LiteCommerce Hosting Edition

Transcription

1 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Version 2.2 Reference Manual

2 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual I Table of Contents Introduction...1 System...2 Architecture and Components Licensing...3 policy Installation System Requirements...8 Installing LiteCommerce HE...10 Uninstalling LiteCommerce HE Getting...11 started Feature...12 Packs...13 Feature Packs Overview...14 Feature Packs Configurator...17 Adding Feature Packs to Feature Lists Statistics Summary Usage Statistics...21 Usage Statistics by Shops...23 Usage Statistics by Feature Packs Store...24 Maintenance License...26 Info Appendix...27 A

3 1 Introduction Introduction LiteCommerce Hosting Edition is a scalable and versatile system designed for use in the Hosting Services industry. Its main function is to bundle top-notch e-commerce solutions based on LiteCommerce with your own hosting plans. You can attract more customers by new competitive plans and get extra value from existing clients by offering stunning e-commerce features that are just one click away. Owing to LiteCommerce modular architecture, your customers can order and instantly receive only those e-commerce features that they really need at the moment.

4 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 2 System Architecture and Components LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software integrates with hosting automation solutions and control panels as a PHP/MySQL based software module at hosting web servers Note: currently WHM TM /cpanelò is supported, other integrations are in development. As a result of this integration web hosting providers are able to offer hosting packages featured with LiteCommerce-based online stores to their clients. LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software consists of three major parts: e-commerce automation module PHP/MySQL based software module for your hosting automation control panel. It is installed on each instance of the control panel and deploys and uninstalls online shops automatically on demand of clients acquiring such functionality using their hosting control panel accounts. Licensing server PHP/MySQL based standalone application that is run on one of your servers and controls shops licensing, gives permission to the e-commerce automation module to deploy/uninstall LiteCommerce-based online stores and collects statistics on shops usage. LiteCommerce end-user store package PHP/MySQL based online store package that gets deployed to clients hosting space from its repository by the e-commerce automation module.

5 3 Licensing policy Licensing policy All legal aspects of using LiteCommerce software are regulated by LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Software License Agreement supplied to you with the software. This article is provided for your convenience only, to help you better understand our licensing policy, and does not substitute the License Agreement. LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software is licensed to the instance of the Licensing server component (each instance requires a separate license). Shop licensing is based on number of shops and module-slots for commercial add-on extensions. We do not license specific kinds of add-on modules, but only add-on slots. A slot can be filled with any commercial module. Add-ons marked as Free do not require module-slots. There are no additional charges for using add-ons except fees for the slots. The slot has a fixed periodic or one time fee depending on shop licensing schema you are on. It is possible to change an add-on in a slot any time. Licensing model of LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software is absolutely transparent for your customers. Customers subscribe for your hosting plans featured with LiteCommerce Standard shop. You bill the customers for usage of the plans only.

6 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 4 Installation This section deals with installing LiteCommerce HE: Read the 'System Requirements' section to learn about the requirements, necessary for a correct installation of LiteCommerce HE: - software requirements - resource requirements - administrative rights Consult the 'Installing LiteCommerce HE' section for detailed installation instructions.

7 5 Installation System Requirements Software requirements: 1. Operating systems 2. HTTP server. Currently Apache is the only supported HTTP-server. 3. PHP PHP4 - v4.1.0 or higher (versions and are not recommended due to reported memory leak flaws) PHP4 engine must have EXPAT extension enabled. PHP5 - v5.1.0 or higher Make sure that PHP is configured in the following way: 'safe_mode' is set to OFF, 'file_uploads' is set to ON. PHP must be compiled with OpenSSL support. Consult Appendix A of this manual for detailed instructions on how to add PHP support to your Apache web-server. 4. MySQL MySQL database server version 3.23 or higher, running on the same server as the web server application or on a different one. 5. Extensions and libraries LiteCommerce HE uses IonCube libraries. Though LiteCommerce HE installation wizard can perform installation of IonCube libraries it is recommended to install ioncube on your server and include ioncube

8 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 6 Loader in your PHP configuration beforehand. CURL executable, libcurl PHP module or OpenSSL external application is required if you are going to provide your clients with add-on modules for real-time shipping calculation and/or credit card processing. 6. cpanel" cpanel version or higher is required. 7. Perl Perl version 5.6 or higher. cpanel itself requires Perl, so if you use cpanel, you should already have Perl installed. Resource requirements: 1. File space Minimum 30 MB of disk space for server part and no less than 5 MB for each deployed store. 2. Database size The size of LiteCommerce HE database depends greatly on number of stores and data stored (e.g. amounts of products in shops catalogs, volume of orders placed, etc). While a database of a small shop can fit into 1 Megabyte, a large online store can take up 100 Megabytes or more. Administrative rights: The user of LiteCommerce HE system must have root access rights on the server(s) to be able to install and operate LiteCommerce HE: 1. Administrative rights for managing the web server; 2. Administrative (root) account at MySQL server - to create and manage databases pertinent to corresponding online stores; 3. Command-line access to the server. Neither of these access rights are required for operating deployed shops.

