Trac on Windows Installation & Upgrade Guide

What follows are specific instructions for installing, setting up, and upgrading Trac on Windows.

Choose between these options of installing Trac:

• Trac running without Apache or IIS using tracd and svnserve is the simplest setup. It is stripped for all optional dependencies. It might be taken as a first step to get things running. You should then be able to pick the missing steps from the Apache CGI based setup found on this page as a second step.

• The 'traditional' Apache CGI based setup is described just below.

• Also, after installing the CGI-based setup, you may want to switch to using mod_python which speeds up Trac's response times considerably.

If you are trying to upgrade to Trac 0.9, see the instructions at the end of this file.

Installation of Subversion and Trac served via Apache CGI

Versions used in this example (Feb 2006):

• Trac 0.9.x
• ​Clearsilver 0.9.14 binaries
• ​Python 2.3.5
• ​Apache 2.0.54 or 2.0.55
• ​Subversion 1.2.x
• ​Python 2.3 Bindings for subversion 1.2.x
• ​PySQLite 1.1.6-py2.3
• ​SQLite 3.2.2 (optional)
• ​eGenix.com mx Extensions for Python (only required if using PostgreSQL)
• ​docutils 0.3.9 (optional)

Please update this Wiki page if you find it is different from your experience. If you have any problems, I would also suggest posting the solutions here for the common good. Please reference the version number you are having difficulties with, but assume that readers will be using the latest version (and issues from previous versions can disappear into wiki history) Contributors: please add your name to the list at the end - Thanks in advance!

For Subversion issues on Windows see the ​TortoiseSVN site, particularly the server section.

Trac running on Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) is highly experimental. See #697.

Learn Subversion

1. Get & Read ​Version Control with Subversion

Install Subversion Pre-Requisites

2. Install ​Apache (If you are running IIS, shut it down before installing Apache, and change its status to 'Manual' or 'Disable')

3. Install ​Subversion
   • ​How to Install Subversion on Windows

Add C:\svn\bin to the path

Note: Be sure to have the MSVCP60.DLL in your PATH, otherwise Apache will refuse to start with the SVN module.

Create Repository

4. Create repository directory

   C:\> md c:\svn
   

5. Create repository

   C:\> svnadmin create c:\svn\repo1
   

6. Create skeleton repository structure in c:\temp\project Example:

   /project
     /vendor
       /tags
       /trunk
         files
     /projectname
       /branches
       /tags
       /trunk
         files
   

7. Build repository tree

   C:\> svn import c:\temp\project file:///c:/svn/repo1 -m "Initial Load"
   

8. Create local sandbox

   C:\> svn checkout file:///c:/svn/repo1 c:\project
   

Configure Apache

9. Copy Subversion module files for Apache

   C:\> copy c:\Progra~1\Subver~1\bin\*.so c:\progra~1\apache~1\apache2\modules
   

You may also need to manually transfer the DLL files from the Subversion installation directory. If the Apache service will not start, or reports an error loading mod_dav_svn.so, you will need to do this. They contain, among other things, the Berkeley DB. This is all you need to do for the DLLs:

C:\> copy c:\progra~1\subver~1\bin\*.dll c:\progra~1\apache~1\apache2\modules

10. Create password file (w/user 'admin')

C:\> c:\progra~1\apache~1\apache2\bin\htpasswd -cm c:\svn\.htaccess admin

11. Configure Apache (edit httpd.conf) 11.1. ​Restrict access/lockdown as appropriate

11.2. Add Modules to httpd.conf

11.1.1. Uncomment:

LoadModule dav_module modules/mod_dav.so
LoadModule dav_fs_module modules/mod_dav_fs.so

11.1.2. Add (after):

# Subversion
LoadModule dav_svn_module modules/mod_dav_svn.so
LoadModule authz_svn_module modules/mod_authz_svn.so

11.1.3. Install Apache as Service (IF NOT WORKING when installed to C:)

C:\Progra~1\Apache~1\Apache2\bin\Apache -k install -n "Apache2"

11.3. Add location root for multiple repositories

# Subversion
<Location /svn>
  DAV svn
  # any /svn/foo URL will map to a repository C:/svn/foo
  # I've only got it working using SVNPath!!
  SVNParentPath C:/svn
  AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Subversion repository"
  AuthUserFile c:/svn/.htaccess
  Require valid-user
</Location>

11.4. Add cgi handler, Uncomment:

AddHandler cgi-script .cgi

12. Restart Apache

13. Test your install of Subversion ​http://[hostname]:80/svn/repo1

---

Create Users

14. Add users to password file

    C:\> c:\progra~1\apache~1\apache2\bin\htpasswd -m c:\svn\.htaccess user
    

Install Trac Prerequisites

(Please note: pay attention to download exactly the versions mentioned here. Do not simply download the latest stable versions. Otherwise you will probably run into several issues.)

