litecommerce hosting edition

Copyright © 2004-2007 Creative Development. All rights reserved.

LiteCommerce Hosting Edition

Reference Manual

Version 2.2

Revision date: Feb/28/2007


LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual I


Table of Contents

.......................................................................................................................................................................1Introduction

.......................................................................................................................................................................2System Architecture and Components

.......................................................................................................................................................................3Licensing policy

.......................................................................................................................................................................4Installation

......................................................................................................................................................5System Requirements

......................................................................................................................................................8Installing LiteCommerce HE

......................................................................................................................................................10Uninstalling LiteCommerce HE

.......................................................................................................................................................................11Getting started

.......................................................................................................................................................................12Feature Packs

......................................................................................................................................................13Feature Packs Overview

......................................................................................................................................................14Feature Packs Configurator

......................................................................................................................................................17Adding Feature Packs to Feature Lists

.......................................................................................................................................................................18Statistics

......................................................................................................................................................19Summary Usage Statistics

......................................................................................................................................................21Usage Statistics by Shops

......................................................................................................................................................23Usage Statistics by Feature Packs

.......................................................................................................................................................................24Store Maintenance

.......................................................................................................................................................................26License Info

.......................................................................................................................................................................27Appendix A

Introduction1


Introduction

LiteCommerce Hosting Edition is a scalable and versatile system designed for use in the Hosting Services

industry. Its main function is to bundle top-notch e-commerce solutions based on LiteCommerce with your own

hosting plans. You can attract more customers by new competitive plans and get extra value from existing

clients by offering stunning e-commerce features that are just one click away.

Owing to LiteCommerce modular architecture, your customers can order and instantly receive only those

e-commerce features that they really need at the moment.


LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Reference Manual 2


System Architecture and Components

LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software integrates with hosting automation solutions and control panels as a

PHP/MySQL based software module at hosting web servers

Note: currently WHMTM/cPanelÒ is supported, other integrations are in development.

As a result of this integration web hosting providers are able to offer hosting packages featured with

LiteCommerce-based online stores to their clients.

LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software consists of three major parts:

e-Commerce automation module

PHP/MySQL based software module for your hosting automation control panel. It is installed on each instance

of the control panel and deploys and uninstalls online shops automatically on demand of clients acquiring such

functionality using their hosting control panel accounts.

Licensing server

PHP/MySQL based standalone application that is run on one of your servers and controls shops licensing,

gives permission to the e-commerce automation module to deploy/uninstall LiteCommerce-based online stores

and collects statistics on shops usage.

LiteCommerce end-user store package

PHP/MySQL based online store package that gets deployed to clients’ hosting space from its repository by the

e-commerce automation module.

Licensing policy3


Licensing policy

All legal aspects of using LiteCommerce software are regulated by LiteCommerce Hosting Edition Software

License Agreement supplied to you with the software. This article is provided for your convenience only, to

help you better understand our licensing policy, and does not substitute the License Agreement.

LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software is licensed to the instance of the Licensing server component (each

instance requires a separate license). Shop licensing is based on number of shops and module-slots for

commercial add-on extensions. We do not license specific kinds of add-on modules, but only add-on slots. A

slot can be filled with any commercial module. Add-ons marked as “Free” do not require module-slots. There

are no additional charges for using add-ons except fees for the slots. The slot has a fixed periodic or one time

fee depending on shop licensing schema you are on. It is possible to change an add-on in a slot any time.

Licensing model of LiteCommerce Hosting Edition software is absolutely transparent for your customers.

Customers subscribe for your hosting plans featured with LiteCommerce Standard shop. You bill the customers

for usage of the plans only.




Installation

This section deals with installing LiteCommerce HE:

· Read the 'System Requirements' section to learn about the requirements, necessary for a correct

installation of LiteCommerce HE:

- software requirements

- resource requirements

- administrative rights

· Consult the 'Installing LiteCommerce HE' section for detailed installation instructions.

Installation5


System Requirements

Software requirements:

1. Operating systems

2. HTTP server.

Currently Apache is the only supported HTTP-server.

