UsingWW: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

Hi,

Has anyone successfully installed WeBWorK on a windows system? Its been requested by a department at our university and servers available to us at the moment are all windows based. Any pointers would be appreciated!

I already use apache for various open source applications, and know that many components of the system are available for windows (perl etc..), but am not sure whether to proceed as I have not been able to locate any installation manual for a windows system

Maha

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Xiong Chiamiov - Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 2:17 PM

I've never tried it (administrating on Windows is a pain - you're braver than me!), but theoretically, if you can get all of the components on Windows, it *should* work.

There seem to be a lot of scripts and such that are coded with Unix-like machines in mind, so you may have to do some modifications, or run some things in Cygwin.

I'd say the best bet is to follow the general guide, then ask back here when you run into problems. Someone who's more familiar with the code may be able to shed more light on the chance of success for this.

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Maha Elkoshairi - Thursday, 12 March 2009, 5:54 AM

Hi.. Thanks! We have the option of installing SUSE 11 or Centos 5.2.. would that be easier? Which system would you recommend? Might as well try out linux, although we are relative newbies!

Maha

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Jason Aubrey - Thursday, 12 March 2009, 11:15 AM

Hi Maha,

You can find installation instructions for specific operating systems here: http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Category:Installation_Manuals

CentOS is based on Red Hat right? If so, the installation manual for WW 2.4 on Fedora 9 (another Red Hat derivative) should work (eh, mutatis mutandis).

The overall easiest thing to do would be to install it from the Ubuntu 8.04 Live DVD that Arnie Pizer built. Ubuntu is very easy to install and use, and by using this live dvd, you can get linux and webwork installed in about 20 minutes. You'll still have to do some configuration, but it's all outlined here:

http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Installing_WeBWorK_from_Live_DVD

Whichever route you choose, you'll get a lot of help with any questions you post here on the forums.

Jason

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Maha Elkoshairi - Sunday, 15 March 2009, 2:08 AM

Thanks! I will certainly follow your advice and let you know how I get on.

Regards,

Maha

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Davide Cervone - Sunday, 15 March 2009, 6:31 AM

I have some concerns about how easy that is going to be. There are a number of places where WeBWorK creates command strings to perform that are clearly Unix commands (they include pipes and input and output redirection using Unix shell metacharacters). I do not know anything about Windows servers, but unless the apache server you are running there includes special code for translating those into Windows program calls, you are going to have a lot of changes to make. Cygwin, which is a unix environment for Windows, probably could be made to do it.

Several places I can think of off hand where command strings get used: creation of images for the mathematics, creation of hardcopy, and managing of archives in the file manager. One place to look at is the external-programs variables in global.conf, and then grep the code to see where those are used. That should give you all the important places. The dangerousMacros.pl file should be one place where you will find them, but it is not the only place.

Davide

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Maha Elkoshairi - Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 3:19 AM

Thank you so much to all who contributed their time in answering my question. We decided not to go the windows route as everyone agreed that it would be difficult.

We used the Ubuntu live DVD, and it worked like a charm! We now have webwork up and running, but have one small problem! We don't have an smtp server installed on the machine, so we stopped at when you configure the global.conf file. A little searching around and we found this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Postfix

Is this the correct software? Again any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, regarding the updates for Ubuntu, they're free right?! (We are a creative bunch, but with no money :( )

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Xiong Chiamiov - Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 5:11 PM

Yes, that guide should get you what you need. Canonical (the company that sponsors Ubuntu) provides paid-for support, but it is in no way required. You'll find much help for beginners at the Ubuntu forums.

It sounds like this is the first time you're looking into open-source software (OSS) more than just "oh hey, I don't have to pay for this." While there is an abundance of freeware for Windows, OSS is a bit different in that the freedom we enjoy so much is not in avoiding having to put down money, but rather to change the code as we see fit. WeBWorK, for instance, is open-sourced; if something's not working how you like, you can dig around and hack up a solution.

The point that I was originally trying to make (I think) was that Canonical simply provides precompiled (and possibly patched) versions of software developed by others. If they decided all of a sudden to stop releasing updates, you would still be able to get the software from its original source (the author) and install it.

As a general rule of thumb, Linux and its cousins are much cheaper to use than Microsoft solutions - if you have time to spend instead of money.

Re: Webwork on Windows 2003 Server

by Maha Elkoshairi - Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 2:14 AM

Hi.. Thanks for the insight. Yes, you're right this is our first production server on Ubuntu, but our experience so far has been very positive.

This is not our first try with open source software though, we already maintain a rich portfolio of tools (blogs, wikis, discussion boards, and are looking into Moodle as an alternative to Blackboard), but all on a windows platform. You're of course right about the convenience of writing code to fit one's requirements and we've often done that in the past. In this particular case though I was concerned because it wasn't planned for in our budget, as the request came in mid-semester.

Thanks again for your input, this list has been a really great help!

Regards,

Maha