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[EP-tech] Re: Problem with installation on Dreamhost Virtual Private Server

First off, you should be aware that "mod_perl can be used on Dreamhost
VPS accounts, but only if the web server is changed to 'unmanaged'. This
configuration is not supported by Dreamhost."

Regarding DNS alias, as long as you can "ping your.eprints.hostname.com"
and see the IP address of your host in response, then your DNS setup
should be fine. I guess Dreamhost already does everything necessary in
that respect when you add a domain using the management panel.

The tricky part, apart from the mod_perl installation mentioned above,
will be to include EPrints-generated configuration in the proper way.
You need to add the following line somewhere:

Include /usr/share/eprints3/cfg/apache.conf

In a normal Apache installation you would add it at the end of
/etc/apache2/httpd.conf or /etc/apache2/apache.conf or link the file
/usr/share/eprints3/cfg/apache.conf from /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
(then restart Apache). In a Dreamhost generated Apache configuration the
line may need to go elsewhere. Maybe there is a configuration file which
was generated for your particular domain.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, you must be also aware that
EPrints normally generates the <VirtualHost> section for you (you can
see it in file
/usr/share/eprints3/archives/nameofyourrepository/var/auto-apache.conf,
this file is in turn included indirectly by the one mentioned above).
This is good when including the configuration straight into a normal
Apache configuration, but it will cause problems if your "management
panel" has already generated a <VirtualHost> section for your domain
(which is likely).

In that case you would have to strip the <VirtualHost> from the
beginning and end of auto-apache.conf and only include that (and make
sure you don't overwrite it later with generate_apacheconf).

So basically Dreamhost "management panel" stands in the way (as is the
case with all such mostly useless "management panels"). Either you have
to jump through hoops to integrate EPrints with it or you have to
disable it altogether and do your Apache configuration "the normal way".

Ezequiel Benito wrote:
> Hello and thanks for providing this support forum.
> 
> I recently installed eprints under a VPS at Dreamhost.
> 
> I ran the installation via apg-get and everything went just fine
> 
> I then created the repository and everything.
> 
> Now, I got a problem when trying to access the site itself.
> 
> I´m not really familiar with the command line but I got to add lines and
> restart apache and everthing.
> 
> The problem is that I don't know how to interpret the "DNS alias"
> creation thing.
> 
> Here:
> http://wiki.eprints.org/w/Getting_Started_with_EPrints_3
> 
> It says this:
> 
> "Hostname - What someone will type into a web browser to get to your
> archive. Make sure that your systems team have a DNS alias pointing to
> your server for this"
> 
> I really don't know how to do it. I mean I know how to create users and
> domains, but they work towards a folder under /home/sitename
> 
> In this case I need to pull the eprints from the usr/share/eprints3 but
> I cannot figure out a way to do it.
> 
> We are looking to hire someone to finalize the installation for us,
> since we are pretty stuck right now and we need to deploy the system
> before the end of the year.
> 
> Thanks in advance for your assistance,
> 
> Ezequiel
> 
> 
> 
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