Sahana PortableApp User Guide

With the PortableApp version of Sahana you can have the entire Sahana system and data on your USB stick. To launch a Sahana instance, all you then have to do is plug in the USB stick into a Windows XP,Vista or Windows 7 machine and start working directly with your instance of Sahana (without having to install it in the machine). If your USB disk is slow (ie less than class 4) then it is recommended to unzip it to a local folder on the harddisk.

[ Download Sahana Agasti Portable 2 (55Mb) ]

Installation

Installation to USB

  1. download Portable App version from here [55Mb]
  2. get USB version 2.0 “fast” flash drive with at least 200 Mb of space
  3. unzip the downloaded file into the root directory of the USB disk
  4. run sahana.exe from the base directory
  5. When done make sure Sahana has been shut down and safely remove the USB disk

Installation to Harddisk

  1. download Portable App version from here [55Mb]
  2. unzip the downloaded file into any directory of the harddisk
  3. run sahana.exe from the base of the directory in which you unzipped Sahana

Screenshot

Usage

To start Sahana on you Window XP

  1. Plug in the USB disk or open the sahana portable root directory
  2. Click on sahana.exe
  3. This should launch a menu on your desktop and start Sahana in the background (wait max ten secs for it to launch the browser)
  4. Login to Sahana using the username / password (default: admin / PassWord123)

To stop Sahana on Windows XP

  1. Close the web browser
  2. In the menu click on Stop Sahana Server
  3. Safely eject the USB disk

Troubleshooting

1) Sahana web server does not start up

Sahana not starting up could be one of the following issues:

  • Sahana launches a web server on port 80 and MySQL on 3306. If these ports are currently being utilized by your operating system, Sahana will not be able to start. To check what ports are available click on Check Available Ports in the menu and shutdown those respective non-Sahana processes
  • Check if your windows firewall has not blocked your ports. On Vista and Windows 7, typically you will get a message asking for approval for MySQL and Apache to run on certain ports. Click OK if you get this.
  • Skype occupies Apache HTTPS 443 - you may have to shut down Skype before using the Portable Applet version of Sahana
  • If you have problems with response click on Restart Sahana

2) Sahana is too slow

  • Sahana needs a fast USB disk (USB 2.0 at and Class 6.0 at least) as it runs off this disk.
  • If you do not have a fast enough USB disk, copy the folder to the harddisk, run it off there and when you are done and want to move the new data and program in USB, zip up the folder and copy it to the USB. From there you can copy it and unzip it to as many machines as you like.

Portable Developer Environment

The Sahana portable application has an integrated development environment and debugger to further empower developers in the response as required. Click on the Develop Sahana button in the main menu and this will launch the development menu.

The integrated debugger and IDE utilizes Notepad++, XDebug and Firebug

Starting the Debugger

Here are the steps to get you started debugging on Sahana. Most of it already pre-configured so you do not have to worry about it.

  1. Click on Launch IDE/Debugger button, which launches Notepad++ on the main sahana index.php
  2. Click on the debug button on the IDE as shown on the picture above
  3. Now click on Debug in Firefox Portable (or default browser), this will launch Sahana in Debug mode by appending the ?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=xdebug variable that attaches itself to the Notepad++ debugger. You can now step through the code and set breakpoints, watches, etc as required

Configuration

If you portable app is not pre-setup, reset it up using the standard sahana setup process. Click the Re-Setup Sahana button in the development menu

The portable applet software pre-configures the database username to “root” with a database password of “root” - you must enter these values on the configuration screen under the “Create New Database” option as shown. Then select the “Setup Database” button. Any other entries will result in an “incorrect database name or password” error.

How to test another version of Sahana PHP

To do this simply copy the directory containing the Sahana source and replace the Sahana folder in:

PortableApps\SahanaPortable2\www\

Now you can access it with the URL

http://localhost/Sahana (click on www after this if this is Agasti 0.6/0.9 based)

You will probably have to resetup the database (default username:root password:root)

You can have multiple installations and version of Sahana on the portable app. Simply copy it under different name to PortableApps\SahanaPortable2\www\. However you will have to specify the URLs for debugging manually as everything else is configured to the Sahana directory by default.

Further Help and Suggestions

If you need any further help or suggestions for improvement of the portable app please mail the Sahana users mailing list or contact chamindra [at] sahanafoundation.org. However for general Sahana application queries please use the respective mailing list.


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