9 7 Installation Make sure that the current folder and the folder you are installing LiteCommerce HE to are not mounted with noexec option. This will prevent the executable file from working even if all the other file and directory permissions are set correctly. This is the first thing to check if you are getting one of the following error messages during installation: eval:./install.sh: Permission denied or zsh: permission denied: or bash: /bin/sh: bad interpreter: Permission denied To get around this you might want to run not./litecommerce-he-trial.run but /bin/sh./litecommerce-he-trial.run For more information on the noexec option read 'man mount'.

10 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 8 Installing LiteCommerce HE To begin the installation of LiteCommerce HE, unpack the distributive you received from Qualiteam. Locate a file with the extension.run and execute it. Now follow the instructions of the installer. Note: Before installation the installer examines the server configuration to check that it complies with the server requirements as outlined in the 'System Requirements' section of this manual. If all the critical dependencies are in place, the installation continues. If one or more folders do not exist or the administrative rights are not sufficient, the process stops with a detailed error message. 1. Select whether you want to install the Licensing Server. You must do it if this is the first time you install LiteCommerce HE. If you have already installed the Licensing Server before, you can just specify the directory where it is installed and proceed with LiteCommerce HE installation. 2. Specify the directory where you want to install the Licensing Server. If this directory does not exist, the installer will create it. Enter the full path, as in the examples. Note: Please note that this information will be used to compose a URL which will be used to obtain a valid LiteCommerce HE license. So make sure that it coincides with your license URL. Examples: path /u/stuff/public_html/ls /home/stuff/public_html/ls /u/stuff/public_html /home/stuff/public_html will result in this URL: At this step you need the access information of the MySQL database which you will use with LiteCommerce HE. Provide the MySQL host name, password and database name. If a MySQL database with such name does not exist, the installer will create one. If the MySQL database is already populated with data, all the old information in it will be lost. Examples: MySQL host name: mysql MySQL user name: myname MySQL password: password MySQL base name: lc_he_database 4. Specify Licensing Server host name and location. Enter a valid Licensing Server Code, that you received

11 9 Installation when you purchased LiteCommerce HE and a Licensing Server admin address - the you want to use to receive notifications. If you are using the trial version, no code is necessary. Examples: license URL: License Server host name: mydomain.com License Server location: /ls OR License Server host name: mydomain.com License Server location: / License Server code: AF5D-03KE-CCVY-758H License Server admin bit-bucket@example.com If the Licensing Server Code is invalid, connection to our tracking system fails, or the Licensing Server does not run, you will get the following warning message: WARNING! LiteCommerce Hosting Edition was installed, but for one of the following reasons (the Licensing Server Code is invalid, connection to our tracking system fails, the Licensing Server does not run) correct operation of the software is not possible. Please check if the following configuration parameters are correct: license key: LS location: LS web-path: If everything is correct, consult our support department. In this case consult our support department at to find a solution to the issue. 5. When the Licensing Server is successfully installed, the installer proceeds with LiteCommerce HE installation. You can watch what the installer is currently doing, on the screen. When the installation is finished you see a message: "LiteCommerce Hosting Edition is successfully installed".

12 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 10 Uninstalling LiteCommerce HE Locate a file with the extension.run (for example, litecommerce-2.2-build11-distr.run) and run the following command: sh litecommerce-2.2-build11-distr.run --uninstall Now follow the instructions on the screen. To stop uninstalling, press [Ctrl-C]. The following software parts can be removed: LiteCommerce Online Store Builder, Licensing Server, Licensing Server database. After you have confirmed all the necessary uninstalling steps and specified all the needed data, the list of actions to be performed will be displayed. To confirm, you have to answer positively to the last question (please note that you have to enter a capital letter Y). Proceed and perform all uninstall actions? [Y/n]:

13 11 Getting started Getting started After you have successfully installed LiteCommerce HE you can access it by clicking on the 'LC HE Control Center' link in the 'Add-ons' menu of your cpanel interface. The following sections deal with the four tabs available in the LC HE Control Center: Feature Packs, Statistics, Store Maintenance, License Info.

