Mb in size then it is archived and a new log is
// started. Only one generation of logs is archived (so current log and old log only)
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
function send_to_log( $item, $var = '')
{
if (defined('LOGFILE'))
{
$time = '['.date('Y.m.d H:i:s').'] ';
// If the file > 1Mb then archive it and start a new log.
if (@filesize(LOGFILE) > 1048576)
{
@unlink(LOGFILE.'.old');
@rename(LOGFILE,LOGFILE.'.old');
}
// Write log entry to file.
if ($handle = fopen(LOGFILE, 'a'))
{
@fwrite($handle, $time.$item.newline());
if (!empty($var))
{
$out = explode("\n",print_r($var,true));
foreach ($out as $line)
@fwrite($handle,$time.$line.newline());
}
fclose($handle);
}
else
{
echo str('LOGFILE_ERROR').' '.LOGFILE;
exit;
}
}
}
trying to load http://localhost:8080/config I get this error msg
The requested URL /config was not found on this server.
On the web browser it says:
Apache/2.0.54 (Ubuntu) PHP/4.4.0-3ubuntu2 Server at localhost Port 8080 So I can say I've installed apache2, php4 and hopefully mysql correctly.
Can anyone see the problem and know a solution?
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GrammatonCleric
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Posts: 1
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/06/24 10:58Try...
NameVirtualHost * (instead of 'NameVirtualHost whateveryoutipis:8080')
and
<VirtualHost *:8080>
- GC
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vadar007
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Posts: 14
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/08/31 15:58I believe you first create a directory call swisscenter under /www/ and then unzip in that directory
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vadar007
Visitor
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/09/08 17:24I was getting this error when trying to access http://<servername>:8080/config:
Warning: fopen(/var/www/swisscenter/log/support.log) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /var/www/swisscenter/base/file.php on line 75
Seems a number of people have run into this issue. Looking at the permissions www-data has write access to /var/www/swisscenter but root has write access to /var/www/swisscenter/log where the support.log is trying to be created. When I changed the permissions on /var/www/swisscenter/log to www-data the error message went away.
I am now into the configuration screens...
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Boxscratcher
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Posts: 1
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/09/23 08:22S
The following package shall also been included in order to avoid config error at startup:
PHP4-CLI
So you can solve PHP configuration error (missing PHP command line) at startup of your configuration panel and be able to search for new media files (missing PHP command line)
Cheers ..... and enjoy SwissCenter !
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remicade
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Posts: 3
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/10/16 15:04Hello there,
Yes, It's working for me. As a new Ubuntu user it was quit a struggle but ok. The only problem is to get my "media location" working. All my music, video's and photo's are on an other pc. Samba is working, I can play mp3's over the network. What do I have to type as media location? Something like : smb://ubuntu-desktop/SDA1
The following shows up :
Warning: Wrong parameter count for stat() in /var/www/swisscenter/config/config_dirs.php on line 78
Warning: Wrong parameter count for stat() in /var/www/swisscenter/config/config_dirs.php on line 78
Warning: Wrong parameter count for stat() in /var/www/swisscenter/config/config_dirs.php on line 78 Doesn't work for me.
And just two other things: What do I have to do with this?
* Niet alle voor SwissCenter aanbevolen PHP-modules (zip) zijn beschikbaar. Enkele niet-kritische functies zijn uitgeschakeld. * Unable to locate a TrueType font. The "Now Playing" screen will be missing track information.
Thanks, Paul.
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vadar007
User
Posts: 14
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2006/10/21 13:58I will assume your other PC is running Windows and you have the MP3 directory setup as a shared drive.
1) Create directories on the Ubuntu server where you will "mount" the windows shared drive, e.g. /data/Music
2) Use the following command to mount the shared drive:
Mount –t cifs //<servername or ip address>/<shared directory> <target directory> -o username=<username>
In my case:
[root@hal ~]# mount -t cifs //192.168.1.103/mp3 /data/Music -ro -o username=hal,password=*******
The username and password are for the Windows shared drive. If you have it wide open you will not need to add them to the command.
3) Go to the mount directory, e.g. /data/Music and you should see all your mp3 files listed
4) To make the drive permanently mounted everytime you re-boot the Ubuntu server you need to add the following line to /etc/fstab
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mikeh
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Posts: 12
Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ubuntu - 2007/04/18 12:05ONLY ATTEMPT this if you have a few days to spare and enjoy being frustrated and led down the garden path.
THIS MAY HAVE WORKED ONCE but not now, it is missing packages that it needs, most packages it says it needs are no longer available and you are are on your own if you try this, do not expect any assistance.
So unless you are a Linux Guru leave well alone, because if you cannot interpret was was really meant you are stuffed.
I have now tried this on several machines and tried many different variations over a week all to no avail. I have tried it on virgin installs - still no joy.
You have to get up to speed and be able to diagnose MYSQL Sevrer, Apache Web Server, and for good measure PHP. Then once you have them mastered you can attempt the flakey Swisscenter stuff. SO much promise ....
Back to WiZD, basic but it works real easy first time on any platform.
Now to work out how to uninstall this mess.....3 x LiteOn 2010s - Ubuntu 3TB of Video and Music, various MAC and WinXP Pro machines
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mikeh
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Posts: 12
Re: Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ub - 2007/05/13 08:31OK
Brought up another virgin install of Ubuntu Dapper
Followed instruction s- to the letter above but added php4-cli and libmysqlclient12 which are listed as used modules but not installed - so I installed them too.
