= Trac Installation Guide for 1.0

[[TracGuideToc]]

Trac is written in the Python programming language and needs a database, [http://sqlite.org/ SQLite], [http://www.postgresql.org/ PostgreSQL], or [http://mysql.com/ MySQL]. For HTML rendering, Trac uses the [http://genshi.edgewall.org Genshi] templating system.

Since version 0.12, Trac can also be localized, and there is probably a translation available in your language. If you want to use the Trac interface in other languages, then make sure you have installed the optional package [#OtherPythonPackages Babel]. Pay attention to the extra steps for localization support in the [#InstallingTrac Installing Trac] section below. Lacking Babel, you will only get the default English version.

If you're interested in contributing new translations for other languages or enhancing the existing translations, then please have a look at [trac:wiki:TracL10N TracL10N].

What follows are generic instructions for installing and setting up Trac. While you may find instructions for installing Trac on specific systems at [trac:TracInstallPlatforms TracInstallPlatforms] on the main Trac site, please '''first read through these general instructions''' to get a good understanding of the tasks involved.

[[PageOutline(2-3,Installation Steps,inline)]]

== Dependencies

=== Mandatory Dependencies

To install Trac, the following software packages must be installed:

 * [http://www.python.org/ Python], version >= 2.5 and < 3.0
   (note that we dropped the support for Python 2.4 in this release)
 * [http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools setuptools], version >= 0.6
 * [http://genshi.edgewall.org/wiki/Download Genshi], version >= 0.6

You also need a database system and the corresponding python bindings. The database can be either SQLite, PostgreSQL or MySQL.

==== For the SQLite database #ForSQLite

As you must be using Python 2.5, 2.6 or 2.7, you already have the SQLite database bindings bundled with the standard distribution of Python: the `sqlite3` module.

Optionally, you may install a newer version of [pypi:pysqlite pysqlite] than the one provided by the Python distribution. See [trac:PySqlite#ThePysqlite2bindings PySqlite] for details.

==== For the PostgreSQL database #ForPostgreSQL

You need to install the database and its Python bindings:
 * [http://www.postgresql.org/ PostgreSQL], version 8.0 or later
 * [http://pypi.python.org/pypi/psycopg2 psycopg2], version 2.0 or later

See [trac:DatabaseBackend#Postgresql DatabaseBackend] for details.

==== For the MySQL database #ForMySQL

Trac works well with MySQL, provided you follow the guidelines:

 * [http://mysql.com/ MySQL] or [http://mariadb.org/ MariaDB], version 5.0 or later
 * [http://sf.net/projects/mysql-python MySQLdb], version 1.2.2 or later

Given the caveats and known issues surrounding MySQL, read the [trac:MySqlDb] page before creating the database.

=== Optional Dependencies

==== Version Control System

===== Subversion
 * [http://subversion.apache.org/ Subversion], 1.5.x or later and the '''corresponding''' Python bindings. Older versions starting from 1.0, like 1.2.4, 1.3.2 or 1.4.2, etc. may still work. For troubleshooting information, check the [trac:TracSubversion#Troubleshooting TracSubversion] page.

There are [http://subversion.apache.org/packages.html pre-compiled SWIG bindings] available for various platforms. (Good luck finding precompiled SWIG bindings for any Windows package at that listing. [trac:TracSubversion] points you to [http://alagazam.net Alagazam], which works for me under Python 2.6.)

Note that Trac '''doesn't''' use [http://pysvn.tigris.org/ PySVN], neither does it work yet with the newer `ctype`-style bindings. 

'''Note:''' if using Subversion, Trac must be installed on the '''same machine'''. Remote repositories are currently [trac:ticket:493 not supported].

===== Git
 * [http://git-scm.com/ Git] 1.5.6 or later.

More information is available on the [trac:TracGit] page.

===== Others 

Support for other version control systems is provided via third-parties. See [trac:PluginList#VersionControlSystems] and [trac:VersionControlSystem].

==== Web Server

A web server is optional because Trac has a server included, see the [#RunningtheStandaloneServer Running the Standalone Server] section below.

Alternatively you can configure Trac to run in any of the following environments:
 * [http://httpd.apache.org/ Apache] with 
   - [http://code.google.com/p/modwsgi/ mod_wsgi], see [wiki:TracModWSGI] and 
     http://code.google.com/p/modwsgi/wiki/IntegrationWithTrac
   - [http://modpython.org/ mod_python 3.5.0], see TracModPython
 * a [http://www.fastcgi.com/ FastCGI]-capable web server (see TracFastCgi)
 * an [http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc/ajp/ajpv13a.html AJP]-capable web
   server (see [trac:TracOnWindowsIisAjp TracOnWindowsIisAjp])
 * a FastCGI and FastCGI-to-WSGI gateway (see [trac:TracOnWindowsIisWfastcgi])
 * a CGI-capable web server (see TracCgi), but //usage of Trac as a cgi script 
   is highly discouraged//, better use one of the previous options. 
   
