iFolder on openSUSE 11.1
Just recently my work team took a week off for Innovation Time Off (ITO). Our team split up into 3 groups to work on various non work related open source projects. As you can tell the project that I choose to work on was iFolder. As some might know it went through a period of silence. However, it has recently had a big code dump in svn, a community manager added, and a revived community around it.
For those of you that don’t know what iFolder is it is a really cool toy/tool. It allows you to sync data between multiple machines. There is a client for Linux, Mac, and Windows. The great thing about this is that both the client and server are open source so you can run your own instance of it on a local server. There is more info about it on the iFolder site.
Unfortunately, it has not kept up with mono and has been needing some love to work with mono 2.4. So as part of our project we setup a repo with the latest mono 2.4 branch and added a couple patches (currently for openSUSE 11.0, openSUSE 11.1, and SLE 11). This allowed us to get to our goal of creating an iFolder Server appliance based on openSUSE 11.1. (Huge kudos to suse studio)
If you want to use the appliance, all you have to do is download it. It is a VMware image, but I have only tested it on Virtual Box. The root password is novell so, I’d change it if you are actually going to use it in production. Once the VM comes up and you have logged in there are 2 scripts in /root/iFolder. The first script is BuildSSL.sh which will build all of your certs and push them out. The second script, BuildiFolder.sh will run the configure apps. Once those are finished and assuming all went well you are ready to go. Just pull up a browser and go to http(s)://server/admin and http(s)://server/ifolder.
If there are any bugs with the appliance please let me know: sshaw {at} decriptor dot com. If there are any bugs in iFolder please file them at http://bugzilla.novell.com/. There is also the #ifolder irc channel on freenode
The ifolder appliance works great under VMware Server. Thank you very much for creating it!
I am tryintg the appliance right now, I was wondering if that iso image test went well or not? Thanks Man!
sadly the openSUSE Build Service is getting more and more popular so its taking longer to build the packages. I think there is a new upload of ifolder. So, as soon as that is built I’ll push the image. I’m really hoping to do it soon. I’m also going to provide different formats (vmware, disk image, xen, live) this time around. Upon request, I’m also adding iscsi stuff to it or at least the libraries and yast modules.
Awesome man! I really appreciate this!
Thanks!
I successfully installed the appliance on a virtualbox session, logged in, and ran the scripts.
I cannot seem to connect to the server from a browser and I believe that it is due to not knowing the server name as in: http(s)://server_name/admin
I used all the default settings when I ran the scripts.
Do you have any suggestions?
server_name needs to be replaced by most likely eth0. Just to make sure you, once the VM came up you ran
/root/iFolder/BuildSSL.sh (with your info), then
/root/iFolder/BuildiFolder.sh (with your info). The other thing to keep in mind is that the first time it comes up you will have to add an exception for the certificate. I’ll also just realized that I forgot to add chkconfig apache2 on. So, after a reboot you will have to restart apache (rcapache2 start).
I don’t know exactly what I am doing wrong. everything seems to install correctly and the BuildSSL.sh and BuildiFolder.sh setup files complete correctly. I am still unable to access the server from the host PC to run /Admin.
Do I need to run /admin from the guest OS? If so, how from the terminal?
Any help or guesses to my mistakes would be helpful.
Thanks!
There is a certificate that you do have to accept first. At least in firefox it warns you about the certificate. I’ve only tried connecting to it from a guest and not the local server.
I’ll try to either get a screen cast out or turn by turn outline hopefully today or tomorrow.
Thanks,
I’ll look forward to that. in the meantime, how do you connect to it from the guest suse server (i.e. no gui = no browser = unable to connect to http://x.x.x.x/admin?)
If I must install gnome or kde, do you have recommendations for instructions.
soory, the way I connect to it is from a different server on the network (usually the vm is using bridge for networking). Also you have to connect to https://x.x.x.x/admin unless you don’t enable SSL.
