New Install Guide

Movable Type Installation Guide

Movable Type runs on Web server where you use it to set up and add content to your blog and build the blog pages that visitors see over the Internet. You install the Movable Type software on the Web server. Once Movable Type is installed, you use a Web browser on your personal computer to connect to Movable Type and make changes to your blog.

You don't need your own Web server to install and use Movable Type. You can easily contract with a Web hosting provider to "rent" space on a managed Web server. Just make sure that your hosting service provides the minimum requirements for Movable Type. Most hosting services offer the Apache Web server and MySQL database. When this is the case, you can follow the Quick Start instructions to get your Movable Type system installed and running in just a few minutes.

If you have your own Web server, you can also follow the Quick Start instructions, or you can read about more advanced installation and configuration options in the UNIX/Linux Installation Instructions. If you have a Windows Web server, we've provided detailed instructions for installing the required components as well as Movable Type. See Installing on a Windows Server.

Who Should Read this Guide

This guide is for anyone who needs to install Movable Type on a Web server. You should be familiar with your server's file system, in which directories (or folders) Web application files should be stored, and your server's configuration.

If you are installing on a Web server maintained by a hosting provider, your provider might be able to give you specific instructions on how and where to install Movable Type or install for you. Check with your hosting provider before installing.

If you are uncomfortable with installing software on a Web server, you can purchase installation service from SixApart.

If you are installing Enterprise Pack because you want to integrate with your enterprise authentication system or enterprise database, you must be familiar with how authentication and/or databases are configured on your network.

Movable Type Requirements

Install the required software on your Web server and your local, personal computer before you begin the Movable Type installation.

Web Server Requirements

  • Web Server Software
    • Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), or Sun Java System Web Server
    • Your Web server must be configured to execute CGI scripts
      • Apache instructions are here.
      • Windows instructions are included in in this guide.
      • Sun Java System Web Server instructions are here.
  • SQL Database Server Software
    • The standard version of Movable Type supports MySQL 4.0 or later, PostgreSQL, SQLite.
    • The Enterprise Pack adds support for Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server. See Using Enterprise Databases.
  • Perl
    • Perl comes installed on all UNIX and Linux systems
    • Perl must be installed on Windows systems. See Windows Web Server Setup.
  • Mail Server--required if you want to send and receive notifications
    • Movable Type works with Sendmail or any SMTP mail server. You need to know the Sendmail path on your server or the name of the SMTP server you want to use.
  • PHP--required only for dynamic publishing or creating custom scripts
    • For PHP information, see http://www.php.net/.

Personal Computer

• Web Browser

• FTP program for loading files onto your Web server

Six Apart recommends Fetch (for Mac users) or CuteFTP (for Windows users). Both are free and easy to use.

Before You Install -- Collect Required Information Before you begin the installation, get the following information from your Web hosting provider or system administrator. If you are the system administrator and you don't have this information, consult your Web server and database documentation.

• User name and password that you can use to log in to the Web server

• Web server directory path for the directory from which the server is configured to run cgi programs, usually named cgi-bin and located in a subdirectory on your server.

The installation instructions refer to this directory as the cgi-bin directory. Be sure to substitute the actual path to the directory on your server. For example:

/usr/lib/cgi-bin

• Web server directory path for the default document directory. This directory is often called the document root or Web root. The installation instructions refer to it as the Web root. Be sure to substitute the actual path to the directory on your system. For example:

/var/www

• Domain name used to access the Web server from a Web browser

• Movable Type database name, username, and password

You must create a Movable Type database before you begin the installation. Often the database is created for you by your Web hosting provider or system administrator. The Quick Start Instructions assume this is the case. For instructions on creating a database, see Creating the Movable Type Database.

Quick Start Instructions If you are using a Linux or Unix Web server with all required components installed, follow these steps to install Movable Type:

  1. Use a Web browser to connect to the Movable Type Download page and follow instructions there to download the Unix/Linux/Mac OS X (.tar.gz) release file to your personal computer.

