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The Administration tab

This page documents Installatron's "Administration" tab. For the user-level guide see here.

The Administration pages

Installatron

run Installatron Update/Repair

Press this button to run the Installatron update/upgrade/repair tool at any time. This is the same process performed by the nightly CRON update.

This process can correct a large number of problems, from accidentally deleted files to a changed server environment, it will grab the latest build of the core for the branch you are on, and updates all the application installers and Installatron locales.

Tip: If Installatron isn't working, a press of this button is always the first thing to try.
Version
Contains information and tools relating to the Installatron core.
Installatron Version
Displays the version and build of Installatron on your system.
Version Available
Displays the the latest available version of Installatron.

Tip: If a newer version is available you can wait for the next CRON process to automatically update Installatron or click the "run Installatron Update/Repair" button.
License
Contains information and tools relating to your Installatron license.
Installatron Licensee
Displays your name (or your business name if your client account includes a business name).
Licensing Method
Shows the IP address or Server Footprint used to license this server.

Both licensing methods are valid, however the IP address will not work if your server is behind a router. Installatron's update/repair script will give you a footprint value if IP licensing is not available for your server.
Licensing Expiration Date
Displays the date the license will expire (applicable for Monthly and Annual licenses only).

refresh license

Will forcibly update your license information (this is run automatically each time you enter administration).

renew license

Will open a new browser window to your account page on the Installatron.com website, where you can renew and edit your licenses or update your personal information.
Logs
Contains links to the recent content from several logs generated by Installatron.

Installatron's logs are used to help identify the cause of problems when they occur on a server.

Tip: The full log files, and logs not listed here, can be accessed from /var/installatron/logs/ on a Linux/FreeBSD server, and %itron_dir%\Data\logs\ on Windows.
Error Log
Contains links to "error_log" which logs all general PHP warnings/notices/errors, and "install_error_log" which logs fatal errors encountered while working with an installed application.
Remote HTTP Request Log
Contains a link to "fetch_log" which logs all HTTP calls made by Installatron to external locations.

This includes all contact with the Installatron data and licensing servers, all interaction with the control panel's plugin API, and all calls to external install or upgrade applications. Installatron uses the HTTP Driver selected in Dependencies to perform these tasks.
File System Action Log
Contains a link to "filesystem_log" which logs all file system actions performed by Installatron.
Repair Logs
Contains links to "repair_crontab_log" which logs the output of the update/repair script (the same information is emailed to the admin if email notification is enabled), "repair_fetch_log" which logs HTTP calls performed during an update or repair (see Remote HTTP Request Log above), and "repair_filesystem_log" which logs the file system actions performed by an update or repair (see "File System Action Log" above).

reset all logs

Deletes all logs.

Tip: If you want to view the log entries for a single Installatron task; reset the logs, perform that task, and then view the newly generated logs. This can help identify the cause of problems.
Installed Applications
The list shows all web applications installed on your server, their versions, and where newer versions are available.
Select one or more installed applications and click this button to upgrade the application(s). This will take you through the upgrade process.

The Applications pages

Catalogs
The "Catalogs" page lists all catalogs, application installers, versions, and version branches that are available on your server.

Click an item to view its contents.

A catalog is a source of one or more Installatron application installers. The official Installatron catalog is always included, and you can add you own catalogs for custom application installers that have been created using the application installer sdk.

An installer is a set of files that install, upgrade, and provide information about one or more versions of a single web application (it's possible to have multiple installers for a single application, though not advisable).

A version is, intuitively, a single release of a web application.

A branch is a group of versions. Applications with a long history can change radically over time, and if a particular change from one version to the next is major in some way (no upgrading or difficult upgrading, or different server requirements, for example) the installer author might choose to group versions before and after the change into "branches".

This page allows you to globally enable/disable catalogs, application installers, versions, and branches. For finer control you should use the Access Control page documented below.

This page can also be used to add and remove your own catalogs.
name
The name of the catalog, software, branch, or version.

Click the name to open/close.
type
The type of web application.
category
The Installatron category of the web application.
installer type
An official application installer is one maintained by Installatron.

