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Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide
Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide

Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide: A comprehensive, step-by-step guide on how to set up, customize, and market your blog using Apache Roller

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Apache Roller 4.0 - Beginner's Guide

Chapter 2. Installing Roller on Windows

In this chapter, you'll learn to download and install Apache Roller, along with all the software applications (Apache web server, Java JDK, Tomcat servlet engine, MySQL database server, and mod_jk connector) required to run this powerful weblog server on a Windows environment.

In the previous chapter, we saw an overview of blogs and how Apache Roller could get you into the ever-expanding world of the blogosphere. Now, I'll teach you how to put Apache Roller to work. At the same time, you'll learn some basic stuff about using the Apache web server, the Tomcat servlet engine, and the MySQL database server—three of the most popular open source applications in the world!

In short, we shall:

  • Install the Apache web server, the Java JDK, the Tomcat servlet engine, and the MySQL database server

  • Test and configure the software installed, to make sure it's ready for Apache Roller

  • Download and install Apache Roller

  • Test your Apache Roller installation

  • Install and configure...

Checking your environment


Before installing the open source software, check your Windows environment to see if you already have any of these components installed—Apache, Tomcat, Java SE Development Kit, or MySQL. Feel free to skip the installation instructions for any of these components that you may already have installed in your PC.

Installing Apache, Java, Tomcat, and MySQL


Finally, it's time to start working! In the next exercises, you will download and install all the software components required to run Apache Roller on a Windows PC.

Apache web server

The Apache web server (or HTTP server) is the most popular open source web server for Linux and Windows. Trust me, I've been using it since the year 2000 and have never had a performance problem, not even on slow hardware and low memory systems. Now it's your turn to try it on your PC. I am sure you won't be disappointed!

Time for action — installing the Apache web server


In this exercise, you'll go to the Apache HTTP server site to download the latest stable version and install it on your Windows PC.

  1. Open your web browser and go to http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. Scroll down through the web page until you locate the Apache HTTP Server 2.2.x section. In this section, there are several links to choose from. Click on the link for the Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer) file, as shown in the following screenshot:

    Note

    At the time of this writing, the most recent version of the Apache 2.2 series is 2.2.11. It's perfectly okay if you download a newer version—just be sure it's from the 2.2.x series.

  2. Next, your web browser will ask if you want to download and save the file. Click on the Save File button to download the file. When finished, double-click on the downloaded file in the Downloads dialog box, and then click on the OK button to start installing the Apache Web server.

  3. Click on the...

Time for action - installing a JDK


There are several versions of the Java Development Kit. In this exercise we're going to install the Java SE Development Kit 6, the most up-to-date version of the JDK at the time of this writing.

  1.  If you have an open web browser window from the previous exercise, go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp and look for the most recent Java SE Development Kit (JDK) version:

  2. Click on the Download button to start downloading the JDK 6 to your computer. You'll need to provide some information about your operating system, as shown in the following screenshot:

    Note

    As with the Apache installation exercise, it doesn't matter if you download JDK 6 Update 13 or a more recent update; just be sure it's the JDK SE 6 version.

  3. Select Windows in the Platform drop-down list. Select I agree to the Java SE Development Kit 6 License Agreement and click on Continue.

  4. Scroll down to the Available Files section on the next web page, and click on the jdk-6u13-windows-i586...

Time for action installing Tomcat


Tomcat is an open source project from the Apache Software Foundation, the same guys that are behind Apache Roller. Isn't that great? In a few seconds, you're going to have in your hands one of the most popular and powerful Java servlet engines around, used by a lot of big industries and organizations worldwide. Ready for some action? Let's begin.

  1. Open your web browser and go to http://tomcat.apache.org. Look for the Download section and click on the Tomcat 6.x link:

  2. Scroll down the Tomcat 6 Downloads web page, until you locate the Binary Distributions section, and click on the Windows Service Installer link:

  3. Click on the Save File button in the Open apache-tomcat dialog box and wait for the file to download. When finished, go to the directory where you downloaded the file and double-click on it to start the installation process, and click on the Run button in the Open File dialog box that will show up. The Apache Tomcat Setup Wizard will appear afterwards...

Time for action — installing MySQL


I've been using MySQL for as long as I can remember using web applications, PHP, and Java. I still can't believe it is open source, which means it's free! Well, at least the Community Server. There is also an Enterprise Server where you receive support and a lot of goodies from the MySQL team for a certain price, but as we're already experts at installing things on Windows, let's try the Community MySQL Edition.

