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Installation

The following section describes how to install MHonArc on your system.

NOTE: Make sure to read the release notes before installing MHonArc,
      especially if you are upgrading from a previous release. If you are
      reading the text version of this installation document, a text
      version of the release notes, RELNOTES, exists within the root of the
      MHonArc distribution.

  • For the Impatient
  • Vendor Supplied Packages
  • System Requirements
  • Downloading MHonArc
  • RPM Installation
  • Extracting the MHonArc Distribution
  • Installing with install.me
      □ install.me Notes
  • The Perl 5 Way
  • Win32 Notes
  • Alternate Operating Systems
  • Manual Installation
  • Post Installation Configuration
      □ Default Resource File
      □ Site Initialization Library
  • Resource File Editing

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For the Impatient

If you cannot wait to get going, try one of the following:

  • Plaform independent install:
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> wget 'http://www.mhonarc.org/release/MHonArc/MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz'│
    │prompt> gzip -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -                         │
    │prompt> cd MHonArc-X.X.X                                                  │
    │prompt> perl install.me                                                   │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

  • RPM install:
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> wget 'http://www.mhonarc.org/release/MHonArc/MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm'│
    │prompt> rpm -Uvh MHonArc-X.X.X-1.noarch.rpm                                     │
    └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Where X.X.X represents the version number, and X.X.X-n represents the
version and release number of the RPM. Generally, the release number is
equal to '1'.

If there were problems doing the above, then keep reading.

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Vendor Supplied Packages

Some software system vendors provide MHonArc, usually as an optional
package. The following links provide vendor-supplied versions of MHonArc:

Debian GNU/Linux
    <http://packages.debian.org/mhonarc>
Linux (multiple vendors/distros)
    <http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=MHonArc>

NOTE: Choosing to go with a vendor-supplied package depends on your needs.
      Here are some things to consider:

        • Some vendors may have their own QA process along with their own
          support services while others may provide MHonArc as a
          contributed package with no additional support.

        • Vendor/distro versions of MHonArc tend not to reflect the latest
          release since there is a latency between a new release made
          available from mhonarc.org to when vendors are able to download
          and create their own packages. This difference can be important
          depending on what MHonArc features or fixes you need.

      In general, if your vendor provides their own QA and support services
      for the software they provide, it is usually best to use the vendor's
      version of MHonArc. However, if the vendor does not provide
      additional support, and/or you need the latest features and fixes,
      you may want go with what is provided from mhonarc.org.

      If you require professional support and consulting, see Contacts for
      contact information.

This document does not cover any installation details for vendor supplied
packages. See your vendor's supplied documentation for installation
instructions.

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System Requirements

The following is required to run MHonArc:

  • Perl 5 is installed. If you do not have Perl 5, goto <http://
    language.perl.com/> for download information. Perl versions 5.6.1 and
    later are recommended.

  • The following standard modules are installed:

      □ Fcntl
      □ File::Basename
      □ Getopt::Long
      □ Symbol
      □ Time::Local

    NOTE: The installation program will verify that required modules are
          installed.

  • The following modules are optional (they are not required, but they
    will provided improved or enhanced functionality):

      □ Digest::MD5: Used for creating IDs for messages without
        message-ids. MHonArc uses message-IDs to detect for
        already-archived or duplicate messages. Digest::MD5 gives MHonArc
        this capability for messages without message-IDs.

      □ File::Temp: MHonArc uses temporary files when writing files to disk
        (for security and data integrity reasons). If File::Temp is not
        available, MHonArc will use its own internal implementation, which
        is not as secure as File::Temp, but adequate for most uses.

      □ MIME::Base64: Used for base64 decoding (base64 is the standard way
        to encoding binary data in mail). MIME::Base64 is normally provided
        with the standard perl distribution. If MIME::Base64 is not
        available, MHonArc will fallback to its own internal, less
        efficient, base64 decoder.

      □ POSIX: Used for setting locale as defined by the LANG resource and
        for formatting time strings if POSIXSTRFTIME resource is enabled.

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Downloading MHonArc

The homepage for MHonArc is <http://www.mhonarc.org/>. The homepage list
various sites that you can download MHonArc.

MHonArc is distributed in the following formats:

  • RPM: MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm
  • tar-bz2: MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.bz2
  • tar-gzip: MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz
  • zip: MHonArc-X.X.X.zip

Where X.X.X represents the version number, and X.X.X-n represents the
version and release number of the RPM. Generally, the release number is
equal to '1'. Choose the format that best suits your environment.

NOTE: A source RPM, MHonArc-X.X.X-n.src.rpm, is also provided for those
      that need to create custom RPM bundles.

NOTE: Alternate distribution formats for MHonArc may be available from
      third-parties. Alternate distribution formats are not covered in this
      document.

