AOLserver 3.0 Release Notes

These release notes, updated Wednesday, April 12, 2000, describe the new features and known issues in AOLserver 3.0.  It also contains building and installation instructions.

Contents

What's New from 3.0rc2 to 3.0

Bugs Fixed from 3.0rc2 to 3.0

Known Issues in 3.0

Building and Installation

Directory Structure
AOLserver Modules

Documentation

Online Resources

Your Feedback

 

What's New from 3.0rc2 to 3.0

Bugs Fixed from 3.0rc2 to 3.0

Known Issues in 3.0

Building and Installation

AOLserver 3 has an entirely new build process that requires gmake and a C compiler (preferrably gcc).  On nearly all systems, you need only extract the source distribution from either a tar file or CVS and type "gmake".  The file include/Makefile.global contains platform-specific information if you run into trouble.  Some of the optional modules require third-party libraries not included with AOLserver.

On typing "gmake install", AOLserver attempts to install itself into "/tmp/aolserver/"  but you may override it by typing "gmake install INST=/usr/local/yourpath".   To test your AOLserver build, change to the installation directory and type  "./bin/nsd -kt nsd.tcl" to smoke-test the server.  The sample nsd.tcl listens  on port 8000 at your machine's primary internet address.

Like all Unix servers, AOLserver must start up as "root" to use the privileged ports 80 and 443.  After AOLserver  starts, it changes itself into a normal Unix user.  You specify the username  to use with the "-u" option as illustrated below.  This username should  represent a normal Unix user with its own home directory, preferrably  the  same as the installation path you used while installing AOLserver.

To install a production AOLserver, edit the nsd.tcl to suit your needs.  The sample nsd.tcl is very complete and there is a copious reference in doc/config.txt.  Then add this line to your /etc/inittab:

as:2345:respawn:/usr/local/aolserver/bin/nsd -it /usr/local/aolserver/nsd.tcl -u user -g group

If your *BSD Unix system does not have an /etc/inittab, you can use this line for your /etc/rc.local (or whatever) startup script:

while /bin/true
    do /usr/local/aolserver/bin/nsd -it /usr/local/aolserver/nsd.tcl -u user -g group
done

Windows users may start AOLserver as an NT Service or from a Win32 console window just like in Unix.  For development and testing, we recommend using console mode.  For production, we very highly recommend running AOLserver from the NT Services control panel.  To install AOLserver as an NT Service, type the following:
   bin/nsd -I -f nsd.tcl
To remove AOLserver from the NT Services control panel, type this instead:
   bin/nsd -R -f nsd.tcl


Directory Structure

AOLserver inherits the same directory structure as previous releases.  There is a shared and a private Tcl library, as well as shared/private module directories.  Tcl code and global data not specific to a web server goes into modules/tcl/tclmodulename/ and modules/modulename/ directories, respectively.  Data files written to by a server application should go into the servers/server1/modules/modulename/ directory.

For example, a large applicaton such as the Arsdigita Community System would put its Tcl code and read-only data files into modules/tcl/acs/ and modules/acs/, respectively.  The files the server reads and writes during operation go into servers/server1/modules/acs/.

Server executables:      bin/
Server logs:             log/
Shared read-only data:   modules/modulename/
Tcl library:             modules/tcl/modulename/
Page root:               servers/server1/pages/
Private module data:     servers/server1/modules/modulename/


Other directories:

Access logs:             servers/server1/modules/nslog/
Access Control records:  servers/server1/modules/nsperm/
SSL cert/key storage:    servers/server1/modules/nsssl


AOLserver Modules

AOLserver comes with several modules but only the most-used modules are included in the binary distribution.  To build the modules, edit the top-level Makefile and edit the "MODULES" line before you run gmake.  Alternatively, you can change into the module's directory and type "gmake".  In nearly all directories you can type "gmake INST=/your/install/path" to build and install the module you need.

The standard modules are: The optional modules are:

Documentation

Starting with AOLserver 3.0rc1, all AOLserver documentation is available in the doc/ directory of the source distribution as well as online at http://aolserver.com/doc/.  Incrementally, the documentation will be brought up-to-date with the latest version of AOLserver 3.  Many documents have been added to the documentation from the AOLserver archives.  We also appreciate corrections and additional documentation from you.  Source code changes are now in the ChangeLog file in the top-level directory, either manually editted or automatically entered using the Emacs "C-x 4 a" key sequence.

Online Resources

AOLserver has an active development community at http://aolserver.com/ where you may register with the development system, subscribe to mailing lists, explore even more contributed software, and get help with AOLserver.  Please visit http://aolserver.com/community/ to keep up with us!

Your Feedback

We welcome your feedback and bug reports on AOLserver 3, but note that the  most effective assistance will be had from participating in our online community  at http://aolserver.com/community/.  We do not accept bug reports or feedback regarding AOLserver 2.x -- you must be using AOLserver 3.x.  Please visit http://aolserver.com/community/ for information on how to contribute your feedback.