  1. Open your web browser and go to the MySQL downloads web page on http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. Then, scroll down until you locate the MySQL Community Server Download link, and click on it:

  2. You'll be taken to the MySQL 5.1 Downloads page. Scroll down until you locate the Windows downloads section, and click on the Windows Essentials (x86) Pick a mirror link:

  3. On the Select a Mirror web page, select the No thanks, just take me to the downloads! link:

  4. Scroll down the Select a Mirror web page until you find a mirror near your location, and click on...

Downloading and installing Apache Roller


At last! You will finally get your hands on Roller's installation process! I hope you enjoyed the previous sections, and now you'll get the chance to put it all together.

Files required for Apache Roller


The first thing to do before deploying Apache Roller on your computer is getting all the required files—the JavaMail API and the Java Application Framework (JAF) for Roller's e-mail notification features, and the JDBC driver for connecting to the roller MySQL database.

The JavaMail API

With the JavaMail API, you can build mail and messaging applications. Roller uses this API to send e-mails from your blog, so that you and your readers can receive notifications when they leave a comment.

Time for action downloading the JavaMail API


All you need to do is download a ZIP file from the Sun website, unzip it, and copy the mail.jar file to the lib folder in Tomcat, from where Roller can use it along with all the other common library files needed.

  1. Open your web browser and type http://java.sun.com/products/ javamail/downloads/index.html. Scroll down through the page until you find the Download JavaMail 1.4.2 link:

  2. Click on the Download button to go to the download page. Select the I agree to the JavaMail 1.4.2 License Agreement box and click on the Continue button:

  3. On the next download page, click the javamail-1.4.2.zip link to open the Opening javamail-1.4.2.zip dialog. Select the Save File radio button and click on the OK button to start the download process.

  4. Once the download completes, go to the directory where you downloaded the javamail-1.4.2.zip file.

  5. Unzip the javamail-1.4.2.zip file and locate the mail.jar file inside the javamail-1.4.2 folder. Right-click on the mail.jar...

Time for action — downloading the JAF API


In this exercise, we're going to download the JAF API from the Sun website. The steps are almost identical to the JavaMail exercise, so you can use it as a reference.

  1. Open your web browser and go to http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/desktop/javabeans/jaf/downloads/index.html. Scroll down through the page until you find the Download JavaBeans Activation Framework 1.1.1 release Download link, and click on it:

  2. Select I agree to the Software License Agreement and click on Continue:

  3. Click on the jaf-1_1_1.zip link to open the Opening jaf-1_1_1.zip dialog. Select the Save File radio button and click on the OK button:

  4. Once the download is complete, go to the directory where you downloaded the jaf-1_1_1.zip file.

  5. Unzip the jaf-1_1_1.zip file and locate the activation.jar file inside the jaf-1_1_1 folder. Right-click on the activation.jar file and select Copy from the pop-up menu:

  6. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to Tomcat's lib directory and paste the...

Time for action — installing MySQL connector/J 5.1


You can download the Connector/J 5.1 JDBC driver from MySQL Developer Zone. Just follow the simple steps:

  1. Open your web browser and go to http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ connector/j/5.1.html. Scroll down until you locate the Source and Binaries (zip) Download link:

  2. Click on this link to start the download. Select the Save File radio button in the Opening mysql-connector-java-5.1.7.zip dialog and click on the OK button.

  3. Once the file has been downloaded, navigate to the directory where you downloaded the file.

  4. Unzip the file and double-click on the mysql-connector-java-5.1.7 folder. Look for the mysql-connector-java-5.1.7.jar file, right-click on it and select Copy:

  5. Now go to Tomcat's lib folder (C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\lib), right-click on an empty space in Windows Explorer's right panel and select Paste from the pop-up menu to paste the mysql-connector-java-5.1.7.jar file:

  6. You can close Windows Explorer and...

Deploying Roller files to Tomcat


OK, it's time to finally deploy Apache Roller to the Tomcat servlet engine, and start the configuration process! "But what does deploy mean?" you may ask. In case of a Java web application, like Roller, it means you have to download the Roller zip file from the official website, then unzip it and copy the roller folder inside the Tomcat webapps folder, so that you can access it from a web browser. We'll see how to do that in the next exercise.

