problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Dennis Huynh]

Am I the only one having issues installing git docs?  I had the man 
pages installed perfect yesterday, but having so much trouble getting 
gitweb installed, I decided to start a build from scratch today and for 
the life of me cannot get the man pages installed again.  I do a yum 
update on my OS and when I go to install the dependencies I run into 
conflicts with python libraries.  I remove the python library and 
reinstall and yum stops complaining.  I then 'make install-doc' again 
and get an 'nbsp' not defined error.  I have everything installed I had 
yesterday when the man pages were installed successfully.  What changed 
from then until now?  I'm running CentOS 5.5 and git 1.7.3.  Am I the 
only one having these problems?  Is this a CentOS repository problem?

Also, is there anywhere I can get better documentation on installing 
gitweb and gitosis running properly?  If not, is there anything I can do 
to gain the experience that would assist me in better understanding this 
documentation.  I've been supporting linux for 8+ years now and cannot 
wrap my head around how to make this happen.  I've tried every tutorial 
on the web that would ease my experience in setting up the source and am 
reading the docs that come wrapped in the git source package over and 
over again.  I'd really hate to have to resort to SVN or CVS because my 
development team would like a subversion system up asap.  Please help!  
Much appreciated, and thanks for understanding.

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Jonathan Nieder]

(-cc: security@centos)

Hi Dennis,

Dennis Huynh wrote:

> Am I the only one having issues installing git docs?

Here's my advice:

 1. Breathe in, breathe out.
 2. Look at the INSTALL file, section beginning "To build and install
    documentation suite".  Among other things, it describes how to
    retrieve pre-formatted documentation from the git.git repository
    itself.  So you can try:

	git clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git
	cd git
	make quick-install-doc

    after installing git, which should be relatively painless.
 3. Look at gitweb/INSTALL.  The moment something seems unclear, note
    that, so we can come up with a patch to make it clearer for the
    next person.

[...]
>                                                              I then
> 'make install-doc' again and get an 'nbsp' not defined error.

I suspect you do not have docbook XSL installed completely.  Given
a more specific error message, maybe someone on this list could help.

> Also, is there anywhere I can get better documentation on installing
> gitweb and gitosis running properly?

I've never tried gitosis, but some gitosis users were very active on
#git when I last visited.  Maybe they could help?

The usual advice applies here, too: where the README is unclear,
please do let Tommi Virtanen know.  After an aha moment this might a
good way to make sure you are really on the right.

Hope that helps,
Jonathan

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[J.H.]

On 09/29/2010 07:40 PM, Jonathan Nieder wrote:
> (-cc: security@centos)
> 
> Hi Dennis,
> 
> Dennis Huynh wrote:
> 
>> Am I the only one having issues installing git docs?
> 
> Here's my advice:
> 
>  1. Breathe in, breathe out.
>  2. Look at the INSTALL file, section beginning "To build and install
>     documentation suite".  Among other things, it describes how to
>     retrieve pre-formatted documentation from the git.git repository
>     itself.  So you can try:
> 
> 	git clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git

For the love of monkeys do *NOT* point people at specific git machines
like that.  Use git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git using a
specific machine causes a giant amount of headaches for me and
completely ruins any attempt at load balancing I might be able to
accomplish.

Couple that with the fact it will steer people to the wrong server if
they aren't in North America, it's just not a good idea.  Period.

> 	cd git
> 	make quick-install-doc
> 
>     after installing git, which should be relatively painless.
>  3. Look at gitweb/INSTALL.  The moment something seems unclear, note
>     that, so we can come up with a patch to make it clearer for the
>     next person.

As an overall note, git and gitweb, including my caching version of
gitweb are available in Fedora EPEL as rpm packages.  These are official
packages for Redhat / CentOS / Distro based on those things.  You
shouldn't need to compile your own really.

Unless you need the latest and greatest I would try those.  If you
really need the latest you might be better off grabbing the latest
.src.rpm from here:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/RPMS/SRPMS/

http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/RPMS/SRPMS/git-1.7.3.1-1.fc11.src.rpm

and doing an rpmbuild --rebuild git-1.7.3.1-1.fc11.src.rpm on it and
installing the rpm that it builds.

I'm not saying doing it completely from source is bad, but deviating
from what your distro uses / provides can cause other headaches and
maintenance issues down the line.

Bonus to going the RPM rebuild route is that it will tell you what your
missing to do the rebuild with.

- John 'Warthog9' Hawley

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Jonathan Nieder]

J.H. wrote:

> For the love of monkeys do *NOT* point people at specific git machines
> like that.  Use git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git

Thanks for the correction.  I had some odd memory that git.kernel.org
was a specific machine once, but probably I made it up.  (I have
generally been using git.kernel.org for ease-of-typing reasons.)

> As an overall note, git and gitweb, including my caching version of
> gitweb are available in Fedora EPEL as rpm packages.

Thanks, that is indeed worth mentioning.

