Table of Contents

Upgrade Guide

Open eClass 3.14

The new version of Open eClass retains backward compatibility (with previous versions). That is, you can upgrade an already installed platform from prior versions to the current one easily and quickly, following the upgrade instructions provided below.

Please ensure that during the platform's upgrade process there is no access to Open eClass courses by the platform's users and the platform's database is not accessible by anyone.

Also check the platform's version that is already installed in your server, by following the link 'Platform Identity' in the home page. In order to the upgrade process (which is described below) to be possible, the already installed platform should be either version >= 3.0.


1. Upgrade platform's software

1.1 Linux Systems

(e.g. Redhat, CentOS, Debian, Suse, Ubuntu etc)

All operations presuppose you have the administrator's rights (root) on your computer. The following example presumes that the eClass platform is already installed on directory /var/www/html.

Due to changes introduced by the new version you will have to delete the old and install the new one. To make sure that you old configuration remain intact you must do the following actions:

We consider that you have downloaded openeclass-3.14.tar.gz on the /tmp directory.

Go to the directory you have installed in eClass. e.g.

cd /var/www/html

Move the configuration file (eclass/config/config.php) in another temporary directory (e.g. to directory /tmp)

mv /var/www/html/eclass/config/config.php /tmp

Delete all the directories except courses and config e.g.

cd /var/www/html/eclass/
rm -rf images/ include/ info/ install/ manuals/ template/ modules/ 

Unzip and untar openeclass-3.14.tar.gz in a temporary directory (/tmp) e.g.

tar xzvf /tmp/openeclass-3.14.tar.gz

Then copy from the temporary directory /tmp/openeclass-3.14 all of its contents in the installation directory e.g.

cp -a /tmp/openeclass-3.14/*  /var/www/html/eclass/

So with the above steps you have replaced directory eclass, with the new one. Then move file config.php to directory config. e.g.

mv /tmp/config.php /var/www/html/eclass/config/

Correct (if necessary) the files and sub-directories permissions: (supposing that the apache is running as user www-data)

cd /opt/eclass
chown -R www-data *
find ./ -type f -exec chmod 664 {} \;
find ./ -type d -exec chmod 775 {} \;

Having completed the previous steps, you will have installed the new eClass version files successfully. Then, move on to the second step in order to upgrade the platform databases.

1.2 MS Windows Systems

The following example assumes that eClass has already been installed to directory C:\Program Files\Apache\htdocs\ and that you have downloaded openeclass-3.14.zip

Due to changes introduced by the new version you will have to delete the old and install the new one. To make sure that you old configuration remain intact you must do the following actions:

As soon as the above have been completed, you will have installed the new eClass version files successfully. Then, follow the second step so as to upgrade the platform database.

2. Database Upgrade

Enter the following URL on your browser:

http://(url of eclass)/upgrade/

You will be prompted for the username and password of the platform administrator. After entering them, you will be asked to change/correct contact details. The database upgrade will begin afterwards. You will see several messages concerning your working progress. Probably you will not see any false messages. Note that depending on the number and content of courses, it is possible that the process will last for a long time.

In the opposite case (namely if error messages occur), then it is possible for a course not to be operating properly. Such error messages may occur if you have altered the structure of an eclass database table. Note (if possible) the accurate error message you saw.

If you face any problems with any course after the upgrade, contact us (mailto:info@openeclass.org).

3. Successfully Upgrade Check

In order to make sure that the platform has been upgraded, login as administrator and click to “Admin tools”. Among other things, version 3.14 has to be indicated. You can alternatively click on the “Platform Identity” link on the homepage. Version 3.14 of the platform will be indicated.

You are ready! The upgrade process has been completed successfully.

Keep on reading for further additional configuration options!

4. Optional Further Configuration

If you want to modify any message of platform then proceed with the following actions: Create a file of type .php with name english.inc.php (or greek.inc.php) and place it in directory (eclass path)/config/. Find the varible name which contains the message you wish to change and assing it the new message. e.g. If you want to change message $langAboutText = “The platform version is”; create the file english.inc.php in the directory (eclass path)/config/ with the following contents:

<?php
$langAboutText = "Version is";

This way, you will preserve custom messages in future upgrades of the platform.

You can modify the names of the basic roles of the users of the platform by redefining in these files the message variables found in (eClass_path)/modules/lang/greek/common.inc.php.