Time for action — downloading and deploying Roller


In this exercise, we'll go to the Roller download website, grab the latest Roller zip file and copy it to Tomcat's webapps folder.

  1. Go to the Apache Roller downloads web page (http://roller.apache.org/downloads.html) and click on the Roller 4.0.1 ("best available") link from the General Availability (GA) Releases section:

  2. Scroll down to the Roller 4.0.1 section of the next page, and click on the apache-roller-4.0.1.zip link:

  3. Select the Save File radio button from the Opening apache-roller-4.0.1.zip dialog and click on OK to start the download process. The file will take several seconds to download (or minutes, depending on your Internet connection speed).

  4. Go to the directory where you downloaded the apache-roller-4.0.1.zip file.

  5. Unzip the file and double-click on the apache-roller-4.0.1 folder that you've just unzipped. Then double-click on the webapp folder, right-click on the roller folder and select Copy from the pop-up menu:

  6. Use Windows Explo...

Creating the Roller database


The next step is to create a MySQL database for Roller. You'll need root access to the MySQL server installed in your Windows PC, so now's the time to go back to the MySQL installation section and recover the username and password you assigned to your MySQL root user.

Time for action — creating a MySQL database for Roller


In this exercise, you'll use the MySQL monitor to create a database for your Apache Roller blog site.

  1. Open a command prompt window (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt) and type mysql -u root -p.

  2. The MySQL monitor will ask you to Enter Password. This is the password you used when installing MySQL Server. Type it and press Enter. If the password is correct, the following screen shall appear:

  3. Now type the following lines after the mysql> prompt (remember to replace password with a secure password) and press Enter after each line:

    create database rollerdb;
    grant all on rollerdb.* to roller_user@'%' identified by 'password';
    grant all on rollerdb.* to roller_user@localhost identified by 'password';
    
  4. When finished, your screen should look like this:

  5. Notice the Query OK, 0 rows affected (X.XX sec) line after each line you typed. It means there were no errors with the commands you entered. Now type exit and press Enter to exit...

Roller properties and context files


OK, you downloaded and copied the Apache Roller files to Tomcat, and then you created the rollerdb MySQL database. Now it's time to create the roller-custom.properties file. Inside this file there are all the parameters you can use to fine-tune Apache Roller's behavior during the installation process. After that you'll need to create a file named Context.xml for Roller. This file is called a Context Configuration file, and it's used to describe all the resources (in this case—the JDBC database driver, the JavaMail API, and the JavaBeans Framework API) used inside a context (the Apache Roller blog server).

However, that's enough smart-talk for now, let's see how to create the roller-custom.properties file first.

The roller-custom.properties file

In the next exercise, you'll create the roller-custom.properties file and save it in Roller's WEB-INF/lib folder, where Roller can read it.

Time for action — creating roller-custom.properties


In this exercise, you'll create a roller-custom.properties file with the basic parameters and I'll show you where it has to be saved.

  1. Open the Notepad editor (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Notepad) and write the following lines:

    installation.type=auto
    database.configurationType=jndi
    database.jndi.name=jdbc/rollerdb
    mail.configurationType=jndi
    mail.jndi.name=mail/Session
    
  2. Select File | Save from the Notepad menu bar. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\roller\WEB-INF\classes folder, type roller-custom.properties in the File name listbox, select All Files in the Save as type listbox and click on the Save button:

  3. You can close Notepad now.

What just happened?

The roller-custom.properties file you've just created is used by Roller to look for the database and mail configuration; in this case, the name of the resources it has to look for in the Context.xml file that you...

Time for action — creating Context.xml


In this exercise, you'll learn how to create a Context.xml file with all the parameters required for the MySQL Connector/J driver, the activation.jar, and the mail.jar files that you downloaded before.

Tip

You're going to need a valid e-mail address for Roller's e-mail notification features. I chose to use a Gmail account for this exercise, because it lets you send e-mail from your Roller blog server without any problems. So, I definitely recommend you to create a Gmail account for your Roller blog server, if you haven't got one already. That way, you'll just need to change the e-mail address and password used in the next exercise, and leave all the other parameters intact.

  1. Open Notepad and type or copy the following lines:

    <Context path="/roller"
    docBase="c:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\roller" debug="0">
    <Resource name="jdbc/rollerdb" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverClassName="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver...

Time for action — changing key values in security.xml


This is a simple process, you just need to change four key values in the security.xml file, inside Roller's WEB-INF folder.

