Update: I’ve released an updated version of AutoTracOnDreamHost.

Trac 0.11 is out. And it’s awesome – both the usability in enhancements in 0.11 and Trac in general. Trac is one of those tools in my toolbox I use to up my productivity a few notches. For small projects, it’s a nice convenient time saver. For large projects, having the project management tools trac provides makes an astonishing difference in group productivity and allows for a significantly higher quality final product.

On my web host, DreamHost, Trac is non-trivial to install… until now! I’ve written a set of scripts that make it semi-trivial to set Trac 0.11 up on DreamHost. Original inspiration came from the ‘auto-install‘ on the DreamHost wiki, which is great that it’s there, but it was awkward for my configuration and, IMHO, suffers from backward compatibility and feature bloat issues.  So, I wrote up some scripts that work well with my configuration. The README explains how to use them.

You may also want to check out the dreamy-trac project. Both that code and these scripts were originally based off the same code on the DreamHost wiki, so you’ll see similarities. They both get you to a similar end result. I know in these scripts I’ve emphasized simplicity as much as possible at the expense of installing any extra plugins, or customization, or whatnot.

If there’s a fair amount of traffic coming here and it looks like people are using these, I’ll set them up on a public repository for easier access and collaboration. In the meantime, keeping it simple… here they are.

README:

# AutoTracOnDreamHost: README
# Released under GLPv3. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
# Copyright 2008 Michael Fogel. http://fogel.ca

#################### LICENSE #####################

AutoTracOnDreamHost is free software: you can redistribute
it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either
version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

#################### HowTo #######################

Preliminaries:

  1. Assuming you're going to use this with SVN, you need to already
     have an SVN repository setup and running.  The webserver needs
     to have at least read permissions to the repository.

  2. You need to have a complete domain/subdomain set up to use
     with trac or a subdirectory of an existing domain.

  3. A MySQL database ready to use with trac.  This doesn't have to
     be it's own database, but AFAIK, there is no good reason not
     to give each trac site it's own database.

Do once: 

  1. Edit the configure.inc:

     - you probably want the latest and greatest of Trac, Genshi,
       MySQLDB, and Pygments.  Minor version releases of these
       shouldn't break this script.

     - alter the trac directory structure to your liking, or just
       run with my setup.

  2. Run the backend.sh.  This will set up all the parts of trac that
     are shared between all your trac sites (even if you have only one).

Do once per trac site:

  1. Run the site.sh.  This script will query you for details about
     the configuration of your database, your directory structure,
     svn repository, an admin trac user etc.

  2. Test it! Go to your new trac url and log in, browse the svn
     repository, create a dummy ticket etc.

#################### Help Me! ####################

I'll post about any major updates or known bugs on my blog.
http://blog.fogel.ca  In event of enough interest in these
scripts, I'll set up a public repository for it so we can
all contribute.

If you find any major bugs or want to submit a patch, you can
email me which is my first name (mike) at my domain (fogel.ca).
Requests for personalized help will be answered in the limit
of infinite free time, which I don't have, so no promises.

Elsewise, the best conglomeration of information about Trac
on DreamHost AFAIK is currently at on the DreamHost wiki.
http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Trac

##################################################

configure.inc:

# AutoTracOnDreamHost: configure.inc
# Released under GLPv3. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
# Copyright 2008 Michael Fogel. http://fogel.ca

# Abort on any errors
set -e

TRAC_VERS=0.11.1
GENSHI_VERS=0.5.1
MYSQLDB_VERS=1.2.2
PYGMENTS_VERS=0.11.1

# trac dir structure
TRAC_ROOT="${HOME}/trac"
PKG=${TRAC_ROOT}/packages
EGG=${TRAC_ROOT}/egg_cache
INSTALL=${TRAC_ROOT}/install
SITES=${TRAC_ROOT}/sites
SVN=${HOME}/svn
TRAC_SITE_PACKAGES=${PKG}/lib/python2.3/site-packages
TRAC_HTDOCS=${TRAC_SITE_PACKAGES}/Trac-${TRAC_VERS}-py2.3.egg/trac/htdocs

EXP_CMD1="export PYTHONPATH=$TRAC_SITE_PACKAGES"
EXP_CMD2="export PYTHON_EGG_CACHE=$EGG"
EXP_CMD3="export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PKG/lib"
EXP_CMD4="export PATH=$PKG/bin:\$PATH"

cat <<OutputDreamTracInstallReminder

==== Put the following in your ~/.bash_profile ====
Where trac/packages=PKG
$EXP_CMD1
$EXP_CMD2
$EXP_CMD3
$EXP_CMD4
===================================================

OutputDreamTracInstallReminder

# modify those env vars for the duration of this script too.
$EXP_CMD1
$EXP_CMD2
$EXP_CMD3
if [[ "$PATH" != *"$PKG/bin"* ]]; then export PATH=$PKG/bin:$PATH; fi

