Index Previous: DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPORT INFORMATION Next: SETTING UP YOUR CATALOG

# QUICK START

Obtain, decompress and untar the distribution:

        gzip -dc minivend-4.xx.tar.gz | tar xvf -

NOTE FOR WINDOWS: Windows users need to unzip the file WinZip or a similar program or obtain the self-extracting executable.

Before installing, check the site where you obtained MiniVend for any patches that might have been issued since the release.

Change to the created directory, something like:

        cd minivend-4.xx

On UNIX, you perform the normal Perl installation method:

        perl Makefile.PL
        make
        make test && make install

Replace the `perl` with the proper path to your Perl 5.005 or higher binary.

You will be asked for the directory where you want to install MiniVend -- any directory will do. The defaults are:

        Installed as root: /usr/local/minivend
        Installed as user: ~/mvend

NOTE: ~ is shorthand for your home directory.

You must of course have write permission there. This directory is referred to later in the documentation as VendRoot or the MiniVend software directory.

To install the link program, you will eventually need to have write permission on your CGI and HTML directories. The definition of these are typically part of your HTTP server configuration; In Apache, the CGI directory is set by ScriptAlias; the HTML directory is set by DocumentRoot.

The process should be self-explanatory. If you have trouble answering the questions asked, look closely at the examples provided. If you still have trouble, you will need to find a tutorial about the World Wide Web -- the WWW FAQ at www.boutell.com would be a good place to look.

If you discover any problems, refer to the section If something goes wrong. Otherwise, MiniVend should be installed at the completion of the script. It is strongly suggested that you install the demo catalogs as a starting point for your own catalog -- in fact you will not be able to do anything useful with MiniVend until you have created a catalog.

You will want separate directories to hold the catalog pages and databases. The `makecat` program supplied with MiniVend will make those for you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: One point that is to be emphasized -- only your base html pages go in the document space of your http server. Any pages with MiniVend elements/tags go in the directory set by the PageDir directive (the default is `~/catalogs/catalog_name/pages`). For the demos supplied with MiniVend, this means that only one or a few pages will be copied to your HTML directory, with the remainder of the pages staying in the directory defined as PageDir.

If you are on an ISP where all of your files are in HTML document space, you should disable all access to your MiniVend catalog directory with the proper HTTP access restrictions. Normally that is creating a .htaccess file like this:

      <Limit GET POST>
      order allow,deny
      deny from all
      </Limit>

If you are unable to do this, it is recommended that you do not run MiniVend. If you can set file permissions such that files will not be served, it may be OK, but security will be a problem. Please be careful with your customers' personal information.

- The Catalog Directory
- makecat -- set up a catalog from a template
- Setting up multiple catalogs
- If something goes wrong

Index Previous: DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPORT INFORMATION Next: SETTING UP YOUR CATALOG