Context Navigation

Editing TracStandalone

Adjust edit area height: Edit side-by-side

= Tracd =

Tracd is a lightweight standalone Trac web server.
It can be used in a variety of situations, from a test or development server to a multiprocess setup behind another web server used as a load balancer.

== Pros ==

* Fewer dependencies: You don't need to install apache or any other web-server.
 * Fast: Should be almost as fast as the [wiki:TracModPython mod_python] version (and much faster than the [wiki:TracCgi CGI]), even more so since version 0.12 where the HTTP/1.1 version of the protocol is enabled by default
 * Automatic reloading: For development, Tracd can be used in ''auto_reload'' mode, which will automatically restart the server whenever you make a change to the code (in Trac itself or in a plugin).

== Cons ==

* Fewer features: Tracd implements a very simple web-server and is not as configurable or as scalable as Apache httpd.
 * No native HTTPS support: [http://www.rickk.com/sslwrap/ sslwrap] can be used instead,
   or [http://trac.edgewall.org/wiki/STunnelTracd stunnel -- a tutorial on how to use stunnel with tracd] or Apache with mod_proxy.

== Usage examples ==

A single project on port 8080. (http://localhost:8080/)
{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 /path/to/project
}}}
Stricly speaking this will make your Trac accessible to everybody from your network rather than ''localhost only''. To truly limit it use ''--hostname'' option.
{{{
 $ tracd --hostname=localhost -p 8080 /path/to/project
}}}
With more than one project. (http://localhost:8080/project1/ and http://localhost:8080/project2/)
{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 /path/to/project1 /path/to/project2
}}}

You can't have the last portion of the path identical between the projects since Trac uses that name to keep the URLs of the
different projects unique. So if you use `/project1/path/to` and `/project2/path/to`, you will only see the second project.

An alternative way to serve multiple projects is to specify a parent directory in which each subdirectory is a Trac project, using the `-e` option. The example above could be rewritten:
{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 -e /path/to
}}}

To exit the server on Windows, be sure to use {{{CTRL-BREAK}}} -- using {{{CTRL-C}}} will leave a Python process running in the background.

== Installing as a Windows Service ==

=== Option 1 ===
To install as a Windows service, get the [http://www.google.com/search?q=srvany.exe SRVANY] utility and run:
{{{
 C:\path\to\instsrv.exe tracd C:\path\to\srvany.exe
 reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tracd\Parameters /v Application /d "\"C:\path\to\python.exe\" \"C:\path\to\python\scripts\tracd-script.py\" <your tracd parameters>"
 net start tracd
}}}

'''DO NOT''' use {{{tracd.exe}}}.  Instead register {{{python.exe}}} directly with {{{tracd-script.py}}} as a parameter.  If you use {{{tracd.exe}}}, it will spawn the python process without SRVANY's knowledge.  This python process will survive a {{{net stop tracd}}}.

If you want tracd to start automatically when you boot Windows, do:
{{{
 sc config tracd start= auto
}}}

The spacing here is important.

For Windows 7 User, srvany.exe may not be an option, so you can use [http://www.google.com/search?q=winserv.exe WINSERV] utility and run:
{{{
"C:\path\to\winserv.exe" install tracd -displayname "tracd" -start auto "C:\path\to\python.exe" c:\path\to\python\scripts\tracd-script.py <your tracd parameters>"

net start tracd
}}}

=== Option 2 ===

Use [http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/WindowsServiceScript WindowsServiceScript], available at [http://trac-hacks.org/ Trac Hacks]. Installs, removes, starts, stops, etc. your Trac service.

== Using Authentication ==

Using tracd with Apache .htpasswd files:

To create a .htpasswd file using htpasswd:

{{{
 $ sudo htpasswd -c /path/to/env/.htpasswd username
}}}
then for additional users:
{{{
 $ sudo htpasswd /path/to/env/.htpasswd username2
}}}
then for starting the tracd (on windows skip the "=" after --basic-auth):
{{{
tracd -p 8080 --basic-auth=environmentname,/fullpath/environmentname/.htpasswd,/fullpath/environmentname /fullpath/environmentname
}}}

`environmentname` is the directory name of the Trac project folder, as opposed to `/fullpath/environmentname` which is the full path to the Trac project folder. See below for another example.

Tracd provides support for both Basic and Digest authentication. The default is to use Digest; to use Basic authentication, replace `--auth` with `--basic-auth` in the examples below. (You must still specify a dialogic "realm", which can be an empty string by trailing the BASICAUTH with a comma.)

''Support for Basic authentication was added in version 0.9.''

The general format for using authentication is (replace `--auth` with `--basic-auth` if you want to use Basic auth):

{{{
 $ tracd -p port --auth="base_project_dir,password_file_path,realm" project_path
}}}

where:

* '''base_project_dir''': the base directory of the project specified as follows:
   * when serving multiple projects: ''relative'' to the `project_bath`
   * when serving only a single project (`-s`): the name of the project directory
 Don't use an absolute path here as this won't work. ''Note:'' This parameter is case-sensitive even for environments on Windows.
 * '''password_file_path''': path to the password file
 * '''realm''': the realm name (can be anything)
 * '''project_path''': path of the project

Examples:

{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 \
   --auth="project1,/path/to/passwordfile,mycompany.com" /path/to/project1
}}}

Of course, the password file can be be shared so that it is used for more than one project:
{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 \
   --auth="project1,/path/to/passwordfile,mycompany.com" \
   --auth="project2,/path/to/passwordfile,mycompany.com" \
   /path/to/project1 /path/to/project2
}}}

Another way to share the password file is to specify "*" for the project name:
{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 \
   --auth="*,/path/to/users.htdigest,mycompany.com" \
   /path/to/project1 /path/to/project2
}}}

=== Using a htpasswd password file ===
This section describes how to use `tracd` with Apache .htpasswd files.