An author application installer is one maintained by the software's developers.

A 3rdparty application installer is one created using the Installer SDK. 3rdparty application installers should only be used from trusted authors.
status
An enabled installer has all its versions enabled.

A partial installer has only some versions enabled.

A disabled installer is one that has all versions disabled. No installing or upgrading can be performed with this installer.

An enabled version can be installed, upgraded to, and upgraded through.

A disabled version cannot be installed or upgraded to, but can be upgraded through.
incompatibilities:
Shown when a version is automatically disabled, giving the reason that the version disabled.

Automatic installer and version disabling utilizes the values and settings on the Dependencies page documented below.

Tip: You can override a disabled version by enabling it on this page though it is better to understand why is has been disabled.
Dependencies
Configures information about the server environment, and installer behavior in the case of incompatibilities with that server environment.
HTTP driver
Selects the driver that Installatron will use to perform all HTTP "calls". This driver is used to download archives and licenses, test domains, communicate with your control panel's plugin API, and execute install and upgrade scripts; it is central to almost every part of Installatron.

The list may include one or more CURL binaries, the PHP CURL extension, and WGET binaries.

Tip: The WGET option should only be used while you are resolving problems with the CURL options. They are not a long term solution.

If the HTTP driver is not working correctly you will see entries marked FAILURE in the "fetch_log" (see the "Logs" page for more about logs), though the same errors can occur when CURL is blocked from accessing the target URLs.
Archive driver for Tar.gz
Selects the driver that Installatron will use to extract .tar.gz (or .tgz) archives.

The list may include TAR binaries and PHP extensions such as zlib with archive_tar.
Archive driver for Zip
Selects the driver that Installatron will use to extract .zip archives.

The list may include UNZIP binaries and the PHP zip extension.
Perl binary path
Enter the path to the Perl binary on your server.
NetPBM binary path
If you have NetPBM installed, enter the path to the NetPBM image-manipulation library binary on your server.
ImageMagick binary path
If you have ImageMagick installed, enter the path to the ImageMagick image-manipulation library binary on your server.
MySQL Dump path
Enter the path to the MySQL "Dump" binary on the server.
PHP vhosts path
Enter the path to PHP vhosts on the server. The path will be used to extract PHP version numbers and determine compatibility with applications and their versions on your server.
Access Control
The "Access Control" tool allows you to limit application installer access on a per-user or per-hosting-package basis.

The "default" access group cannot be deleted, and automatically includes all users not included in other groups.

Tip: While this tool can also be used to disable application installers, Catalogs is best used to disable installers at a global level.

create a new access control list

Create an Access Control List (ACL). New lists are added to the bottom.

Tip: Installatron processes the lists in order of top to bottom, so if a user is selected in more than one list it will be the last (or lowest) list that includes that user.
Access Control: Edit
Access Control List Label
The name of the Access Control List. This field is only available in custom access list.
Installer Activation
Used to define the users controlled by this access list. This block is only available in custom access control lists.

Users can be selected at the hosting "package" level, or per-user.
Installer list type
Select the application installers that will be accessible to the users of this access group. You can select all or none, or create a custom list.

The custom list includes the ability to enable/disable individual branches of applications, where branches are used.

The Settings pages

General
Installatron Mode
Enable/disable Installatron.

Note that the admin user will still have full access to Installatron even when it is disabled; it is only resellers and users that will find it inaccessible.
Automatic Core Updates
Enable/disable the Installatron Update crontab process.

When enabled, a nightly crontab process will be added to the server's root user on a Linux/FreeBSD server, and Windows Task Scheduler on a Windows server. The process will be given random time within several hours of midnight on the server, with the aim of staggering update calls to the Installatron data and licensing servers.

Tip: The time can be changed by manually editing /etc/cron.d/installatron on Linux/FreeBSD or via Windows Task Scheduler on Windows.

The update process downloads the latest build of the core, updates application installers and Installatron locales, sends email notifications to users when new versions of their installed scripts become available (if email notification is enabled), and makes sure that Installatron is correctly set up for the current server environment (so if the server is upgraded Installatron will self-correct), and does a general check that everything is running correctly. It is recommended that automatic updating be enabled.