You don’t need to install it on the server for this to run, but I’m personally lean toward GNOME since that’s what I know.
so after it boots do you just login as root and go to another browser and type the address? I apologize for all the questions, but I am simply running into roadblocks no matter the steps I take
so, the overview is to load the VM and then login as root. After that run BuildSSL.sh, then BuildiFolder.sh, and then that should be about it. Goto any desktop on the same network as the iFolder server VM and pull up the browser. The address should be https://x.x.x.x/admin. So you aren’t connecting to the iFolder server from itself.
Thank you again. I know I must be either entering the wrong information in the setup process or maybe my bridged network is not setup incorrectly. Either way, I can’t wait to get it working. It is exactly what I am looking for in our organization and I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon. One last question? Should I expect any problems using the appliance in VirtualBox?
Thank you again and Best Regards!
Michael
I cannot get this live cd 64bit to log in at all.. with admin/novell? I dunno what I am doing wrong.. is there a way i can install this live cd to the local disk?
I’ve tried and failed with this VM several times. If I take the defaults except for the passwords I get a script error. If I choose not to Configure Apache I get and error. If I manage to get the BuildiFolder to complete successfully I can login in to the admin URL but the System tab gives a write error. I can create users and their iFolder clients can connect but no user can login to the /ifolder link. No errors for this one in any logs. The user just gets “Please renter username and password”
Is it just me? I tried for two days a few weeks ago and for several hours again today. Maybe there is a readme I haven’t found?
Thanks!
Doc
@Doc That seems really odd that you are having so many problems. I’d be really interested to see where the difference is. I’ll try to ping you tomorrow to see if we can’t walk through this. I’m really hoping to get around to a ready me sooner than later as well as a new release of the appliance as there has been some newer releases of ifolder and mono.
Sorry for that question: I am not able to login with root/novell. has the pw changed?
if that doesn’t work then its root/ifolder
This appliance rocks. Thanks for making it so easy for us by creating it.
I login as root and then:
cd iFolder
./BuildSSL.sh
./BuildiFolder.sh
But it always ends with this:
—– ACCEPT LDAP CERTIFICATE —–
Accept LDAP Certificate? [Y]:
Failed (Get Certificate)
Connecting to ldaps://192.168.1.128/ …Failed
LdapException: (91) Connect Error
System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: Connection refused
(etc)
FAILED
I’ve tried wiping out the VMWare and completely reloading from scratch but the same thing happens.
This is very frustrating. I’ve tried multiple times to set up iFolder. I figured I would have better luck with a soft appliance, but no joy.
The frustrating part is that this seems very easy to set up.
I follow the instructions and choose defaults options for the most part. I seem to be having problems similar if not exactly the same as Doc from above.
There are so many errors I’m amazed more people don’t report problems.
After configuration I can browser to /admin and log in. I can create a user, however can not create iFolders.
When I click on the System tab I get the following error:
Server Version: 1.8.2.0
HostName: ifolder
MachineName: ifolder
OS Version: Unix 2.6.27.23
CLR Version: 2.0.50727.1433
Exception detail:
Exception type: Exception
Unable to connect to master serverSystem.Net.WebException: Error writing request.
at System.Net.WebConnectionStream.WriteRequest () [0x00000]
at System.Net.WebConnectionStream.Close () [0x00000]
at System.IO.StreamWriter.Dispose (Boolean disposing) [0x00000]
at System.IO.StreamWriter.Close () [0x00000]
at System.Xml.XmlTextWriter.Close () [0x00000]
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.SendRequest (System.IO.Stream s, System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapClientMessage message, System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapExtension[] extensions) [0x00000]
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke (System.String method_name, System.Object[] parameters) [0x00000]
at Novell.iFolderWeb.Admin.SystemInfo.ConnectToMaster () [0x00000]
at Novell.iFolderWeb.Admin.SystemInfo.Page_PreRender (System.Object source, System.EventArgs e) [0x00000]
at System.Web.UI.Control.OnPreRender (System.EventArgs e) [0x00000]
at System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal () [0x00000]
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessLoadComplete () [0x00000]
at System.Web.UI.Page.InternalProcessRequest () [0x00000]
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest (System.Web.HttpContext context) [0x00000]
If I browse to /simias10 using SSL and log in I get the following error:
Server Error in ‘/simias10’ Application
The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.
