Getting started with CAIRNS

See 'INSTALL' for installation instructions. You can always get to the main screen by clicking the CAIRNS logo in the upper right corner of the browser window.

Terminology

User = A person operating CAIRNS using the browser interface.

Party = A person or an organisation. A User can send messages on behalf of several Parties. Several Users can send messages on behalf of a Party.

Incident = An incident (example: "Cyclone Larry")

Subscription = A collection of rules specifying messages that will trigger notifications for a User, as well as a specification of the delivery method. Please note: subscriptions are not fully implemented.

Address = An endpoint for a delivery method (eg. fax number, email address).

Resource message = EDXL-RM message.

Alert = CAP message.

Sending your first CAIRNS messages

Optional: create a network

CAIRNS will happily let you send messages when there's only one node communicating with itself. If you wish to pass messages between two or more CAIRNS nodes, you'll have to create a CAIRNS network. Currently there is no autodetection feature built into CAIRNS, so you'll have to connect the nodes by hand.

To create a CAIRNS network, start CAIRNS on all the computers you wish to have participating in the network. Login to CAIRNS on one of the nodes and go to 'Node status'. Enter the hostname (or IP address, if preferred or DNS lookups don't work) of a remote CAIRNS node in the 'Connect to peer:' text box under 'Peers'. Click 'Connect'. Repeat for all nodes. You can now broadcast CAIRNS messages to all CAIRNS nodes participating in the network.

Add a Party

Choose 'Party' from the main screen menu. Choose 'New party'. Type 'Test' in the 'Name' field and select 'Organisation' as the 'Party category'. Click on 'Create'. You should now see a screen with a message in green saying 'Party was successfully created.' along with info about the new Party.

Click 'Edit'. Select 'admin' in the 'Is operated by' section. Click 'Update'. You should now see a screen with a green message as above, along with a line saying 'Test is operated by admin'.

Add an Incident

Choose 'Incident' from the main screen menu. Choose 'New incident'. Type 'Test incident' in 'Name' and click 'Create'.

Send an Alert

Choose 'Alerts' from the sidebar. Choose 'New alert'. Choose 'Other' under 'Category'. Type 'Test event' in 'Event'. Type 'Test message.' in 'Description'. Click 'Create'.

Send a Resource Message

Choose 'Resource messages' from the sidebar. Choose 'Add resource message'. Choose 'Fuel' from the 'Resource type' menu. Type '5' in 'Quantity'. Click on the Calendar icon next to the 'Date/time' field in 'Schedule type'. Click on the current date. Click 'Add schedule'. Click 'Add resource'. Click 'Send'.