# Getting Started

Latest review: 2022-04-04

## Installation

To complete the installation we will need to perform the following steps:

1. install python3 and pip
2. install aprendizations
3. generate SSL certificates
4. configure the firewall (optional)

To use the software we need to:

1. initialize a database
2. go to the demo directory (or an existing course)
3. run `aprendizations courses.yaml`

Each of these steps is explained below.

### Install python3 with sqlite3 support

Minimum supported version is python3.8. The installed versions depend on the
operating system default.

```sh
sudo pkg install python3 py38-sqlite3   # FreeBSD
sudo apt install python3                # Linux (Ubuntu)
sudo port install python310             # MacOS
```

### Install pip

Install `pip` from the system package manager:

```sh
sudo pkg install py38-pip          # FreeBSD
sudo apt install python3-pip       # Linux (Ubuntu)
sudo port install py310-pip        # MacOS
```

In the end you should be able to run `pip --version` and `python3 -c "import
sqlite3"` without errors.
In some systems, `pip` can be named `pip3`, `pip3.8` or `pip-3.8`, etc.

Packages should **not** be installed system-wide. Either install them to a
python virtual environment or in the user area.

To install in the user area use `pip install --user some_package` or edit the
configuration file `~/.config/pip/pip.conf` (FreeBSD, Linux) or
`Library/Application Support/pip/pip.conf` (MacOS) and add the lines

```ini
[global]
user = yes
```

### Install aprendizations

```sh
pip install git+https://git.xdi.uevora.pt/mjsb/aprendizations.git
```

Python packages are usually installed in:

* `~/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/` in Linux/FreeBSD.
* `~/Library/python/3.10/lib/python/site-packages/` in MacOS.

When aprendizations is installed with pip, all the dependencies are also
installed.

At this point, the commands `aprendizations` and `initdb-aprendizations` are
installed in

```sh
~/.local/bin                          # Linux/FreeBSD
~/Library/Python/3.10/bin             # MacOS
```

and can be run from the terminal:

```sh
aprendizations --version
aprendizations --help
initdb-aprendizations --help
```

### SSL Certificates

We need certificates for https. Certificates can be self-signed or validated by
a trusted authority.

Self-signed can be used locally for development and testing, but browsers will
complain. LetsEncrypt issues trusted and free certificates, but the server must
have a registered publicly accessible domain name.

#### Generating selfsigned certificates

Generate a selfsigned certificate and place it in `~/.local/share/certs`.

```sh
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout privkey.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -nodes
```

#### LetsEncrypt certificates

Install the certbot from LetsEncrypt:

```sh
sudo pkg install py38-certbot       # FreeBSD
sudo apt install certbot            # Ubuntu
```

To generate or renew the certificates, ports 80 and 443 must be accessible.
**Any firewall and webserver have to be stopped**.

```sh
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d www.example.com   # first time
sudo certbot renew                                      # renew
```

Certificates are saved under
`/usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/live/www.example.com/`. Copy them to
`~/.local/share/certs` and change permissions to be readable:

```sh
cd ~/.local/share/certs
sudo cp /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/live/www.example.com/cert.pem .
sudo cp /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/live/www.example.com/privkey.pem .
chmod 400 cert.pem privkey.pem
```

## Configuration

### Database

User data is maintained in a sqlite3 database which has to be created manually
using the `initdb-aprendizations` command.  The database file should be located
in the same directory as the main YAML configuration file (`courses.yaml`).

For example, to run the included demo do:

```sh
cd demo                               # contains a small example
initdb-aprendizations                 # show or initialize database
initdb-aprendizations --admin         # add admin user
initdb-aprendizations inscricoes.csv  # add students from CSV
initdb-aprendizations --add 1184 "Aladino da Silva"   # add new user
initdb-aprendizations --update 1184 --pw alibaba      # update password
initdb-aprendizations --help          # for available options
```

The default password is equal to the user name, if left undefined.

### Running the demo

The application includes a small example in `demo/courses.yaml` that can be used
for initial testing. Run it with

```sh
cd demo
aprendizations courses.yaml
```

Open the browser at [https://127.0.0.1:8443](https://127.0.0.1:8443).
If everything looks good, check at the correct address
`https://www.example.com:8443`.
The option `--debug` provides more verbose logging and might be useful during
testing.

### Firewall configuration

Ports 80 and 443 are only usable by root. For security reasons the server runs
as an unprivileged user on port 8443 for https.  To access the server in the
default https port (443), port forwarding must be configured in the firewall.

#### FreeBSD and pf

Edit `/etc/pf.conf`:

```sh
ext_if="em0"                # change em0 to the correct network interface
rdr on $ext_if proto tcp from any to any port 80 -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080
rdr on $ext_if proto tcp from any to any port 443 -> 127.0.0.1 port 8443
```

Virtualbox with guest additions uses `ext_if="vtnet0"`.

Edit `/etc/rc.conf`

```sh
pf_enable="YES"
pf_flags=""
pf_rules="/etc/pf.conf"

# optional logging:
pflog_enable="YES"
pflog_flags=""
pflog_logfile="/var/log/pflog"
```

Reboot or `sudo service pf start`.

Example configuration files are in the `freebsd` directory.

### Testing the system

Make sure the following steps have been done:

* installed python3 and pip
* installed aprendizations using pip
* initialized database with at least 1 user
* generate and copy certificates to the appropriate place
* (optional) configure the firewall to do port forwarding
* run `aprendizations courses.yaml --check`

## Keeping aprendizations updated

To update aprendizations to the latest version do:

```sh
pip install -U git+https://git.xdi.uevora.pt/mjsb/aprendizations.git
```

## Troubleshooting

To help with troubleshooting, use the option `--debug` when running the server.
This will increase logs in the terminal and will present the python exception
errors in the browser.

Logging levels can be adjusted in `~/.config/aprendizations/logger.yaml` and
`~/.config/aprendizations/logger-debug.yaml`.

If these files do not yet exist, there are examples in `aprendizations/config`
that can be copied to `~/.config/aprendizations`.

### UnicodeEncodeError

The server should not generate this error, but when using external scripts to
generate questions or to correct, these scripts can print unicode strings to
stdout. If the terminal does not support unicode, python will generate an
exception.

* FreeBSD fix: edit `~/.login_conf` to use UTF-8, for example:

```sh
me:\
    :charset=UTF-8:\
    :lang=en_US.UTF-8:
```

* Debian fix: check `locale`...

### The application runs but questions do not show up

Some operating systems have an option to disable animations to try to avoid
motion sickness in some people. Browsers will check this option with the OS and
prevent animate.css library to work. Since questions have several animations,
these will will not work and nothing is shown on the page.

To fix this issue you need to allow animations in the Operating System:

* On windows 10, go to System Preferences, search for "Show animations in
  windows" and turn it **ON**.
* On MacOS or iOS search for reduced motion and switch it **OFF**
  (Preferences -> Acessibility -> Display -> Reduce motion).

## FAQ

Common database manipulations:

```sh
initdb-aprendizations -u 12345 --pw alibaba          # reset student password
initdb-aprendizations -a 007 "James Bond" --pw mi6   # add new student "007"
```

Some common database queries:

```sh
# Which students did at least one topic?
sqlite3 students.db "select distinct student_id from studenttopic"

# How many topics has each student done?
sqlite3 students.db "select student_id, count(topic_id) from studenttopic \
  group by student_id order by count(topic_id) desc"

# Which questions have more wrong answers?
sqlite3 students.db "select count(ref), ref from answers where grade<1.0 \
  group by ref order by count(ref) desc"
```