Installatron Update can be manually run at any time by clicking the button on the Installatron page, or by running the "repair" process detailed in Troubleshooting.
Customize installers code
Customization code generated by the "Customize an Installer" portion of the Application Installer Editor.

Customizations are used to modify the way that Installatron installs and/or upgrades a web application. They can be used to add locales or plugins, patches and tweaks.
Caching
Installatron can download and pre-cache all latest-version archives (within the limits set by the "Maximum cache size" value), or download and cache archives only as they are required by install or upgrade tasks.

Tip: Pre-caching allows for faster installing for whomever is first to install a script but uses more harddrive space and might cache archives that will never be used.
Archive Caching
Determines whether archives should be downloaded and pre-cached, or be downloaded and cached as they are used.
Maximum cache size
Set the maximum size of the cache in megabytes (MB).

Tip: More cache space means more archives can be cached, which results in faster installs and upgrades. When the maximum space is filled Installatron uses a weighted algorithm to determine the best archives to retain.
Personal Archive Mirror (PAM) URL
Enter the URL to your Personal Archive Mirror to use that as your primary source of archives for this server.

A Personal Archive Mirror (PAM) is a HTTP-accessible directory containing the archives used by Installatron's application installers and upgraders. Use of a PAM allows you to optimize bandwidth usage on a large network and can speed up the install and upgrade processes for your users.

For details on setting up a PAM please see the FAQ.
Email
Administrator Email Notifications
Allow resellers to override these Email settings
Determines whether users that have access to the reseller administration panel can override the "Email" settings.
Send Installatron Updater reports to the administrator (recommended)
Determines whether the admin user receives an email containing the results of each automatic Installatron Update.

Tip: It is recommended that you monitor these update reports. If new application installers are added you should test them on your server to see that they are compatible.
Email Address
If admin email notifications are enabled, they will be sent to this address.
User Upgrade Email Notifications
Notify users when new versions of their installed scripts become available
Determines whether users will receive an email notification when new versions of their installed scripts become available.

If enabled, Installatron will use the user's email address that is associated with their control panel login.
From Address
If user email notifications are enabled, this address will be used as the "From:" value.
Email Subject
If user email notifications are enabled, this will be the subject of the email. The default value is "[Installatron] new versions available".
Email Template
If user email notifications are enabled, this template will be used for the email.

The {list} tag will insert the list of upgradable scripts. The default value is:
This is an automated email from Installatron.

New versions of software you have installed using Installatron are now available for upgrade. The following software can be upgraded:

{list}

Log in to your web host's control panel and navigate to the Installatron tool to upgrade your installs.

Note that upgrading a working install has risks, however the new versions may contain bug and security fixes.

End of report.

--
Do not reply to this email.
Theme
Allow resellers to override these settings
Enable this option to allow resellers to override these "Theme" values for their users.
Embedding
Determines whether Installatron appears inside your control panel's theme or own its own page by default.

The user can click the embedding icon at the top/right of each Installatron page to override this setting.

Embedding is only available where supported by the control panel theme.
CSS Customizations
Enter CSS style code in this field to personalize the look and feel of Installatron on your server.
Locale
Allow resellers to override these settings
Enable this option to allow resellers to override these "Locale" values for their users.
Locale
The locale used by Installatron.

If the "Use the user's default locale" option is selected, Installatron will attempt to match the user's control panel locale and fall back to English if unsuccessful. The other options allow you to hard-set a particular language for all users on your server.

Note that all non-English translations are provided by users of Installatron using the online Translator Tool. Please feel free to add translations or correct errors.
Locale Customizations
Customized locale text can be generated using the Generate Personalized Values portion of the Translator Tool.

This should be used when you want an item of text (called a "locale key") to be different to the standard text, rather than be a direct translation.

This input box should have one locale key per line. For example:
My Applications=My Dashboard
Administration=Head Honcho Tools
The quote character (") should be entered as ".

