1. Installing the Application

FROM 7.0.0

Below is a guide on how to install the latest version of ExamSys.

Developers should see instructions for building from source

Prerequisites:

1. Web Server Setup

2. Database Setup

Application installation via command line:

Please see Command Line Install/Update.

Application installation via web browser:

1. Download the latest version of ExamSys from downloads and unpack into your web root directory.

2. In a browser navigate to the /install path of ExamSys.

3. ExamSys will now check that your system meets some minimum requirements:

   1. 

   2. If any requirements are not met you will not be able to proceed with installation until they are resolved.

   3. Once requirements are met you will be able to proceed to the installation screen.

4. On the installation screen you can set the following system settings:

    Click to get more information on settings

   Setting	Description	Default value
   Company Name	The name of the organisation that is running the exam system.	University of
   Server Settings
   Web Server host	Location of webserver. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	127.0.0.1
   ExamSys data directory	Location of datastore for ExamSys to use. The default value is fine for test systems. However, it is advised that the sys admin choses a location outside of the webserver directory on a production system for security and to make the update process more seamless.	<ExamSys install directory>
   Temp Directory	Location of system temp directory. Default is the Linux temp directory, other operating system users will need to adjust accordingly.	/tmp/
   Database Settings
   DB Username	The database user that is to be used to create the ExamSys database.
   DB Password	The password for the above user.
   Database host	Location of database server . The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	127.0.0.1
   Database port	Port the database server is accepting connections on. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	3306
   Database Name	A name for the database.	examsys
   Main Database Engine	The database engine type. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	InnoDB
   Help Database Engine	The help system database engine type. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	MyISAM
   Basepart of username	Prefix to use on database tables.	examsys
   Date/Time Settings
   Date (MySQL)	Dates displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the date format returned by the database. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	%d/%m/%y
   Long Date (MySQL)	Long Dates displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the date format  returned by the database. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	%d/%m/%Y
   Long Date/Time (MySQL)	Long Date/Time displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the datetime format  returned by the database. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	%d/%m/%Y %H:%i
   Short Date/Time (MySQL)	Date/Time displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the datetime format  returned by the database. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	%d/%m/%y %H:%i
   Long date (PHP)	Long Dates displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the date format returned by the application. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	d/m/Y
   Short date (PHP)	Dates displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the date format  returned by the application. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	d/m/y
   Long time (PHP)	Long Date/Time displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the time format returned by the application. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	H:i:s
   Short time (PHP)	Date/Time displayed in ExamSys can be localised to the regions common practice. This setting is the time format returned by the application. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	H:i
   Search results lead-in length	The length (in characters) of the question lead-in to display in the result set of a question search. The default value should not need to be changed in most cases.	160
   Current Timezone	The timezone the application should use.	<php timezone setting>
   Authentication
   Allow via LTI	Enable login via LTI.	Enabled
   Internal database	Enable login via application database.	Enabled
   Guest log in	Allow guest user account login. Used by students during exams when they have forgotten there university username/password.	Enabled
   User impersonation	Allow sys admins to impersonate other users. This is helpful when trying to recreate user issues.	Enabled
   Use LDAP	Enable login via LDAP. Enabling will open up the server settings for the LDAP server you wish ExamSys to authenticate against.	Disabled.
   Lookup Data (See more information on lookup data)
   Use LDAP	Enable data lookup via LDAP. Enabling will open up the server settings for the LDAP server you wish ExamSys to lookup against.	Disbaled.
   Use XML	Enable the use of custom XML based data lookup service. Additional manual configuration in the config file will also be required.	Disabled.
   Sys admin user
   ExamSys sys admin user	Please provide details for a sys admin account. This user will be the initial user you will use to set up ExamSys.
   ExamSys Help Database
   Load Help	Load the default help system database data on install. Unless you intend to write the help files from scratch it is recommend this setting remains enabled.	Enabled
   Summative Exam
   Lab Security	lock summative exams by ipaddress or hostname. This helps to restrict access to summative exams to only the desired cohort.	ip address
   Support
   Email Address	Comma separated list of support email addresses displayed to users when they encounter an error.
   Contact Number	A maximum of 3 name/number contacts displayed on the invigilator screen.

5. Once installed, a log of the process will be shown highlighting any issues.

   1. A list of common causes of installation errors is available.

6. If installation was successful (no fatal errors) you will be given the option to navigate to the configuration screen to complete more advanced settings.

7. Ensure that the following scripts will be run by the system cron at least one time per day (from ExamSys 7.6.0):

   1. cli/retention.pgp

   2. cli/mail.php

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