Exploring Urchin Web Analytics Software

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: August 19, 2008]

By default Urchin 6 is installed at /usr/local/urchin directory. You can change directory by typing the following command:
# cd /usr/local/urchin

Use urchinctl to control Urchin web server / scheduler

You will find urchinctl inside bin directory. It is used to control Urchin web server listing on TCP port 9999.

To start the Urchin webserver, enter:

# /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinctl start

To restart the Urchin webserver, enter:

# /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinctl restart
Above command is useful if you change Urchin port or other settings.

To view the Urchin webserver and scheduler status , enter:

# /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinctl status
Sample output:

Urchin webserver is running
Urchin MASTER scheduler is running
Urchin SLAVE scheduler is running

To stop the Urchin webserver, enter:

# /usr/local/urchin/bin/urchinctl stop

/usr/local/urchin/util/utm directory

You need to use urchin.js and __utm.gif file to track the statistics. These files are also known as the UTM Sensor, which is nothing but a small amount of JavaScript code that accomplishes various tracking methods.

Automatically start / stop Urchin after RHEL reboot

You need to copy /usr/local/urchin/util/urchin_daemons file to /etc/init.d/ directory:
# cp /usr/local/urchin/util/urchin_daemons /etc/init.d/urchin
Set permissions
# chmod +x /etc/init.d/urchin
Use chkconfig tool, which provides a simple command-line tool for maintaining the /etc/rc[0-6].d directory hierarchy by relieving system administrators of the task of directly manipulating the numerous symbolic links in those directories.
# chkconfig urchin on

Now you can start, stop or restart Urchin services automatically.

Continue reading rest of the Urchin 6 Web Analytics series.