I spent about 2 hours this morning trying to install the AICC/CMI test suite to do a test of some AICC based content. It has been over a year since I installed it last, and I was getting completely confused because it wasn't working after I installed it.

The AICC/CMI test suite is a great application to test AICC based content in a simulated AICC environment. It allows you to log all information that is sent from the content to the LMS.

It is extremely difficult to find any information on how to install and get it working, so I wanted to post install instructions here in case it helps anyone else out, and so I have a record of how I installed it when I need to install it again next year.

Detailed AICC/CMI Test Suite Installation Instructions for Windows XP SP2

1. Follow the instructions on the AICC site for downloading the test suite:
   http://www.aicc.org/pages/aicc_ts.htm
2. Download and install an Apache web server from the following site:
   http://httpd.apache.org/
   
   Note: Any version will do. The docs for the AICC test suite specifically mention 1.3.3, but I am running 2.xx and I have not run into issues yet)
3. Install the AICC test suite downloaded in step number 1
4. Copy "wrapper.exe" that was installed in the AICC test suite folder
   (by default it should be installed to: c:\CMI_TST)
5. Paste "wrapper.exe" into the cgi-bin folder on the Apache web folder
   (by default it should be here: C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\cgi-bin)
6. Copy the following files from C:\CMI_TST
   aicc_launcher.dll
   done.html
   index.html
   ltest0000.aas
   ltest.aam
   ltest.html
7. Create a folder named AICC in the webroot folder of the Apache web server
   (by default it should be here: C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs)
8. Paste the files from step 6 into the folder created in step 7
9. Right-click on "My Computer"
10. Select Manage
11. Double click 'Services and Applications'
12. Double click 'Services'
13. Double click on 'Apache2'
14. Select the 'Log On' tab
15. Important: Select 'Allow service to interact with desktop'
16. Click OK and restart the computer

After I did this I was able to use the AICC test suite. The reason it was failing for me earlier is that I didn't have the option selected to 'Allow service to interact with desktop'.

I'll write a follow-up post to this as soon as I get some time on how to actually use the test suite. Using it is about as simple as installing it (which isn't saying much).

Labels: AICC