Requested URL: /simias10/
Version information: Mono Version: 2.0.50727.1433; ASP.NET Version: 2.0.50727.1433
If I click on the Server tab then browse to the server I notice there are no data stores defined. Upon adding one I get the following error:
Server Version: 1.8.2.0
HostName: ifolder
MachineName: ifolder
OS Version: Unix 2.6.27.23
CLR Version: 2.0.50727.1433
Exception detail:
Exception type: SendFailure
Error writing request.
at System.Net.WebConnectionStream.WriteRequest () [0x00000]
at System.Net.WebConnectionStream.Close () [0x00000]
at System.IO.StreamWriter.Dispose (Boolean disposing) [0x00000]
at System.IO.StreamWriter.Close () [0x00000]
at System.Xml.XmlTextWriter.Close () [0x00000]
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.SendRequest (System.IO.Stream s, System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapClientMessage message, System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapExtension[] extensions) [0x00000]
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke (System.String method_name, System.Object[] parameters) [0x00000]
I’d love to get this to work but this many errors after complete both installation scripts successfully and choosing default values is very discouraging.
@cochy As soon as I have a chance I’ll look into it and get help from the iFolder team if needed. Thanks.
I have experienced the following error code while the client is trying to connect to the server : Authentication Status Code: Unknown.
I found that the problem was solved by NOT choosing the default server data location while running simias-server-setup. I have chosen /home/iFolder instead and that solved my problems. The server will create the folder for you with correct setup and permissions.
I got the tip from :
http://am4computers.com/wordpress/archives/149
The download link for the appliance has seem to stop working. Does anyone have a mirror?
@Daniel These are probably broken as they are old. Look for the iFolder 0.0.9 release (another post). They are still working(Just tested).
I have the same problem as cochy.
I’d be grateful for any tip helping to resolve the problem!
Thanks!
I also have the same problem as cochy. I’ve tried installing on various versions of OpenSUSE and I get the same problem every single time. What am I missing here? I also tried pointing at a different folder as well.
Thanks.
I’ve used the vmware image and it work lika a charm, then I tried to install it using the ISO on a HP Proliant box and it coldn’t find the harddrives?? seems to me that the appliance haven’t got the drivers for the smartarray controller. When will the next version of the ISO be out and will it support SCSI drives och more specific the HP Smartarray.
Thanks for a greate appliance.
@Roger I don’t the iso has the drivers for the smartarray stuff. Since the new ifolder has been released and I finished up this last semester just yesterday I’m hoping to get working on the next version of the appliance with hopefully some good improvements. I’ll be blogging about it as soon as I have something to show.
The download links don’t seem to work anymore, but I would love to give this appliance a try. Any idea if this can still be downloaded?
@k41184 The link is dead because there is a newer version of the appliance. I think in the future I’ll created a download page that all of my post link to so that it always points to the latest.
There is a newer post with version 0.0.9:
http://www.decriptor.com/2009/07/21/ifolder-appliance-0-0-9/
Same issue here, iFolder simply isn’t working on openSUSE 11.1. The admin user cannot login into https://IP@/ifolder. He can only login to https://IP@/admin, but then if I click on “System”, I get the “Unable to connect to master serverSystem.Net.WebException: Error writing request.” error. I used only the default settings during the install, and finally iFolder is not working. This is very frustrating, don’t these developers test their code before releasing it to the public?
openSUSE 11.1 It worked. I can connect to login.
I have solution, I will bee post as soon.
Regards,
http://www.susethailand.com