EasyInterface consists of
- An applications server (PHP scripts on top of a Web server) where you install and configure your applications; and
- Several clients (web, eclipse, etc.) that provide access to the applications installed on the server.
In what follows we explain how to install the server and how to use the different clients. Once the server is installed and tested to be working correctly, it is recommended to read Chapter 2 of the user manual docs/manual.pdf, it develops and integrate a simple application in EasyInterface step by step, which is useful to get started with EasyInterface.
In what follows we assume that you have already downloaded EasyInterface into a directory called easyinterface
, and that all files inside this directory have read and execute permissions to others
which can be done, for example, in Unix based systems by executing:
> chmod -R 755 easyinterface
The purpose of this is to make all files visible to the Apache Web Server
on which the EasyInterface server runs. This is (most likley) not required if you are using Microsoft Windows.
The installation consists in installing an Apache Web Server
(with PHP
enabled) and then configuring it to recognize the easyinterface
directory. If you already have Apache installed and the easyinterface
directory is visible then no further configuration is required, simply visit the corresponding address (e.g., if it is placed in the public_html
directory, visit http://localhost/~user/easyinterface). Otherwise follow the steps below depending on which operating system you are using, Linux
, OS X
or Windows
.
Installing Apache depends on the Linux distribution you are using, for example, if you are using Ubuntu you can install it by executing the following in a shell:
> sudo apt-get update
> sudo apt-get install apache2
> sudo apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-mcrypt
> sudo service apache2 start
Once installed test that it works correctly by visiting http://localhost and test that PHP works correctly by visiting http://localhost/info.php (this address might be different from one distribution to another). Next, to make the easyinterface
directory visible, edit /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/alias.conf
and add the following lines:
Alias /ei "/path-to/easyinterface"
<Directory "/path-to/easyinterface">
Options FollowSymlinks MultiViews Indexes IncludesNoExec
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
To activate this change you need to restart Apache by executing the following in a shell:
> sudo service apache2 restart
Now visit http://localhost/ei to check that EasyInterface works correctly. If no error message is shown, you can proceed to the next section and start using the Web client.
OS X typically comes with Apache installed, and all you need is to configure it to recognize the easyinterface
directory. To do so, edit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
add the following lines:
Alias /ei "/path-to/easyinterface"
<Directory "/path-to/easyinterface">
Options FollowSymlinks MultiViews Indexes IncludesNoExec
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
To activate this change you need to restart Apache by executing the following in a shell:
> sudo apachectl restart
You can also restart Apache using System Preferences > Sharing > Web Sharing
. Now visit http://localhost/ei to check that EasyInterface works correctly.
Apache Web Server for Microsoft Windows is available from a number of third party vendors. We have tested EasyInterface using WampServer.
Install the WampServer, for example in c:\wamp
, and then edit c:\wamp\bin\apache\apache.X.Y.Z\httpd.conf
and add the following lines to make the easyinterface
directory visible:
Alias /ei "\path-to\easyinterface"
<Directory "\path-to\easyinterface">
Options FollowSymlinks MultiViews Indexes IncludesNoExec
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
Next restart the WampServer by executing
c:\wamp\wampserver.exe -restart
Now visit http://localhost/ei to check that EasyInterface works correctly. If you have permission problems when accessing this address, try to remove the file easyinterface/.htaccess
.
By default the server is configured to execute the demo applications in a Unix based operating system, for using them in Windows you should copy server/config/eiserver.default.win.cfg
to server/config/eiserver.cfg
-- for more details see server/config/README.md.
The demo applications are simple bash scripts, and thus you need to install win-bash if you want to use them. To do so, simply download the corresponding zip
file and extract it in c:\bash
(it is important to place it in c:\bash
since the configuration files use c:\bash\bash.exe
to execute the bash scripts).
The Web client can be used by visiting http://localhost/ei/clients/web. For information on other clients see clients/README.md.