15. Install ​Python

Please use Python 2.3 and not 2.4, because the Subversion bindings for Python (that are a few lines down) currently are only available for 2.3 (​look here for the current status of the bindings)

If you desperately want it to work with Python 2.4, this trick seems to work. Install the Subversion bindings for Python 2.3 in the Python 2.4 site-packages directory. Find all dll files inte the directory \site-packages\libsvn with a name in the form: _*.dll. Now use your hexeditor of choice and replace all instances of "python23.dll" with "python24.dll" in the dll files (There's just one occurance in each file).

Add C:\Python23 to the path

16. Install Subversion Python Bindings Download ​svn-win32-1.X.X_py.zip from the Subversion site.
    Extract and copy the libsvn and svn directories to C:\Python23\Lib\site-packages
    
    Note : it is very important to use the python bindings for the exact version of Subversion you have installed. e.g. when running svn 1.2.3, make sure to use svn-win32-1.2.3_py.zip instead of the zip mentioned above. Otherwise, you will run into problems (loading dlls etc.).

17. Install ​docutils (optional)

This is only required if you want to support Restructured text wiki markup

  expand and run from the expanded docutils-xxx directory
  > C:\python23\python setup.py install

18. Install SQLite (optional) ​http://www.sqlite.org
    Copy sqlite.exe to C:\Program Files\SQLite

This is really optional - you only need this if you want to start poking around in the sqlite database because something's gone wrong.

19. Install PySQLite ​http://pysqlite.org/
    Download and install pysqlite-1.1.6.win32-py2.3.exe

or pyPgSQL if you are using PostgreSQL ​http://pypgsql.sourceforge.net/
Download and install pyPgSQL-2.4.win32-py2.3.exe

NB. Make sure you use v1.x, not 2.x, because the module is renamed from sqlite to pysqlite in v2.x, so the trac installer will fail if you use pysqlite 2.x

Note: If using XAMPP (​http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html) to jumpstart setup you may encounter a problem. XAMPP bundles Python in with their distro and does not update the registry to denote the Python install directory (as I suppose is done during a default install of Python). This missing registry key prevents the pysqlite-X.X.X.win32-pyX.X.exe installer from running successfully. The install program will state that it can't find Python installed on your system. To fix this issue, simply add the following key to the Windows registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Python\PythonCore\2.3\InstallPath

After creating this key, you should have a "(Default)" string variable which is created automatically. This variable is created with a value of NULL. Set this variable to the root directory of your Python installation. For example:

C:\Program Files\xampp\python

This should allow you to proceed along with the pysqlite installation.

20. Install ClearSilver ​http://www.clearsilver.net download clearsilver_python-0.9.12-win32.zip
    Copy neo_cgi.pyd into C:\Python23\Lib\site-packages Alternatively, grab unofficial installers for ClearSilver 0.9.14 from ​http://clearsilver.yi.org/.

21. Install eGenix.com mx Extensions for Python (if using PostgreSQL) Download and install ​http://www.egenix.com/files/python/eGenix-mx-Extensions.html.
    The 'initenv' command in trac-admin needs this library to create the Trac database (At least it did when using a PostgreSQL back end).

22. Install Trac ​http://projects.edgewall.com/trac/wiki/TracDownload

    python ./setup.py install
    

Fix a few things

23. Define how the CGI script is called

23.1 Copy CGI

C:\> copy c:\python23\share\trac\cgi-bin\trac.cgi c:\progra~1\apache~1\apache2\cgi-bin

Use a text editor such as notepad to open trac.cgi and ensure the first line contains the correct path for Apache to find python.

23.2 Alternatively, define a global Python handler for CGI script

If you often update your Trac installation (following trunk​ development), and do not want to customize the trac.cgi file, you may want to define a global handler for .cgi scripts, using the ScriptInterpreterSource Apache ​directive.

