Prestashop download urls and installation process

[toup]

Hey there,

 

Every time I have to install a new instance of Prestashop (which is basicly 3/4th of the projects I work on), I'm facing the same issues.

 

I would like to streamline download and install process thru scripting (installing thru PHP CLI is possible after all), but here's where I keep failing :

 

- Getting the url of the archive of prestashop (for purposes of using wget/curl on it from my remote host) is actually a chore : the download button on the site is a javascript action, the url of the ressource behind it is a controller. That's a no-no. I found that http://www.prestashop.com/download/old/prestashop_1.6.0.9.zip works, but that implies feeding the version number to the script or command line. I also got the impression that this isn't quite intended.

- The only other option I'm left with is "normally" downloading the archive, uploading it thru FTP/SSH to my hosts (sloooow), and proceeding with the install CLI

 

Here are the possible improvements that would make my life better :

 

- having some fixed url for downloading "latest.zip"

- having some kind of ressource listing the various stable releases numbers in a machine-readable format (json ?), along with a stable url format (such as the /old/ one cited above) that allows to retrieve the archive of a given version.

- having (that would be damn awesome) the "releases" files in the github repository be actual releases (ie: the same things that the archives on the prestashop website), because I think that the release thing in github has this exact purpose. Today, they're just archives of tags of the repository, which means that they're not usable in a production environnement (install-dev and admin-dev, no modules or anything that is submoduled in git, etc)

- having a git repository that matches what ends up in the archive. I understand that cloning a git repository and updating the modules is not intended to be a valid "deployment" mechanism, so I would understand if things stood the way they currently are.

- having a "build" script in the repository that builds the git repository into the "production-ready prestashop.com" archive

 

Does it seem possible (or wanted) to have such things implemented ? 

How do YOU guys working with prestashop on a daily basis deal with the issues i'm encountering ? Am I just missing something ?

 

To keep the kind words for the end of this rant, prestashop is an amazing product, and it gets better at every version, it's just a little tedious to start new projects with it, especially when code versionning custom themes/modules and working with several people on dev/staging/prod environnements.

[benjamin utterback]

Hey there,

 

Every time I have to install a new instance of Prestashop (which is basicly 3/4th of the projects I work on), I'm facing the same issues.

 

I would like to streamline download and install process thru scripting (installing thru PHP CLI is possible after all), but here's where I keep failing :

 

- Getting the url of the archive of prestashop (for purposes of using wget/curl on it from my remote host) is actually a chore : the download button on the site is a javascript action, the url of the ressource behind it is a controller. That's a no-no. I found that http://www.prestashop.com/download/old/prestashop_1.6.0.9.zip works, but that implies feeding the version number to the script or command line. I also got the impression that this isn't quite intended.

- The only other option I'm left with is "normally" downloading the archive, uploading it thru FTP/SSH to my hosts (sloooow), and proceeding with the install CLI

 

Here are the possible improvements that would make my life better :

 

- having some fixed url for downloading "latest.zip"

- having some kind of ressource listing the various stable releases numbers in a machine-readable format (json ?), along with a stable url format (such as the /old/ one cited above) that allows to retrieve the archive of a given version.

- having (that would be damn awesome) the "releases" files in the github repository be actual releases (ie: the same things that the archives on the prestashop website), because I think that the release thing in github has this exact purpose. Today, they're just archives of tags of the repository, which means that they're not usable in a production environnement (install-dev and admin-dev, no modules or anything that is submoduled in git, etc)

- having a git repository that matches what ends up in the archive. I understand that cloning a git repository and updating the modules is not intended to be a valid "deployment" mechanism, so I would understand if things stood the way they currently are.

- having a "build" script in the repository that builds the git repository into the "production-ready prestashop.com" archive

 

Does it seem possible (or wanted) to have such things implemented ? 

How do YOU guys working with prestashop on a daily basis deal with the issues i'm encountering ? Am I just missing something ?

 

To keep the kind words for the end of this rant, prestashop is an amazing product, and it gets better at every version, it's just a little tedious to start new projects with it, especially when code versionning custom themes/modules and working with several people on dev/staging/prod environnements.

 

You make some useful points. Thank you for the feedback. I especially like the having release versions in the GitHub as well. I'll make a note of this thread for future discussions. Thank you!

[toup]

You make some useful points. Thank you for the feedback. I especially like the having release versions in the GitHub as well. I'll make a note of this thread for future discussions. Thank you!

 

Great stuff. Feel free to keep me posted about anything going on in that field, I'd gladly provide feedback or ideas on the topic.