If you purchased any expansion packs for Movable Type and want to install them now, follow instructions to download the expansion pack files as well. You can also install expansion packs later, after the base Movable Type system is installed.

  1. Extract the Movable Type files from the release file into a new folder on your local computer.

You will need a program that can uncompress and extracts tar files. If you don't have such a program, you can learn how to get one on the gzip home page, http://www.gzip.org.

  1. Start your FTP program and connect to your Web server using your server login name and password.

  2. Copy the mt-static directory from your local computer to the Web root directory on the Web server.

  3. Open the cgi-bin directory on your Web server. Make a new directory within it named mt. Copy all of the other Movable Type installation folders and files to the mt directory.

  4. Make sure all the Movable Type cgi files (files ending with .cgi) in the mt directory on the Web server have execute permission. You should be able to select these files and check their properties with your FTP program.

  5. Start a Web browser and run the installation wizard by connecting to the following Web address

http://domainname/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi

where domainname is the domain name for your blog.

Follow the instructions provided by the installation wizard, to complete the installation and set up your Movable Type user name, password, and blog name. If you encounter problems during the installation, see Troubleshooting Installation Problems.

Getting Started with Movable Type: Managing Your Blog When the installation wizard completes, it connects you to the Movable Type system with the login you created, creates a blog with the name you specified, and adds a standard first blog entry. Viewing Your Blog To see your new blog, connect to the following Web address

http://domainname/blogname

where domainname is the domain name for your Web server and blogname is the name you specified during the installation. You can make your blog available to the public on the Internet by creating links to this address from other Web sites or generally advertising this address. Managing Your Blog When the installation is complete, you are ready to customize and add content to your personal blog.

To manage your blog, connect to the follow Web address:

http://domainname/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi

where domainname is the domain name for your Web server.

For instructions on how to add entries and customize your blog, see XXX.

If you are creating a corporate installation, you can set up additional blogs and users. For instructions, see XXX.

Linux/UNIX Detailed Installation Instructions The Quick Start instructions provide the basic steps for installing on a Web server where the required components have already been installed. The instructions in this section describe how to install required components, how to customize the installation, and how to install extra features. Step 1. Creating the Movable Type Database You must create a database for Movable Type before you run the installation wizard. The wizard connects to the database with the user name and password you supply and configures it for use with Movable Type. Methods for creating a database differ, depending on what database server software you are using on your Web server. Also, hosting providers offer different programs for administering databases. This section covers the most commonly used database servers and administration tools. If you do not have a database server installed, contact your hosting provider or system administrator to install one for you. If you are the system administrator and need to install a database, MySQL is one of the most common and widely supported. For installation instructions, see the MySQL Installation Guide at http://mysql.com. If you are installing the Enterprise Pack and intend to use an Oracle database or Microsoft SQL Server database, see Using Enterprise Databases for instructions. Creating a MySQL Database Many hosting providers offer graphical user interface programs for managing MySQL databases. This section describes how to create a database from a shell and from two of the most popular programs: phpMyAdmin and cPanel.

Using a Shell

If you have shell access to your Web server, you can use the mysqladmin utility to create a database. Enter the following command to create a database named movabletype.

mysqladmin create movabletype -u username -p

Replace username with the username you want use to access the database. Enter the password for the username you created. If the database is created successfully, you see no information on the screen.

Using phpMyAdmin

  1. In your Web browser, connect to the phyMyAdmin home pages for your Web server. You'll need to get the exact Web address from your hosting provider. It should be something similar to:

http://domainname/phpmyadmin/index.php

where domainname is the domain name for your blog.

You see the phpMyAdmin home page.

  1. Enter movabletype in the Create new database field, and click Create.

  2. Click the Home icon to return to the main page. Click Privileges and Add New User. Enter a user name and password in the corresponding fields. Leave all other options set to their default values. Click Go.

  3. On the Privileges screen click Check Privileges on the user you just created. In the Database-specific privileges, display the Add Privileges to the Following Database drop-down menu and select the movabletype database. Select all privileges and click Go.

