pushconfig without starting tomcat services

Saw this question on BBADMIN-L mailing list which had a useful tip from the community:

Does anyone know if it's possible to run a pushconfig but not start the tomcat processes? I need to do several patches that require a pushconfig but I don't want to wait for the servers to startup and shutdown.

Answers

Nick (MSJC): Sure in the pushconfigupdates.bat\sh and pushconfigupdates.bat\sh.bb files just comment out the line that calls services.start. 


Miroslav (CSU Chico): Yes. You just need to comment out the starting part out of the script. We do this regularly after each release pack upgrade. Simply edit pushconfig and comment out the part that tells it to start the app node. We also usually change the text so it says NOT STARTING at the end.
This needs to be an option when upgrading as well. We pretty much never want the system to start up immediately after upgrade finishes.

IMS LTI Launch Test

IMS LTI Launch Test

The prior IMS LTI test site I was using (see my older blog post) no longer seemed to work.

I found a new one thanks to the JISC-funded ceLTIc (http://www.celtic-project.org/)

There are two ways you can use IMS LTI in Blackboard:

• Using Oscelot Basic LTI tool
• Using Blackboard's IMS LTI Tool Provider

I've included both ways to add the IMS LTI tool.

I. Using Oscelot Basic LTI tool

1. Install and configure Oscelot Basic LTI 

See http://projects.oscelot.org/gf/project/bb-basiclti/

 2. Register New Tool

1. Go to System Administration tab
2. then  Basic LTI tools (under the Tools section)
3. click on Register New Tool
4. Enter
   • Name: IMS LTI Launch Test
   • Launch URL: http://ltiapps.net/test/tp.php
   • Consumer Key: jisc.ac.uk
   • Shared Secret: secret 
5. Submit

Should look like

After Register New Tool

3. Edit Data Settings for this new tool

1. Select Edit data settings (pull-down) for this new toolname
2. Enter
• Context ID: Check
• Value to use for Context ID: Database key (default)
• Context sourceId: Check
• Context Title: Check
• User ID: Required by tool
• Value to use for user ID: Batch UID (default)
• SourceId: Check
• User name: Required by tool
• Email: Required by tool
• Role Mappings:
• Instructor to Instructor
• Student to Learner
• Teaching Assistant to Instructor (or Teaching Assistant)
3. Submit

Should look like: 
After Data Settings

4. Edit Launch Settings for this new tool

1. Select Edit launch settings (pull-down) for this new toolname
2. Enter
• Open tool in: select New window
3. Submit

Should look like:

5. Enable the tool and configure how to display it

1. Pulldown by toolname, choose Enable
2. Pulldown by toolname, choose Add as course tool
3. Checkbox the toolname, choose Display on Menu: Tools

After enabling the tool and configuring of Display on Menu

II. Using Blackboard's IMS LTI Tool Provider

Blackboard has had Basic LTI support since 9.1SP4.

1. Register Provider Domain

1. Go to System Administration tab
2. then Building Blocks
3. then LTI Tool Providers
4. Click on Register Provider Domain
5. Enter
• Provider domain: ltiapps.net
• Provider Domain Status: Approved
• Default Configuration: Set separately for each link
• Send User Data: Send user data only over any connection (note: I'd prefer over SSL)
• User Fields To Send
• Role in Course: check
• Name: check
• Email Address: check
6. Submit

Should look like

After Provider is Registered

3. Set up Tool Placement

1. Click on the '0' under Placements for the row of the provider (ltiapps.net)
2. Create Placement
3. Enter
• Label: IMS LTI Launch Test
• Handle: imsltilaunchtest
• Type: Student Tool (for simplicity)
• Tool Provider URL: http://ltiapps.net/test/tp.php
• Tool Provider Key: jisc.ac.uk
• Tool Provider Secret: secret
4. Submit

Should look like:

After Placement Created

III. Now that LTI is set up we can use it in a course

1. Add tool to your course

1. Go into your course as an Instructor
2. Go into a content area/folder
3. Under Tools menu, you should see the new toolname (e.g., IMS LTI Launch Test)
4. Select the new toolname
5. Submit

Adding LTI (e.g., IMS LTI Launch Test)  to the Course

After LTI (e.g., IMS LTI Launch Test) added to Course

2. Test the tool (as instructor, as student)

Note: beware browser security measures, e.g., pop-up blocking, content blocking (since we're loading an insecure page)

1. Click on the toolname link you added
   • If you are using the Oscelot Basic-LTI : It should open a new window
   • If you are using the Bb LTI Tool Provider : It should open in the lower frame (yeah, no choice to open in a new window)
2. The http://ltiapps.net/test/tp.php should load and display various POST parameters

Oscelot Basic-LTI Launch should look like:

Bb LTI Tool Provider Launch should look like: