Install Koha on Ubuntu

Install Ubuntu 22.04 and update

Koha can install various Ubuntu flavours like Xubuntu/Lubuntu. Xubuntu and Lubuntu are lightweight (fast-performance) Ubuntu flavours. Download the Linux iso file from either Xubuntu/Lubuntu from websites. Burn in a DVD or pen drive/DVD. Install the Linux operating system. Koha's official installation manual gives instructions on which Ubuntu releases are officially supported.

Open the Terminal and get ready for installation.

Open Applications > System Tools > Terminal and apply the commands individually.

Update Ubuntu
This process will update the Linux operating system by downloading new packages.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install Mousepad text editor.

The mousepad is a lightweight text editor that requires opening configuration files during Koha's installation process. A text editor with a graphical interface is suitable for beginners. Text editors like Vim and Nano can also be used as text editors.

sudo apt -y install mousepad

Add Koha community repository.

Add Koha software channel into Ubuntu. Here, we add the old stable version of Koha. We can define which version to install when adding the repository. Visit the Koha Wiki for details. Apply the following two commands one by one:

sudo sh -c 'wget -qO - https://debian.koha-community.org/koha/gpg.asc | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/koha-keyring.gpg'

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/koha-keyring.gpg] https://debian.koha-community.org/koha oldstable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/koha.list'

Update the software repository.

sudo apt update

Install MariaDB server

sudo apt install -y mariadb-server

Assign Root password for MariaDB.

If the password asks during installation, enter the password in the window. Apply the following command if the password window did not appear during the installation,

sudo mysqladmin -u root password newpass       [Replace 'newpass']

Install Koha

The following command will install the old stable version of Koha.

sudo apt install -y koha-common

Server configuration

In this step, you must edit network information like domain name and port numbers.

sudo mousepad /etc/koha/koha-sites.conf

Here, I changed the port number of the Koha staff client to 8080. Find the following line in the file and make changes.

INTRAPORT="8080"

Koha instance creation

Apply the following commands to create Apache configuration files.

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod cgi
sudo service apache2 restart

Create a Koha instance using the name library. 

sudo koha-create --create-db library

Add new port

We have assigned port number 8080 for the Koha staff client and 80 for OPAC.

Open the following file and add a new port.

sudo mousepad /etc/apache2/ports.conf

Copy-paste the following line below Listen 80

Listen 8080

Restart Apache,

sudo service apache2 restart

Enable modules and sites

sudo a2dissite 000-default
sudo a2enmod deflate
sudo a2ensite library
sudo service apache2 restart

Setup the library

After the successful installation, you must create initial parameters (e.g. branch, item type, superuser creation, etc) to start with Koha. We need to open the web interface of Koha and start the configuration of Koha to start.

Restart the Memcached service to open the Koha web installer.

sudo service memcached restart

Open the following URL in the web browser to open the Staff Client of Koha and set up the library,

localhost:8080 

Enter the Koha staff client using the database username and password for koha_library. It can be found in the file, /etc/koha/sites/library/koha-conf.xml. Apply the following file in a terminal.

sudo mousepad /etc/koha/sites/library/koha-conf.xml

Search (Ctrl+F) for the segment MySQL in the text editor. Note down the database username and password and log into the Koha web installer.

Change Koha's default master password (Optional)

The password for the Koha database name was created during the installation process. The user can change the Koha database password. See the following link,

http://kohageek.blogspot.in/2013/05/how-to-change-master-password-of-koha.html

Reference

https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Koha_on_ubuntu_-_packages

MariaDB installation
https://downloads.mariadb.org/mariadb/repositories/#distro=Ubuntu&distro_release=focal--ubuntu_focal&mirror=piconets&version=10.4