MHonArc Reference -- Installation

# Installation

The following section describes how to install MHonArc on your system.

NOTE: | Make sure to read the release notes before installing MHonArc, especially if you are upgrading from a previous release. If you are reading the text version of this installation document, a text version of the release notes, `RELNOTES`, exists within the root of the MHonArc distribution.

- For the Impatient
- Vendor Supplied Packages
- System Requirements
- Downloading MHonArc
- RPM Installation
- Extracting the MHonArc Distribution
- Installing with `install.me`
  - `install.me` Notes
- The Perl 5 Way
- Win32 Notes
- Alternate Operating Systems
- Manual Installation
- Post Installation Configuration
  - Default Resource File
  - Site Initialization Library
- Resource File Editing

## For the Impatient

If you cannot wait to get going, try one of the following:

- Plaform independent install:

      prompt> wget 'http://www.mhonarc.org/release/MHonArc/MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz'
      prompt> gzip -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -
      prompt> cd MHonArc-X.X.X
      prompt> perl install.me

- RPM install:

      prompt> wget 'http://www.mhonarc.org/release/MHonArc/MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm'
      prompt> rpm -Uvh MHonArc-X.X.X-1.noarch.rpm

Where `X.X.X` represents the version number, and `X.X.X-n` represents the version and release number of the RPM. Generally, the release number is equal to '`1`'.

If there were problems doing the above, then keep reading.

## Vendor Supplied Packages

Some software system vendors provide MHonArc, usually as an optional package. The following links provide vendor-supplied versions of MHonArc:

Debian GNU/Linux
  <http://packages.debian.org/mhonarc>
Linux (multiple vendors/distros)
  <http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=MHonArc>

NOTE: | Choosing to go with a vendor-supplied package depends on your needs. Here are some things to consider: Some vendors may have their own QA process along with their own support services while others may provide MHonArc as a contributed package with no additional support. Vendor/distro versions of MHonArc tend not to reflect the latest release since there is a latency between a new release made available from mhonarc.org to when vendors are able to download and create their own packages. This difference can be important depending on what MHonArc features or fixes you need. In general, if your vendor provides their own QA and support services for the software they provide, it is usually best to use the vendor's version of MHonArc. However, if the vendor does not provide additional support, and/or you need the latest features and fixes, you may want go with what is provided from mhonarc.org. If you require professional support and consulting, see Contacts for contact information.

This document does not cover any installation details for vendor supplied packages. See your vendor's supplied documentation for installation instructions.

## System Requirements

The following is required to run MHonArc:

- Perl 5 is installed. If you do not have Perl 5, goto <http://language.perl.com/> for download information. Perl versions 5.004 and later are recommended.

- The following standard modules are installed:

  - Fcntl
  - File::Basename
  - Getopt::Long
  - Symbol
  - Time::Local

  NOTE: | The installation program will verify that required modules are installed.

- The following modules are optional:

  - Digest::MD5: Used for creating IDs for messages without message-ids. This module helps MHonArc detect already archived messages for messages without message-ids.

  MHonArc will still function if the above listed modules are not available.

## Downloading MHonArc

The homepage for MHonArc is <http://www.mhonarc.org/>. The homepage list various sites that you can download MHonArc.

MHonArc is distributed in the following formats:

- RPM: `MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm`
- tar-bz2: `MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.bz2`
- tar-gzip: `MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz`
- zip: `MHonArc-X.X.X.zip`

Where `X.X.X` represents the version number, and `X.X.X-n` represents the version and release number of the RPM. Generally, the release number is equal to '`1`'. Choose the format that best suits your environment.

NOTE: | Alternate distribution formats for MHonArc may be available from third-parties. Alternate distribution formats are not covered in this document.

If you downloaded the RPM distribution, goto RPM Installation. If you downloaded one of the other formats, goto Extracting the MHonArc Distribution.

## RPM Installation

RPM is a widely used software package manager for various Linux-based systems and sometimes used for other Unix-based environments. If the software on your system is managed by RPM, you may prefer to install MHonArc via RPM:

    prompt> rpm -Uvh MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm

NOTE: | RPM-based installation requires that the perl executable is located at `/usr/bin/perl`.

