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VuFind

Helpers

Within the VuFind container, there are a few custom helper scripts that have been written to make certain tasks easier.

  • clear-vufind-cache: Clears the VuFind cache directory; which is helpful when applying theme or language file changes.
  • run-tests: Run the unit tests and code quality tests as they would be run within the CI/CD.

Troubleshooting

VuFind's troubleshooting page is a good reference for debugging options, but we'll highlight a few specifics we've found helpful.

  • The first spot to check for errors is the Docker service logs which contain both Apache error and access logs (these logs can help identify critical issues such as the inability to connect to the database) as well as VuFind's application logs. To view service logs:

    docker service logs -f ${STACK_NAME}-catalog_catalog

  • To enable debug messages to be printed to the service logs, update the file setting under the [Logging] section in the local/config/vufind/config.ini file to include debug. For example: file = /var/log/vufind/vufind.log:alert,error,notice,debug

    Warning with debug=true

    You can set debug=true in the main config.ini file to have debug messages to be printed to the page instead of the service logs, but be warned that sometime too much information is printed to the page when debug is set to true, such as passwords used for ILS calls (hopefully this can be fixed to remove that from debug messages entirely).

  • To enable higher verbosity in the Apache logging, you can update the LogLevel in the /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf file and then run apachectl graceful to apply the changes.

  • To enable stack traces to be shown on the page when ever any exception is thrown, edit the local/httpd-vufind.conf file and uncomment the line that says: SetEnv VUFIND_ENV development. Write the changes to the file and then run apachectl graceful to apply the change.

  • To clear VuFind's caches (which can sometimes hang on to old compiled stylesheets or language files), you can run the following within any VuFind container:

    clear-vufind-cache