3. PHP

PHP4 - v4.1.0 or higher (versions 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 are not recommended due to reported memory leak flaws)

PHP4 engine must have EXPAT extension enabled.

PHP5 - v5.1.0 or higher

Make sure that PHP is configured in the following way:

· 'safe_mode' is set to OFF,

· 'file_uploads' is set to ON.

PHP must be compiled with OpenSSL support. Consult Appendix A of this manual for detailed instructions on

how to add PHP support to your Apache web-server.

4. MySQL

MySQL database server version 3.23 or higher, running on the same server as the web server application or

on a different one.

5. Extensions and libraries

LiteCommerce HE uses IonCube libraries. Though LiteCommerce HE installation wizard can perform

installation of IonCube libraries it is recommended to install ionCube on your server and include ionCube




Loader in your PHP configuration beforehand.

CURL executable, libCURL PHP module or OpenSSL external application is required if you are going to

provide your clients with add-on modules for real-time shipping calculation and/or credit card processing.

6. cPanel"

cPanel version 10.8.0 or higher is required.

7. Perl

Perl version 5.6 or higher. cPanel itself requires Perl, so if you use cPanel, you should already have Perl

installed.

Resource requirements:

1. File space

Minimum 30 MB of disk space for server part and no less than 5 MB for each deployed store.

2. Database size

The size of LiteCommerce HE database depends greatly on number of stores and data stored (e.g. amounts of

products in shops catalogs, volume of orders placed, etc). While a database of a small shop can fit into 1

Megabyte, a large online store can take up 100 Megabytes or more.

Administrative rights:

The user of LiteCommerce HE system must have root access rights on the server(s) to be able to install and

operate LiteCommerce HE:

1. Administrative rights for managing the web server;

2. Administrative (root) account at MySQL server - to create and manage databases pertinent to

corresponding online stores;

3. Command-line access to the server.

Neither of these access rights are required for operating deployed shops.

Installation7


Make sure that the current folder and the folder you are installing LiteCommerce HE to are not

mounted with noexec option. This will prevent the executable file from working even if all the other file

and directory permissions are set correctly. This is the first thing to check if you are getting one of the

following error messages during installation:

eval: ./install.sh: Permission deniedorzsh: permission denied:orbash: /bin/sh: bad interpreter: Permission denied

To get around this you might want to run not

./litecommerce-he-trial.run

but

/bin/sh ./litecommerce-he-trial.run

For more information on the noexec option read 'man mount'.




Installing LiteCommerce HE

To begin the installation of LiteCommerce HE, unpack the distributive you received from Qualiteam. Locate a

file with the extension .run and execute it. Now follow the instructions of the installer.

Note: Before installation the installer examines the server configuration to check that it complies with theserver requirements as outlined in the 'System Requirements' section of this manual. If all the criticaldependencies are in place, the installation continues. If one or more folders do not exist or theadministrative rights are not sufficient, the process stops with a detailed error message.

1. Select whether you want to install the Licensing Server. You must do it if this is the first time you install

LiteCommerce HE. If you have already installed the Licensing Server before, you can just specify the directory

where it is installed and proceed with LiteCommerce HE installation.

2. Specify the directory where you want to install the Licensing Server. If this directory does not exist, the

installer will create it. Enter the full path, as in the examples.

Note: Please note that this information will be used to compose a URL which will be used to obtain a validLiteCommerce HE license. So make sure that it coincides with your license URL.

Examples:

path will result in this URL:

/u/stuff/public_html/ls

/home/stuff/public_html/ls

/u/stuff/public_html

/home/stuff/public_html

http://www.mydomain.com/ls


http://www.mydomain.com


3. At this step you need the access information of the MySQL database which you will use with LiteCommerce

HE. Provide the MySQL host name, password and database name. If a MySQL database with such name does

not exist, the installer will create one. If the MySQL database is already populated with data, all the old

information in it will be lost.