==== Other Python Packages

 * [http://babel.edgewall.org Babel], version 0.9.5, 0.9.6 or >= 1.3
   needed for localization support
 * [http://docutils.sourceforge.net/ docutils], version >= 0.3.9 
   for WikiRestructuredText.
 * [http://pygments.org Pygments] for 
   [TracSyntaxColoring syntax highlighting].
   [http://silvercity.sourceforge.net/ SilverCity] and/or 
   [http://gnu.org/software/enscript/enscript.html Enscript] may still be used
   but are deprecated and you really should be using Pygments.
 * [http://pytz.sf.net pytz] to get a complete list of time zones,
   otherwise Trac will fall back on a shorter list from 
   an internal time zone implementation.

{{{#!div style="border: 1pt dotted; margin: 1em"
**Attention**: The available versions of these dependencies are not necessarily interchangeable, so please pay attention to the version numbers. If you are having trouble getting Trac to work, please double-check all the dependencies before asking for help on the [trac:MailingList] or [trac:IrcChannel].
}}}

Please refer to the documentation of these packages to find out how they are best installed. In addition, most of the [trac:TracInstallPlatforms platform-specific instructions] also describe the installation of the dependencies. Keep in mind however that the information there probably concern older versions of Trac than the one you're installing.

== Installing Trac

The [TracAdmin trac-admin] command-line tool, used to create and maintain [TracEnvironment project environments], as well as the [TracStandalone tracd] standalone server are installed along with Trac. There are several methods for installing Trac.

=== Using `easy_install`

Trac can be installed from [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Trac PyPI] or the Subversion repository using [pypi:setuptools setuptools].

A few command-line examples:

 - Install Trac 1.0:
 {{{#!sh
$ easy_install Trac==1.0
}}}
 - Install latest development version:
 {{{#!sh
$ easy_install Trac==dev
}}}
   Note that in this case you won't have the possibility to run a localized version of Trac;
   either use a released version or install from source.

More information can be found on the [trac:setuptools] page.

{{{#!div style="border: 1pt dotted; margin: 1em"
**Setuptools Warning:** If the version of your setuptools is in the range 5.4 through 5.6, the environment variable `PKG_RESOURCES_CACHE_ZIP_MANIFESTS` must be set in order to avoid significant performance degradation. More information may be found in the sections on [#RunningtheStandaloneServer Running The Standalone Server] and [#RunningTraconaWebServer Running Trac on a Web Server]. 
}}}

=== Using `pip`

'pip' is an easy_install replacement that is very useful to quickly install Python packages.
To get a Trac installation up and running in less than 5 minutes:

Assuming you want to have your entire pip installation in `/opt/user/trac`:

 - 
 {{{#!sh
$ pip install trac psycopg2 
}}}
or:
 - 
 {{{#!sh
$ pip install trac mysql-python 
}}}

Make sure your OS specific headers are available for pip to automatically build PostgreSQL (`libpq-dev`) or MySQL (`libmysqlclient-dev`) bindings.

pip will automatically resolve all dependencies (like Genshi, pygments, etc.), download the latest packages from pypi.python.org and create a self contained installation in `/opt/user/trac`.

All commands (`tracd`, `trac-admin`) are available in `/opt/user/trac/bin`. This can also be leveraged for `mod_python` (using `PythonHandler` directive) and `mod_wsgi` (using `WSGIDaemonProcess` directive).

Additionally, you can install several Trac plugins (listed [https://pypi.python.org/pypi?:action=browse&show=all&c=516 here]) through pip.

=== From source

Using the python-typical setup at the top of the source directory also works. You can obtain the source for a .tar.gz or .zip file corresponding to a release (e.g. `Trac-1.0.tar.gz`) from the [trac:TracDownload] page, or you can get the source directly from the repository. See [trac:TracRepositories#OfficialSubversionrepository TracRepositories] for details.

{{{#!sh
$ python ./setup.py install
}}}

You will need root permissions or equivalent for this step.

This will byte-compile the Python source code and install it as an .egg file or folder in the `site-packages` directory
of your Python installation. The .egg will also contain all other resources needed by standard Trac, such as `htdocs` and `templates`.

