Installing OSQA on windows (local system)

Question

I want to install OSQA on a local Windows system. I\'ve downloaded bitnami-djangostack-1.1.1-2-windows-installer.exe, which has django, python, mysql and apache built in.

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Answer 1

I have just tried integrating OSQA with the latest version of Bitnami. Because mod_python.so is no longer included, I couldn't get step 4 as outlined by YOU above to work.

Instead, follow the Basic Configuration instructions from the Django documentation here to set up OSQA on Apache with mod_wsgi instead. As stated here, the mod_python project is dead so it would be worth switching to mod_wsgi anyway.

For the remainder of the setup, following the steps outlined by YOU should work fine.

Answer 2

You can download a Windows installer here:

http://bitnami.org/stack/osqa

Just tried it and it works great, the installer prompts for the information it needs and at the end it will launch the site, and it all just works! 10/10

Answer 3

Please check this very simple guide: Installing OSQA on Windows with IIS in production

Answer 4

http://meta.osqa.net/question/121/installing-osqa-on-windows-2008-server-with-iis7

Answer 5

As Sigma0 mentioned, mod_python is deprecated. Since version 1.2.3-0 the BitNami DjangoStack includes mod_wgsi. The latest version (released today) also includes the dependencies required for OSQA (markdown2, html2lib and also South, python-openid and ElementTree).

Today we have also released the full BitNami OSQA Stack. It is configured with PostgreSQL for getting all the benefits of the full text search that PostgreSQL provides. The stack includes Python 2.6, Apache with mod_wgsi, PosgreSQL 9.04, Django 1.3 and OSQA Fantasy Island 0.9. beta 3 (latest release).

After working on integrating OSQA in the BitNami Library I have a few comments on the steps provided in previous answers when installing on OSQA on top of BitNami Django Stack.

• For security reasons it is recommended that each application use his own database and database user for accessing the database. That user should only have access to the application database. Click in the "Use DjangoStack" shortcut in the Windows Start Menu to open a windows console. On Windows Vista and above you will need to click it with the right mouse button and click in "Run as Administrator".

  {DJANGOSTACK}\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -pbitnami -e "create database osqa"

  {DJANGOSTACK}\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -pbitnami -e "grant all privileges on osqa.* to 'osqa_user'@'localhost' identify by 'osqa_user_password'

(NOTE: it is also a good practice to change the default password for the 'root' user :) )

• If you are using BitNami DjangoStack 1.3-1 or above you don't need to install any python dependency. If you are using an older version you can execute the following from the command prompt:

  {DJANGOSTACK}\python\Scripts\easy_install.exe install South Markdown html5lib python-openid ElementTree.

• Once you have created that database and user and download the code, you need to modify the setting_local.py. Notice that you will also need to set the right value in the APP_URL setting in that file. The default on Windows when using the BitNami DjangoStack would be APP_URL = 'http://127.0.0.1'

• We recommend to keep the application apache configuration in a separate file. If {OSQA_ROOT} is the folder where the OSQA file exist, I recomend to create {OSQA_ROOT}/conf and {OSQA_ROOT}/scripts folders.

Copy osqa.wgsi.dist in {OSQA_ROOT}/scripts/osqa.wgsi and substitute the /path/to_dir_above and /path/to_dir_above/osqa with the right value.

Create {OSQA_ROOT}/conf/osqa.conf file (this will be the apache configuration file). The file should be similar to the below:

---

WSGIScriptAlias / '{OSQA_ROOT}/scripts/osqa.wsgi'

<Directory '{OSQA_ROOT}/scripts'>
   Order allow,deny
   Allow from all
</Directory>
<Directory '{OSQA_ROOT}/forum'>
   Order allow,deny
   Allow from all
</Directory>

Alias /admin_media/  "{DJANGOSTACK}/apps/django/django/contrib/admin/media"
Alias /m/ "{OSQA_ROOT}/forum/skins/"
Alias /upfiles/ "{OSQA_ROOT}/forum/upfiles/"
<Directory '/home/bitrock/osqa-0.9.0beta3-0D/apps/osqa/forum/skins'>
   Order allow,deny
   Allow from all
</Directory>

---

In {DJANGOSTACK}\apache2\conf\httpd.conf add the following line at the end:

Include "{OSQA_ROOT}/osqa/conf/osqa.conf"

• Now you can run "{DJANGOSTACK}\python\python.exe manage.py syncdb --no-input" in the console and once you restart the services everything should be ready.

Answer 6

1. Download http://svn.osqa.net/svnroot/osqa/trunk to a folder {OSQA_ROOT} eg, c:\osqa

2. Rename {OSQA_ROOT}\settings_local.py.dist to {OSQA_ROOT}\settings_local.py

3. set following in {OSQA_ROOT}\settings_local.py

   DATABASE_NAME = 'osqa'             # Or path to database file if using sqlite3.
   DATABASE_USER = 'root'               # Not used with sqlite3.
   DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'PASSWD'               # Not used with sqlite3.  put bitnami here
   DATABASE_ENGINE = 'mysql'  #mysql, etc
   

   • Default MySQL credentials in bitnami are: -u root -p bitnami
     
     

4. add following {DJANGOSTACK}\apps\django\conf\django.conf, / means root folder like http://localhost

   <location '/'>
       SetHandler python-program
       PythonHandler django.core.handlers.modpython
       PythonPath "['{OSQA_ROOT}'] + sys.path"
       SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE osqa.settings
       PythonDebug On
   </location>
   

5. instasll markdown2 and html5lib with easy_install.exe, which is inside {DJANGOSTACK}\python\Scripts\

   easy_install markdown2
   easy_install html5lib
   

6. create new db called osqa with mysqladmin.exe which is in {DJANGOSTACK}\mysql\bin

   mysqladmin create osqa
   

7. syncdb

   {DJANGOSTACK}\python\python.exe manage.py syncdb
   

   • manage.py is in apps\django\django\conf\project_template as of 5/8/11
   • You must update settings.py with mysql, root, and bitnami (pw), and osqa as db name
     
     

8. enjoy!

alt text http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/723/osqabitnamidjangostack.png

Note:

• {OSQA_ROOT} => osqa trunk directory
• {DJANGOSTACK} => BitNami DjangoStack install directory