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Installing and Running Overview

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Adam Hooper edited this page Apr 28, 2014 · 31 revisions

Follow these instructions to get your very own Overview server up and running. It's a bit more work than just using overviewproject.org, but provides much higher security as your documents will never leave your own computer.

Installing on Windows 8

  1. Install the Postgres database from http://www.enterprisedb.com/products-services-training/pgdownload#windows. (This is what PostgreSQL officially recommends.)
    1. First, click the relevant download: either "Win x86-32" or "Win x86-64". (If you know you're using 64-bit Windows, choose the "64". If you're unsure, choose "32".)
    2. When prompted to save or run, choose "Run". Choose "Yes" when prompted to make changes to your computer.
    3. Click "Next", "Next", "Next". (Don't change the installation directory, or Overview won't work.)
    4. When asked for a password, enter postgres twice. (You can enter anything, really; Overview ignores this completely, and you won't ever need to type it in again.)
    5. Click "Next", "Next", "Next"
    6. Uncheck the "Stack Builder" checkbox, then click "Finish"
    7. (If you care, open your "Control Panel", go to "Administrative Tasks", "Services", "Postgresql" and change "Startup Type" to "Manual". Overview needs PostgreSQL to be installed, but it doesn't need it to be running so you can disable it.)
  2. Install Java 7. (It might be installed already; you can check in "Programs" in the Control Panel.)
    1. Browse to https://www.java.com and click "Free Java Download".
    2. Click "Agree and Start Free Download". When prompted, choose "Run" and "Yes".
    3. Click "Install"
    4. Uncheck "Install the Ask Toolbar" and click "Next".
    5. Click "Close". A web browser window will pop up; you may close it.
  3. Download the latest release of overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip from https://github.com/overview/overview-server/releases.
  4. Extract all the files from this zip file into a folder.
  5. Inside the extracted folder, double-click on Overview.
  6. Browse to http://localhost:9000 and log in as [email protected] with password [email protected].

Installing on Mac OS X

  1. First you will need the Postgres database software. The easiest way is to download and install from http://postgresapp.com

  2. Next you will need Java 7 installed (if it is not installed already. Go to System Preferences and look for the Java icon to see if Java is installed, and if so, what version.) Get Java 7 here: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

  3. Then download the latest Overview release which will have a filename like overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip from https://github.com/overview/overview-server/releases.

  4. Unzip it, and open a Terminal window in the directory where all of the files are unzipped. You will need to cd into this directory.

  5. Type ./run. The server is ready when you see the following message:

    [overview-server] [info] play - Application started (Prod) [overview-server] [info] play - Listening for HTTP on /0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:9000

  6. Open your web browser and go to localhost:9000. You should see a login screen! Login with the default username and password of [email protected] and you are done!

Installing on Ubuntu Linux

Warning We support Overview on Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS and above. (Really, we support any distribution that includes Postgresql 9.3 or above.) Older versions of Postgresql might not work perfectly.

First, download the latest release of overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip from https://github.com/overview/overview-server/releases. Done? Now you have two ways to install it.

On the command-line

Just run this:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre-headless postgresql
unzip /path/to/overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip
cd overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR
./run

Leave that running, browse to http://localhost:9000 and log in as [email protected] with password [email protected].

To quit, press Ctrl+C where ./run is running. Don't worry: your data is safe no matter when you quit.

Without the command-line

  1. Using Ubuntu Software Center, install openjdk-7-jre-headless and postgresql.
  2. Move overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip somewhere where you know you can find it again.
  3. Right-click on overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR.zip and click Extract here.
  4. Double-click on the new overview-server-YYYYMMDDRR folder.
  5. Wait for the colorful text to stop scrolling in the terminal that pops up.
  6. Browse to http://localhost:9000 and log in as [email protected] with password [email protected].

To quit, close the terminal. Don't worry: your data is safe no matter when you quit.

Upgrading (on all operating systems)

Want to download a new version? Download it from https://github.com/overview/overview-server/releases and then:

  1. Quit the old version of Overview.
  2. Extract the new version (probably near where you extracted the old version).
  3. Copy the database folder from the first overview-YYYYMMDDRR folder into the second overview-YYYYMMDDRR folder.
  4. Copy the data subfolder of the search-index folder from the first overview-YYYYMMDDRR folder into the second overview-YYYYMMDDRR folder's search-index subfolder. (Got that? You're copying overview-server-1111111111/search-index/data so it becomes overview-server-2222222222/search-index/data.)
  5. Run the new version of Overview.
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