The Diva distribution is an easy way to setup a hypergrid-enabled virtual world server with the new megaregion (512mx512m) support. Update feature means easy upgrading to all the new bleeding edge features from the Opensim project.
September 16th
Diva (one of the Opensim core
developers) started her own binary distribution of
Opensim.
This is a very common process in the
open source domain: there is a piece of software (e.g.
linux), and different people have different ideas about setup, what
to add on or they simply do have different needs. So, different
packages for distribution are prepared (e.g. for linux: Red Hat,
SuSE, Debian, ..).
In the Opensim universe, there is a
steady discussion about Grid vs. Standalone with
Hypergrid. For my personal opinion this is an old discussion
we already had with other software - and the deccision is most
likely:
- standalone (peer2peer)
for individuals and SoHo
- security domains (grid)
for organizations that need to follow laws and other
regulations
Diva is quite
strictly
stand-alone devoted - and yes,
that is where many people do their first experiments
anyway. As Opensim gets more an more complex and newcomers
often get lost, a simple setup for the newbie is very welcome and
helpful. A standalone has a little bit less dependencies,
because you don´t need a region software that is compatible
to the grid server.
The
README tells:
" You have downloaded Diva's
binary distribution of OpenSim.
This distribution contains a
simplified and pre-configured
version of OpenSim targeting
Hypergrided standalone virtual
worlds. It contains:
1) a subset of the cannonical OpenSim
distribution. For the complete
distribution, please
see http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Download
2) additional modules and tools that
use external services
(such as search) and that make
configuration and updates
as easy as possible. The source code
of these additional
modules and tools can be found
at http://github.com/diva/diva-distribution/
3) binaries only
4) preconfiguration for use of MySQL
DB backend, ODE
physics, and a default world
consisting of multiple regions
5) additional content in the
Librarys"
Needed steps for the setup are
clearly outlined in the
INSTALL file. They do require
prior installation of MONO(Linux) and MySQL (Linux and Windows).
Basic knowledge of MySQL-administration is required.
I did a test drive:
- --> on Windows 7 RTM
- downloaded MySQL 5.1 Dev
- installed as a dev-server and Windows-service
- followed the instruction in the MYSQL file to set up the
account for the opensim
-
- did start configure.exe
-
- did run Opensim (remember for
OpenSim.32BitLaunch.exe 64bit systems !)
-
-
-
NOTICE: opensim does not run 64bit,
you maybe need to open your firewall
-
-
-
did log in (notice the large
region !)
-
- shutdown
- update (nothing to do)
-
Very nice experience - I am looking
forward to see the first update process.
(PLEASE: use a more complex password
instead the "opensim" i did use for the test and throw away
scenario :-) )
Possible improvements are maybe an
option for portable/self-contained version (e.g. with sqlite) and
usage of a executable installer (most Windows user are used to
that, Linux become more and more used to it - installation would be
as easy as viewer installation). It would be nice, if the
configuration wizzard would outline local only vs. official fixed
IP vs. dynamic IP with DynDNS-like tools (very common in
europe).
Thanks to Diva for the easy going
setup!
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