# Update version information here and DIRs below.

TRAC=http://ftp.edgewall.com/pub/trac/Trac-${TRAC_VERS}.tar.gz
GENSHI=http://ftp.edgewall.com/pub/genshi/Genshi-${GENSHI_VERS}.tar.gz
SETUPTOOLS=http://peak.telecommunity.com/dist/ez_setup.py
MYSQLDB=http://switch.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/mysql-python/MySQL-python-${MYSQLDB_VERS}.tar.gz
PYGMENTS=http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/P/Pygments/Pygments-${PYGMENTS_VERS}.tar.gz

TRACDIR=Trac-${TRAC_VERS}
GENSHIDIR=Genshi-${GENSHI_VERS}
MYSQLDBDIR=MySQL-python-${MYSQLDB_VERS}
PYGMENTSDIR=Pygments-${PYGMENTS_VERS}

#### function getInupt - used primarily in site.sh #####
# arg 1: message
# arg 2: initial value
function getInput {
	MES="$1"
	eval "VAL=\$$2"
	echo ""
	echo "Press enter to accept the current value, or input a new value."
	TMP="$VAL"
	while [[ -n "$TMP" ]]; do
		VAL="$TMP"
		echo "$MES: $VAL"
		read TMP
	done
	echo "Using $MES: $VAL"
	eval "$2=\"$VAL\""
}

backend.sh:

# AutoTracOnDreamHost: backend.sh
# Released under GLPv3. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
# Copyright 2008 Michael Fogel. http://fogel.ca

source ./configure.inc

echo -e "\n==== Creating need dir structure ===="
[ ! -d ${PKG} ] && mkdir -p ${PKG}
# the egg_cache dir must be writable by your apache cgi/python user
[ ! -d ${EGG} ] && mkdir -p ${EGG} && chmod 770 ${EGG}
[ ! -d ${INSTALL} ] && mkdir -p ${INSTALL}
[ ! -d ${SITES} ] && mkdir -p ${SITES}

echo -e "\n==== Retrieving installation files ===="
cd ${INSTALL}
[ ! -f ${TRACDIR}.tar.gz ] && wget ${TRAC}
[ ! -f ${GENSHIDIR}.tar.gz ] && wget ${GENSHI}
[ ! -f ${MYSQLDBDIR}.tar.gz ] && wget ${MYSQLDB}
[ ! -f ${PYGMENTSDIR}.tar.gz ] && wget ${PYGMENTS}
[ ! -f ez_setup.py ] && wget ${SETUPTOOLS}

echo -e "\n==== Installing Setup Tools ===="
#Create site-packages directory. Script will fail without it.
mkdir -p ${TRAC_SITE_PACKAGES}
[ -z `which easy_install` ] && cd ${INSTALL} && python ez_setup.py --prefix=${PKG}

echo -e "\n==== Installing Pygments ===="
cd ${INSTALL} && tar xzf ${PYGMENTSDIR}.tar.gz
cd ${PYGMENTSDIR} && python setup.py install --prefix=${PKG}

echo -e "\n==== Installing MYSQLdb ===="
cd ${INSTALL} && tar xzf ${MYSQLDBDIR}.tar.gz
cd ${MYSQLDBDIR} && python setup.py install --prefix=${PKG}

echo -e "\n==== Installing Genshi ===="
cd ${INSTALL} && tar xzf ${GENSHIDIR}.tar.gz
cd ${GENSHIDIR} && python setup.py install --prefix=${PKG}

echo -e "\n==== Installing Trac ===="
cd ${INSTALL} && tar xzf ${TRACDIR}.tar.gz
cd ${TRACDIR} && python setup.py install --prefix=${PKG}
mkdir -p ${PKG}/share/trac
cp -fr ${INSTALL}/${TRACDIR}/cgi-bin ${PKG}/share/trac

echo -e "\n==== Setting permissions for Trac htdocs ===="
DIR=${TRAC_HTDOCS}
while [ "$DIR" != "$HOME" ]; do
	chmod o+x $DIR
	DIR=`dirname $DIR`
done
find ${TRAC_HTDOCS} -type d -exec chmod 751 {} \;
find ${TRAC_HTDOCS} -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

echo -e "\n==== Backend install complete ===="

site.sh:

# AutoTracOnDreamHost: site.sh
# Released under GLPv3. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
# Copyright 2008 Michael Fogel. http://fogel.ca

source ./configure.inc

# Defaults
PROJECT=somesvnproject
DOMAIN=trac.somedomain.com
DOMAINDIR=${HOME}/http/$DOMAIN  # default refreshed after sampling DOMAIN
TRACPATH=/trac
MYSQLHOST=mysql.$DOMAIN         # default refreshed after sampling DOMAIN
MYSQLUSER=trac_username
MYSQLPASSWD=trac_password
MYSQLDBNAME=trac_$PROJECT       # default refreshed after sampling PROJECT
TRAC_USER=admin
TRAC_PASSWORD=password

