netreg-users: Problems with initial install: Database Error

[Michael Robbert]

David,
Our site is currently running bind9 and DHCP3 on a pair of Debian Sarge servers.
DHCP is also currently running on a  couple of other servers for VOIP phones and
multiple resnet subnets. We are looking to collapse those into the main campus
DHCP server so we only have to worry about a single pair of servers.  Currently
most of our main campus uses static IPs and we've got some back end scripts that
we run to aid in modifying the zone file. All DHCP registration is kept in a
pair of flat files, one for main campus/wireless and one for resnet. These files
are populated from a simple web form and some back end scripts to munge and push
the files around. Most of our scripts pre-date me and with a growing department
they have been shown to be fragile due to unknown interdependencies. We're
probably going to have to make some changes to them and I was hoping to
modernize the whole operation and hopefully eventually delegate some
responsibility out to other departments which is currently not possible due to
the complexities of our command line procedures.

So, back to the problem at hand. The Apache logs were helpful. They are
indicating that access is denied for the netreg-web user. I have tried removing
the database and netreg home directory and starting fresh, but the same thing
keeps happening. It is also complaining of a missing MAILER variable which must
be why I'm not getting any mail. I did find a MAILER variable in the
/etc/netreg-netdb.conf file. It was pointing to an incorrect location for
sendmail, but even after correcting that I still get the error and no mail. I
did get one other response that doesn't appear to have been copied to the list
and he says that he had a similar problem with the generated password not being
in sync. He said that he manually synchronized them. I'm willing to give that a
try although the passwords in the files in $NETDB_HOME/etc appear to be
encrypted and I'm quite sure how to either generate those or use them in  MySQL.
I would also hope that together we could figure out why the problem is occurring
and get it fixed.

Thanks,
Mike Robbert

David Nolan wrote:
> On 2/27/07, Michael Robbert <mrobbert at mines.edu> wrote:
>> I just downloaded NetReg 1.1.9 and attempted an install today. I am
>> installing
>> on a fairly clean Debian Sarge system.
>> I have gotten the front page to load and when I click on the Enter
>> button Apache
>> prompts for authentication, when that passes I get a page saying
>> Database Error:
>> There was an error while connecting to the netreg database. The
>> administrator
>> has been informed. Please try again later.
>>
>> The database has been created and I can login to it from the command
>> line as the
>> root user. There is a log directory in ~netreg, but it is empty. I
>> have setup
>> myself as the administrator and I was not informed of the error as the
>> message
>> says. Does  anybody know off the top of their head what may have gone
>> wrong
>> during the initial setup? Failing that, what can I do to find out what
>> is wrong
>> with the database?
>>
>>
> 
> Mike,
> 
> First, welcome to the netreg list.  Feel free to share a little bit
> about your site and what you're looking for in netreg, and we'll be
> happy to help you determine if its the right system for you.
> 
> You didn't mention what version of mysql you're using.  There were
> some issues with mysql 4.1 and 5.0 that required code changes in
> netreg, and if I recall correctly the latest released version of
> netreg (1.1.9) doesn't have those changes yet.  The current code in
> CVS works with 4.1, and with another minor change that was discussed
> on the list recently will work with 5.0.  I just haven't gotten a
> releasable distribution put together.
> 
> Check the apache error log for a more detailed error message.  And
> theoretically an email should have been sent to the email address
> configured in the config file, though I suspect that not all the code
> paths actually do that.
> 
> -David
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