Cyber Scribbles

This is long overdue. I made some notes when I was getting OpenERP server working on Mac OS X in March 2009 and just never got a chance to publish them. At the time of trying to get this all working there was very little info available as officialy Mac OS X was not supported but as it is built on Open Source technologies that are cross platform it should be possible and it is.

At the time of installation the version of OpenERP available was 5.0.0-3 and I was working with an iMac running OS X 10.5 (latest patches installed) OpenERP is built using the Python programming language, Turbo Gears framework, some Python libraries and PostgreSQL. All of these are available in various forms for Mac OS X and I made use of one or another source for installation. There may be better ways and or shortcuts but that is the fun of figuring it out. You will always be able to look back and say it would have been easier if I did x or y.

At time of doing this install there were issues with OpenERP and python-xml on Python 2.6 so I stuck to Python 2.5.1 which was the default installed although I later changed to the ports version of 2.5.x. There are a number of libraries needed and for some of those I made use of the great ports system from darwinports.com Before installing the ports system you will need to ensure that you have XCode Tools Developer Tools installed with the optional command line tools as this will be required for the ports system. XCode is on the Leopard install DVD or else you can get it directly from Apple but you will need to signup for a free Apple ADC account. I tried this first but unfortunately after waiting for the 1GB download to complete I found that the file was corrupted. In the end I installed it from the DVD. After install XCode then grab the ports install file and get it installed. Now we are ready to start installing the supporting libraries required.

First thing to do is update the ports system so that we get the latest version:

sudo port -d selfupdate

Now some Python libraries

• psycopg2
  http://initd.org/projects/psycopg2

  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-psycopg2 +postgresql83

• reportlab
  http://www.reportlab.com

  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-reportlab

• pychart
  http://home.gna.org/pychart

  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-chart

• pydot
  http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pydot/1.0.2

  sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 pydot

• mxdatetime
  http://www.egenix.com/products/python/mxBase/

  sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 egenix-mx-base

  I installed this one manually using the UCS2 file from the authors site

• xml, lxml and libxslt1
  http://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyXML/0.8.4
  http://pypi.python.org/pypi/lxml/2.2

  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-xml
  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-lxml
  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-libxslt

• tz (timezone library)
  http://pytz.sourceforge.net

  sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 pytz

• PIL: Python Imaging Library (required for reportlab)
  http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil

  sudo /opt/local/bin/port install py25-pil

• vobject: iCalendar and VCards parsing
  http://vobject.skyhouseconsulting.com

  sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 vobject

After installing the libraries I changed from the default Python interpreter to the one that was installed at the time of installing the various libraries. This way ensuring that all the new libraries are seen without having to alter library paths.

cd /usr/bin
sudo rm python  (it is a symlink so this is fine)
sudo ln -s /opt/local/bin/python2.5 python

Next we need to install PostgreSQL. You can get this from the ports system or else use a prebuilt binary. I had already installed it from a prebuilt binary before installing the ports when I had tried getting things working a different way. The prebuilt binary I used was from EnterpriseDB
http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/pgdownload.do#osx

Now download OpenERP server and install it as normal following the steps in the install guide for Linux.

sudo python setup.py install

This will install the relevant files in the following location:

/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/site-packages/openerp-server

The executable for OpenERP server can be found in the following location:

/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/openerp-server

The configuration file is missing from the tar file that I downloaded so I have included the info below:
/opt/local/etc/openerp-server.conf

[options]  
without_demo = False  
upgrade = False  
verbose = False  
xmlrpc = True  
db_user = openerp  
db_password =  
root_path = None  
soap = False  
translate_modules = ['all']  
# db_name = {the default OpenERP database to use; set to False if you have not yet created first database from client menu}  
db_name = False  
netrpc = True  
demo = {}  
interface =  
db_host = localhost  
db_port = 5432  
port = 8069  
addons_path = None  
reportgz = False

Next I installed the OpenERP web client as it was a requirement that the system be available to multiple platforms (Windows, Linux & Mac OS X) and there was no official desktop client for OS X although there were some betas available. It was decided to stick to the web client as it also meant that no desktops would need to be maintained.

Install TurboGears as it is required for the web client:

sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 TurboGears==1.0.8

To check it is installed correctly execute

/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/tg-admin info

Now download and install the OpenERP web client as normal following the steps in the install guide for Linux

sudo /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.5 -U openerp-web

For the current version (5.0.0-3) of OpenERP server you need to patch the db connection script
https://bugs.launchpad.net/openobject-server/+bug/330999/comments/2

--- sql_db.py.bak 2009-03-05 22:59:42.000000000 +0100
+++ sql_db.py 2009-03-06 00:12:34.000000000 +0100
@@ -181,9 +181,11 @@
     def rollback(self):
         return self._cnx.rollback()
- @check
     def __getattr__(self, name):
- return getattr(self._obj, name)
+ if name =='_obj':
+ raise AttributeError("No attribute named _obj")
+ else:
+ return getattr(self._obj, name)
 class ConnectionPool(object):
     def __init__(self, pool, dbname):

Next thing is to ensure that the software starts automatically when ever the machine is started. To do this we create a couple of launchd files. I am sure these could be improved but I am a Mac OS X novice and these worked for me.
org.openerp.openerpserver.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>Disabled</key>
        <false/>
        <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
        <dict>
                <key>PY_USE_XMLPLUS</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>PATH</key>
                <string>/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin</string>
        </dict>
        <key>GroupName</key>
        <string>wheel</string>
        <key>UserName</key>
        <string>root</string>
        <key>Label</key>
        <string>org.openerp.openerpserver</string>
        <key>OnDemand</key>
        <false/>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
        <array>
                <string>/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/openerp-server</string>
                <string>-c /opt/local/etc/openerp-server.conf</string>
        </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
        <key>ServiceDescription</key>
        <string>Open ERP server</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/openerp-server.out</string>
        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/openerp-server.err</string>
</dict>
</plist>

org.openerp.openerpweb.plist

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>Disabled</key>
        <false/>
        <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
        <dict>
                <key>PY_USE_XMLPLUS</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>PYTHON_EGG_CACHE</key>
                <string>/tmp/</string>
        </dict>
        <key>GroupName</key>
        <string>wheel</string>
        <key>UserName</key>
        <string>root</string>
        <key>Label</key>
        <string>org.openerp.openerpweb</string>
        <key>OnDemand</key>
        <false/>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
        <array>
                <string>/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/start-openerp-web</string>
                <string></string>
        </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
        <key>ServiceDescription</key>
        <string>Open ERP web server</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/openerp-web.out</string>
        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/openerp-web.err</string>
</dict>
</plist>

That is it. Everything should now be up and running. A link I found later on that may be of assistance would be http://devteam.taktik.org/index.php?/archives/9-How-to-install-Open-ERP-5.0.0-on-Mac-OS-X-10.5-Leopard.html

In the end the process is not too much more difficult than Linux but it is just that there is no documentation available currently.