Before you install

Obtaining the OME distribution

You can obtain a copy of the OME system either by downloading a tarball of the current release, or by using CVS directory to download the absolute latest sources. Both of these processes are described here.

Note that you will need to perform the installation as the Unix root user. However, you should not download and unpack the source (or check it out of CVS) as the root user, since this imparts superuser permissions onto all of the files in the distribution. Unpack the OME source as a normal user; perform the installation as the superuser.

Getting ready for an installation

Much, if not all, of the your interaction during OME deployment will be with the OME installer, a Perl script in the root of your OME distribution which executes a series of installation modules (found in src/perl2/OME/Install). You can find out about the extended options of the installer by running the following:

perl install.pl --help

Before you actually run an install, it is recommended that you decide on the following:

• A UNIX username to use for OME administration and ownership (default ome)
• A UNIX group to use for OME administration and ownership (default ome)
• Where on your filesystem you are going to install OME (default /OME)
• Where on your filesystem the OMEIS repository is going to reside (default /OME/OMEIS)
• Where on your filesystem temporary data will be stored reside (default /var/tmp/OME)
• An initial OME username and password

Unlike with previous deployments of OME, the installer will conveniently do all of these operations for you (assuming you are installing onto one of the supported platforms).

In addition, it is also recommended that you investigate and find out the following: (The installer will try to guess these values, but you may be asked to confirm or provide the answers):

• What is the UNIX username which Apache runs under?
• What is the UNIX username which PostgreSQL runs under?
• Where are the PostgreSQL binaries located?