Using cPanel

  1. In a Web browser, connect to CPanel, by entering it's address, typically:

http://domain.com/cpanel

where domain is your domain name.

  1. Scroll down to the Databases area and click the icon to work with MySQL databases.

You see a control panel for managing MySQL databases.

  1. In the New Database field, movabletype as the name of the Movable Type database, and click Create Database.

  2. In the Current Users area, enter a user name and password to use to connect to the movabletype database. Then click Create User.

  3. In the Add Users to Your Database area, select the user and database that you created for Movable Type in the corresponding drop down boxes. Check "All" for Privileges. Then click Add User To Your Database.

Creating a PostgreSQL Database 1. Create a user and password for the movable type database by entering the following command in a shell:

createuser - U username -P

where username is the user name you want to use to connect to the Movable Type database. The -P option instructs the database server to ask you for a password. Enter the password for the new user.

  1. Enter the following command to create a new database named movabletype, where username is the user you created in step 1.

createdb -U username movabletype

When the Movable Type installation wizard asks what database you want to use, select PostgreSQL. On the PostgreSQL configuration page, enter the database name, user name, and password that you created. Creating a SQLite Database SQLite does not require a user and password for the database. At a shell or DOS prompt, enter:

sqlite3 movabletype

to create a new database named movabletype.

Step 2. Select and Configure an Installation Directory

The Quick Start instructions recommend installing the Movable Type files in a directory, named mt, within your Web server's cgi-bin directory. Installing Movable Type in the cgi-bin directory is easy, because your Web server is configured to run cgi scripts from this directory. Movable Type's static files, however, cannot be accessed from within a cgi-bin directory. So you must install the mt-static directory within your server's Web root.

If you have privileges to edit your Web server configuration files, you can install all of the files in an mt directory within your Web server's Web root directory. With Apache configured this way, there is no need to setup or move your mt-static directory. Future upgrades are much easier to manage.

  1. Create the directory where you intend to install Movable Type.
  2. Add the following text to either your .htaccess file or Apache's httpd.conf file. Options Indexes ExecCGI

where pathtomovabletype is the fully qualified path on your web server's file system to the directory in which you intend to install Movable Type.

Step 3. Download the Movable Type Files

  1. Download the Unix/Linux/Mac OS X (.tar.gz) release file to your personal computer.

If you have purchased any expansion packs for Movable Type and want to install them now, follow instructions to download the expansion pack files as well. You can also install expansion packs later, after the base Movable Type system is installed.

  1. Extract the Movable Type files from the release file into a new folder on your local computer.

  2. Use FTP to copy the files to your Movable Type installation directory.

If you are installing in the cgi-bin directory, copy the mt-static directory from your local computer to the Web root directory on the Web server.

  1. Make sure all the Movable Type cgi files (files ending with .cgi) in the mt directory on the Web server have execute permission.

Step 4. Running the Installation Wizard

The installation wizard checks the configuration of your server, including database types and expansion packs, and displays a series of forms that you fill out to complete the Movable Type installation.

If you installed the Enterprise Pack, you'll have more database options and see a form to configure LDAP settings. For detailed instructions, see Configuring Movable Type for LDAP.

If the installation wizard displays a page listing optional Perl modules and features that you can install, print this page and save it so you know which modules to install later. The listing page tells where to get information on downloading and installing these modules.

To run the installation wizard, start a Web browser connect to the following Web address

http://domainname/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi

where domainname is the domain name for your blog.

When it completes, the installaton wizard writes the Movable Type configuration file, mt-config.cgi, and starts Movable Type. You are ready to begin adding content to the first blog and creating additional blogs. For instructions, see Getting Started with Movable Type: Managing Your Blog.

Installing on Windows Server The required Movable Type Web server components are less likely to be pre-installed on a Windows, so this section gives detailed instructions for setting up your server.

These instructions assume you are using the MySQL database server. It is one of the most common and widely supported. The Enterprise Pack adds support for Microsoft SQL Server. If you are using SQL Server, follow instructions in Creating a SQL Server Database to set up a Movable Type database with SQL Server.

