Koha 3 Library Management System Install, configure, and maintain your Koha installation with this easy-to-follow guide Savitra Sirohi Amit Gupta BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI Koha 3 Library Management System Copyright © 2010 Packt Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. First published: November 2010 Production Reference: 1091110 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. 32 Lincoln Road Olton Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK. ISBN 978-1-849510-82-0 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by John M. Quick ([email protected]) Credits Authors Editorial Team Leader Savitra Sirohi Akshara Aware Amit Gupta Project Team Leader Priya Mukherji Reviewers Kyle M Hall Project Coordinator Vimal Kumar V Srimoyee Ghoshal Acquisition Editor Proofreaders Steven Wilding Aaron Nash Clyde Jenkins Development Editor Wilson D'souza Graphics Nilesh Mohite Technical Editor Kavita Iyer Production Coordinator Adline Swetha Jesuthas Indexer Hemangini Bari Cover Work Adline Swetha Jesuthas About the Authors Savitra Sirohi heads Nucsoft OSS Labs (http://www.osslabs.biz) – a Koha services provider. As part of his work, Savitra has lead several Koha implementations and conducts regular Koha workshops in India. Savitra is an Engineer and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. We would like to thank Kyle Hall, Vimal Kumar, and Nicole Engard and other members of the Koha community who took the time to review the chapter drafts. Their perspective and expertise helped improve this book immeasurably. Many thanks are due to Wilson, Kavita, Srimoyee, Steven, and others at Packt for their expertise and hard work and also their patience with these first time authors. Amit Gupta is the lead Koha specialist at Nucsoft OSS Labs (http://www. osslabs.biz), a Koha services provider. Amit has played a key role in several Koha implementations, including the one at Delhi Public Library, one of India's biggest Koha projects. Amit has a BSc and a Master's in Computer Applications. About the Reviewers Kyle M Hall is an IT specialist for the Meadville Public Library and the Crawford County Federated Library System of Pennsylvania is a Free Open Source Software advocate and software developer. His contributions to Koha include bugfixes and new features, as well as the Koha Off-line Circulation system. In addition to his work with Koha, he is also the author of a FOSS Kiosk Management System, Libk (http://libki.org), a cross-platform system for controlling access to computers via logins and time limits. Vimal Kumar is a library professional with genuine interest in Linux and open source software. He is an active member of Koha community. He has a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from University of Kerala. He has done an evaluative study of open source library management system conducted in 2005 for the completion of MLISc degree project. During the past few years he has been active as a resource person for Koha training programs. He has been working with Mahatma Gandhi University Library and has also presented many papers in national and international conferences. Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter 1: Installing the Software Stack 7 An orientation to Koha's installation 7 Koha's architecture 8 What do we need to install? 8 Installation tools 8 Package manager 9 Make utility 9 CPAN shell 9 Git 9 Choosing between Linux Perl packages and CPAN modules 10 Choosing a Linux distribution 10 Getting help—Koha's community resources 10 Preparing for installation 11 Server prerequisites 11 Downloading Koha and switching to a branch 11 Cloning Koha 11 Checking out a branch 12 Preparing a list of installation packages 12 System packages 13 Perl modules 13 Debian/Ubuntu package lists 14 Setting up repositories or sources 14 Configuring the CPAN shell 15 Installing Koha's software stack 16 Installing packages using the package manager 16 Installing packages from the Linux prompt 16 Installing packages using shell scripts 16 Table of Contents Installing packages using dselect 17 Installing Perl modules using CPAN 17 Troubleshooting CPAN installations 18 Setting up Koha's MySQL database 19 Configuring Koha's installation: Makefile.PL 20 Completing Koha's installation 21 Summary 21 Chapter 2: Configuring the Apache2 Web Server 23 Understanding Apache2 configuration 23 About Apache2 23 Apache2 virtual hosts 24 Name-based or IP-based virtual hosts 24 Apache2's configuration folder 25 Koha's default Apache2 file 26 Koha's virtual hosts 26 Virtual host configuration 27 Preparing for Apache2 configuration 27 Configuration plan 27 Two host names 28 Hostname with two ports 28 IP address with two ports 29 Two IP addresses 30 Standalone machine 30 Configuration prerequisites 31 Configuring Apache2 web server 31 Creating a symbolic link to koha-httpd.conf 31 Enabling Apache2's Rewrite module 32 Configuring the listener 32 Editing the OPAC virtual host 32 Editing the staff client virtual host 33 Enabling Koha's virtual hosts 33 Restarting Apache2 33 Troubleshooting configuration problems 35 Rewrite module not enabled 36 Incorrect or missing Directory directive 36 Unable to connect to MySQL 36 Listener not setup 37 Summary 38 [ ii ] Table of Contents Chapter 3: Installing Koha's Zebra Search Engine 39 About Zebra 39 Koha's Zebra related components 40 Zebrasrv—the Zebra query and retrieval server 40 Rebuild_zebra.pl—the Zebra index maintenance program 41 Installing Zebra 41 Installing Zebra packages 41 Installing Koha with Zebra 42 Testing Zebra 42 Testing zebrasrv 43 The zebrasrv command 43 Invoking zebrasrv with Koha's configuration file 43 zebrasrv daemon 44 Zebrasrv daemon on Debian or Ubuntu 44 zebrasrv daemon on openSuSE 45 Rebuilding Zebra 46 Creating or recreating indexes 48 Using Koha without Zebra 48 Summary 50 Chapter 4: Koha's Web Installer, Crontab, and Other Server Configurations 51 Executing Koha's web installer 51 Understanding the web installer's functions 52 Understanding how to execute the web installer 52 Understanding optional data available for import 54 Settings for MARC frameworks 54 Other data 55 Executing the web installer 56 Launching Koha 57 Configuring the crontab 58 Editing the crontab 58 Setting up environment variables 58 Generating advance notices 59 Generating overdue notices 59 Sending e-mail messages 59 Calculating fines 59 Rebuilding Zebra indexes 60 More crontab examples 60 Ensuring Koha starts automatically on server reboot 60 Auto-starting Apache2 61 Auto-starting MySQL 61 Auto-starting Zebra server 61 [ iii ]