23.2.1. Add the following line to your Apache configuration file:

<Directory "/Path/To/Trac/cgi-bin">
    ScriptInterpreterSource Registry-Strict
</Directory>

23.2.2. Add the following key to your Windows registry

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.cgi\Shell\ExecCGI\Command]
@="c:\\Programs\\Python\\python.exe"

Notes:

@ represents the (Default) key entry
Do not forget to update the path to your actual Python installation directory

Configure Trac DB

The trac database can be named to match the subversion repository it is working with, which is especially useful if more than one repository will ever be created. In this example "trac.db" would read as "repo1.db"

25. Run trac-admin

    C:\Python23\Scripts> python trac-admin c:/svn/trac.db
    

26. Initialize DB

    Trac [c:/svn/trac.db]> initenv
    

      Enter project name
        Project
      Enter path to repository
        c:\svn\repo1
    
      Enter path to templates
        c:\Python23\share\trac\templates
    

If you get an error here stating that libdb42.dll was not found, copy [SVN PATH]\bin\libdb42.dll to [PYTHON PATH]\lib\libsvn\, then try again.

If you get an error like "ImportError: No module named svn" you are missing the path to the SVN Python hooks in the PYTHONPATH environment varialbe.

To get this step done the right way, you have to understand that the trac database is not the svn repository.

For example if you have your svn repository located in c:\svn\repo1 (like supposed by this tutorial), you'll probably want to name your trac database c:\trac\repo1. You would then call "python trac-admin c:/trac/repo1" in your scripts directory and enter "c:\svn\repo1" as the "path to (svn) repository".

27. Add administrative permissions (the below adds all permissions for 'admin' user)

    Trac [c:/svn/trac.db]>
    
    permission add admin TRAC_ADMIN
    

Add Trac to Apache

28. Edit httpd.conf: Add: (copy this - there's a typo in Edgewall's version) Edit PYTHONPATH to point to your install of SVN bin

    # TRAC
    Alias /trac "C:/Python23/share/trac/htdocs"
    
    <Location /cgi-bin/trac.cgi>
      SetEnv TRAC_ENV "c:/svn/trac.db"
      SetEnv PYTHONPATH "PATH/TO/SVN"
      # if you are running Apache as a user other than System, the TMP variable
      # needs to be set to a place where that user can write scratch files.  Make
      # sure that this directory is created and writable by that user.
      # SetEnv TMP "c:/svn/trac.db/tmp
    </Location>
    
    <Location /cgi-bin/trac.cgi/login>
      AuthType Basic
      AuthName "Project"
      AuthUserFile C:/svn/.htaccess
      Require valid-user
    </Location>
    
    <Directory "C:/Python23/share/trac/htdocs">
      Options Indexes MultiViews
      AllowOverride None
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
    </Directory>
    

Note: if you get an error "Authentication information not available." after clicking "login", refer to #2258

Alternatively you could set up the authorisation to use your NT domain login if you are running an NT Domain. This bit of Apache config replaces the <Location /cgi-bin/trac.cgi/login> given above.

<Location /cgi-bin/trac.cgi/login>
  #NT Domain auth config
  AuthType SSPI
  SSPIAuth On
  SSPIAuthoritative On
  SSPIOfferBasic On 
  SSPIOmitDomain Off
  # following line squishes bug #1168 if IE has troubles editing wiki pages.   
  SSPIBasicPreferred On 
  AuthName "Project"
  Require valid-user
</Location>

You'll also need the sspi_auth_module on your system and loaded like this…

LoadModule sspi_auth_module modules/mod_auth_sspi.so

You must download and install this module. It can be found here: ​http://www.gknw.net/development/apache/httpd-2.0/win32/modules/mod_auth_sspi-1.0.2-2.0.54.zip

Or compile it into Apache. Note when adding permissions and authenticating against a domain you may need to use the following syntax complete with quotes as seen in #1055.

• permission add "DOMAIN\username" TRAC_ADMIN

Note: Internet Explorer may be in trouble with an Apache server running SSPI authentication. See #1343

With example above, you must specify user name like "DOMAIN\username" If you hate "DOMAIN\username" format, SSPIOmitDomain option is usefull. Set it ON!

  SSPIOmitDomain On

If this option is ON, the mod_auth_sspi passes authentication name to an Apache server without a domain part. As result, you can manage user names with simply 'username' instead of 'DOMAIN\username' in apache password file and trac-admin command, and also, it is used by Trac for reporter name, author and so on.

• permission add username TRAC_ADMIN

But remember that you must specify "DOMAIN\username" format on authentication dialog although this option is ON.

Note: Older version of mod_auth_sspi (like ​http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/mod_auth_sspi.zip) doesn't support SSPIOmitDomain and has bug for basic authentication. 1.0.2 introduced above is recommended.

29. Restart Apache.

30. Hold your breath, test Trac install ​http://[hostname]:80/cgi-bin/trac.cgi

If it doesn't work, then running Apache from the command-line will give you a few clues.