Examples:

MySQL host name: mysql

MySQL user name: myname

MySQL password: password

MySQL base name: lc_he_database

4. Specify Licensing Server host name and location. Enter a valid Licensing Server Code, that you received

Installation9


when you purchased LiteCommerce HE and a Licensing Server admin email address - the email you want to

use to receive notifications. If you are using the trial version, no code is necessary.

Examples:

License Server host name: mydomain.com

License Server location: /ls

OR

License Server host name: mydomain.com

License Server location: /

license URL:



License Server code: AF5D-03KE-CCVY-758H

License Server admin e-mail: [email protected]

If the Licensing Server Code is invalid, connection to our tracking system fails, or the Licensing Server does

not run, you will get the following warning message:

WARNING! LiteCommerce Hosting Edition was installed, but for one of the following reasons (the Licensing Server Code is invalid, connection to our tracking system fails, the Licensing Server does not run) correct operation of the software is not possible.Please check if the following configuration parameters are correct:license key:LS location:LS web-path:If everything is correct, consult our support department.

In this case consult our support department at https://secure.qualiteam.biz to find a solution to the issue.

5. When the Licensing Server is successfully installed, the installer proceeds with LiteCommerce HE

installation. You can watch what the installer is currently doing, on the screen. When the installation is finished

you see a message: "LiteCommerce Hosting Edition is successfully installed".

https://secure.qualiteam.biz




Uninstalling LiteCommerce HE

Locate a file with the extension .run (for example, litecommerce-2.2-build11-distr.run) and run the following

command:

sh litecommerce-2.2-build11-distr.run --uninstall

Now follow the instructions on the screen. To stop uninstalling, press [Ctrl-C].

The following software parts can be removed:

· LiteCommerce Online Store Builder,

· Licensing Server,

· Licensing Server database.

After you have confirmed all the necessary uninstalling steps and specified all the needed data, the list of

actions to be performed will be displayed. To confirm, you have to answer positively to the last question

(please note that you have to enter a capital letter Y).

Proceed and perform all uninstall actions? [Y/n]:

Getting started11


Getting started

After you have successfully installed LiteCommerce HE you can access it by clicking on the 'LC HE Control

Center' link in the 'Add-ons' menu of your cPanel interface.

The following sections deal with the four tabs available in the LC HE Control Center:

· Feature Packs,

· Statistics,

· Store Maintenance,

· License Info.




Feature Packs

This chapter deals with the process of allowing your clients to use certain combination of LC shopping carts

and sets of add-on modules.

· Read the 'Feature Packs Overview' section to learn more about the types of available feature packs.

· Check out the 'Feature Packs Configurator' section for information on what settings can be viewed on this

page; how to add, edit and delete feature packs.

Feature Packs13


Feature Packs Overview

A feature pack is a set of LiteCommerce add-on modules that a shop owner can choose from. There are two

major types of feature packs: Basic and Standard.

Basic Feature Packs include the following characteristics:

· free LiteCommerce shopping cart,

· up to 25 products,

· restricted product adding and import (including direct database manipulation),

· no free modules are included,

· offline payment methods available,

· online payment methods are available (PayPal, AuthorizeNet).

Standard Feature Packs include the following characteristics:

· all free modules are switched on,

· online payment methods are available (PayPalPro, AuthorizeNet),

· variable number of commercial modules (besides PayPalPro, AuthorizeNet),

· from 1 to 19 commercial modules are included,

· if 20 commercial modules are included, the feature pack status changes to 'unlimited' and all modules

beyond 20 are free of charge.




Feature Packs Configurator

Click on the 'Feature Packs' tab to access the following information:

· License Type - Basic or Standard. For more information on license types consult 'Feature Packs

Overview' section;

· The number of shops using this feature pack (is currently used by n shop(s));

· Pos. - the number that determines the position of the feature pack in the column. Feature packs with

identical pos. numbers are sorted alphabetically;

· Max number of shops available for deployment;

· Max number of active commercial add-ons;

· Included add-ons - the add-on modules which the shop owner can choose from.

Feature Packs15


To add a pack:

Click 'Add new pack' button at the top or bottom right.