  1. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to Roller's WEB-INF folder (C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\ roller\WEB-INF), and open the security.xml file with Notepad, WordPad, or some other text editor.

  2. Scroll down through the file until you locate the following lines:

    <bean id="anonymousAuthenticationProvider" class="org.acegisecurity.providers.anonymous. AnonymousAuthenticationProvider">
    <property name="key" value="anonymous"/>
    </bean>
    
  3. Replace the value in bold text (anonymous) with any other value of your choice. Use only letters and numbers.

  4. Now locate the following lines:

    <bean id="anonymousProcessingFilter" class="org.acegisecurity. providers.anonymous.AnonymousProcessingFilter">
    <property name="key" value="anonymous"/>
    
  5. Replace the value in bold text (anonymous)...

Testing your Roller installation


At last! You made it through the whole installation process! I hope it was as entertaining and valuable an experience for you as it was for me—the first time I installed Roller. Now let's test all the work you've done in the previous sections of this chapter.

Time for action — testing Roller


Now that you have everything installed and are waiting for your commands, let's start the testing process.

  1. First, let's check that your Tomcat server is up and running. Select Start | All Programs | Apache Tomcat 6.0 | Configure Tomcat to open the Apache Tomcat 6 Properties dialog box. Click on the General tab and make sure the Startup type option is on Automatic. Also, check the Service Status option to see if it says Started. If it says Stopped, click on the Start button and wait until Tomcat starts, then click on the OK button to close the dialog:

  2. Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:8080/roller. You should see the following screen:

  3. This screen indicates that Roller can connect to the JDBC driver you configured before, and so the installation can proceed. Click on the Yes - create tables now button to continue.

  4. Wait until the Tables created successfully page appears, as shown in the following screenshot:

  5. Click on the here link to complete the installation...

The mod_jk connector for Apache and Tomcat


This little tiny piece of code is the bridge that helps Apache and Tomcat collaborate together to help you host the most powerful web applications from your own PC! Maybe you're wondering, "But why do I need that module?" Well, if you have noticed the screenshot of step 5 from the previous exercise, to access your Roller homepage you need to type http://localhost:8080/roller. The :8080 part is necessary to access Tomcat, because the Apache web server uses http://localhost to serve web pages. With the mod_jk connector, Apache and Tomcat will share the http://localhost address without conflicts, and you will access your Roller homepage with http://localhost/roller.

Time for action — installing the mod_jk connector


This is the last piece of open source software you'll need, to run Apache Roller on your Windows PC. Using the mod_jk connector is considered an advanced topic, but don't worry; I'll guide you through all the steps involved.

  1.  Open your web browser and go to http://tomcat.apache.org/ download-connectors.cgi. Scroll down through the page until you locate the Tomcat Connectors JK 1.2 section:

  2. Click on the Binary Releases link. On the mirror web page, locate the Win32 folder and click on it:

  3. Now locate the jk-1.2.28 folder and click on its link:

  4. On the next web page, look for the mod_jk-1.2.28-httpd-2.2.3.so link and click on it to start downloading the connector:

  5. The Opening mod_jk dialog box will appear next. Click on the OK button to save the mod_jk file on disk.

  6. Now navigate to the directory where you downloaded the mod_jk file, select it and then click on Edit | Copy To Folder:

  7. The Copy Items dialog box will appear next. Now navigate to the...

Summary


In this chapter, you learned how to install Apache Roller on a Windows environment, along with all the supporting software required—Apache Web server, JDK SE 6, Tomcat servlet engine, and MySQL database server.

Specifically, we covered:

  • How to download, install, and test the Apache web server

  • How to download, install, and test the Java SE Development Kit

  • How to download, install, and test the Tomcat servlet engine (also known as Java Application server)

  • How to download, install, and test the MySQL Server, Community Edition

  • How to download, install, and test Apache Roller to make sure it's correctly installed on your Windows PC

We also discussed the basic Apache Roller properties you need to include in the roller-custom.properties file, along with the resources in the Context.xml file, so Roller can communicate with the MySQL database and send e-mail notifications when visitors to your blog leave comments.

Now that you have a functional Roller installation in your PC, you can go to Chapter...

