eyebrowse-server

Eyebrowse allows users to automatically track and selectively publish their use of the Web in real-time. Currently, there is no simple way for the end-user to keep track of the vast time spent browsing the Web. Since there is no clear picture of how users access the Web as a whole, the Eyebrowse Project aims to allow public logging of Web usage through client-side services. Eyebrowse gives control to the user, while providing data for public use.

The concept of Eyebrowse is to gather browsing history from participating users. Depending on the particular distribution, it may either be used in a context where the data goes into a public repository, or it may be used in a context where the data is shared in a controlled way (such as among a group of users, but not publicly).

Get running in 5 minutes

First, check out the eyebrowse-server:

git clone git@github.com:haystack/eyebrowse-server.git
cd eyebrowse-server

The application requires some configuration variables for the database and a few other django-related things. We've provided config_template.py for you to add the required values, so use your favorite editor and fill that puppy out:

vim config_template.py

Next, you can install the python requirements and setup the config file you make.

Note: If you're setting up a dev with MYSQL, this might be helpful to get started:

$ sudo mysql
> CREATE USER 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'somepassword';
> CREATE DATABASE eyebrowse;
> USE eyebrowse;
> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON eyebrowse.* TO 'admin'@'localhost';

Where the corresponding dictionary in config_template.py would read:

MYSQL_LOCAL = {
    'NAME': 'eyebrowse',
    'USER': 'admin',
    'PASSWORD': 'somepassword',
    'HOST': 'localhost',
}

Note: You need to use sudo if you are not working in a virtualenv.

make install
make run

The make install command has two arguments for setting up the environment

make install debug=[true|false] env=[prod|dev]

The default options are debug=true and env=dev.

There are several cron tasks that eyebrowse uses. If you want to install them, run

python manage.py installtasks

Most of them are not important for development purposes. The one exception would be the script for updating the popular feeds which should be run to populate them initially. Run the following at the python command line (with your eyebrowse virtual environment enabled):

from scripts.cron_tasks.populate_popular_history import *
populate_popular_history()

Common problems:

1. DoesNotExist at /admin/ Site matching query does not exist.

For dev (stackoverflow reference):

 from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
 Site.objects.create(name='localhost:8000', domain='http://localhost:8000')

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Setting up HTTPS for your server

To set up HTTPS, you need to configure a SSL certificate onto the Apache server.

1. Generate a key and certificate-signing request: http://tig.csail.mit.edu/wiki/TIG/HowToRequestAServerCertificate. Place the key and .csr file in a directory such as /home/[username].

2. Email help@csail.mit.edu to request a certificate.

3. Upon certificate approval, download the received certificate file and place it in /etc/ssl/certs.

4. Place the private key in /etc/ssl/private, and secure its permissions using chmod 640 [key file name] and chown root [key file name].

5. Modify Apache config files found in /etc/apache2

• There are two VirtualHost config blocks, one for 443 (HTTPS) and one for 80 (HTTP)
• In httpd.conf, inside the VirtualHost config for 443, set the following:

<VirtualHost __default__:443>
   SSLEngine on
   SSLCertificateFile /path/to/your_domain_name.crt
   SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/your_private.key
</VirtualHost>

6. Test the Apache config before restarting. Run the following command:

apachectl configtest

7. Restart Apache.

apachectl stop
apachectl start

Contact Info

• @eyebrowse_proj
• eyebrowse@csail.mit.edu
• Haystack Group Homepage