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Configure Tutorial Workspace

To accommodate users who are working through the tutorial at the same time as other users (or even those same users) are working on production data, Google recommends that you configure a tutorial workspace on each workstation where you install the tutorial data. That way, you can keep the tutorial source volume and asset root separate from your production source volume(s) and asset root.

This article describes how to configure the tutorial workspace and how to switch back and forth between the tutorial asset root and the production asset root. You will also learn how to clean up the tutorial files when they are no longer needed.

Download the Tutorial Source Files

The tutorial source files are available in the following archives. It can be downloaded all together, or for convenience it can be downloaded in two parts.

Once the source files are downloaded, as root, create the /opt/google/share/tutorials/fusion directory if it doesn’t exist. Extract each archive downloaded to that location. Be sure all the files have read permission for all users and directories have read and execute permission for all users.

Note

Due to a bug in the current Google Earth Enterprise Open Source version, vector source files also need the write permission.

Configuring the tutorial asset root and source volume

When you install Google Earth Enterprise, you configure a source volume and asset root for your production data. If you accepted the default values, they are /gevol/src and /gevol/assets, respectively.

The installation script installs the tutorial files in /opt/google/share/tutorials/fusion, so you must add that path as the source volume for the tutorial. In addition, Google recommends that you add a tutorial asset root for users to store the data they create with Google Earth Enterprise Fusion while working through the tutorial.

The following procedure describes how to configure an asset root and the tutorial source volume for each tutorial user. You must configure them for each user on each workstation where you install the Google Earth Enterprise Fusion tutorial files.

To configure a tutorial asset root and source volume:

  1. On the command line, log in as root.

  2. Stop the system manager by entering:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion stop

  3. Enter:

    geconfigureassetroot --new --assetroot /username/assets

    where username is the name of the user.

    The username does not have to be the user’s official account name. It can be anything that distinguishes that user from other users on that particular workstation, such as edaniels or just Emily.

    Note

    Google recommends that you place the tutorial asset root on the same partition as the publish root, so the publisher uses hard links instead of making copies of the tutorial databases.

    If you place the tutorial asset root on the root partition, ensure that there is enough disk space for the data created by each user working through the tutorial. If a user completes all lessons in the tutorial, allow 1.5 GB of disk space.

    The tool asks if you want to create a new source volume.

  4. Enter Y, and press Enter.

    You are prompted to enter a directory for the source volume.

  5. Enter /opt/google/share/tutorials/fusion, and press Enter.

    The tool asks if you want to add more volumes.

  6. If you want to create tutorial workspaces for more users, enter Y, press Enter, and repeat steps 3 through 5. If not, skip this step. Otherwise, enter N, and press Enter.

    The tool displays the message “Configured /username/assets” and returns you to the command line prompt.

  7. Log out as root.

  8. Start the system manager by entering:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion start

    Note

    The new source volume and asset root are automatically selected for you. You do not have to run the geselectassetroot command. (See the next section, Select the Tutorial Asset Root, for more information about selecting different asset roots.)

Select the tutorial asset root

There are two occasions when users must select a different asset root:

  • When multiple users share a single workstation, each user must select his or her own tutorial asset root.
  • When a user switches from the tutorial data to real production data, he or she must select the appropriate asset root.

This section explains how to select a different asset root.

Caution: Note that even though your source volumes and asset roots are separate for each user or for the tutorial and production data, there is only one publish root on each virtual server for Earth databases and one for Map databases.

When two users are sharing a single workstation, they are both publishing to the same publish root. When one user publishes a database on that workstation, it overwrites any database published previously by another user on that same workstation. Likewise, if a user is switching back and forth between tutorial and production data on the same workstation, it is possible to overwrite a production database with a tutorial database and vice versa. Of course, the user can simply republish the desired database to make it available to Google Earth EC again.

To select the tutorial asset root:

  1. On the command line, log in as root.

  2. Stop the system manager by entering:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion stop

  3. Enter:

    geselectassetroot --assetroot /username/assets

    where username is the name you used in step 3 of Configuring the tutorial asset root and source volume.

  4. Log out as root.

  5. Start the system manager by entering:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion start

Clean up the tutorial workspace

When a user completes the tutorial or no longer needs the tutorial data, you can clean up that tutorial workspace, if desired, by removing the tutorial source files, asset root, and published databases. This section describes the best way to perform that cleanup.

Note

Google recommends that you keep the tutorial files intact, since they use very little space and can come in handy for users to practice, even after they have quite a bit of experience with Google Earth Enterprise Fusion.

To remove the tutorial source files, asset root, and databases:

  1. At the command line prompt, log in as root.

  2. Stop the system manager by entering:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion stop

  3. Select the production asset root by entering:

    geselectassetroot --assetroot /gevol/assets

    Substitute the appropriate asset root path, if necessary.

  4. Stop the Google Earth Enterprise Server:

    /etc/init.d/geserver stop

  5. Delete the tutorial files:

    rm -Rf /opt/google/share/tutorials/fusion/

  6. Delete the user’s tutorial asset root by entering:

    rm -Rf /username/assets

    where username is the name of the user you specified when you configured the tutorial workspace.

    Warning

    Make sure you are removing the tutorial asset root, not the production root. If you delete the production root, there is no way to recover it (other than from backups, if available).

  7. Start the Google Earth Enterprise Fusion system manager and Google Earth Enterprise Server:

    /etc/init.d/gefusion start /etc/init.d/geserver start

    The order in which you start them does not matter.

  8. List the databases on the current server by entering:

    geserveradmin --listdbs

    The tool displays a list of all databases ever published (other than deleted databases) on the server. If the server type is omitted, the server type defaults to stream.

  9. Select the database you want to remove by entering:

    geserveradmin --deletedb db_name...

    where db_name is the name of the database you want to delete.

    Note

    If you want to delete a currently published database, you can either publish a different database to the same virtual server or disable the virtual server on which it is published. Then you can delete the database.

    This tool does not delete the actual files. It is similar to putting files in the trash on a Windows or Mac desktop.

  10. Permanently delete the selected databases by entering:

    geserveradmin --garbagecollect