1. Select the type of the new pack from the drop-down menu.

Note: You will be able to change the type later, but only as long as it is not used. After the feature pack isassigned, you will not be able to modify its type.

Adding a feature pack

2. Enter the pack name.

3. Specify the position number.

4. If you selected the 'Standard' type, specify the max number of shops available for deployment and max

number of active commercial add-ons. In the list of add-on modules select check boxes next to the modules

you want to include in this feature pack.

Note: if you select one of the organizer modules, please note that either the LayoutOrganizer or theShowcaseOrganizer module can be enabled, they do not operate simultaneously because theirfunctionality overlaps.

A list of available add-on modules(continued below)

Example: If you enable 8 commercial add-ons and limit the number of commercial add-ons to 4, your clientswill be able to activate any of the enabled add-ons, but not more than 4 at a time.




4. Click 'Add new pack' to save the changes or 'Cancel' to discard.

To edit a pack:

Click on the 'Edit pack' button next to it in the feature pack list, modify the necessary settings and click

'Update pack' or 'Cancel' if you decide not to save the modifications.

Modifying a feature pack

Note: You can only edit feature packs which are not used by any shops. If the pack has already been assigned,you can only modify its name and position number.

To delete a pack:

Click 'Delete pack' next to the name of the necessary feature pack in the list.

Note: You can only delete feature packs which are not used by any shops.

Feature Packs17


Adding Feature Packs to Feature Lists

To assign the LiteCommerce Feature Packs that you have created, to your hosting packages, on the main

screen of your WebHostTM Manager interface click Packages -> Feature Manager.

To add LiteCommerce Feature Packs to your existing Feature Lists select the name of the Feature List from

the drop-down box and click Edit. Select the necessary check boxes to enable or disable the corresponding

features, and click Save when you have finished editing the feature list.

Feature Manager

The following options are available when you edit Feature Lists:

· Select the LiteCommerce HE (enable/disable whole functionality) check box to enable the client who

uses a package with this Feature List assigned, to deploy a LiteCommerce store. Clear this checkbox to

make LiteCommerce unavailable.

· Select the check boxes next to LiteCommerce HE Feature Packs to make the Feature Packs accessible in

the client's cPanelÒ software.

Note: Due to cPanel limitations all the Feature Packs can be selected simultaneously, while in fact only one ofthe Basic and one of the commercial Feature Packs (the most expensive), would be available.

If a Feature List is configured as shown in the next figure, LiteCommerce functionality is enabled, which means

the client is able to deploy a LiteCommerce store. A Feature Pack 'LC Full 20+' is disabled. The client will have

a choice of 'LC Basic', which is free and 'LC Standard10' which is the most expensive of the selected

commercial Feature Packs.




Statistics

You can view statistical information on all the shops deployed, feature packs used and add-modules activated

by your clients. The following sections give more details about viewing statistics of each type.

· See the 'Summary Usage Statistics' section for information on viewing combined statistics for a selected

period.

· Read the 'Usage Statistics by Shops' section to learn how to refine statistical data on the shops deployed

by your clients.

· Consult the 'Usage Statistics by Feature Packs' section to find out how to view information on your feature

packs usage.

Statistics19


Summary Usage Statistics

To access total statistics on all the deployed shops and activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control

Center click on the 'Statistics' tab. On the "Summary usage statistics" page from the drop-down menu select

the search period and click on the 'Search' button. If you have too many results, they will break into separate

pages. Select number of items per page from the corresponding drop-down menu.

'Summary Usage Statistics' results page

On the next figure see the explanation of data included into the summary usage statistics.




Explanation of billing results

Statistics21


Usage Statistics by Shops

To access the statistics on the deployed shops, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on 'Usage

Statistics by Shops' tab.

On the opening page from the drop-down menu select the search period. You can also use the following

criteria to refine your search:

· username

· host

· location

· feature pack

Leave these fields empty to view the statistics for the search period without any filters. You can apply them

later to narrow your search.

Click on the 'Search' button.

Using search filters

Use buttons to copy corresponding data from the search results to the search fields and buttons to clear

the search fields.




