Installing PrairieLearn Locally on macOS

  1. Install Docker Desktop. If you don’t have an account, create one using your UVA email.

  2. Head over to GitHub. Go to Settings > Developer Settings > Personal access tokens > Tokens (classic). Select Generate new token > Generate new token (classic). Fill in the following options:
    • Note: PrairieLearn CS2100
    • Expiration: Custom > end of the semester (you should create a new token each semester for security)
    • Select scopes: Check all the boxes in the “repo” section. All other checkboxes should be left unchecked.

  3. Click “Generate token”. Copy the token that appears on screen now and save it somewhere. You will need it later and cannot see it again! If you lose it, you can always create a new token.

  4. Go to following GitHub repository: https://github.com/PrairieLearn/pl-virginia-cs2100. This is where all the question, assessment, and course data is stored. If your GitHub account does not have access, please contact Professor Morrison and ask her to add your GitHub username as a collaborator. You need access to this repository to continue.

  5. Open Terminal. Run the command pwd and ensure you are in the /Users/[yourusername] directory. If not, navigate to this directory using cd /Users/[yourusername]. If you don’t know your username, run the command whoami and it will tell you.

  6. Run the command git clone https://github.com/PrairieLearn/pl-virginia-cs2100.git. Enter your GitHub username when prompted. For your password, paste the token you created earlier. This clones the repository into a new directory pl-virginia-cs2100.

  7. After cloning the repository, we need to create another folder on the same level as pl-virginia-cs2100. Ensure your terminal is still located at /Users/[yourusername] and run the command mkdir pl-jobs. This directory will be used to store autograder jobs. Still create this folder even if you aren’t planning to write questions using an autograder.

  8. Run the command: 
    docker run -it --rm -p 3000:3000 -v "$HOME/pl-virginia-cs2100:/course" -v "$HOME/pl-jobs:/jobs" -e HOST_JOBS_DIR="$HOME/pl-jobs" -v //var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock prairielearn/prairielearn

    (it may take longer the first time)

  9. Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000/. You should now see PrairieLearn running locally!

  10. Click “Load from disk” on the top right. After it is done, click “PrairieLearn” in the top left corner. You should now see CS 2100 as a course with instructor access. When you click on it, it takes you to the course homepage. From here, you’ll probably be using the “Questions” tab the most.

Important: When you are finished with your locally running PrairieLearn instance, it is important to shut it down. To do this, go back into your terminal where you launched PrairieLearn and press Ctrl+C. To launch PrairieLearn again, paste the same long command from step 8 into a terminal and go to http://localhost:3000/.

Setting Up VS Code for development

  1. Install VS Code if you do not already have it.

  2. Open VS Code. Click File > Open Folder and select the pl-virginia-cs2100 folder. Click Open, and you should now have access to all PrairieLearn course files in VS Code for development.