Getting Started for Developers - Windows 10

Pre-requisites

To get started on Windows, the following components are needed:

Install every pre-requisite, making sure to consider the specific install options below for some of them.

Installing Miniconda

In the install process, please make sure to install Miniconda “Just for me” and into the “home” directory (path should look like: C:\Users\<username>\miniconda3). This is important as the cmakefiles used to generate the environment will look into that folder for Miniconda.

Installing PostgreSQL

The install process is straightforward. The postgresql should be noted as the port if the defaults are not used. Configuration files will need to be adjusted accordingly.

Stack Builder is not required for the simple setup.

The PostgreSQL should be run as a system service, though you could also manually launch it before running the OpenTera main script.

Installing Redis Server

Make sure to install the server as a service or to properly manually launch it before running the OpenTera main script.

If you are setting a user and a password, you will need to adjust the configuration files accordingly.

Installing (and running) NGINX

NGINX for Windows doesn’t provide an installer. Installation should be done manually by extracting the archive in a specific folder (such as C:\nginx). Note that path for further use.

There is no built-in way to run NGINX as a service without using third-party options (such as NSSM). The server will need to be started manually with the following commands:

cd C:\<nginx install folder>
start nginx -c <OpenTera base git folder>\teraserver\python\config\nginx.conf -p C:\<nginx install folder>

If you need to stop the NGINX server:

cd C:\<nginx install folder>
nginx -s quit

Those commands could be put in a batch (.bat) file for easy start/stop procedure.

Installing Qt Creator

While this step is optional, it could ease the environment building process. When installing Qt, only the Qt Creator is needed for this project. You would, however, include CMake from there or a supported Qt environment if you’re planning to also setup a development environment for OpenTeraPlus

Environment setup

1. Get the code!

To get started with this project and develop, clone the project in a working directory.

If you need a stable branch, you should clone the main branch. Otherwise, it is recommended to start and clone the dev branch. If using a command line interface, the following command should be used, replacing the <branch> tag:

git clone --recursive -b <branch> https://github.com/introlab/opentera.git

If using an external tool, ensure to use the --recursive flag to clone the submodules at the same time.

2. Generate the Python environment

CMake is used to generate the python environment. While, in theory, you could create a virtual environment by yourself using the requirements file, it is easier to simply use the cmake tool.

If you are using Qt Creator and that the CMake tool is properly set up, you should simply be able to Run CMake and then Build the project. Make sure that the target python-all is specified as the environment will not be properly generated otherwise.

On a command line interface, the following commands should be used (while in the <base folder>/teraserver directory):

cmake
cmake --build --target python-all

3. Databases setup

While the database structure by itself will be auto-generated the first time OpenTera is run, the databases will need to have been created beforehand.

  1. Open the pgAdmin interface.

  2. Login to the database manager using the password specified at the installation

  3. On the left side, expand the “Servers” section. If required, enter the password again.

The pgAdmin interface will then be ready for the next steps.

Creating users

A single user, teraagent with the default password tera will need to be created before creating the required databases. A different user and/or a different password could be used, but the configuration files will need to be adjusted accordingly.

  1. Right-click on the Login/Group Roles section in the left tree of the pgAdmin interface

  2. Select Create... and then Login/Group Role...

  3. Fill the following informations in the dialog:

    • General - Name: teraagent

    • Definition - Password: tera

    • Privileges - Can login: On

  4. Save the dialog

The teraagent user should have been created.

Creating databases

Each system service will requires its own database. The default database that needs to be created are as follow:

The steps to create a database are as follow. Those steps should be repeated for each database to create.

  1. In pgAdmin, under Servers, right-click on the correct server instance (for example PostgreSQL 13).

  2. Select Create... and `Database…”

  3. Fill the following informations in the dialog: * General - Database: name of the database to create (see above) * General - Owner: teraagent

  4. Save the dialog

4. Videorehab service setup

That service requires a node.js environment to be set up.

  1. In a command line console, cd <base folder>/teraserver/easyrtc

  2. Run the npm install command

The node.js environment should then be properly installed.

5. PyCharm setup (if required)

If using PyCharm, the correct Python interpreter and environment will need to be set up before being able to properly run the server.

  1. Open PyCharm, loading the project from <base folder>/teraserver/python

  2. In Files -> Settings-> Project : python -> Python Interpreter, click on the Show all option in the selection bar.

  3. In the Virtualenv tab, choose the existing environment. Change the interpreter to the following : ...\teraserver\python\env\python-3.8\python.exe
    The end result should look like this :

6. Self-signed certificates generation Self-signed certificates should be generated for the development server and to sign device certificates.

This can simply be done by running the CreatesCertificates.py script (directly in PyCharm if configured)

Starting the main OpenTera service

If all the configuration was properly done, you should now be able to run the main script, TeraServer.py.

Don’t forget to start the NGINX router beforehand and any other component that were not set to auto-run or as a Windows service.

If all went well, you should be able to see the About page in your browser: https://localhost:40075/about