Installation of VuFind on Ubuntu/Debian

VuFind is an Open Source Discovery software. You can connect various resources (ILS, databases, Digital Library) to VuFind and facilitate single interface for users to search among resources.

1. Update Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install mousepad 

2. Install Apache server

sudo apt install apache2
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

3. Install MariaDB server

sudo apt install mariadb-server

Assign Root password for MariaDB
Apply following command,

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


4. Install PHP
VuFind written using PHP programming language. Install PHP and necessary components.

sudo apt -y install libapache2-mod-php php-mbstring php-pear php php-dev php-gd php-intl php-json php-ldap php-mysql php-xml php-soap php-curl

5. Install JAVA JDK

sudo apt -y install default-jdk

6. Download VuFind
Go to https://vufind.org/vufind/downloads.html and download latest version of VuFind (e.g. vufind-9.1.1.tar.gz

Unzip the package (Right click on the package and select "Extract here". Otherwise apply following command in a terminal. Notice the version number; it will change when new version release.

e.g. tar xzvf vufind-9.1.1.tar.gz

Move the folder to /usr/local/vufind (Notice the version number in following command)

sudo mv vufind-9.1.1 /usr/local/vufind

7. Install VuFind

cd /usr/local/vufind
php install.php

8. Permission to Apache to write configuration files

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/local/vufind/local/cache
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/local/vufind/local/config

9. Create cache for command line tools

sudo mkdir /usr/local/vufind/local/cache/cli
sudo chmod 777 /usr/local/vufind/local/cache/cli

10. Link VuFind to Apache

sudo ln -s /usr/local/vufind/local/httpd-vufind.conf /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/vufind.conf

sudo systemctl restart apache2

11. Setup environment variables

sudo sh -c 'echo export JAVA_HOME=\"/usr/lib/jvm/default-java\" > /etc/profile.d/vufind.sh'
sudo sh -c 'echo export VUFIND_HOME=\"/usr/local/vufind\"  >> /etc/profile.d/vufind.sh'
sudo sh -c 'echo export VUFIND_LOCAL_DIR=\"/usr/local/vufind/local\"  >> /etc/profile.d/vufind.sh'

12. Load the environment manually

source /etc/profile.d/vufind.sh

13. Start Solr

VuFind using Solr search engine.

cd /usr/local/vufind/
./solr.sh start

15. Autostart Solr
Users have to start Solr manually every time system on. Enable Solr auto start to avoid it.

Open Applications > Accessories > Terminal and open a new file;

sudo mousepad /etc/init.d/vufind

Copy paste the following lines to the file.

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Description: VuFind init script
### END INIT INFO
export VUFIND_HOME=/usr/local/vufind
cd /usr/local/vufind
./solr.sh $*

Make the script executable

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/vufind

Add the script to the Ubuntu startup

sudo update-rc.d vufind defaults

You can start and stop the Solr using the following commands;

service vufind start
service vufind stop
service vufind restart
service vufind check

If you find that VuFind search not working, restart Solr using the command, service vufind start

16. Disable unix_socket plugin

sudo mysql -uroot -p
UPDATE mysql.user SET plugin='' WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
quit

17. VuFind post installation configuration

http://127.0.1.1/vufind/Install/Home

The screen will show various items. Some items may show "“Failed” with “Fix”. Click on fix button. You will get directions about how to fix the problems.

After fixing all problems, you can open VuFind at http://127.0.1.1/vufind

References
https://vufind.org/wiki/installation:ubuntu
https://vufind.org/wiki/administration:starting_and_stopping_solr