OpenClinica User Manual/SettingUpATestEnvironment

Setting up a test-environment

Every once in a while you need to test something for OpenClinica and you don't want to clutter your production database, so you decide you need a test-environment. Here is how to do that, plus instructions how to clean up after your testing.

It takes four steps to create your test-environment:

create a new database
make a copy of the web-app
make a data directory
edit datainfo.properties

Create a new database

In this example we'll name the test environment octest. Login to your server and go to the dir with psql and start it:

cd /usr/bin 
sudo -u postgres ./psql
CREATE DATABASE octest WITH ENCODING='UTF8' OWNER=clinica;

Check if the database was created correctly with "\list" (or just "\l" will do) and quit psql with "\q"

Make a copy of the web-app

Change to the tomcat webapps directory and copy the OpenClinica structure:

cd /usr/local/tomcat/webapps
sudo -u tomcat cp -r OpenClinica octest

Make a data directory

Change to directory /usr/local/tomcat and create a data directory and give tomcat all rights:

cd /usr/local/tomcat/
sudo mkdir octest.data 
sudo chown tomcat octest.data 
sudo chgrp tomcat octest.data

Edit datainfo.properties

The last thing to do is edit the file datainfo.properties. Go to the right directory and start your favourite editor:

cd /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/octest/WEB-INF/classes
sudo -u tomcat vi datainfo.properties

Change:
filePath=/usr/local/tomcat/openclinica.data/
into:
filePath=/usr/local/tomcat/octest.data/

url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/openclinica
into:
url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/octest

sysURL=http://localhost:8080/OpenClinica/MainMenu
into:
sysURL.base=http://localhost:8080/octest/MainMenu

You are now ready to deploy your octest-app and you do this by stopping and starting tomcat.

cd /etc/init.d
sudo ./tomcat stop
sudo ./tomcat start

Cleaning up

After testing you should clean up the database and the app and you do this by:

stopping tomcat:

cd /etc/init.d
sudo ./tomcatd stop

removing the app-directory:

sudo rm -r /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/octest

removing the data-directory:

sudo rm -r /usr/local/tomcat/octest.data

starting psql and removing the database:

cd /usr/bin
sudo -u postgres ./psql
drop database octest;
\q

starting tomcat:

cd /etc/init.d
sudo ./tomcatd start