BatCave: PHP Configuration

Configuring the BatCave Web Server

The BatCave uses a web server in combination with PHP to display the Alfred data. It is assumed that you already have a web server set up and PHP is installed.  In addition, the GD Graphics Library is required for some Metrics graphics displays.

• Setting up the BatCave web pages
    
  • Locate the directory $RATTREE/admin/sql_php 
    (%RATTREE%\admin\sql_php on Windows platforms). 
      
  • Copy this directory to your web server root and rename as desired.  Renaming the directory batcave is suggested.
      
• Editing the global.php file
    
  • Locate the global.php file in the top level folder created in the step above. 
      
  • The following lines configure the database information that is used for the real-time Alfred data:

    $alfdata->database="alfsqldatabase";
    $alfdata->server="alfsqlserver";
    $alfdata->user="alfsqluser";
    $alfdata->password="";

    Please note that the values above are the default values.  Edit these to match the database, database server, and user that were previously set up (see Setting up the SQL databases).

  • If you have created a separate Templates/Queries database you will also need to configure the following lines in the global.php file:

    $templates-->database="alfsqldatabase";
    $templates-->server="alfsqlserver";
    $templates-->user="alfsqluser";
    $templates-->password="";

    Again, the values above are the default values and should be edited to match your database, database server, and user.

• (Optional) — Creating a global_overides.php file

  The edits made above to the global.php file can be put in a file called global_overides.php in the same directory. There are a couple of benefits to using this approach, rather than editing the global.php file:

  • As software updates come from Pixar, you will not need to re-edit your changes in the global.php file.  This file, which contains overrides from the regular data, can simply be copied into any new distribution without editing. This is similar to using $RMS_SCRIPT_PATHS and override initialization files within the RenderMan Artist Tools software.
  • If you set up a second web folder you can easily point your templates database at a different database, which will allow you to make edits to the templates, which will be merged into your “live” templates database later.  This will prevent non-functional, unfinished templates from cluttering up your BatCave views during development.

   

• Configuring for MySQL or PostgreSQL Database
  

  The Batcave now supports either MySQL or PostgreSQL database servers. The global.php file needs to be edited to support the appropriate server type.

  • Starting around line 38 you'll find the following lines:
    
    // load db class vars and funcs
    // uncomment the proper database, either mysql or postgres
    require_once("funcs/db/class_mysql.php");
    //require_once("funcs/db/class_postgres.php");
    
    
  • Comment out the line using the // notation for the unused database
  • Remove the // comment for the used database
  • The example above is configured for MySQL support

Configuring BatCave Security

There are two areas of the BatCave that you might want to protect from unauthorized access.  These areas are contained in separate subdirectories in the BatCave PHP files.  Although not required, setting up password-protected access to these directories is suggested. 

• admin — The admin office allows changes to the SQL queries and HTML templates used in the BatCave.  
• control — The control office is used to issue Alfred dispatcher control commands to dispatchers.  These commands include job cancel, requeue, set priority, etc.

If you are using an Apache Web Server, you can add the commands below to the httpd.conf file to set up secured access to these directories.  

<Directory "/var/www/html/batcave/admin">
AuthType Basic
AuthName "BatCave Admin"
AuthUserFile /usr/local/lib/webpasswd/batcave
Require user batcave_admin
</Directory>

<Directory "/var/www/html/batcave/control">
AuthType Basic
AuthName "BatCave Control"
AuthUserFile /usr/local/lib/webpasswd/batcave
Require user batcave_control
</Directory>

In this particular example, the BatCave PHP files are located in /var/www/html/batcave. The admin subdirectory requires a login authorization as the user batcave_admin.  The password for this user is located in the file /usr/local/lib/webpasswd/batcave.

In a similar manner, the control subdirectories require a login authorization as the user batcave_control; the password is located in the same password file, which is created with the Apache program htpasswd.  More information on configuring authorization for an Apache web server can be found at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/mod_auth.html.

Note: If your site uses a different web server, such as IIS on Windows, please consult the appropriate documentation for securing these directories.