Ran up a web bowser and got to the config page of Swisscenter:-
Webserver
The following tests failed:when run in the background.
* Background jobs are unable to run - this may be because cron (linux) or the task scheduler service (windows) is disabled.
PHP
The following tests were successful:
* Your version of PHP is supported. * Successfully located the 'php.ini' file. * All required PHP modules are available. * All suggested PHP modules are available.
The following tests failed:
* Unable to locate a TrueType font. The "Now Playing" screen will be missing track information.
The following tests failed:when run in the background.
* You have no command line version of PHP installed. SwissCenter will be unable to search for new media files.
SwissCenter
The following tests failed:
* You should install the SwissCenter software as the webserver user - "root" installs are not supported.
The following tests failed:when run in the background.
* The directory where you have installed SwissCenter is not readable/writeable by the webserver user. * Unable to locate the 'swisscenter.ini' file. Have you created a SwissCenter database yet? * Unable to write to the SwissCenter log file (/var/www/swisscenter/log/support.log).
being new to linux Ubuntu I am somewhat phased by this list of problems
1. I cannot find any evidence that cron is disabled on the machine
2. The Truetype thing I think I know how to get around that one.
3. No Command line PHP installed - php4-cli is installed so not sure how to fix soemthing that isn't broken
4. You should install the SwissCenter software as the webserver user - "root" installs are not supported.
Not sure about this one, I installed as per instructions - not sure how else to do this.
5. /var/www/swisscenter is drwxrwxrwx and it is owned by www-data and the group is www-data - as per instructions - so again not sure how to fix something that ain't broke
6. The Swisscenter ini file is in the /var/www/swisscenter/config directory owned by www-data with all read write permisiions for everybody so no issue there - oh and the log is populated - so it can actually find and write to the log.
7. Same with the log - in the right sub dir with permissions wide open - no permission issue there.
So on the balance of it the increased error reporting by the latest version of swisscenter is on the screen - I am not convinced he errors it is reporting are accurate.
So back to plan B again3 x LiteOn 2010s - Ubuntu 3TB of Video and Music, various MAC and WinXP Pro machines
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admin
Admin
Posts: 1912
Re: Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ub - 2007/05/13 08:49Mikeh - I'm trying to get Swisscenter running on a virtual machine running a copy of Ubuntu. I'm also trying to use the XAMPP package (for Apache, PHP, Mysql, etc) because I think that will probably make it much easier.
I'll put a full how-to in the Documentation once I can successfully repeat it from a fresh install.
For the time being, I'll do my best to answer your questions below. Hopefully it will help.
1. I cannot find any evidence that cron is disabled on the machine
You have to remember that swisscente will be running as the webserver user. On ubuntu, I think that this is "nobody" by default (it certainly is if you use XAMPP). The "nobody" user (or "www-data?") does not have access to run cron. You probably need to look at cron.allow and cron.deny in /etc.
2. The Truetype thing I think I know how to get around that one.
Yes - that needs the full path to the font entering into the "Image options" config screen. Unfortunately there's a bug with that and it doesn't store it properly (fixed, but not yet released).
3. No Command line PHP installed - php4-cli is installed so not sure how to fix soemthing that isn't broken
This is strange - the command line PHP was found, otherwise it wouldn't be able to run the commands in the background. However, once the background php executable was running it couldn't find itself...
4. You should install the SwissCenter software as the webserver user - "root" installs are not supported.
Check the permissions on the /www/wwwswisscenter directory (not just the files inside it). What are the user and group names?
points 6+7
I'm not sure why you're getting these errors. Again, it says that these tests failed "in the background" so it'd fine when running as an Apache Module, but fails when running via the command line PHP executable.
Sorry - I'm at a loss to explain that one.
Rob Server : Windows Home Server (HP MediaSmart EX470) Player #1: Pinnacle Showcenter 200 (wired ethernet) Player #2: Popcorn Hour A110 (wired ethernet)
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admin
Admin
Posts: 1912
Re: Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ub - 2007/05/13 09:03btw... here's my almost complete install script for ubuntu using XAMPP. I just need to modify the swisscenter code to use the "wget" command instead of relying on the command line PHP and then this will be perfect!
You'll get error messages about being unable to locate a command line PHP. You can ignore this, however you won't be able to search for new media using the interface or via the config page. Instead, when you want to kick off a media search, do the following:
Code:
wget http://localhost/media_seach.php &
(you could put that into cron manually if you wish).
Rob Server : Windows Home Server (HP MediaSmart EX470) Player #1: Pinnacle Showcenter 200 (wired ethernet) Player #2: Popcorn Hour A110 (wired ethernet)
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mvdkleijn
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Posts: 41
Re: Re:Cheatsheet for installing SwissCenter on Ub - 2007/05/13 13:38admin wrote: 1. I cannot find any evidence that cron is disabled on the machine
You have to remember that swisscente will be running as the webserver user. On ubuntu, I think that this is "nobody" by default (it certainly is if you use XAMPP). The "nobody" user (or "www-data?") does not have access to run cron. You probably need to look at cron.allow and cron.deny in /etc.
Please note that the cron.allow and cron.deny files don't actually exist on a clean Ubuntu 6.06 server install but cron is installed and useable..
SwissCenter created the following cron entry on my machine:
Forums 
don't know whats wrong.... pls help!