Windows Web Server Setup

Before installing Movable Type on a Windows Web Server, install these required components:

• Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)

o Microsoft IIS 6.0 is provided as part of the Microsoft 2003 Server software.

o Microsoft IIS 7.0 is provided as part of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Ultimate, Vista Business, and Vista Enterprise software.

If you are using Microsoft Windows Vista, you will need to install an SMTP server or have access to an external SMTP server for email notifications. SMTP is not included with Windows Vista.

Follow your server documentation to insure that IIS is operating properly on your server.

• ActiveState ActivePerl

o Use your web browser to connect to connect to http://www.activestate.com and follow links and instructions on that site to download the latest Windows MSI package. After downloading, run the setup program using all the default settings.

• MySQL Database Server

o Use your web browser to connect to http://mysql.com and follow the links and instructions to download the most recent MySQL installer for Windows. Run the installation program selecting a Typical setup. Select the option to Configure MySQL Now and choose Standard Configuration with the default settings. Enter a root password, save your settings, and finish the wizard.

• MySQL Administrator

o Use your web browser to connect to http://mysql.com and follow the links and instructions to download the most recent MySQL Administrator installer for Windows. Run the installation program to install with default settings.

• PHP o PHP is required only if you want to use Movable Type dynamic publishing or customize Movable Type with scripts authored in PHP.

o Use your web browser to connect to http://www.php.net and follow links and instructions for downloading the Windows PHP installer. Run the downloaded installation program leaving all of the default settings. The installer automatically configures IIS to work with PHP.

Set Up the Movable Type MySQL Database

  1. Start the MySQL Administrator program. In the Start menu, select MySQL > MySQL Administrator.

  2. In the Connect to a MySQL server instance: dialog, fill in these fields:

Server host: localhost Username: root

Enter the root password you specified when you installed the MySQL server.

  1. Click on the Service Control icon. Check that the message displays "MySQL Service is Running."

  2. Click on the Catalogs icon. In the empty lower-left pane, click your right mouse button to display a context menu and select Create New Schema.

Name the new schema movabletype.

  1. Click the User Administration icon, then right-click in the lower-left pane (the user list). Choose Add New User.

Name the new user mt_user and specify a password for the user. You will need to supply the schema name, user name, and password when you install Movable Type.

  1. Select the Schema Privileges tab in the right pane and select the movabletype schema in the list of schemas.

Assign the following privileges for this user: SELECT, INSERT UPDATED DELETE CREATE ALTER CREATETMPTABLE. Then click Apply changes.

  1. Restart MySQL. Click the Service Control icon and click Stop Service. Wait until the service is stopped, and then click Start Service.

Configuring IIS to Use ActivePerl

  1. Check that IIS is functioning. Connect to http://localhost/ in your web browser. You should see a startup page and documentation.

  2. In the Start Menu, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Services Manager.

  3. In the Internet Services Manager, use the left-side navigation to select the Default Web Site. Right-click and choose Properties.

  4. Select the Home Directory tab, and then click Configuration.

  5. Click the Add button. In the form, fill in the fields as follows.

Executable: C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe "%s" %s

Extension:.cgi

Verbs Limit to: GET,HEAD,POST

Check that file exists: (uncheck this box)

Click OK to save your changes.

Installing Movable Type

  1. Use a Web browser to connect to the Movable Type Download page and follow instructions there to download the Windows (.zip) release file.

  2. Double-click to extract the release files from the .zip file. You'll see a folder named after the current Movable Type release. Rename this folder to mt.

  3. Move the mt folder into the Web root folder, usually C:\Inetpub\wwwroot. Check the properties of the mt folder to make sure that the Web User has Execute permission.

  4. Start the Perl Package manager to install Perl modules required by Movable Type. From the Start menu, select All Programs>ActivePerl>Perl Package Manager.

  5. If you see a Windows Security Alert, click Unblock to give the Perl Command Line Interpreter permission to access the web.