If you install from source and want to make Trac available in other languages, make sure Babel is installed. Only then, perform the `install` (or simply redo the `install` once again afterwards if you realize Babel was not yet installed):
{{{#!sh
$ python ./setup.py install
}}}

Alternatively, you can run `bdist_egg` and copy the .egg from `dist/` to the place of your choice, or you can create a Windows installer (`bdist_wininst`).

=== Using installer

On Windows Trac can be installed using the exe installers available on the [trac:TracDownload] page. Installers are available for the 32 and 64 bit versions of Python. Make sure to use the installer that matches the architecture of your Python installation.

=== Using package manager

Trac may be available in the package repository for your platform. Note however, that the version provided by the package manager may not be the latest release.

=== Advanced `easy_install` Options

To install Trac to a custom location, or find out about other advanced installation options, run:
{{{#!sh
$ easy_install --help
}}}

Also see [http://docs.python.org/2/install/index.html Installing Python Modules] for detailed information.

Specifically, you might be interested in:
{{{#!sh
$ easy_install --prefix=/path/to/installdir
}}}

or, if installing Trac on a Mac OS X system:
{{{#!sh
$ easy_install --prefix=/usr/local --install-dir=/Library/Python/2.5/site-packages
}}}

'''Note''': If installing on Mac OS X 10.6 running {{{ easy_install http://svn.edgewall.org/repos/trac/trunk }}} will install into {{{ /usr/local }}} and {{{ /Library/Python/2.5/site-packages }}} by default.

The above will place your `tracd` and `trac-admin` commands into `/usr/local/bin` and will install the Trac libraries and dependencies into `/Library/Python/2.5/site-packages`, which is Apple's preferred location for third-party Python application installations.

== Creating a Project Environment

A [TracEnvironment Trac environment] is the backend where Trac stores information like wiki pages, tickets, reports, settings, etc. An environment is basically a directory that contains a human-readable [TracIni configuration file], and other files and directories.

A new environment is created using [TracAdmin trac-admin]:
{{{#!sh
$ trac-admin /path/to/myproject initenv
}}}

[TracAdmin trac-admin] will prompt you for the information it needs to create the environment, such as the name of the project and the [TracEnvironment#DatabaseConnectionStrings database connection string]. If you're not sure what to specify for one of these options, just press `<Enter>` to use the default value. 

Using the default database connection string in particular will always work as long as you have SQLite installed.
For the other [trac:DatabaseBackend database backends] you should plan ahead and already have a database ready to use at this point.

Since 0.12, Trac doesn't ask for a [TracEnvironment#SourceCodeRepository source code repository] anymore when creating an environment. Repositories can be [TracRepositoryAdmin added] afterwards, and support for specific version control systems is disabled by default.

Also note that the values you specify here can be changed later by directly editing the [TracIni conf/trac.ini] configuration file.

{{{#!div style="border: 1pt dotted; margin: 1em"
**Filesystem Warning:** When selecting the location of your environment, make sure that the filesystem on which the environment directory resides supports sub-second timestamps (i.e. **not** `ext2` or `ext3` on Linux, or HFS+ on OSX), as the modification time of the `conf/trac.ini` file will be monitored to decide whether an environment restart is needed or not. A too coarse-grained timestamp resolution may result in inconsistencies in Trac < 1.0.2. The best advice is to opt for a platform with sub-second timestamp resolution, regardless of the Trac version.
}}}

Finally, make sure the user account under which the web front-end runs will have '''write permissions''' to the environment directory and all the files inside. This will be the case if you run `trac-admin ... initenv` as this user. If not, you should set the correct user afterwards. For example on Linux, with the web server running as user `apache` and group `apache`, enter:
{{{#!sh
$ chown -R apache.apache /path/to/myproject
}}}

The actual username and groupname of the Apache server may not be exactly `apache`, and are specified in the Apache configuration file by the directives `User` and `Group` (if Apache `httpd` is what you use).

{{{#!div class=important
'''Warning:''' Please only use ASCII-characters for account name and project path, unicode characters are not supported there.
}}}

== Deploying Trac

=== Running the Standalone Server

After having created a Trac environment, you can easily try the web interface by running the standalone server [TracStandalone tracd]:
{{{#!sh
$ tracd --port 8000 /path/to/myproject
}}}

Then, fire up a browser and visit `http://localhost:8000/`. You should get a simple listing of all environments that `tracd` knows about. Follow the link to the environment you just created, and you should see Trac in action. If you only plan on managing a single project with Trac you can have the standalone server skip the environment list by starting it like this:
{{{#!sh
$ tracd -s --port 8000 /path/to/myproject
}}}

{{{#!div style="border: 1pt dotted; margin: 1em"
**Setuptools Warning:** If the version of your setuptools is in the range 5.4 through 5.6, the environment variable `PKG_RESOURCES_CACHE_ZIP_MANIFESTS` must be set in order to avoid significant performance degradation. The environment variable can be set system-wide, or for just the user that runs the `tracd` process. There are several ways to accomplish this in addition to what is discussed here, and depending on the distribution of your OS.