Copying data from the results page to the search fields

The following information is included in the results:

1. Shop URL

2. Server

3. Username

4. Hosting plan/Feature pack - client's hosting plan and the LiteCommerce feature pack, assigned to it.

5. Usage days - total number of days the shop has actually been working.

6. Shops fee

7. Total cost

At the bottom of the results page there are two 'Total' lines. If you did not use pagination they are identical. If

you have more than one page of results, then:

· 'Total for items on this page' is a sum of 'Total cost' fields for shops listed on this specific page only.

· 'Total for search period' is a sum of 'Total cost' fields for shops found, displayed on all the results pages.

Statistics23


Usage Statistics by Feature Packs

To access statistics on the activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control Center click on 'Plans usage

statistics' link. On the opening page select a search period from the drop-down list. Then select check boxes

next to the names of the feature packs for which you want to view the statistics and click 'Search'.

Using search filters

If you have too many results, they will break into separate pages. Select number of items per page from the

corresponding drop-down menu.

The following information is included:

1. Feature pack name.

2. Unique shops - the number of shops bought. See 'Installations' for details.

3. Usage days - the number of days is calculated on the basis of how long a shop has actually been working.

4. Modules fee - the amount due for the activated add-on modules.

5. Total cost for the time the shops have been in use.




Store Maintenance

This section is about how you can modify a shop's properties: activate and deactivate a shop and update the

hosting plan and feature pack used by it.

Searching for shops

To access total statistics on all the deployed shops and activated modules, in the LiteCommerce HE Control

Center click on the 'Statistics' tab. On the "Summary usage statistics" page from the drop-down menu select

the search period and click on the 'Search' button.

Active shops statistics

You can refine the shops list using the following filters: owner username, shop URL and Hosting plan/Feature

pack.

Use buttons to copy corresponding data from the results to the search fields and buttons to clear the

search fields.

If you have too many results, they will break into separate pages. Select number of items per page from the

corresponding drop-down menu.

Changing shop details

To change the shop status, click on the button next to the 'Status' column: 'Activate' or 'Deactivate'.

You change hosting plans assigned to your clients in your cPanel via 'Account Information' -> 'List

Accounts' page. When you change a hosting plan, it is reflected in LiteCommerce HE Control Center in the

Store Maintenance25


'Store Maintenance' tab. A store using another hosting plan is marked with a (*) sign. Also a following note

appears at the bottom of the search results page: "Shops that have switched to another hosting plan are

marked with an asterisk. Click on the "Update" button to synchronize and update shops' properties."

A shop has switched to another hosting plan

When you remove a user who has deployed LiteCommerce store, the store belonging to this user gets marked

with a red exclamation mark. Also a following note appears at the bottom of the search results page: "Shops

that do not have a user are marked with an exclamation mark. Click on the "Update" button to synchronize and

update shops' properties."

A user has been removed




License Info

To get information about your license, select the 'License info' tab in your LiteCommerce HE control center.

Here you can view your license key, the license expiration date, the licensed server URL, numbers of shops

and modules included into the license.

Also there is an 'Update license' button. Click it to renew your license manually and wait for a 'Licensing

Server license successfully updated' message to appear.

Appendix A27


Appendix A

To add PHP support to your Apache web-server, do the following:

1. Run /scripts/easyapache;

2. Select skill level: choose the "Advanced (Experts Only, At Your Own Risk)" mode - enter the

corresponding number and press Enter;

3. Select "Php Module --->";

4. Locate and select "Openssl Support", press Space key;

5. Exit PHP Module Menu;

6. Exit Main Menu;

7. In the 'Save Configuration' dialog choose to save this Apache configuration;

8. Wait until compilation finishes. The compilation was successful if:

· there are no 'error' or 'failed' messages in the script output;

· there is a "PHP version file has been updated to x.y.z" message;

· the output ended in "httpd started ok" message.

litecommerce hosting edition

Documents

feature packs

packs overview

packs configurator

creative development

usage statistics

feb282007table of contents