Which files do i need to upload to a server?

Software Support
1

Hi there,

i asked myself which files I need exactly in the production environment.

Currently I always copy the whole OJS folder to the server and obviously a file like README.md or .editorconfig is not needed.

Is there something like a script that copies the needed files to a location from where I can upload everything to an FTP for example?

So lonG
Daniel

2

While some of the files present in the git repository are not needed in order to run the application, they are harmless to include. On the other hand, many are excluded within the officially packaged releases by the packaging script, resulting in:
https://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/ojs_download/

These releases will be the easiest way to deploy the application, eliminating the need for git, composer and npm.

3

Ok, thanks. I have to remember looking in the tools folder first before posting questions :laughing:. One question though, why is a plugin like announcementFeed checked into the repo while it is excluded in the packaging script? What is the reasoning behind this?

4

Some plugins remain in the OJS repo pending a re-write for compatibility with 3.x. That the announcementFeed plugin is excluded from the packaging script either means that it hasn’t yet been rewritten and tested with 3.x, or that we have forgotten to remove the exclusion after the re-write.

I successfully activated the announcementFeed plugin in a git checkout of 3.1.1-4, so this may be a plugin that has been upgraded, but forgotten in the packaging script. @asmecher might be able to confirm.

1 Like
5

Hi all,

There are generally a couple of reasons we exclude plugins from distribution in the .tar.gz:

  • The plugin might need testing/rewriting from OJS 2.x (e.g. the Lucene plugin). Plugins like this are harmless unless enabled, in which case they might cause errors. We’re gradually working to upgrade or remove these.
  • The plugin might be distributed through the Plugin Gallery instead. We’re trying to distribute fewer plugins with the .tar.gz package, as the list is too long and many users don’t need them.

I suspect the announcement feed plugin falls into the former category. It shouldn’t break anything if enabled, but it probably won’t work. If it’s something you need, I can look into prioritizing its upgrade, but so far it hasn’t been in demand.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

1 Like