Getting started with Zope for Linux and Solaris - Starting Zope
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After the system finishes installing, provided there are no errors, go ahead and start Zope by firing up the start script.

[omar@localhost Zope-2.6.1-linux2-x86]$ ./start
------
2003-09-10T15:59:50 INFO(0) 
zdaemon Started 
subprocess: pid 4364
------
2003-09-10T15:59:52 INFO(0) ZODB 
Opening database 
for mounting: '143968976_1063223992.338720'
------
2003-09-10T15:59:52 
INFO(0) ZODB Mounted database 
'143968976_1063223992.338720' at /temp_folder
------
2003-09-10T15:59:54 
INFO(0) Zope New disk product 
detected, determining if we need to fix up any 
ZClasses.
------
2003-09-10T15:59:55 INFO(0) ZServer HTTP server started 
at Wed 
Sep 10 15:59:55 2003
        Hostname: localhost.localdomain
        Port: 8080
------
2003-09-10T15:59:55 
INFO(0) ZServer FTP server started 
at Wed Sep 10 15:59:55 2003
        Hostname: 
localhost.localdomain
        Port: 8021
------
2003-09-10T15:59:55 INFO(0) ZServer 
PCGI Server started 
at Wed Sep 10 15:59:55 2003
        Unix socket: /home/omar/Zope-2.6.1-linux2-x86/var/pcgi.soc

Notice the TCP port used; Zope will default to 8080. This might be different under some configurations which use nonstandard ports for Zope. Open up your web browser of choice and in the address/location bar, type in http://localhost:8080 (or whatever port number was defined). You should see the Zope Quick Start page. Congratulations! If you installed Zope from a DEB, RPM, or from the included version on your system disk, check the included documentation on how to start Zope. For other problems, check out the #zope IRC channel in OpenProjects.net as well as http://www.zope.org/Resources for mailing lists and FAQs. Finally, there's the Zope corporate support contract. You can find out more about it on Zope.com.

Now, if you want to do anything even remotely interesting with Zope, you'll have to enter the manage screen by going to http://localhost:8080/manage. Otherwise, you'll simply be looking at a welcome screen wondering whether what you have is a Ferrari or a Yugo. Trust me, it's a Ferrari (actually, it's more like a high Lexus, but that's a-whole-nother can of worms). When you go to the address, you'll be prompted for the User Name and Password that you were given at installation. If you've forgotten the password already, and didn't follow my advice to keep it somewhere safe then open up a command prompt and type in the following (again, without the dollar sign or anything before it):

[omar@localhost Zope-2.6.2-linux2-x86]$ python zpasswd.py access

Username: 
admin
Password:
Verify password:
 
Please choose a format from:
 
SHA - SHA-1 
hashed password (default)
CRYPT - UNIX-style crypt password
CLEARTEXT - no protection
 
Encoding: SHA
Domain restrictions:
 

The Domain restriction specifies from which domain the user is allowed to access Zope. Leaving that field blank indicated that the user can logon to and administer Zope from any location. Go ahead and logon to http://localhost:8080/manage page. When you do, and you successfully put in your user name and password, you'll be greeted by the Zope Management Interface (ZMI). {mospagebreak title=Z-M-I. Z-M-I run. Run, M-I. Run.} Before I go on to explain the ZMI, keep in mind that Zope is object-oriented. Because of this, Zope does not "serve up" HTML files stored on your hard drive, which is what a Web server like Apache or IIS will do. These objects, however, are not objects that are stored in your hard drive with .html extensions. Instead, Zope stores those objects in the Zope Object Database (ZODB), in a file called Data.fs. Now, the primary way to interact with these objects will be the ZMI, although there are other methods, such as FTP and WebDAV.

The ZMI's basic interface uses three browser frames: the Navigator frame, Workspace frame, and Status frame.

1. The Navigator frame on the left allows you to look into the Root Folder, which contains almost everything which is meaningful in your Zope instance. Keep in mind that since Zope is object oriented, almost every link or button in the ZMI is an action taken against an object.
2. The Workspace frame on the right shows the object you're managing at the moment. The tabs across the top show you different views of the current object, each allowing you to perform a different management function on that object.
3. The Status frame at the top both shows you you're logged in as and lets you select various actions via the drop down menu
   • Zope Quick Start: Presents the Quick Start page which has links to documentation and community resources.
   • Preferences: Allows you to set the default preferences for your ZMI. Note that the information here is associated with your browser via a cookie, not with your Zope user account.
   • Logout: Self evident. What isn't self evident is that some browsers have problems with this function due to the way basic HTTP authentication works. If you experience any problems, try simply closing and reopening your browser.

Now that you have that under your belt, let's create our first user.

1. Click on acl_users (User Folder) on the Navigator frame.
2. Click Add on the next screen.
3. Enter a user name (say, ZopeZealot), password, and confirm.
4. Select "Manager" to create a user with access to all Zope functions. You can ignore the Domain field.
5. Click Add to add the user.
6. Click on the drop down menu at the right hand side of the Status frame and logout. Log back in as the user you just created.

Alright, now let's go ahead and try adding a folder.

1. Go to the folder where the new folder is to be located, for example, the Root Folder.
2. Click on the drop down menu on the upper right hand side of the Workspace frame. Select Folder and click on Add.
3. On the Add Folder window, enter the ID for the folder in the Id field, for example "Test_folder". Note that every folder needs an ID because it's how Zope identifies objects.
4. Enter a descriptive title on the Title field. This field is optional, but in it you can provide a more detailed description of a folder. For now, enter "My test folder".
5. Check the Create public interface box if you want to make this folder browser viewable. Checking this box will create the necessary index_html file. Likewise, check the Create user folder in order to define users who have access this only this folder and its subordinate objects. Both of these options can be added at a later time. For now, we'll choose both.
6. Click Add to create the folder.

You'll now see it listed under the Root Folder page, along with the given Title description, for example Test_folder (My test folder). To test out the folder, go ahead and type the following into you browsers address bar: http://localhost:8080/Test_folder. You should get the following message:

My test folder

This is Page Template index_html.

Congratulations! Now, feel free to edit the HTML by clicking on the folder ID from the Root Folder page, then clicking on index_html. Feel free to test out Zope's included example applications by going to http://localhost:8080/Examples.

>>> More Zope Articles          >>> More By Norbert 'Gnorb' Cartagena