If you downloaded the RPM distribution, goto RPM Installation. If you
downloaded one of the other formats, goto Extracting the MHonArc
Distribution.

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RPM Installation

RPM is a widely used software package manager for various Linux-based
systems and other Unix-based environments. If the software on your system
is managed by RPM, you may prefer to install MHonArc via RPM:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> rpm -Uvh MHonArc-X.X.X-n.noarch.rpm                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

NOTE: RPM-based installation requires that the perl executable is located
      at /usr/bin/perl. If you have perl installed in a different location,
      you can download the src RPM and edit the RPM spec file to reflect
      your system's configuration.

MHonArc files will be installed in the following locations:

/usr/bin:                      Program files: mhonarc, mha-dbedit, ...
/usr/lib/MHonArc:              Library files.
/usr/share/doc/MHonArc-X.X.X:  Documentation, examples, and extras.
/usr/share/man/man1:           Manpages.

It is highly likely that you will need to have root priviledges to install
via RPM. If you do not have root access, or you want to install in a
non-standard location, you either need to create a new RPM from the source
RPM or install MHonArc from the non-RPM bundles.

Once the install is completed, you can skip to Post Installation
Configuration.

NOTE: RPM distributions have been directly available starting with MHonArc
      v2.6.5. However, alternate RPM packages are available for current and
      older versions via third parties and some Linux distros. Goto <http:/
      /www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=MHonArc> to get a
      list of third-party RPM bundles.

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Extracting the MHonArc Distribution

NOTE: If doing an RPM-based install, goto RPM Installation above.

After downloading the MHonArc distribution, move the file to a temporary
location for extraction. For extraction under Unix-like systems, use one of
the following commands based upon the distribution format you downloaded:

tar-bz2
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> bzip2 -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -                  │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
tar-gzip
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> gzip -dc MHonArc-X.X.X.tar.gz | tar xvf -                    │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
zip
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> unzip MHonArc-X.X.X.zip                                      │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

For Win32 systems, you can use a program like WinZip to extract the
tar-gzip or zip formats. If using Cygwin, use the Unix-based extraction
methods.

NOTE: If your are using Cygwin and the cygwin build of Perl, then the
      installation and usage of MHonArc is the same as a Unix-based
      environment.

After extraction, the subdirectory MHonArc-X.X.X will have been created
containing all the files comprising MHonArc.

NOTE: Please read the release notes before continuing for any news about
      compatibility with previous versions and/or important usage
      information.

Now, change your current directory to MHonArc-X.X.X for the next step. On a
Unix-type system, use the following command:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> cd MHonArc-X.X.X                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
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Installing with install.me

Provided in the MHonArc distribution is a Perl program, install.me, for
installing MHonArc on your system. To run the program, type the following
command:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl install.me                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

NOTE: You must be in the same directory as the install.me program when you
      run it.

The installation program will ask you a series of questions on where the
perl executable is and where to put MHonArc files. Just hit <Enter> to
accept the default values listed in ()'s.

NOTE: The default values are determined by the configuration of perl on
      your system. If you choose the defaults, you may need root/admin
      privileges to successfully install MHonArc.

install.me can take several options on the command-line to affect what is
done during installation. The following is the list of options available:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  -afs                  : Skip permission checks (useful if AFS)         │
│  -batch                : Run in batch mode (do not ask questions)       │
│  -binpath <path>       : Directory path to install programs/scripts     │
│  -docpath <path>       : Directory path to install documentation        │
│  -help                 : A message summarizing options available        │
│  -libpath <path>       : Directory path to install library files        │
│  -filelist <file>      : List of files to install (def="FILELIST")      │
│  -manpath <path>       : Directory path to manpages                     │
│  -nobin                : Do not install programs                        │
│  -nodep                : Skip module dependency check                   │
│  -nodoc                : Do not install documentation                   │
│  -nolib                : Do not install library files                   │
│  -noman                : Do not install manpages                        │
│  -perl <pathname>      : Pathname of perl interpreter                   │
│  -prefix <path>        : Set prefix for installation directories        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

For example, if you do not want to install the documentation, do the
following:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl install.me -nodoc                                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Later on, if you decide you want to install the documentation, but not
re-install the other files, do the following:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl install.me -nobin -nolib -noman                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

If you want to install files relative to your home directory, do the
following:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl install.me -prefix $HOME                                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

install.me Notes

  • The "#!" line in the installed programs are set to point to the perl
    executable specified in the installation process. This is convienence
    for those using systems that support the "#!" notation.

  • The installation lib directory is added to each program's search path
    so each program can find the libaries needed for proper execution.
    Therefore, you do NOT have to set your PERL5LIB environment variable if
    you install the library files in a non-standard location.

  • If you specify paths that do not exist, the install.me program creates
    the paths for you. If running in interactive mode, install.me prompts
    you for confirmation before creating a path.