To be effective system-wide a shell script with the `export` statement may be added to `/etc/profile.d`. To be effective for a user session the `export` statement may be added to `~/.profile`.
{{{#!sh
export PKG_RESOURCES_CACHE_ZIP_MANIFESTS=1
}}}

Alternatively, the variable can be set in the shell before executing `tracd`:
{{{#!sh
$ PKG_RESOURCES_CACHE_ZIP_MANIFESTS=1 tracd --port 8000 /path/to/myproject
}}}
}}}

=== Running Trac on a Web Server

Trac provides various options for connecting to a "real" web server: 
 - [TracFastCgi FastCGI]
 - [wiki:TracModWSGI mod_wsgi] 
 - [TracModPython mod_python]
 - //[TracCgi CGI]: should not be used, as it degrades performance//

Trac also supports [trac:TracOnWindowsIisAjp AJP] which may be your choice if you want to connect to IIS. Other deployment scenarios are possible: [trac:TracNginxRecipe nginx], [http://projects.unbit.it/uwsgi/wiki/Example#Traconapacheinasub-uri uwsgi], [trac:TracOnWindowsIisIsapi Isapi-wsgi] etc.

==== Generating the Trac cgi-bin directory #cgi-bin

In order for Trac to function properly with FastCGI you need to have a `trac.fcgi` file and for mod_wsgi a `trac.wsgi` file. These are Python scripts which load the appropriate Python code. They can be generated using the `deploy` option of [TracAdmin trac-admin].

There is, however, a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. The [TracAdmin trac-admin] command requires an existing environment to function, but complains if the deploy directory already exists. This is a problem, because environments are often stored in a subdirectory of the deploy. The solution is to do something like this:
{{{#!sh
$ mkdir -p /usr/share/trac/projects/my-project
$ trac-admin /usr/share/trac/projects/my-project initenv
$ trac-admin /usr/share/trac/projects/my-project deploy /tmp/deploy
$ mv /tmp/deploy/* /usr/share/trac
}}}

Don't forget to check that the web server has the execution right on scripts in the `/usr/share/trac/cgi-bin` directory.

==== Mapping Static Resources

Out of the box, Trac will pass static resources such as style sheets or images through itself. For anything but a tracd only based deployment, this is far from optimal as the web server could be set up to directly serve those static resources. For CGI setup, this is '''highly undesirable''' as it causes abysmal performance.

Web servers such as [http://httpd.apache.org/ Apache] allow you to create "Aliases" to resources, giving them a virtual URL that doesn't necessarily reflect the layout of the servers file system. We also can map requests for static resources directly to the directory on the file system, avoiding processing these requests by Trac itself.

There are two primary URL paths for static resources - `/chrome/common` and `/chrome/site`. Plugins can add their own resources, usually accessible by `/chrome/<plugin>` path, so its important to override only known paths and not try to make universal `/chrome` alias for everything.

Note that in order to get those static resources on the filesystem, you need first to extract the relevant resources from Trac using the [TracAdmin trac-admin]` <environment> deploy` command:
[[TracAdminHelp(deploy)]]

The target `<directory>` will then contain an `htdocs` directory with:
 - `site/` - a copy of the environment's directory `htdocs/` 
 - `common/` - the static resources of Trac itself
 - `<plugins>/` - one directory for each resource directory managed by the plugins enabled for this environment

===== Example: Apache and `ScriptAlias` #ScriptAlias-example

Assuming the deployment has been done this way:
{{{#!sh
$ trac-admin /var/trac/env deploy /path/to/shared/trac
}}}

Add the following snippet to Apache configuration ''before'' the `ScriptAlias` or `WSGIScriptAlias` (which map all the other requests to the Trac application), changing paths to match your deployment:
{{{#!apache
Alias /trac/chrome/common /path/to/trac/htdocs/common
Alias /trac/chrome/site /path/to/trac/htdocs/site

<Directory "/path/to/www/trac/htdocs">
  Order allow,deny
  Allow from all
</Directory>
}}}

If using mod_python, you might want to add this too, otherwise the alias will be ignored:
{{{#!apache
<Location "/trac/chrome/common/">
  SetHandler None
</Location>
}}}

Note that we mapped `/trac` part of the URL to the `trac.*cgi` script, and the path `/trac/chrome/common` is the path you have to append to that location to intercept requests to the static resources. 