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Dennis Huynh]

Alright, I'm going with the Fedora EPEL repositories.  But last I 
checked the latest version available via that method was 1.5.x.  Since 
this is a server, I preferred to use the latest and greatest so to last 
in the long run from any major patches or cover any major upgrades, but 
if that's the version that's preferred, who am I to argue.  One problem 
I recall in yum'ing the install for git however was the man pages 
weren't installed either.  I could be wrong however.  I'll keep you guys 
up to date.  Wish me luck!  Thanks for all your help and the timely 
responses.

Also, is there how-tos you'd suggest I use in setting up the git/gitweb 
combo with the yum install?  I noticed yum installs files in different 
locations then the source does.  Thanks again!


On 9/30/10 1:27 AM, J.H. wrote:
> On 09/29/2010 07:40 PM, Jonathan Nieder wrote:
>    
>> (-cc: security@centos)
>>
>> Hi Dennis,
>>
>> Dennis Huynh wrote:
>>
>>      
>>> Am I the only one having issues installing git docs?
>>>        
>> Here's my advice:
>>
>>   1. Breathe in, breathe out.
>>   2. Look at the INSTALL file, section beginning "To build and install
>>      documentation suite".  Among other things, it describes how to
>>      retrieve pre-formatted documentation from the git.git repository
>>      itself.  So you can try:
>>
>> 	git clone git://git2.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git
>>      
> For the love of monkeys do *NOT* point people at specific git machines
> like that.  Use git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git using a
> specific machine causes a giant amount of headaches for me and
> completely ruins any attempt at load balancing I might be able to
> accomplish.
>
> Couple that with the fact it will steer people to the wrong server if
> they aren't in North America, it's just not a good idea.  Period.
>
>    
>> 	cd git
>> 	make quick-install-doc
>>
>>      after installing git, which should be relatively painless.
>>   3. Look at gitweb/INSTALL.  The moment something seems unclear, note
>>      that, so we can come up with a patch to make it clearer for the
>>      next person.
>>      
> As an overall note, git and gitweb, including my caching version of
> gitweb are available in Fedora EPEL as rpm packages.  These are official
> packages for Redhat / CentOS / Distro based on those things.  You
> shouldn't need to compile your own really.
>
> Unless you need the latest and greatest I would try those.  If you
> really need the latest you might be better off grabbing the latest
> .src.rpm from here:
>
> http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/RPMS/SRPMS/
>
> http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/RPMS/SRPMS/git-1.7.3.1-1.fc11.src.rpm
>
> and doing an rpmbuild --rebuild git-1.7.3.1-1.fc11.src.rpm on it and
> installing the rpm that it builds.
>
> I'm not saying doing it completely from source is bad, but deviating
> from what your distro uses / provides can cause other headaches and
> maintenance issues down the line.
>
> Bonus to going the RPM rebuild route is that it will tell you what your
> missing to do the rebuild with.
>
> - John 'Warthog9' Hawley
>
>
>    

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[J.H.]

On 09/30/2010 07:22 AM, Dennis Huynh wrote:
> Alright, I'm going with the Fedora EPEL repositories.  But last I
> checked the latest version available via that method was 1.5.x.  Since
> this is a server, I preferred to use the latest and greatest so to last
> in the long run from any major patches or cover any major upgrades, but
> if that's the version that's preferred, who am I to argue.  One problem
> I recall in yum'ing the install for git however was the man pages
> weren't installed either.  I could be wrong however.  I'll keep you guys
> up to date.  Wish me luck!  Thanks for all your help and the timely
> responses.

The stuff in EPEL is a bit older, I should have words with whoever is
maintaining those to see if we can get those upgraded.  There really
isn't any reason those should be lagging that much.

This is however why I suggested just recompiling the rpms present on
kernel.org, which would get you the latest and greatest and not,
completely, push you into maintaining the packages on your own.

> Also, is there how-tos you'd suggest I use in setting up the git/gitweb
> combo with the yum install?  I noticed yum installs files in different
> locations then the source does.  Thanks again!

They install into different locations though the instructions should be
relatively straight forward.

http://git.kernel.org/?p=git/warthog9/gitweb.git;a=blob;f=gitweb/README;h=ad6a04c464075c31afe3c67222f0bdeabc76f569;hb=HEAD

is the official documentation, but a quick glance at it shows that it
doesn't stay consistent on where the the document root is.  If you have
problems give me a holler and I'll throw up how I have it configured at
kernel.org on the kernel.org wiki as a reference point for people to a
specific installation.

- John 'Warthog9' Hawley

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Dennis Huynh]

Its fine.  I'm going with the EPEL repo to start and learn from. If this 
can be upgraded in the near future that would be dandy.  If not, I 
should have a handle on maintaining a repository by then and be able to 
build the latest and greatest myself.  Because of my inexperience with 
maintaining this type of technology, I didn't realize the projectroot 
was not consistent throughout the documentation.  Had I known, I 
would've had an easier time, but doubt I'd have a working server up by 
now.  Not that I have a working server up right now, but I'm getting 
closer than I was yesterday.  If I have any questions I will be sure to 
ask and when I understand more, hopefully I'll be able to contribute 
better documentation myself as to where the original led me astray.  
Thanks again for following up.  I'm sure you'll hear from me again if 
you don't mind.