  • install.me supports environment variable interpolation in pathnames
    specified during interactive installation. For example, if you want to
    install program files into your local bin directory, you can enter the
    following when prompted for the location to install executables: $HOME/
    bin. Also, if the '~' (tilde) character is the first character of the
    pathname specified, it will be expanded to the value of the HOME
    environment variable. Therefore, the following are equivalent: $HOME/
    bin and ~/bin.

  • The -afs option should only be needed if installing MHonArc onto AFS
    and using an older version of Perl 5. It should not be needed for Perl
    5.005 or later.

  • If you want to abort the installation, just enter the termination
    character, typically <Ctrl-C> for Unix systems and <Ctrl-Z> for Win32
    systems.

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The Perl 5 Way

Of course, you can install MHonArc the standard way under Perl 5:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl Makefile.PL                                                 │
│prompt> make                                                             │
│prompt> make install                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

If you want to install in a specific directory, try:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│prompt> perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/tmp/myperl5                             │
│prompt> make                                                             │
│prompt> make install                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

NOTE: install.me is actually called "behind the scenes" in batch mode to
      install the files. Therefore, alternate variations of invoking perl
      Makefile.PL may not be supported.

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Win32 Notes

  • The main programs will automatically be converted to DOS batch files.
    Hence, if the path location of the main programs is in your PATH, you
    should be able to invoke them like any other program.

    NOTE: The path to the perl executable must be in your PATH, also.

  • The main programs will also be copied to ".pl" files. Therefore, if you
    have .pl associated with Perl in the registry, you can invoke the
    programs directly (if the path location of the main programs are in
    your search path). For example:

    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │prompt> mhonarc.pl ...                                               │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    This is known to work under WinNT's command shell and under the Cygwin
    bash shell.

    This is better than using the batch files since I/O redirection does
    not work with batch files.

  • In the logo directory of the distribution contain .ico files for
    associating the MHonArc logo with MHonArc .mrc resource files.

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Alternate Operating Systems

In many cases, install.me works for other operating systems. Please contact
the author on any success stories for other operating systems, and please
send any patches, if required.

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Manual Installation

If install.me does not work for your system, here is how to install MHonArc
manually:

  • Copy files in the lib directory to the library location you desire.

  • Copy the program files to the location you want them installed. After
    copying, do the following:

      □ Edit the "#!/..." line for each program file to reference the
        complete pathname of your perl interpreter. The line should be the
        first line of each program file.

        NOTE: This step is only needed for systems (Unix) that support "#!
              ".

      □ Then do one of the following:

          ☆ Add a new line right after the "#!/..." line of each program
            file to contain the following:

              use lib '/path/to/lib/files';

            where "/path/to/lib/files/" is the path to where copied the
            library files to.

            NOTE: If the location you copied the libraries are already part
                  of Perl's standard library search path, you do not need
                  to add the "use lib" statement.

          ☆ Or, set your PERL5LIB environment to include the path location
            you copied the library files to.

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Post Installation Configuration

After installation, you may want to do some site-specific configuration.

Default Resource File

You have the ability to create a default resource file to make site-wide
defaults for MHonArc. See the DEFRCFILE resource on valid pathname
locations for the default resource file. For more information on what can
be put in a resource file, see the Resources section.

NOTE: It is advisable to create some local documentation for users
      describing any settings you place in the site-wide resource file.
      This will avoid confusion if site settings vary from default settings
      described in the documentation, and it will help avoid invalid bug
      reports.

Site Initialization Library

If you do not know Perl, ignore this section.

When MHonArc opens an archive for processing, MHonArc will attempt to
execute the instructions in the file mhasiteinit.pl. This file allows you
to make site customizations not possible through a default resource file.
mhasiteinit.pl should be placed in the MHonArc library directory as
specified during installation. A sample mhasiteinit.pl file is provied in
the examples directory of the distribution to get you started, which
includes comments on some of the things you can do with mhasiteinit.pl.

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Resource File Editing

If you are a Vim user, <http://www.vim.org/>, a syntax file for MHonArc
resource files is included in the examples directory: mhonarc.vim. Vim is
known to run on a variety of operating systems, and is free software.

To use mhonarc.vim, copy mhonarc.vim to an appropriate location and add
something like the following to your .vimrc file:

  au BufNewFile,BufRead *.mrc   so $HOME/share/vim/syntax/mhonarc.vim

Of course, change the pathname to mhonarc.vim to wherever you copied it to.

Now, any file with .mrc extension will put Vim into MHonArc resource file
highlighting mode. The mode is best used with color-capable terminals.

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$Date: 2005/05/13 00:00:35 $
MHonArc
Copyright © 1997-2003,2005 Earl Hood, mhonarc@mhonarc.org