Similarly, if you have static resources in a project's `htdocs` directory (which is referenced by `/trac/chrome/site` URL in themes), you can configure Apache to serve those resources (again, put this ''before'' the `ScriptAlias` or `WSGIScriptAlias` for the .*cgi scripts, and adjust names and locations to match your installation):
{{{#!apache
Alias /trac/chrome/site /path/to/projectenv/htdocs

<Directory "/path/to/projectenv/htdocs">
  Order allow,deny
  Allow from all
</Directory>
}}}

Alternatively to aliasing `/trac/chrome/common`, you can tell Trac to generate direct links for those static resources (and only those), using the [[TracIni#trac-section| [trac] htdocs_location]] configuration setting:
{{{#!ini
[trac]
htdocs_location = http://static.example.org/trac-common/
}}}

Note that this makes it easy to have a dedicated domain serve those static resources, preferentially [http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/docs/request.html#ServeFromCookielessDomain cookie-less].

Of course, you still need to make the Trac `htdocs/common` directory available through the web server at the specified URL, for example by copying (or linking) the directory into the document root of the web server:
{{{#!sh
$ ln -s /path/to/trac/htdocs/common /var/www/static.example.org/trac-common
}}}

==== Setting up the Plugin Cache

Some Python plugins need to be extracted to a cache directory. By default the cache resides in the home directory of the current user. When running Trac on a Web Server as a dedicated user (which is highly recommended) who has no home directory, this might prevent the plugins from starting. To override the cache location you can set the `PYTHON_EGG_CACHE` environment variable. Refer to your server documentation for detailed instructions on how to set environment variables.

== Configuring Authentication

Trac uses HTTP authentication. You'll need to configure your webserver to request authentication when the `.../login` URL is hit (the virtual path of the "login" button). Trac will automatically pick the `REMOTE_USER` variable up after you provide your credentials. Therefore, all user management goes through your web server configuration. Please consult the documentation of your web server for more info.

The process of adding, removing, and configuring user accounts for authentication depends on the specific way you run Trac. 

Please refer to one of the following sections:
 * TracStandalone#UsingAuthentication if you use the standalone server, `tracd`.
 * [wiki:TracModWSGI#ConfiguringAuthentication TracModWSGI#ConfiguringAuthentication] if you use the Apache web server, with any of its front end: `mod_wsgi` of course, but the same instructions applies also for `mod_python`, `mod_fcgi` or `mod_fastcgi`.
 * TracFastCgi if you are using another web server with FCGI support, such as Cherokee, Lighttpd, !LiteSpeed, nginx.

The following document also contains some useful information for beginners: [trac:TracAuthenticationIntroduction].

== Granting admin rights to the admin user

Grant admin rights to user admin:
{{{#!sh
$ trac-admin /path/to/myproject permission add admin TRAC_ADMIN
}}}

This user will have an "Admin" entry menu that will allow you to administrate your Trac project.

== Finishing the install

=== Enable version control components

Support for version control systems is provided by optional components in Trac and the components are disabled by default //(since 1.0)//. Subversion and Git must be explicitly enabled if you wish to use them. See TracRepositoryAdmin for more details.

The version control systems are enabled by adding the following to the `[components]` section of your [TracIni#components-section trac.ini], or enabling the components in the "Plugins" admin panel:

{{{#!ini
[components]
tracopt.versioncontrol.svn.* = enabled
}}}

{{{#!ini
[components]
tracopt.versioncontrol.git.* = enabled
}}}

After enabling the components, repositories can be configured through the //Repositories// admin panel or by editing [TracIni#repositories-section trac.ini]. Automatic changeset references can be inserted as ticket comments by configuring [TracRepositoryAdmin#Automaticchangesetreferencesintickets CommitTicketUpdater].

=== Using Trac

Once you have your Trac site up and running, you should be able to create tickets, view the timeline, browse your version control repository if configured, etc.

Keep in mind that //anonymous// (not logged in) users can by default access only a few of the features, in particular they will have a read-only access to the resources. You will need to configure authentication and grant additional [TracPermissions permissions] to authenticated users to see the full set of features.

'' Enjoy! ''

[trac:TracTeam The Trac Team]

----
See also: [trac:TracInstallPlatforms TracInstallPlatforms], TracGuide, TracUpgrade, TracPermissions