How to set up your own OPML Community Server

Yesterday we did a test of the second installation of the OPML Community Server, and the test went well. There was a report of one problem, but this was a problem with the workstaton software, not the server. So I'm now ready to go forward with the second part of the experiment, testing the deployment of the server itself.

A revelation

Imagine Steve Jobs on stage at an Apple rollout saying "One more thing." That's how strange the next bit of information is. There's nothing to release. The software is already out there, if you've updated your copy of the OPML Editor, you already have it.

Another way of saying the same thing

The server is the editor and the editor is the server. The role that a copy of the OPML Editor plays depends on where you put it (on a server or a workstation) and how you configure it. The configuration is designed to be as simple as possible, it's fairly easy to turn an editor into a server. The next section explains how to do that.

How to install your own server

0. All these instructions should be performed on the machine that's going to be the server. It must be able to write into a folder that is served by a static HTTP server such as Apache or IIS. It may be running on a different machine and accessed through a shared folder, or running on the same machine (if so your machine must have at least two IP addresses). The software runs on either Windows or Macintosh operating systems; Windows 2000 or greater; Mac OS X.

1. Download and run the OPML Editor from support.opml.org. Click on Cancel to the two dialogs that appear. Choose Get Latest Code from the Community menu.

2. In the OPML Editor application folder, create a text file called opmlStartupCommands.txt. Copy the five lines of text from this file into your file. (This is the actual file used on the second OPML Community server, so you know it works, at least on my server.) Now an explanation of each of the lines.

user.opmlserver.enabled = true;
This tells the editor that it's a server. No modification necessary.

user.opmlServer.rpcName = "rpc.tagcamp.com";
The domain name of the server machine. Change it to the domain name of your server.

user.opmlServer.hostname = "hosting.tagcamp.com";
The domain name for the static server.

user.opmlserver.folder = "C:\\Program Files\\Apache Group\\Apache2\\www\\hostingTagcampCom\\";
The folder where the server should store the content that will be statically served on hostname.

user.opmlServer.blogsname = "blogs.tagcamp.com";
user.opmlServer.ipAddressPort80 = "63.211.182.17";
These two lines should be thought of together, and require a bit of explanation. While your OPML files are served statically, the blogging tool is a dynamic application that is hosted directly by the OPML editor. Everything else in the OPML Editor runs on port 5337, but this application must run on port 80. If you're accessing the static server through a folder share, and if your machine has a single IP address, then you don't need to set ipAddressPort80, it'll just boot up on the single IP address for the machine. However if you have multiple IP addresses for the server (like both my servers) you can run the static server and the OPML Editor on the same machine, and you'll need to tell the OPML Editor which IP address to use for port 80.

3. After editing opmlStartupCommands.txt, quit the OPML Editor and re-launch. That should be it. You can test your server following the instructions posted yesterday. The name of your community server is the string entered in user.opmlServer.rpcName. That's basically all your users need to know, for now.

Notes

1. It's possible in the future to have the OPML Editor also be the static server. It'll make setup simpler, and more practical for low-volume sites. But if your site is going to get a reasonable amount of traffic it's better to let a static server do the static serving.

2. There are three new root files installed in the Tools folder (it's in Guest Databases/apps). They are downloaded automatically the first time you launch with user.opmlserver.enabled set true. The are set to update automatically every hour at the top of teh hour, so be aware I can install updates on your server. There will be a way to turn this off, but please don't turn it off now, I'm sure there will be lots of fixes coming in the next few weeks, Murphy-willing of course.

3. We'll come up with a way for your users to register with your server wihtout having to register first on mine. That'll be one of the next steps in the corner-turn.

4. If you want to operate a public server, please announce its existence here, in the comments section.

# Posted by Dave Winer on 11/16/05; 7:26:12 AM - --