On 9/30/10 6:35 PM, J.H. wrote:
> On 09/30/2010 07:22 AM, Dennis Huynh wrote:
>    
>> Alright, I'm going with the Fedora EPEL repositories.  But last I
>> checked the latest version available via that method was 1.5.x.  Since
>> this is a server, I preferred to use the latest and greatest so to last
>> in the long run from any major patches or cover any major upgrades, but
>> if that's the version that's preferred, who am I to argue.  One problem
>> I recall in yum'ing the install for git however was the man pages
>> weren't installed either.  I could be wrong however.  I'll keep you guys
>> up to date.  Wish me luck!  Thanks for all your help and the timely
>> responses.
>>      
> The stuff in EPEL is a bit older, I should have words with whoever is
> maintaining those to see if we can get those upgraded.  There really
> isn't any reason those should be lagging that much.
>
> This is however why I suggested just recompiling the rpms present on
> kernel.org, which would get you the latest and greatest and not,
> completely, push you into maintaining the packages on your own.
>
>    
>> Also, is there how-tos you'd suggest I use in setting up the git/gitweb
>> combo with the yum install?  I noticed yum installs files in different
>> locations then the source does.  Thanks again!
>>      
> They install into different locations though the instructions should be
> relatively straight forward.
>
> http://git.kernel.org/?p=git/warthog9/gitweb.git;a=blob;f=gitweb/README;h=ad6a04c464075c31afe3c67222f0bdeabc76f569;hb=HEAD
>
> is the official documentation, but a quick glance at it shows that it
> doesn't stay consistent on where the the document root is.  If you have
> problems give me a holler and I'll throw up how I have it configured at
> kernel.org on the kernel.org wiki as a reference point for people to a
> specific installation.
>
> - John 'Warthog9' Hawley
>
>
>    

Re: problems installing git docs and gitweb on centos 5.5

[Dennis Huynh]

I have git and gitweb setup and working great.  All's that is left now 
is to have it so my project root is symlinked to a network share.  I 
already have the network share mount on my system as 
/Volumes/networkShare/projects.  My $projectroot variable in 
/etc/gitweb.conf is set to '/var/www/html'.  After this I create a 
symlink, 'ln -s /Volumes/networkShare/projects /var/www/html' which then 
creates a symlink in my html folder called projects.  I edit my 
gitweb.conf file so the $projectroot is now set to 
/var/www/html/projects and gitweb fails to see the git projects.  What 
gives?  Is there any other way to do this?  Thanks.


On 9/30/10 6:44 PM, Dennis Huynh wrote:
> Its fine.  I'm going with the EPEL repo to start and learn from. If 
> this can be upgraded in the near future that would be dandy.  If not, 
> I should have a handle on maintaining a repository by then and be able 
> to build the latest and greatest myself.  Because of my inexperience 
> with maintaining this type of technology, I didn't realize the 
> projectroot was not consistent throughout the documentation.  Had I 
> known, I would've had an easier time, but doubt I'd have a working 
> server up by now.  Not that I have a working server up right now, but 
> I'm getting closer than I was yesterday.  If I have any questions I 
> will be sure to ask and when I understand more, hopefully I'll be able 
> to contribute better documentation myself as to where the original led 
> me astray.  Thanks again for following up.  I'm sure you'll hear from 
> me again if you don't mind.
>
>
> On 9/30/10 6:35 PM, J.H. wrote:
>> On 09/30/2010 07:22 AM, Dennis Huynh wrote:
>>> Alright, I'm going with the Fedora EPEL repositories.  But last I
>>> checked the latest version available via that method was 1.5.x.  Since
>>> this is a server, I preferred to use the latest and greatest so to last
>>> in the long run from any major patches or cover any major upgrades, but
>>> if that's the version that's preferred, who am I to argue.  One problem
>>> I recall in yum'ing the install for git however was the man pages
>>> weren't installed either.  I could be wrong however.  I'll keep you 
>>> guys
>>> up to date.  Wish me luck!  Thanks for all your help and the timely
>>> responses.
>> The stuff in EPEL is a bit older, I should have words with whoever is
>> maintaining those to see if we can get those upgraded.  There really
>> isn't any reason those should be lagging that much.
>>
>> This is however why I suggested just recompiling the rpms present on
>> kernel.org, which would get you the latest and greatest and not,
>> completely, push you into maintaining the packages on your own.
>>
>>> Also, is there how-tos you'd suggest I use in setting up the git/gitweb
>>> combo with the yum install?  I noticed yum installs files in different
>>> locations then the source does.  Thanks again!
>> They install into different locations though the instructions should be
>> relatively straight forward.
>>
>> http://git.kernel.org/?p=git/warthog9/gitweb.git;a=blob;f=gitweb/README;h=ad6a04c464075c31afe3c67222f0bdeabc76f569;hb=HEAD 
>>
>>
>> is the official documentation, but a quick glance at it shows that it
>> doesn't stay consistent on where the the document root is.  If you have
>> problems give me a holler and I'll throw up how I have it configured at
>> kernel.org on the kernel.org wiki as a reference point for people to a
>> specific installation.
>>
>> - John 'Warthog9' Hawley
>>
>>
>