Windows Central Dispatch

Each section below has steps you can follow, all steps must be followed to set up Central Dispatch accordingly.

1. Curator install and folder Creation

1. Install Curator using Apache installer like usual.
2. Ensure the following folders exist, and if not, use a Windows Explorer window to create them
   • C:\InterWorks\Curator\vhosts
   • C:\InterWorks\Curator\archives

2. curator.conf file adjustments

1. Move Central Dispatch portal to subfolder of htdocs
   1. Make directory C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch
   2. Move all other files and folders in htdocs directory to centraldispatch directory using Windows Explorer
2. Save SSL/TLS certificates and key files to C:\InterWorks\Curator\certs directory (create if it doesn’t exist)
3. Update curator.conf Located in C:\InterWorks\Curator
   1. Point the default virtualhost’s document root and directory to C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch
   2. Use wildcard subdomain for servername and/or serveralias (do not use * in the path)
   3. Add include statement at the bottom to look for configuration files in C:\InterWorks\Curator\vhosts directory:
      1. IncludeOptional C:\InterWorks\Curator\vhosts\
   4. Configure it to listen on 443 and point at the certs and key in the certs directory by uncommenting the lines at the bottom section.
   5. Add these 2 lines to the 443 VirtualHost (usually under the DocumentRoot)
      1. ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/centraldispatch_error.log
      2. CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/centraldispatch_access.log combined

3. Create the Worker Database User

1. Open the worker_database_user.sql example script in a text-editor, located in the C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers directory.

2. Change the username and password as needed before executing.

3. Open a terminal and run the command below to create the new user

   mysql -u root -p -e "source C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers\worker_database_user.sql"
   

4. NOTE: You will be prompted to enter a password. Use the root user's password that was created when you installed Curator. Refer to the Windows Installation here.

4. Create script and vhost files

1. Navigate to the C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers directory
2. Create a copy of php_worker.example.php in the same directory and rename it to php_worker.php.
3. Create a copy of vhost.template.example.conf in the same directory and rename it to vhost.template.conf.
4. You will have created the following files
   • C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers\php_worker.php
   • C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers\vhost.template.conf

5. Worker Script Setup

NOTE: This is Windows, and not Linux. All filepaths for Windows should use back-slash "" and not forward-slash "/"

1. Open php_worker.php in a text editor
2. Modify the user section:
   1. For the DB_ENV_DISPATCHER set the user and pass values to the user and password you set using the script in the Create the Worker Database User section above.
   2. DB_ENV_INSTANCE uses the root user's details for simplicity. This ensures you can provision with the highest access. Alternatively, if you do not want to use the root user for this create a separate user and use those details.
3. Modify vhost section:
   1. Set Directory to "C:/InterWorks/Curator/vhosts"
   2. Set Template to C:/InterWorks/Curator/htdocs/centraldispatch/plugins/interworks/centraldispatch/workers/vhost.template.conf
4. Modify worker section:
   1. Source_directory should be set to "C:/InterWorks/Curator/htdocs/centraldispatch"
   2. Archive_directory should be set to "C:/InterWorks/Curator/archives"
      1. Modify $DEFAULT_BACKEND_EMAIL as needed
      2. Modify $WINDOWS_INSTALL_DIR if not using C:/InterWorks/Curator (i.e. if installed to D:\InterWorks\Curator)

6. vhost Template Setup

1. Determine the Apache version you're using by running C:\InterWorks\Curator\libs\Apache24\bin\httpd -v in a Command Prompt window
2. Open C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs\centraldispatch\plugins\interworks\centraldispatch\workers\vhost.template.conf in a text editor
   1. If using Apache 2.2:
      1. Ensure lines 22-23 do not start with a '#', enabling those lines.
      2. Ensure line 25 starts with a '#', disabling that line.
   2. If using Apache 2.4:
      1. Ensure line 25 does not start with a '#', enabling that line.
      2. Ensure lines 22-23 start with a '#', disabling those lines.
3. Schedule worker by running the command in the worker_scheduled_task.bat example script. Tweak as needed. It defaults to 15 minutes.

7. Restart Apache

1. Restart apache using the shortcuts on the desktop. If you receive an error message about access, then right click on the stop.bat and start.bat scripts within C:\InterWorks\Curator and run as administrator.
2. In the Central Dispatch Curator portal’s backend, register the workers with the dispatcher at Backend > Settings > Central Dispatch > Central Dispatch Settings. Probably with these settings:
   1. Host URL: localhost
   2. Worker name: localhost (or use something more descriptive)
   3. Install Path: C:/InterWorks/Curator/htdocs/
3. Attempt to deploy a new managed instance at Backend > Central Dispatch > Managed Instances.

Manual Back Out of Deployment

In case of a failure during a deployment, Central Dispatch is not yet able to automatically back out the deployment to try again. You can determine the nature of the failure by visiting the Managed Instance record in the backend of the Central Dispatch portal and scrolling to the bottom of the page. There will be an error field that will show any issues the worker had during the deployment.

To back out a deployment, it's important to determine which step it failed at so you'll know which of the following steps you'll need to take to back it out. They are in reverse order of the deployment, so you can skip steps if the deployment didn't make it that far. When in doubt, just perform all of the steps.

1. Remove scheduled task with the name of this managed instance by opening the Windows Task Scheduler.

2. Remove the vhost record specific to this managed instance in the C:\InterWorks\Curator\vhosts directory (adjust drive letter as needed).

3. Remove site-specific SSL/TLS keys if the managed instance supplied them. These will be in the C:\InterWorks\Curator\certs directory (adjust drive letter as needed).

4. Remove the portal code for the managed instance in the C:\InterWorks\Curator\htdocs directory (adjust drive letter as needed).

5. Drop the database specific to the managed instance by using HeidiSQL and the root database credentials (see C:\InterWorks\Curator\info.txt). The SQL statement to drop the database would be:

   DROP DATABASE '<database name>';
   

6. Delete the database user specific to the managed instance by using HeidiSQL and the root database credentials (see C:\InterWorks\Curator\info.txt). The SQL statement to drop the database would be:

   DROP USER IF EXISTS '<username>'@'localhost';;