If your page seems to be lacking stylesheets, please check the alias of /trac in apache. Otherwise you've probably run into a known Apache bug described (and worked around) ​here.

Optional Enscript

31. In order for Trac to syntax highlight code, you must download and install ​Enscript. After installing Enscript, you will need to add the path to the enscript executable to the Windows PATH environment variable. Note: If Apache is running as a service you will need to reboot the machine for it to receive the updated PATH setting.

Optional pre- and post-commit hooks for Subversion

32. In order to use pre- and post-commit hooks with Subversion on Windows, please refer to the files described in #1602, as the these files are not commited into the trunk as of version 0.9-dev.

The files you need are "pre-commit.2.bat", "post-commit.2.bat", "trac-pre-commit-hook_4bat.2" and "trac-post-commit-hook_4bat.2". The pre-commit hook makes it a requirement to reference a ticket before commiting the changes.

Place the desired ".bat" and "trac-" files in your Subversion repository "hooks" directory and configure the ".bat" file for your system (remove the ".2" from the filenames ofcourse). For more information on hooks, read the ​Hook Scripts section of the Subversion book.

Finally…

33. Install Subversion clients as necessary (try ​RapidSVN , ​TortoiseSVN or ​Subclipse)

34. Don't forget to lock down the security on the box!

35. If the svn page would not work properly with saying that DLL is missing, FIRST try to reboot the system and if that does not work, copy the three DLL's - libdb42.dll - libeay32.dll - ssleay32.dll from your [Subversion]\bin directory to your system directory (most likely C:\Windows\system32).

Upgrading from Trac 0.84 to 0.9-beta1 on Windows

This section builds off the generic Trac upgrade instructions, so you may want to keep that open to use as supplementary reading material.

1. Download Windows Installer file

2. Backup old version of Trac:

   > move C:\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac C:\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac-0.8.4
   
   > move C:\Python23\share\trac C:\Python23\share\trac-0.8.4
   > move C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\cgi-bin\trac.cgi C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\cgi-bin\trac-0.8.4.cgi
   > xcopy /x /e /i C:\svn\trac.db C:\svn\trac-0.8.4.db\
   

3. Run the Trac Windows Installer

4. Run these commands

   > cd C:\Python23\Scripts
   > python trac-admin C:\svn\trac.db upgrade
   > python trac-admin C:\svn\trac.db wiki upgrade
   

5. If using CGI, copy trac.cgi to Apache directory.

> copy C:\Python23\share\trac\cgi-bin\trac.cgi C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\cgi-bin\trac.cgi

6. Open and edit C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\cgi-bin\trac.cgi. Change the first line from:

   #!C:\Programme\Python23\python.exe
   

to

#!C:\Python23\python.exe

7. Point your web browser to the Trac site. That should be it!

Contributors:

• ​Daragh Fitzpatrick
• ​Alex Wolfe
• ​Tim Browse
• ​Sid Wiesner
• ​Muir
• ​Rodney Beck

Comments

Really Wonderful

This is one of the best docs on how install a system. Thank you very much. The only thing I don't understand is what should I do "to lock down the security on the box". Excuse me, I'm a begineer in this things, Could somebody explain a little bit? Thanks, a lot!

DLL Errors

After a fresh install, trying to access either the Timeline or Browse Source tabs results in an internal error:

Traceback (most recent call last):

    File "C:\Local\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac\core.py", line 531, in cgi_start
        real_cgi_start()
    File "C:\Local\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac\core.py", line 526, in real_cgi_start
        dispatch_request(path_info, args, req, env)
    File "C:\Local\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac\core.py", line 439, in dispatch_request
        module = module_factory(args, env, database, req)
    File "C:\Local\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac\core.py", line 172, in module_factory
        import sync
    File "C:\Local\Python23\Lib\site-packages\trac\sync.py", line 22, in ?
        from svn import fs, util, delta, repos, core
    File "C:\Local\Python23\lib\svn\fs.py", line 28, in ?
        import libsvn.fs
    File "C:\Local\Python23\lib\libsvn\fs.py", line 4, in ?
        import _fs ImportError?: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

An easy solution would be to copy dlls at svn\bin\*.dll to cgi-bin directory. then it works well. Before copying any DLLs, first try to reboot the system. In most cases, the internal system error problem disappear after a simple system reboot.

Guía en Español

Guía de instalación de Trac en Windows en Español. ​Aquí. Some help for Spanish speakers installing Trac for Windows.