Blackboard CE 6 (WebCt) - LAMS Integration Module
=================================================

Written By Luke Foxton <lfoxton@melcoe.mq.edu.au>
LAMS Foundation Copyright (C) 2008 (http://lamsfoundation.org)

For more information on and help, please visit the wiki at:
http://wiki.lamsfoundation.org/display/lamsdocs/Blackboard+CE+6

Contents
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1. Requirements
2. Downloading the package
3. Installation
4. Configuring WebCt Side
5. Configuring LAMS Side
6. Using the LAMS logo for the LAMS Link


1. REQUIREMENTS
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* Blackboard CE 6.x (Also known as WebCt Campus Edition)
* A Http Server.
* MySql Server 5.0


2. Downloading the package
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Configure your cvs client as follows:

    * access method: pserver
    * user name: anonymous
    * server name: lamscvs.melcoe.mq.edu.au
    * location: /usr/local/cvsroot

Then Checkout the lams_webct_integration project.


3. Installation
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Pre-Steps

There is some setup before we can commence the installation of the Powerlink. 

   1. Follow the steps at in the appropriate Blackboard CE 6.x Setup guide to install Blackboard CE. Make sure you follow the correct setup guide for your version as the installation steps can change from version to version. The setup guides can be found at https://behind.blackboard.com/s/developer/refcenter/docs/.
   2. Install LAMS 2.0.6 or higher on a separate server.
   3. Ensure that each server can access the web addresses of the other, this can simply be done by accessing the LAMS or Blackboard CE login page.
   4. Set up a web server address to store the images used by the Powerlink. The easiest way to do this is to copy it into the LAMS server images folder.
      Copy the 'treeicons' folder found in /path/to/lams2-webct-integration-1.0.0/deploy/web/tigra/ into /path/to/jboss-4.0.2/server/default/deploy/lams.ear/lams-central.war/images.
   5. Test that the images are accessible on the web by opening a web browser and going to http://<your lams server>:8080/lams/images/tigra_base.gif.
   6. Set up a MySql database which is accessible from the Blackboard CE server (This can be the same database as used for the LAMS server if appropriate).
   7. Set up a special MySql user which the Powerlink can use to talk to the database. Make sure the user has cross-server permission if the MySql server is not located on the same server as Blackboard CE. This can be done using a command on the MySql command line:
      GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON <database name> TO '<username>'@'<host>' IDENTIFIED BY '<user password>.
   8. You can test the cross-server MySql access by installing a MySql client and the typing the following command:
      mysql -h <host> -u <user> -p <password> <database name>;
   9. Open up the createTable_MySql.sql script in a text editor, edit all appearances of ${dbTable}, and name the table.
  10. Run the create table script using the following command.
      mysql -u<mysql user> -p <database name> < path/to/createTable_MySql.sql

Installation of Powerlink

   1. Download lams2-webct-integration-1.0.0.zip from the downloads page. (Not yet available for download)
   2. Unzip to a temporary location.
   3. The package should contain the following files:

    * lams2 (directory)
    	* authmodule_CE_1.4.jar
    	* commons-codec-1.3.jar
    	* lams2-webct-integration-1.x.x.jar
    	* mysql-connector-java-3.1.2-bin.jar
    	* xercesImpl.jar
    * readme.txt
    * license.txt
    * release_notes.txt
    * createTable_MySql.sql

   4. Create a directory called LAMS2 in the /path/to/bea815/weblogic81/config/WebCTDomain/deployablecomponents folder
   5. Copy the authmodule_CE_1.4.jar, commons-codec-1.3.jar, lams2-webct-integration-1.x.x.jar, mysql-connector-java-3.1.2-bin.jar into this directory.
   6. IF you are running Blackboard CE 6.2 or newer, copy xercesImpl.jar into the directory, otherwise DO NOT. 
	

4. Configuring WebCt Side
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   1. Login to the Blackboard CE server as serveradmin.
   2. Make sure you are at the server level, by clicking it on the Administration tree one the left.
   3. Click on utilities (the red box) tab, then settings to get to the admin screen.
   4. Under the System Integration list there should now be a link called "LAMS Integration Module", click on that link.
   5. Select the true option of the Enable setting and also ensure you select the "Override Setting at Child Contexts" option to enable it at all contexts.
   6. Edit the configuration fields to suit your needs. The important fields are listing in the following steps.
   7. The database JDBC url should be filled to match the URL to connect to your database.
   8. The database driver jar should be left as default, unless you are using a non-mysql database.
   9. The database name should be the same name that was in your database URL.
  10. The database user should be the same as the one set up in the pre-steps.
  11. Database user password needs to be correct to connect to the database.
  12. LAMS server url is the url to get to the LAMS login page, make sure it has a forward slash "/" at the end.
  13. LAMS server id is a arbitrary name that will be used to configure the LAMS/WebCt server connection, make sure you remember this feild.
  14. LAMS server secret key, is the secret field that will be used to hash requests between LAMS/WebCT servers. Choose a field only your administrators know, and make sure you remember it.
  15. The reqSrc field is an arbitrary name which the LAMS server will use when returning to the Blackboard CE server, you can leave it as Blackboard CE, or change it to whatever you wish to call you 'home' Blackboard CE server.
  16. The imgUrl should be set to point to a web address folder containing the tigra images, as was set up in the pre-steps.
  17. The LAMS Author, Monitoring and Learner roles allow you to map WebCT roles to LAMS roles.
  18. Once finished configuring settings, make sure for each setting the "Override Setting at Child Contexts" is selected and then save.
  19. Next, click on the Powerlinks Proxy Tools tab, then click the Create Proxy Tool button.
  20. From the drop down menu, select "LAMS Integration Module".
  21. Enter the proxy tool name, version (1.0) and description, do not lock any of they settings, and do not select the "Release to My WebCT" option.
  22. Click save, the new Proxy Tool should appear in the list.
  23. Now return to the settings screen by clicking on the utilities (red box) tab then clicking settings.
  24. Under tools, a new link should appear with the same name as you used for the proxy tool name. Click it.
  25. The Enable Tool Field should be locked, you will need to unlock it first, then return to the menu again and select true to enable the tool. Make sure you select the "Override Setting at Child Contexts" also.


5. Configuring LAMS Side
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   1. Follow the instructions to install LAMS, it is recommended that you install LAMS and Blackboard CE on separate servers to account for heavy memory requirements. You can either build LAMS  from source or follow the instructions for Window Installers  or Unix Installers. 
   2. Login to LAMS as sysadmin.
   3. Goto Sys Admin->Maintain integrated servers->Add New Server.
   4. Setup the fields to match those that you put on the Blackboard side
   5. The id and key should map to the "LAMS SERVER ID" and "LAMS SERVER SECRET KEY" fields respectively on the LAMS properties page in Blackboard (see above).
   6. Fill in a description of the Blackboard server.
   7. The "Prefix" field denotes a prefix that will be added to all users from Blackboard CE, for example if you put webct as the prefix and accessed LAMS with a user called "user", their name in LAMS would be "webct_user".
   8. The 'disabled' checkbox disables this integration, you can select this later if you wish to disable the connection.
   9. The User Information URL is arbitrary for LAMS/Blackboard CE integrations, so put a dummy URL in.
  10. You can specify a timeout page that LAMS will go to if there is an error.
  
  
6. Using the LAMS logo for the LAMS Link
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Any time you add a link to your WebCT homepage, you can specify an image to use for the link.

The LAMS_logo.jpg is included with the package, and is suggested to be used for this purpose.