  6. In the Search box, type DB and press Enter. You see a list of packages that contain the letters DB.

Select the package named DBI and chose Install DBI from the Action menu.

Select the package named DBD-mysql and chose Install DBD-mysql from the Action menu.

Choose Run Marked Actions from the File menu to install the two packages.

  1. To verify the installation, enter the following Web address in a Web browser:

http://localhost/MT/mt-check.cgi

If you see a green message saying, "Movable Type System Check Successful" at the bottom of the page, your Perl installation is complete.

  1. To run the installation wizard, start a Web browser connect to the following Web address

http://domainname/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi

where domainname is the domain name for your blog.

The installation wizard checks the configuration of your server, including database types and expansion packs, and displays a series of forms that you fill out to complete the Movable Type installation.

If you installed the Enterprise Pack, you'll see additional database options and a form to configure LDAP settings. For detailed instructions, see Configuring Movable Type for LDAP.

If the installation wizard displays a page listing optional Perl modules and features that you can install, print this page and save it so you know which modules to install later. The listing page tells where to get information on downloading and installing these modules.

When it completes, the installaton wizard writes the Movable Type configuration file, mt-config.cgi, and starts Movable Type. You are ready to begin adding content to the first blog and creating additional blogs. For instructions, see Getting Started with Movable Type: Managing Your Blog.

Troubleshooting Installation Problems The Movable Type installation wizard checks for dependencies and sets up your system configuration and thus prevents most potential installation problems. This section describes some problems that still can occur with installation.

If you encounter problems that are not covered in this guide, check the Movable Type Knowledge Base Installation section for help. If you don't find a solution in the Installation section, you can also search the Knowledge Base.

Error 500 - Internal Server Error This error appears in your Web browser when the Movable Type installation wizard (or any Perl script) fails to execute. Check the following:

• Use your FTP program to display the extracted Movable Type files on your local computer and the files on your Web server. Make sure that all of the files were copied.

• Check that your FTP program is set up to copy files in ASCII mode. If not, set it to use ASCII mode and re-copy the Movable Type files.

• Make sure that all of the .cgi files in the mt directory (within your server's cgi-bin directory) have read and execute permission.

• Check that the version of Perl on your server is 5.004_4 or higher. If not, download and install a newer version.

• Open the mt.cgi file and check that the path to Perl is correct for your server on the first line of the script. If not, you need to either correct this line in each of the Movable Type .cgi files or (if you have privileges to do so) make a symbolic link that maps the actual Perl directory to the one named in the Movable Type .cgi files. In a shell, enter:

ln -s actualpathtoperl pathinMTcgi_files

where actualpathtoperl is the path to the directory where Perl is installed on your server and pathinMTcgi_files is the directory where the Movable Type files are looking for Perl.

If your hosting provider is GoDaddy, you will have to edit the path in each of the files. GoDaddy's hosting software resets the Cgi-bin directory.

• If you are using a Windows server, check that you correctly configured IIS to recognize .cgi files as Perl scripts. See the instructions in Configuring IIS to Use ActivePerl.

The mt-static Directory Is Not Found or Inaccessible The mt-static directory contains files that must be stored outside the cgi-bin directory. For more details, see Select and Configure an Installation Directory.

If you put the mt-static directory in your server's Web root, you can enter

/mt-static

as the path.

If mt-static is in a different location, enter the path to the location of the mt-static directory in the following format:

http://domain_name/path/mt-static

where domain_name is the domain name of your Web server and path is the full path to the directory in which you stored mt-static. Test Connection to Database Fails If the installation wizard tests the database and fails to connect, check the following and then re-try:

• Make sure you entered the basic settings correctly on the Database Configuration page.

• If your database is configured to use a nonstandard port or socket, click Show Advanced Configuration Options on the Database Configuration page and enter the appropriate settings.