14 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 12 Feature Packs This chapter deals with the process of allowing your clients to use certain combination of LC shopping carts and sets of add-on modules. Read the 'Feature Packs Overview' section to learn more about the types of available feature packs. Check out the 'Feature Packs Configurator' section for information on what settings can be viewed on this page; how to add, edit and delete feature packs.

15 13 Feature Packs Feature Packs Overview A feature pack is a set of LiteCommerce add-on modules that a shop owner can choose from. There are two major types of feature packs: Basic and Standard. Basic Feature Packs include the following characteristics: free LiteCommerce shopping cart, up to 25 products, restricted product adding and import (including direct database manipulation), no free modules are included, offline payment methods available, online payment methods are available (PayPal, AuthorizeNet). Standard Feature Packs include the following characteristics: all free modules are switched on, online payment methods are available (PayPalPro, AuthorizeNet), variable number of commercial modules (besides PayPalPro, AuthorizeNet), from 1 to 19 commercial modules are included, if 20 commercial modules are included, the feature pack status changes to 'unlimited' and all modules beyond 20 are free of charge.

16 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 14 Feature Packs Configurator Click on the 'Feature Packs' tab to access the following information: License Type - Basic or Standard. For more information on license types consult 'Feature Packs Overview' section; The number of shops using this feature pack (is currently used by n shop(s)); Pos. - the number that determines the position of the feature pack in the column. Feature packs with identical pos. numbers are sorted alphabetically; Max number of shops available for deployment; Max number of active commercial add-ons; Included add-ons - the add-on modules which the shop owner can choose from.

17 15 Feature Packs To add a pack: Click 'Add new pack' button at the top or bottom right. 1. Select the type of the new pack from the drop-down menu. Note: You will be able to change the type later, but only as long as it is not used. After the feature pack is assigned, you will not be able to modify its type. 2. Enter the pack name. 3. Specify the position number. Adding a feature pack 4. If you selected the 'Standard' type, specify the max number of shops available for deployment and max number of active commercial add-ons. In the list of add-on modules select check boxes next to the modules you want to include in this feature pack. Note: if you select one of the organizer modules, please note that either the LayoutOrganizer or the ShowcaseOrganizer module can be enabled, they do not operate simultaneously because their functionality overlaps. A list of available add-on modules (continued below) Example: If you enable 8 commercial add-ons and limit the number of commercial add-ons to 4, your clients will be able to activate any of the enabled add-ons, but not more than 4 at a time.

18 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual Click 'Add new pack' to save the changes or 'Cancel' to discard. To edit a pack: Click on the 'Edit pack' button next to it in the feature pack list, modify the necessary settings and click 'Update pack' or 'Cancel' if you decide not to save the modifications. Modifying a feature pack Note: You can only edit feature packs which are not used by any shops. If the pack has already been assigned, you can only modify its name and position number. To delete a pack: Click 'Delete pack' next to the name of the necessary feature pack in the list. Note: You can only delete feature packs which are not used by any shops.

19 17 Feature Packs Adding Feature Packs to Feature Lists To assign the LiteCommerce Feature Packs that you have created, to your hosting packages, on the main screen of your WebHost TM Manager interface click Packages -> Feature Manager. To add LiteCommerce Feature Packs to your existing Feature Lists select the name of the Feature List from the drop-down box and click Edit. Select the necessary check boxes to enable or disable the corresponding features, and click Save when you have finished editing the feature list. Feature Manager The following options are available when you edit Feature Lists: Select the LiteCommerce HE (enable/disable whole functionality) check box to enable the client who uses a package with this Feature List assigned, to deploy a LiteCommerce store. Clear this checkbox to make LiteCommerce unavailable. Select the check boxes next to LiteCommerce HE Feature Packs to make the Feature Packs accessible in the client's cpanelò software. Note: Due to cpanel limitations all the Feature Packs can be selected simultaneously, while in fact only one of the Basic and one of the commercial Feature Packs (the most expensive), would be available. If a Feature List is configured as shown in the next figure, LiteCommerce functionality is enabled, which means the client is able to deploy a LiteCommerce store. A Feature Pack 'LC Full 20+' is disabled. The client will have a choice of 'LC Basic', which is free and 'LC Standard10' which is the most expensive of the selected commercial Feature Packs.

20 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 18 Statistics You can view statistical information on all the shops deployed, feature packs used and add-modules activated by your clients. The following sections give more details about viewing statistics of each type. See the 'Summary Usage Statistics' section for information on viewing combined statistics for a selected period. Read the 'Usage Statistics by Shops' section to learn how to refine statistical data on the shops deployed by your clients. Consult the 'Usage Statistics by Feature Packs' section to find out how to view information on your feature packs usage.