Tip: Because locale keys can include HTML you can use locale customization to perform advanced customizations of the Installatron GUI. See the FAQ for more information.
Branding
The "Branding" settings allow you to re-brand Installatron -- that is, to give it a different name and remove all mentions of "Installatron" in the user-level pages.

Branding can be used to fully integrate the Installatron auto-installer into a custom or customized control panel, or to ensure that all Installatron support requests go through you rather than send your users to the Installatron.com website.

Important: If any of these values are changed from their default value your Installatron plugin is considered "branded", and Installatron changes its behavior accordingly. Importantly, all links to the Installatron.com website will be automatically removed and end-users will no longer receive support via the Installatron.com support system when problems occur. It is recommended that you use the "Installatron Support" setting to provide an alternate place for support.
Allow resellers to override these settings
Enable this option to allow resellers to override these "Branding" values for their users.
Installatron Name
The name of "Installatron" that will be used on all user pages. The default value is "Installatron".
Installatron Logo
The logo displayed at the top/left of each Installatron page. The default value is "images/installatron.png".
Installatron Support
A URL used for all user-level Installatron support links. The default value is "https://installatron.com/tickets".
Message of the Day
Allow resellers to override these MoTD settings
Determines whether resellers can override these "Message of the Day" settings.
Add the Message Of The Day to the Applications Browser tab
Will add the Message of the Day to the "Applications Browser" tab.
MOTD Title
The title used by the Message of the Day block.
MOTD Message
The content of the the "Message of the Day" block.

The Tools pages

List Builder
The Application List Builder tool generates a list of the web applications that are available for installing with Installatron on your server. The resulting files (one output file per active Access Group) can be included into your website to show visitors the applications they can easily install on your hosting service.

Tip: See the FAQ for tips on getting the most out of List Builder.
Enable the generation of script-list files
Determines whether List building is enabled.
Automatically refresh Script List Builder after an Installatron Update
When enabled, Installatron will automatically re-build the List files each time Installatron Update is run. This ensues that the lists are updated when new application installers are added to Installatron.
Build Location
The full server path to the location where the files will be built. This must be a directory inside the administrator user's directory structure, and must be writeable by the admin user.

One file will be created in this directory for each Access Control List that you have enabled, and the files will be named after the access lists. There will always be a file named "default", for the default access list.
Template
The "build" template for a single application. Values pertaining to the web application are added with {curly-bracket} key tags. These tags are available:
{script}              the name of the script
{url}                 url to the applications's website
{version}             current version
{type}                the "type" category
{group}               the "group" category
{modified}            the date of most recent modification
{description}         formal description of the script
{authordescription}   the author's description of the script, usually taken from the website
Tip: See the FAQ for tips on getting the most out of List Builder.

run Application List Builder now

Will build/refresh the list files.
Converter
The Installatron Auto-Installer Converter is able to import applications installed by other auto-installers so that they can be used as if they were installed by Installatron. Full upgrade, backup, restore, etc. capabilities are enabled.

The converter requires that the original auto-installer's data files still exist on the server. Converter imports the installed applications by converting the data files to Installatron format.

Tip: Users can import individual installs using the Import button after selecting an application in the Applications Browser tab.
installed version / convert version
The installed version, as reported by the original auto-installer's data files, and the version that Installatron will import the application as.

If there is an exact match between the installed version and a version that Installatron knows about then it will be pre-selected. If there is no match you can select a version that looks "close enough" but please be aware that performing an upgrade from an incorrect version could break an application (though, in some cases it won't matter which version you select).
Installatron installer?
Displays the auto-detected Installatron application "installer" that will assume control of the install.

An install can still be imported into Installatron even when Installatron does not have support for the application. Converter will create a "dummy" entry that will appear on the client's My Applications tab. Installatron Backup and Restore capabilities will be enabled for the dummy entry, however it will not be upgradable using Installatron.
already in Installatron?
Shows whether the install has already been imported into Installatron. An install cannot be imported twice.

Tip: If you want to remove an install from Installatron without deleting the files or database, you can delete the Installatron data file in ~/.appdata/current/ (where ~ is the user's home directory). Bonus Tip: Be careful.
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