[TYPO3-english] Multi sites sharing the same typo3conf/ext folder

[Andreas Becker]

Yes Ron

Actually TYPO3 provides a GLOBAL Installation ext folder
It is here: typo3_src-4.4.1/typo3/ext

If you change this folder to be a symlink than you can keep the extensions
installed into this folder also after a new sourcecode Update.

i.e.

var/globalt3/typo3conf/ext
var/globalt3/typo3conf/l10n
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src (linking to the most current src i.e.
typo3_src-4.4.1)
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.2.13
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.2.13/typo3/ext (linking to
/var/globalt3/typo3conf/ext
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.3.4
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.3.4/typo3/ext (linking to
/var/globalt3/typo3conf/ext
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.4.1
var/globalt3/typo3_src/typo3_src-4.4.1/typo3/ext (linking to
/var/globalt3/typo3conf/ext

Unfortunately you must be very careful and keep the order when updating and
DON'T forget to set FIRST this symlink before you call an updated site,
otherwise it can't find the extensions in your global extension folder and
loads only those from the local extension repository and your site perhaps
don't work like supposed to as you need first to install global extension
again, even you do this link afterwards.

It would be nice if this global extension folder would be outside the
source, i.e. as (possible)symlink to a folder in the dummy package - but it
is not.

A benefit of a global extension folder is that you can install extensions
from one single typo3 installation and you can provide i.e. to customers
extensions you have already tested on a certain source code after an update.
If you symlink the local extension repository you can't do this as all Typo3
Installations would use the same folder and there won't be a folder for
testing those extensions.

Changing the Global Extension folder to be a "testing" folder won't make
sense as the local installation overwrites the global one and still many
(major) extensions can't even be installed globally - unfortunately. i.e.
templavoila, tt_news, wec_config, wec_maps, wec_contentelements, wec_styles,
t3quixplorer, t3jquery,  and extensions like ameos_formidable, realty,
seminars etc

It would be really nice if all extensions would be installable in a global
folder!

With the databases you are absolutely right.
Until now a tool is missing in TYPO3 which actually checks the database
tables if they are all available after i.e. an admin logs into the backend
and than tells him, "Some database tables/fields need to updated. Perhaps
you have updated some extensions which need to perform a database update. Do
it now (click)! Without this update your website perhaps won't work
properly!"

This tool is actually already existing in the install tool (database
compare) but unfortunately not available from TYPO3 Backend afaik.

I didn't had a closer look to the current state of the caretaker extension.
Perhaps you can perform those updates meanwhile from this extensions which
would be also a nice possibility.

Even when you have to perform all those database updates from each
installation it can be useful to install extensions globally after testing
them in a local extension. If you see while testing that the update requires
a database update, than perhaps all customer sites would be affected until
you have performed this in each website of your customer. This can take long
time. On the other hand it would take same more time when you install
extensions locally in each typo3 installation. In any case - using the
global or symlinking the local extension folder would cause these problems
anyway.

We usually test extensions locally first and if they don't require a
database update (or a jquery library etc. update - it is often not only
database updates they require) and if they are working perfectly and able to
be installed globally we install them globally. i.e. all skins_**** from the
framework for TemplaVoila. So all our customers can access them and if they
want to modify them they can click them into their fileadmin folder locally
using wec_config.

Andi








On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 6:45 AM, Ron Hall <ronslists at busynoggin.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I caught this thread late, but I do have a question about allowing multiple
> installations to share the same extension folder,
>
> If you are set up this way and update an extension and that update requires
> a database update, then you still have to go to each installation to update
> those DB tables, correct?
>
> Thanks,
> Ron Hall
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