To create a .htpasswd file use Apache's `htpasswd` command (see [#GeneratingPasswordsWithoutApache below] for a method to create these files without using Apache):

{{{
 $ sudo htpasswd -c /path/to/env/.htpasswd username
}}}
then for additional users:
{{{
 $ sudo htpasswd /path/to/env/.htpasswd username2
}}}

Then to start `tracd` run something like this:

{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 --basic-auth="projectdirname,/fullpath/environmentname/.htpasswd,realmname" /fullpath/environmentname
}}}

For example:

{{{
 $ tracd -p 8080 --basic-auth="testenv,/srv/tracenv/testenv/.htpasswd,My Test Env" /srv/tracenv/testenv
}}}

''Note:'' You might need to pass "-m" as a parameter to htpasswd on some platforms (OpenBSD).

=== Using a htdigest password file ===

If you have Apache available, you can use the htdigest command to generate the password file. Type 'htdigest' to get some usage instructions, or read [http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/programs/htdigest.html this page] from the Apache manual to get precise instructions.  You'll be prompted for a password to enter for each user that you create.  For the name of the password file, you can use whatever you like, but if you use something like `users.htdigest` it will remind you what the file contains. As a suggestion, put it in your <projectname>/conf folder along with the [TracIni trac.ini] file.

Note that you can start tracd without the --auth argument, but if you click on the ''Login'' link you will get an error.

=== Generating Passwords Without Apache ===

If you don't have Apache available, you can use this simple Python script to generate your passwords:

{{{
#!python
from optparse import OptionParser
# The md5 module is deprecated in Python 2.5
try:
    from hashlib import md5
except ImportError:
    from md5 import md5
realm = 'trac'

# build the options
usage = "usage: %prog [options]"
parser = OptionParser(usage=usage)
parser.add_option("-u", "--username",action="store", dest="username", type = "string",
                  help="the username for whom to generate a password")
parser.add_option("-p", "--password",action="store", dest="password", type = "string",
                  help="the password to use")
parser.add_option("-r", "--realm",action="store", dest="realm", type = "string",
                  help="the realm in which to create the digest")
(options, args) = parser.parse_args()

# check options
if (options.username is None) or (options.password is None):
   parser.error("You must supply both the username and password")
if (options.realm is not None):
   realm = options.realm
   
# Generate the string to enter into the htdigest file
kd = lambda x: md5(':'.join(x)).hexdigest()
print ':'.join((options.username, realm, kd([options.username, realm, options.password])))
}}}

Note: If you use the above script you must use the --auth option to tracd, not --basic-auth, and you must set the realm in the --auth value to 'trac' (without the quotes). Example usage (assuming you saved the script as trac-digest.py):

{{{
 $ python trac-digest.py -u username -p password >> c:\digest.txt
 $ tracd --port 8000 --auth=proj_name,c:\digest.txt,trac c:\path\to\proj_name
}}}

Note: If you would like to use --basic-auth you need to use htpasswd tool from apache server to generate .htpasswd file. The remaining part is similar but make sure to use empty realm (i.e. coma after path). Make sure to use -m option for it.  If you do not have Apache, [trac:source:/tags/trac-0.11/contrib/htpasswd.py htpasswd.py] may help.  (Note that it requires a `crypt` or `fcrypt` module; see the source comments for details.)

It is possible to use md5sum utility to generate digest-password file using such method:
{{{
 $ printf "${user}:trac:${password}" | md5sum - >>user.htdigest
}}}
and manually delete " -" from the end and add "${user}:trac:" to the start of line from 'to-file'.

== Tips ==

=== Serving static content ===

If `tracd` is the only web server used for the project, 
it can also be used to distribute static content 
(tarballs, Doxygen documentation, etc.)

This static content should be put in the `$TRAC_ENV/htdocs` folder,
and is accessed by URLs like `<project_URL>/chrome/site/...`.

Example: given a `$TRAC_ENV/htdocs/software-0.1.tar.gz` file,
the corresponding relative URL would be `/<project_name>/chrome/site/software-0.1.tar.gz`, 
which in turn can be written as `htdocs:software-0.1.tar.gz` (TracLinks syntax) or `[/<project_name>/chrome/site/software-0.1.tar.gz]` (relative link syntax).

''Support for `htdocs:` TracLinks syntax was added in version 0.10''

=== Using apache rewrite rules ===
In some situations when you choose to use tracd behind apache, you might experience issues with redirects, like being redirected to URLs with the wrong host or protocol. In this case (and only in this case), setting the `[trac] use_base_url_for_redirect` to `true` can help, as this will force Trac to use the value of `[trac] base_url` for doing the redirects.

=== Serving a different base path than / ===
Tracd supports serving projects with different base urls than /<project>. The parameter name to change this is
{{{
 $ tracd --base-path=/some/path
}}}

----
See also: TracInstall, TracCgi, TracModPython, TracGuide, [trac:TracOnWindowsStandalone?version=13#RunningTracdasservice Running tracd.exe as a Windows service], [trac:TracOnWindowsIisAjp], [trac:TracNginxRecipe]

Note: See WikiFormatting and TracWiki for help on editing wiki content.

Change information

Your email or username:

E-mail address and name can be saved in the Preferences

Comment about this change (optional):

Note: See TracWiki for help on using the wiki.