MHonArc files will be installed in the following locations:

`/usr/bin`: | Program files: `mhonarc`, `mha-dbedit`, ...
`/usr/lib/MHonArc`: | Library files.
`/usr/share/doc/MHonArc-X.X.X`: | Documentation, examples, and extras.
`/usr/share/man/man1`: | Manpages.

It is highly likely that you will need to have root priviledges to install via RPM. If you do not have root access, or you want to install in a non-standard location, you will need to install MHonArc from the non-RPM bundles.

Once the install is completed, you can skip to Post Installation Configuration.

NOTE: | RPM distributions have been directly available starting with MHonArc v2.6.5. However, alternate RPM packages are available for current and older versions via third parties and some Linux distros. Goto <http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=MHonArc> to get a list of third-party RPM bundles.

## Extracting the MHonArc Distribution

NOTE: | If doing an RPM-based install, goto RPM Installation above.

After downloading the MHonArc distribution, it is best to move the file to a temporary location for extraction. To extract the distribution under Unix-like systems, use one of the following commands based upon the distribution format you downloaded:

tar-bz2

      prompt> bzip2 -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -

tar-gzip

      prompt> gzip -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -

zip

      prompt> unzip MHonArc-X.X.X.zip

For Win32 systems, you can use a program like WinZip to extract the tar-gzip or zip formats. If using Cygwin, you can use the Unix-based extraction methods.

NOTE: | If your are using Cygwin and the cygwin build of Perl, then the installation and usage of MHonArc is the same as a Unix-based environment. MHonArc treats the cygwin environment as a Unix-type environment.

After extraction, the subdirectory `MHonArc-X.X.X` will have been created containing all the files comprising MHonArc.

NOTE: | Please read the release notes before continuing for any news about compatibility with previous versions and/or important usage information.

Now, change your current directory to `MHonArc-X.X.X` for the next step. On a Unix-type system, the following command will do it:

    prompt> cd MHonArc-X.X.X

## Installing with `install.me`

Provided in the MHonArc distribution is a Perl program, `install.me`, for installing MHonArc on your system. To run the program, type the following command:

    prompt> perl install.me

NOTE: | You must be in the same directory as the `install.me` program when you run it.

The installation program will ask you a series of questions on where the perl executable is and where to put MHonArc files. Just hit <Enter> to accept the default values listed in ()'s.

NOTE: | The default values are determined by the configuration of perl on your system. If you choose the defaults, you may need to possess root/admin privileges.

`install.me` can take several options on the command-line to affect what is done during installation. The following is the list of options available:

      -afs                  : Skip permission checks (useful if AFS)
      -batch                : Run in batch mode (do not ask questions)
      -binpath <path>       : Directory path to install programs/scripts
      -docpath <path>       : Directory path to install documentation
      -help                 : A message summarizing options available
      -libpath <path>       : Directory path to install library files
      -filelist <file>      : List of files to install (def="FILELIST")
      -manpath <path>       : Directory path to manpages
      -nobin                : Do not install programs
      -nodep                : Skip module dependency check
      -nodoc                : Do not install documentation
      -nolib                : Do not install library files
      -noman                : Do not install manpages
      -perl <pathname>      : Pathname of perl interpreter
      -prefix <path>        : Set prefix for installation directories

For example, if you do not want to install the documentation, do the following:

    prompt> perl install.me -nodoc

Later on, if you decide you want to install the documentation, but not re-install the other files, do the following:

    prompt> perl install.me -nobin -nolib -noman

If you want to install files relative to your home directory, do the following:

    prompt> perl install.me -prefix $HOME

### `install.me` Notes

- The "#!" line in the installed programs are set to point to the perl executable specified in the installation process. This is convienence for those using systems that support the "#!" notation.

- The installation lib directory is added to each program's search path so each program can find the libaries needed for proper execution. Therefore, you do NOT have to set your PERL5LIB environment variable if you install the library files in a non-standard location.

- If you specify paths that do not exist, the `install.me` program creates the paths for you. If running in interactive mode, `install.me` prompts you for confirmation before creating a path.

- `install.me` supports environment variable interpolation in pathnames specified during interactive installation. For example, if you want to install program files into your local bin directory, you can enter the following when prompted for the location to install executables: `$HOME/bin`. Also, if the '`~`' (tilde) character is the first character of the pathname specified, it will be expanded to the value of the HOME environment variable. Therefore, the following are equivalent: `$HOME/bin` and `~/bin`.