21 19 Statistics Summary Usage Statistics To access total statistics on all the deployed shops and activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on the 'Statistics' tab. On the "Summary usage statistics" page from the drop-down menu select the search period and click on the 'Search' button. If you have too many results, they will break into separate pages. Select number of items per page from the corresponding drop-down menu. 'Summary Usage Statistics' results page On the next figure see the explanation of data included into the summary usage statistics.

22 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 20 Explanation of billing results

23 21 Statistics Usage Statistics by Shops To access the statistics on the deployed shops, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on 'Usage Statistics by Shops' tab. On the opening page from the drop-down menu select the search period. You can also use the following criteria to refine your search: username host location feature pack Leave these fields empty to view the statistics for the search period without any filters. You can apply them later to narrow your search. Click on the 'Search' button. Using search filters Use buttons to copy corresponding data from the search results to the search fields and buttons to clear the search fields.

24 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 22 Copying data from the results page to the search fields The following information is included in the results: 1. Shop URL 2. Server 3. Username 4. Hosting plan/feature pack - client's hosting plan and the LiteCommerce feature pack, assigned to it. 5. Usage days - total number of days the shop has actually been working. 6. Shops fee 7. Total cost At the bottom of the results page there are two 'Total' lines. If you did not use pagination they are identical. If you have more than one page of results, then: 'Total for items on this page' is a sum of 'Total cost' fields for shops listed on this specific page only. 'Total for search period' is a sum of 'Total cost' fields for shops found, displayed on all the results pages.

25 23 Statistics Usage Statistics by Feature Packs To access statistics on the activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on 'Plans usage statistics' link. On the opening page select a search period from the drop-down list. Then select check boxes next to the names of the feature packs for which you want to view the statistics and click 'Search'. Using search filters If you have too many results, they will break into separate pages. Select number of items per page from the corresponding drop-down menu. The following information is included: 1. Feature pack name. 2. Unique shops - the number of shops bought. See 'Installations' for details. 3. Usage days - the number of days is calculated on the basis of how long a shop has actually been working. 4. Modules fee - the amount due for the activated add-on modules. 5. Total cost for the time the shops have been in use.

26 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 24 Store Maintenance This section is about how you can modify a shop's properties: activate and deactivate a shop and update the hosting plan and feature pack used by it. Searching for shops To access total statistics on all the deployed shops and activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on the 'Statistics' tab. On the "Summary usage statistics" page from the drop-down menu select the search period and click on the 'Search' button. Active shops statistics You can refine the shops list using the following filters: owner username, shop URL and Hosting plan/feature pack. Use buttons to copy corresponding data from the results to the search fields and buttons to clear the search fields. If you have too many results, they will break into separate pages. Select number of items per page from the corresponding drop-down menu. Changing shop details To change the shop status, click on the button next to the 'Status' column: 'Activate' or 'Deactivate'. You change hosting plans assigned to your clients in your cpanel via 'Account Information' -> 'List Accounts' page. When you change a hosting plan, it is reflected in LiteCommerce HE Control Center in the

27 25 Store Maintenance 'Store Maintenance' tab. A store using another hosting plan is marked with a (*) sign. Also a following note appears at the bottom of the search results page: "Shops that have switched to another hosting plan are marked with an asterisk. Click on the "Update" button to synchronize and update shops' properties." A shop has switched to another hosting plan When you remove a user who has deployed LiteCommerce store, the store belonging to this user gets marked with a red exclamation mark. Also a following note appears at the bottom of the search results page: "Shops that do not have a user are marked with an exclamation mark. Click on the "Update" button to synchronize and update shops' properties." A user has been removed

28 LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 26 License Info To get information about your license, select the 'License info' tab in your LiteCommerce HE control center. Here you can view your license key, the license expiration date, the licensed server URL, numbers of shops and modules included into the license. Also there is an 'Update license' button. Click it to renew your license manually and wait for a 'Licensing Server license successfully updated' message to appear.

29 27 Appendix A Appendix A To add PHP support to your Apache web-server, do the following: 1. Run /scripts/easyapache; 2. Select skill level: choose the "Advanced (Experts Only, At Your Own Risk)" mode - enter the corresponding number and press Enter; 3. Select "Php Module --->"; 4. Locate and select "Openssl Support", press Space key; 5. Exit PHP Module Menu; 6. Exit Main Menu; 7. In the 'Save Configuration' dialog choose to save this Apache configuration; 8. Wait until compilation finishes. The compilation was successful if: there are no 'error' or 'failed' messages in the script output; there is a "PHP version file has been updated to x.y.z" message; the output ended in "httpd started ok" message.