===================
== SecondoVM FAQ ==
===================

What is SecondoVM?
-------------------------

SecondoVM is a Linux-based installation of the Secondo
extensible DBMS on a virtual machine. It is distributed as a
zip-archive file. A user just needs to install VMware Player,
a virtualization software, in order to play the virtual machine.

VMware Player is available from the VMware website
(http://info.vmware.com/). It is available for Linux,
Windows and Mac platforms. For non-commercial use, Licences
are free of charge.

The SecondoVM appliance was set up using the 32bit variant of
Xubuntu (relying on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS) as a base. When starting
the virtual machine, VMware will set up a virtual network,
acting as a NAT-bridge between the virtual, and your machine's
physical network. This allows for full communications with the
system running on the virtual machine. Hence, you can use
secure shell (ssh) to communicate with the virtual machine.
Also, VMware tools can be used to share folders between the
host and guest system.

Setting up the virtual machine does not require any difficult
or time-intensive installation process.

How to install SecondoVM?
--------------------------------
 (1) Install VMware Player on your computer.
 (2) Download the most recent SecondoVM
     distribution from the Secondo website
     (http://dna.fernuni-hagen.de/secondo).
     (We recommend to verify a correct download by comparing the MD5-checksum of
     the downloaded archive file with the provided MD5-value from the web site).
 (3) Unzip the downloaded archive file.
 (4) Run the VMplayer application.
 (5) Load the Virtual Machine "Ubuntu_32bit.vmx"
 (6) Change the virtual machine's settings according to your
     requirements (increasing maximum memory size or cpu number
     to be assigned to the virtual machine).
 (7) Start the virtual machine.

After starting the virtual machine, the system will automatically
log you on as the predefined user "secondo" (password: secondo).
User "secondo" has administrative rights and may use the "sudo"
command to run administrative tasks.

If you notice problems with the keyboard key mappings, you may use the 
keyboard-mapping tool from the application launcher bar to adopt to your 
keyboard. If this does not help, please consult the internet to find a 
solution appropriate to your setting.


How do I get rid of it?
-----------------------
 (1) Terminate the virtual machine (if running).
 (2) Delete the files unpacked from the downloaded archive file.


How to run Secondo with a command line?
---------------------------------------
 (1) Open a bash shell. (There should be a Shell icon on your desktop.)
 (2) Change to directory /home/secondo/secondo/bin
 (3) Execute the following command: secinit
 (4) Execute the following command: SecondoTTYBDB


How to run Secondo with a GUI?
------------------------------
(I) In order to run Secondo with a GUI, you first
    need to run a Secondo Server:
 (1) Open a bash shell.
 (2) Change to directory /home/secondo/secondo/bin
 (3) Execute the following command: secinit
 (4) Execute the folling command: SecondoMonitor -s

(II) If you want to use the query optimizer, you
     need to start the optimizer server:
 (1) Open a bash shell.
 (2) Change to directory /home/secondo/secondo/Optimizer
 (3) Execute the following command: secinit
 (4) Execute the following command: StartOptServer

(III) Then, run the Java-based GUI:
 (1) Open a bash shell.
 (2) Change to directory /home/secondo/secondo/Javagui
 (3) Execute the following command: secinit
 (4) Execute the following command: sgui
 (5) The Java-based GUI starts up.
     Confirm the dialog. The GUI will auto-connect
     with a database server and the OptimizerServer.


How to update Secondo?
----------------------
 (1) Open a web browser and open the Secondo homepage
     (http://dna.fernuni-hagen.de/secondo)
 (2) Download the latest Secondo for Linux release.
 (3) Unpack the downloaded archive file and
     overwrite the contents of folder
     /home/secondo/secondo and all its subfolders
     with the archive's contents.
 (4) Rebuild Secondo (see below).


How to (re-)build Secondo?
--------------------------
 (1) Open a bash shell.
 (2) Change to directory /home/secondo/secondo
 (3) Execute the following command: secinit
 (4) Execute the following command: make clean; make

More Information
----------------
The Secondo Manual and Programmer's Guides are located on your Desktop.
You can also consult the Secondo homepage to download recent versions, demos etc.