# Prompt on those defaults
getInput "Subversion Project ID"                 PROJECT
getInput "Domain for Trac"                       DOMAIN
DOMAINDIR=${HOME}/http/$DOMAIN
MYSQLHOST=mysql.$DOMAIN
getInput "Path for domain root"                  DOMAINDIR
getInput "Path for Trac relative to domain root" TRACPATH
getInput "MySQL hostname"                        MYSQLHOST
getInput "MySQL username"                        MYSQLUSER
getInput "MySQL password"                        MYSQLPASSWD
MYSQLDBNAME=trac_$PROJECT
getInput "MySQL DB name"                         MYSQLDBNAME
getInput "Trac Admin username"                   TRAC_USER
getInput "Trac Admin password"                   TRAC_PASSWORD

# using these values
echo "PROJECT:${PROJECT}"
echo "DOMAIN:${DOMAIN}"
echo "DOMAINDIR:${DOMAINDIR}"
echo "TRACPATH:${TRACPATH}"
echo "MYSQLHOST:${MYSQLHOST}"
echo "MYSQLUSER:${MYSQLUSER}"
echo "MYSQLPASSWD:${MYSQLPASSWD}"
echo "MYSQLDBNAME:${MYSQLDBNAME}"
echo "TRAC_USER:${TRAC_USER}"
echo "TRAC_PASSWORD:${TRAC_PASSWORD}"

# Vars for this site
WEBDIR=${DOMAINDIR}/${TRACPATH}
INDEX_CGI=${WEBDIR}/index.cgi
TRACINI=${SITES}/${PROJECT}/conf/trac.ini
HTACCESS=${WEBDIR}/.htaccess
HTPASSWD=${WEBDIR}/.htpasswd
NAME="Trac: ${DOMAIN}${TRACPATH}/"

echo "Setup site"
if [ ! -d ${SITES}/${PROJECT} ]; then

	#Setup Trac Environment for MySQL
	${PKG}/bin/trac-admin ${SITES}/${PROJECT} \
		initenv ${PROJECT} \
		"mysql://${MYSQLUSER}:${MYSQLPASSWD}@${MYSQLHOST}/${MYSQLDBNAME}" \
		svn \
		${SVN}/${PROJECT};

	# set admin user to premissions
	${PKG}/bin/trac-admin ${SITES}/${PROJECT} \
	permission add $TRAC_USER TRAC_ADMIN
fi

echo "Make Trac Web Accessible"
# Make Trac Web Accessible
mkdir -p ${WEBDIR}
chmod 751 ${WEBDIR}

if [ -f "${INDEX_CGI}" ]; then
	rm ${INDEX_CGI}
fi
echo "#!/bin/bash" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "export HOME=\"/home/${USER}\"" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "export TRAC_ENV=\"$SITES/${PROJECT}\"" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "$EXP_CMD1" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "$EXP_CMD2" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "$EXP_CMD3" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "$EXP_CMD4" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
echo "exec $PKG/share/trac/cgi-bin/trac.cgi" >> ${INDEX_CGI}
chmod 755 ${INDEX_CGI}

# logo in trac.ini
sed -i "s/^alt = .*$/alt = trac_banner.png/" ${TRACINI}
# some fancy sed to escape forward slashes... simplier patches are welcome.
TRACPATH_S=`echo ${TRACPATH} | sed -e "s/\/$//" -e "s/\//\\\\\\ \//g" -e "s/ \//\//g"`
sed -i "s/^src = .*$/src = ${TRACPATH_S}\/chrome\/common\/trac_banner.png/" ${TRACINI}

#Pretty URLs
mkdir -p ${WEBDIR}/chrome
chmod 751 ${WEBDIR}/chrome
ln -sf ${TRAC_HTDOCS} ${WEBDIR}/chrome/common

# .htaccess fun
if [ -f ${HTACCESS} ]; then
	rm ${HTACCESS}
fi

touch ${HTACCESS}
chmod 644 ${HTACCESS}

echo "AuthType Basic" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "AuthUserFile ${HTPASSWD}" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "AuthName '${NAME}'" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "require valid-user" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "DirectoryIndex index.cgi" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "RewriteEngine On" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "RewriteRule ^(.*)\$ ${TRACPATH}/index.cgi/\$1 [L]" >> ${HTACCESS}
echo "" >> ${HTACCESS}

#Create .htpasswd file for trac admin with password
htpasswd -bc ${HTPASSWD} $TRAC_USER "$TRAC_PASSWORD"

# Note: on DreamHost you avoid a world-readable htpasswd file by
# setting one up via panel.dreamhost.com->Goodies->Htaccess/WebDAV.
# This will make htpasswd and htaccess files (overwriting anything
# that's there) that has group dhapache, is group readable, and
# the apache user is in the dhapache group.  Baring this, you need
# to make your htpasswd file word-readable (or email support for
# some chgrp action as root)
chmod 644 ${HTPASSWD}

echo ---------- SITE INSTALL COMPLETE! ----------