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Key benefits

  • Create, optimize, and maintain your own blog server using Apache Roller
  • Incorporate multimedia content from popular web tools like YouTube, Google Maps, Twitter. and SlideShare in your posts
  • Customize the appearance of your blog with visually appealing, powerful themes and templates
  • Increase your blog's search engine ranking and keep track of visitors using Google Webmaster Tools

Description

Apache Roller enables you to build a fully-featured, multi-user blog server apt for all kinds of blogging sites. It is an ideal tool to create your own blogging network with unlimited users and blogs, forums, photo galleries, and more! While it is exciting to have a list of interesting features it can offer you, it might be a little difficult to get started with it by your self. This book will teach you how to get started with Apache Roller and make the most of all its features using step-by-step, detailed instructions. You will learn how to establish your internet presence with an Apache Roller blog and use the latest web tools to enhance your posts and attract visitors. You will also learn how to promote your blog on popular social bookmarking services and customize it to suit your need. This hands-on and practical book introduces you to Apache Roller. Starting off with the configuration and installation of your own blog, you'll then quickly learn how to add interesting content to your blog with the help of plenty of examples. You'll also learn how to change your blog's visual appearance with the help of Roller themes and templates and how to create a community of blogs for you and your colleagues or friends in your Apache Roller blog server. The book also looks at ways you can manage your community, and keep your site safe and secure, ensuring that it is a spam-free, enjoyable community for your users.

Who is this book for?

If you are interested in establishing a blog, using Apache Roller and popular web applications to write attractive posts and promote your blog on all the major social bookmarking services, this book is for you. No previous experience on Tomcat, MySQL, the Apache Web Server, or Linux is required.

What you will learn

  • Install and configure Apache Roller on a Windows or Linux environment
  • Integrate Apache Roller with Tomcat by installing and configuring the mod_jk connector
  • Upload images, sounds, and videos to your blog with ease
  • Customize your blog s visual appearance using Roller themes and templates
  • Enhance the appearance of your posts using the Rich Text Editor included in Roller
  • Promote your blog using major social bookmarking services like Technorati, Digg, Del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon
  • Embed maps, videos, and document presentations in your blog using Google Maps, YouTube, and SlideShare
  • Run a Roller blog from your own PC by creating an account with a dynamic DNS service provider
  • Create a community of blogs with Apache Roller s built-in multi-user/multi-blog tools and the Planet Roller aggregator

Product Details

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Publication date : Dec 30, 2009
Length: 388 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781847199508
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781847199508
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Table of Contents

8 Chapters
An Introduction to Weblogs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing Roller on Windows Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing Roller on Linux Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Start Working with Roller Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Spicing Up Your Blog Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Roller Themes and Blog Promotion Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Templates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Comments and Trackbacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Yikes Feb 09, 2010
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
When I first started blogging almost 3 years ago, I was looking at Roller as my blog engine of choice but the learning curve on the product seemed a bit steep for someone with no experience in this medium. I actually did give Roller a spin for a brief period of time but then became frustrated with the lack of well-written documentation and felt that I wouldn't get off and running easily if I needed to worry not only about the content itself but also managing Roller's internals as well. Too bad for me that this book came out three years later because the Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide by Alfonso Romero is a near-perfect introduction to blogging and blogging with Apache Roller.The book's first three chapters cover blogging in general, how to use Roller as your blog engine, and how to get up and running using on Windows or Linux platforms. Detailed instructions are provided for integrating with the techstack that many of us web and middleware administrators are already familiar with: linux, apache, mysql, and tomcat.Later chapters cover almost everything one would need to know in order to use Roller for creating content, working with images or video, and how to customize styles and templates to get the look you want. I liked how Mr. Romero also included information on dealing with some of the 'gotchas' that one were to come across during normal Roller use. One example is dealing with file upload sizes larger than 1MB and easy-to-follow steps for solving that issue.Some of the other things that I liked that were included in this guide are tips for blog promotion on various social networking sites but one item missing that I thought might be useful for beginning bloggers as well as bloggers new to Roller was information on search engine optimization. For a blogger like myself who gets 85% of his site's traffic from search engines, I would love to know how to customize individual posts or templates for search engine optimization. Maybe that will be covered in the Intermediate User's Guide (hint, hint!).To close, the Apache Roller 4.0 Beginner's Guide is a well-written and well-edited book if you want to get up-close and personal with Apache Roller. For bloggers looking to use Roller as their personal or business weblog engine, this book provides pretty much everything one needs to know to get started and I highly recommend getting this book.
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To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

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Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.