• Check that the user you created to allow Movable Type access to the database has full privileges to create and modify tables in the database. For instructions, see Creating the Movable Type Database. System Administrators are often reluctant to allow this level of access, and might not give it if you do not ask for it specifically. Permission Denied When Writing mt-config.cgi File The Web server must have write access to the mt directory.

On must UNIX/Linux systems there is a group to which the Web server user belongs. Typically it is named apache or www. Learn how the Web server user is set up for your system and make sure that it has write access to the mt directory.
Images and Styles Are Missing If you are able to run Movable Type, but images and styles appear to be missing, there was probably a problem in upgrading from a previous version. Movable Type is using an outdated mt-static directory.

  1. Determine where you installed the mt-static directory for the current release or re-install it from the distribution files. See Select and Configure an Installation Directory.

  2. Edit the Movable Type configuration file directly to correct the path. Open the file mt-config.cgi file with a text editor and change the following line so that it references the correct path:

StaticWebPath http://domain_name/path/mt-static

where domain_name is the domain name of your Web server and path is the full path to the directory in which you stored mt-static.

  1. Save your changes and re-start Movable Type.

Using Enterprise Databases The Enterprise Pack adds support for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server enterprise databases. If you want to use Movable Type with one of these databases, set up your database before you begin the installation. Creating a SQL Server Database Follow instructions provided by Microsoft and any standards set by your organization. Movable Type will initialize the database and create the necessary tables and indices.

Before you install Movable Type, collect the following information about the database:

• Name

• User name

• Password

• Server host name: localhost, server name, or server IP address

• SQL Server character set: Shift_JIS or ISO-8859-1

• Port number (if not the default: 1433)

If SQL Server is configured to use Windows integrated authentication (recommended), you do not need to provide a user name and password to access the database.

If SQL Server is configured to use Mixed Authentication mode, you must provide the user name and password when you set up Movable Type to use the SQL Server database. Using SQL Server with Movable Type Dynamic Publishing Dynamic publishing is a Movable Type option that displays page components directly from the database--instead of generating HTML pages in advance. For a complete description of Dynamic publishing and instructions on how to set up Movable Type to use it, see XXX.

??Is the following still true, or is there a better solution in MT4? Microsoft discourages using ntwdblib.dll on its Web site.

Dynamic publishing requires that you install PHP on your Web server. If you are using SQL Server, you must also install a newer version of the file ntwdblib.dll than is provided with PHP on your database server.

You can get the newer version of ntwdblib.dll from Microsoft SQL Server 2000 if you have it, or request it from SixApart.

To use the correct protocol from PHP to SQL Server add the following settings to the database server's registry:

[HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\Client\ConnectTo] "DSQUERY"="DBNETLIB"

Add the following settings to the Web server's php.ini file: cgi.forceredirect = 0 extension=phpmssql.dll mssql.textlimit = 2147483647 mssql.textsize = 2147483647 mssql.datetimeconvert = Off mssql.secure_connection = On

Creating an Oracle Database Create the Oracle database for Movable Type before you begin the installation. Follow instructions provided by Oracle and any standards set by your organization. Movable Type will initialize the database and create the necessary tables and indices.

Before you install Movable Type, collect the following information about the database:

• Name

• User name

• Password

• Server name or IP address (if not localhost)

• Port number (if not the default: 1521) Configuring UNIX/Linux for Oracle Database On UNIX/Linux Web servers, you must set environment variables for Oracle in your Apache configuration file (either server-wide or for a particular virtual host). If mod_setenv is active, add these lines to the configuration file:

SetEnv ORACLEHOME pathtooracle PassEnv ORACLEHOME SetEnv LDLIBRARYPATH pathtooraclelib PassEnv LDLIBRARY_PATH

Where pathtooracle is the path to the directory where the Oracle database is installed on your server and pathtooracle_lib is the directory where Oracle database libraries are installed.

Using LDAP Enterprise Authentication In the standard version of Movable Type users, groups, and passwords are managed within the Movable Type application.

The Enterprise Pack allows you to optionally configure your Movable Type installation to support managing user and group authentication information from an external LDAP directory service. The most commonly used LDAP directory services are OpenLDAP for Unix/Linux and Active Directory for Windows.

