Running Greenstone

From GreenstoneWiki

OK, I've installed Greenstone. Now how do I make it go?

If you're using the Windows local library you should be able to simply select "Greenstone Digital Library" from within the programs in your start menu.

If you're using the web library things are a little less obvious however. First make sure your webserver is configured correctly and is running (see the Greenstone Installer's Guide and your webserver's documentation for details). You can then simply open your web browser and point it at the URL of Greenstone's library executable. This is dependant on the way you configured Greenstone and your webserver. Typically it might be something like http://localhost/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.exe.

What web browser do I need to view Greenstone collections?

Greenstone relies on a web browser that supports tables, javascript, and in some places, frames. Any reasonably modern browser will do. Examples are Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, Netscape 4, and Mozilla. Newer releases of all these browsers will also work.

If you find that your favourite web browser does not work with Greenstone, please contact us.

Note that there is an exception to the rule that any modern browser will do when running Greenstone. That is when you're using the restricted version of the Windows local library when you must use Netscape. See the discussion below on the differences between the "Restricted Version" and the standard "Enter Library" version of the local library for details.

When I start the Windows local library there are two buttons in the dialog box, "Enter Library" and "Restricted Version". They both seem to do the same thing, what's the difference?

The webserver built into the local library uses the networking software built into your Windows operating system in order to function. If your computer has never been connected to a network this networking software may not be installed however. For this reason Greenstone comes with some networking software of it's own that it will use if it can't find any installed on your computer.

When you click the "Enter Library" button, Greenstone first checks to see if your computer has it's own networking software. If it does, it starts up using that, if not it starts up using it's own networking software.

When you click the "Restricted Version" button, Greenstone doesn't bother checking your system for networking software, it just goes ahead and uses it's own.

The catch is that there are several limitations with using the Greenstone supplied networking software. The most important limitations are that the local library won't be accessible from the network if run in this way (that is, it really will be "local" to the machine on which it's running) and that it must use a Netscape web browser. Using your computer's built-in networking software is therefore the prefered option.

So when should I use the "Restricted Version" of the local library?

Since Greenstone will automatically use it's own networking software if it can't find any installed on your computer it should not normally be necessary to run the "Restricted Version" explicitly.

Times when it may be necessary are.

• If your computer's networking software has been installed incorrectly.
• If Windows keeps attempting to dial up your internet service provider when you click the "Enter Library" button.

When I start the Windows local library my computer asks me to dial up my Internet Service Provider. Do I really need to be online to run Greenstone?

No you don't need to be online. This is caused by the webserver built into Greenstone's local library sending a message to your computer's networking software to make sure it's functioning correctly. On many Windows systems this causes the familiar dial up dialog box to appear. In most situations you can simply cancel the dialog box and (if required) press your browser's reload button to continue.

If this does not solve the problem, try starting the local library by clicking the "Restricted Version" button rather than the "Enter Library" button. See the discussion above on the differences between the standard and restricted versions of the local library for further details.

I'm trying to use the Windows local library. My web browser is starting up as expected but the Greenstone home page never gets loaded or gives an error message. What's wrong?

1. Check your web browser's internet proxy settings and turn proxies off (use Edit preferences on Netscape or Internet options on Explorer).
2. If Internet Explorer gives a message saying "The page cannot be displayed" and "Cannot find server or DNS error" at the bottom of the page, check in your network settings that your computer's name is set up correctly. For example, if there is a DNS suffix entered in your TCP/IP properties (in the Control Panel), make sure that your host name and suffix are correct for your computer. If the server is running correctly, you should be able to connect by visiting http://127.0.0.1/ in a web browser on the same machine that the local library is running on.

Where can I get more Greenstone collections?

Collections like those at www.nzdl.org will soon be made available for download.

When I attempt to access certain parts of Greenstone I'm asked for a username and password. What do I enter?

The initial username required here is admin.

If you installed Greenstone using the InstallShield installer on Windows or the Install.sh script on Unix you should have been asked to set a password during the installation procedure.

If you didn't, don't worry, the password defaults to being admin.

So if you don't know what to enter you should try username = admin, password = admin.

When I use the large query box function I occassionally get a Not Found error.

This may be caused by the URL becoming too long for your web browser. Because Greenstone currently stores all state information in the URL, if you do a search for a long phrase the URL can become very long. Different browser's on different platforms have different maximum URL lengths but in general it seems that Netscape can handle longer URLs than can Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There is very little you can do to avoid this problem with the way Greenstone is currently implemented (aside from not searching for long phrases). Future versions of Greenstone may store some state information on the server rather than in the URL but this has yet to be implemented.

How do I get usage information for my library?

You can enable usage logging by setting the logcgiargs option to true in greenstone/etc/main.cfg. This saves a log in greenstone/etc/usage.txt. The log entry is basically a list of cgi arguments. One entry is generated for each page request to the library.

You can find out what the cgi arguments mean by going to the Administration page of your Greenstone installation, or from this page.