- The `-afs` option should only be needed if installing MHonArc onto AFS and using an older version of Perl 5. It should not be needed for Perl 5.005 or later.

- If you want to abort the installation, just enter the termination character, typically <Ctrl-C> for Unix systems and <Ctrl-Z> for Win32 systems.

## The Perl 5 Way

Of course, you can install MHonArc the standard way under Perl 5:

    prompt> perl Makefile.PL
    prompt> make
    prompt> make install

If you want to install in a specific directory, try:

    prompt> perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/tmp/myperl5
    prompt> make
    prompt> make install

NOTE: | `install.me` is actually called "behind the scenes" in batch mode to install the files. Therefore, more unusually invocations methods of `perl Makefile.PL` may not be supported.

## Win32 Notes

- The main programs will automatically be converted to DOS batch files. Hence, if the path location of the main programs is in your PATH, you should be able to invoke them like any other program.

  NOTE: | The path to the perl executable must be in your PATH, also.

- The main programs will also be copied to "`.pl`" files. Therefore, if you have `.pl` associated with Perl in the registry, you can invoke the programs directly (if the path location of the main programs are in your search path). For example:

      prompt> mhonarc.pl ...

  This is known to work under WinNT's command shell and under the Cygwin bash shell.

  This is better than using the batch files since I/O redirection does not work with batch files.

- In the `logo` directory of the distribution contain `.ico` files for associating the MHonArc logo with MHonArc `.mrc` resource files.

## Alternate Operating Systems

In many cases, `install.me` works for other operating systems. Please contact the author on any success stories for other operating systems, and please send any patches, if required.

## Manual Installation

If `install.me` does not work for your system, here is how to install MHonArc manually:

- Copy files in the `lib` directory to the library location you desire.

- Copy the program files to the location you want them installed. After copying, do the following:

  - Edit the "`#!/...`" line for each program file to reference the complete pathname of your perl interpreter. The line should be the first line of each program file.

    NOTE: | This step is only needed for systems (Unix) that support "`#!`".

  - Then do one of the following:

    - Add a new line right after the "`#!/...`" line of each program file to contain the following:

            use lib '/path/to/lib/files';

      where "`/path/to/lib/files/`" is the path to where copied the library files to.

      NOTE: | If the location you copied the libraries are already part of Perl's standard library search path, you do not need to add the "use lib" statement.

    - Or, set your `PERL5LIB` environment to include the path location you copied the library files to.

## Post Installation Configuration

After installation, you may want to do some site-specific configuration.

### Default Resource File

You have the ability to create a default resource file to make site-wide defaults for MHonArc. See the DEFRCFILE resource on valid pathname locations for the default resource file. For more information on what can be put in a resource file, see the Resources section.

NOTE: | It is advisable to create some local documentation for users describing any settings you place in the site-wide resource file. This will avoid confusion if site settings vary from default settings described in the documentation, and it will help avoid invalid bug reports.

### Site Initialization Library

If you do not know Perl, ignore this section.

When MHonArc opens an archive for processing, MHonArc will attempt to execute the instructions in the file `mhasiteinit.pl`. This file allows you to make site customizations not possible through a default resource file. `mhasiteinit.pl` should be placed in the MHonArc library directory as specified during installation. A sample `mhasiteinit.pl` file is provied in the `examples` directory of the distribution to get you started, which includes comments on some of the things you can do with `mhasiteinit.pl`.

## Resource File Editing

If you are a Vim user, <http://www.vim.org/>, a syntax file for MHonArc resource files is included in the examples directory: `mhonarc.vim`. Vim is known to run on a variety of operating systems, and is free software.

To use `mhonarc.vim`, copy `mhonarc.vim` to an appropriate location and add something like the following to your `.vimrc` file:

      au BufNewFile,BufRead *.mrc	so $HOME/share/vim/syntax/mhonarc.vim

Of course, change the pathname to `mhonarc.vim` to wherever you copied it to.

Now, any file with `.mrc` extension will put Vim into MHonArc resource file highlighting mode. The mode is best used with color-capable terminals.