When you set up Movable Type to work with an LDAP directory, users sign in to Movable Type with the same user name and password they use to access other services on your network. In technical terms, user and group authentication is managed by the LDAP service, instead of Movable Type. To set up Movable Type to work with LDAP, you need to know where your directory is located and how it is configured to uniquely identify users.

LDAP configuration is a highly complex and specific topic. We recommend that you consult with someone who is expert in LDAP integration and familiar with your LDAP directory configuration before you set up Movable Type to use LDAP. LDAP Authentication Modes You have two options for configuring Movable Type to authenticate users with LDAP. You can use External User Management or Authentication Only. External User Management When you use LDAP for External User Management (default configuration) you do not manage users and groups in Movable Type. Any LDAP user can log in and use Movable Type. Movable Type creates an account for each user the first time they log in. You can control access within Movable Type by setting blog permissions for users and groups. Authentication Only In the alternate configuration, called Authentication Only, only the users you create in Movable Type have access to the Movable Type application. When a user logs into Movable Type, Movable Type uses the LDAP directory to confirm (authenticate) the match between the user name and password. This configuration allows you to directly limit Movable Type access to a subset of the LDAP directory users. You must make sure that the user names you create in Movable Type match the LDAP directory, or the users won't be able to log in. You manage user's weblog permissions and associate users with groups in Movable Type.

LDAP Synchronization Movable Type must synchronize with the LDAP directory in order to load the latest user and group information. It is important to synchronize periodically to make sure Movable Type has current information about users and groups. Manual Synchronization To manually synchronize Movable Type with the LDAP directory:

  1. Start Movable Type.

  2. Display the System-wide User and Group Listing.

  3. Click XXX to synchronize users, and click XXX to synchronize groups. ??What are the names of these buttons? It is not documented? Automatic Synchronization You can set up Movable Type to synchronize with the LDAP directory automatically at regular intervals. On the LDAP configuration page in the installation wizard, set the interval (in minutes) in the External User Synch Frequency text box.

You must also set up Movable Type to run background tasks. You do this by editing the Movable Type configuration file. Use a text editor to open the file mt-config.cgi in your mt installation directory.

Find the following line.

LaunchBackgroupdTasks 0

Change the 0 to 1 to turn on background tasks.

You can also change the synchronization interval in the mt-config.cgi file. Look for the following line.

ExternalUserSynchFrequency 60

Change the number of minutes between synchronizations. Individual User Synchronization Each time a user logs in to Movable Type, it connects to the LDAP directory and updates that user's information. Specifically, it checks for the user's status and group membership. For example a user who has been removed from the LDAP directory is not allowed to log in.

LDAP Configuration for Movable Type If you downloaded the Enterprise Pack before running the installation wizard, the installation wizard displays the Authentication Configuration form in which you can enter LDAP settings. If you add the Enterprise Pack after installation, the form appears during the upgrade process.

To configure Movable Type for LDAP authentication, fill out the fields in the Authentication Configuration form as described in the following table. Then click Test Connection to LDAP to confirm the connection between Movable Type and the LDAP directory.

Use LDAP checkbox Check to use LDAP authentication.

Authentication URL

Enter the URL that defines the address of the LDAP directory and the base scope for LDAP authentication. Example:

ldap://ldap.example.com/dc=example,dc=com? attribute_name

where attributename is the name of the LDAP attribute you want to use to match Movable Type user names. For more information, see http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/modauth_ldap.html#authldapurl.

Authentication DN

Enter an alternate LDAP DN (distinguished name) used to bind to the LDAP directory when searching for a user. If unspecified, MT will attempt to do an anonymous bind for LDAP lookups. Example: cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com

SASL Mechanism Choose the name of the Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) mechanism used by your LDAP installation Test Username

Enter a username from your LDAP directory in order to test the connection.

Test Password Enter the password for the test username.

If the test fails, double-check that all of the LDAP settings are correct for your system.