Installing Koha : Introduction

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If you are an idiot like me, then you know that getting started to install koha on your own is a daunting task. This tutorial is meant to make that process easier, if you have the patience to read through/and watch the accompanying videos.

Koha is an open source, integrated library management system. In an idiot’s world, that simply means that it is a free software that you can download, install and even play around with the source code if you like (and if you can). You can also share your customizations to koha with others if you like. However, you can not sell the software to others. For more details on this, read the GNU license terms.

In this guide, we shall make the following assumptions:

1. You have already installed Debian 8
2. You have an internet connection
3. You have sudo (administrator) rights on the system.

Debian Operating System

It is recommended that you install koha on a Debian Operating System especially if it is in production. Debian is fundamentally similar to Ubuntu and you should be able to follow along with this tutorial if you are using Ubuntu. You can download Debian here. If you want something close to Ubuntu, then download the Debian DVD images. They do come with a lot of programs such as a media player and other utility programs, that is why they are big in size. But if all you want is a server, then download the Debian CD images. They are lean and contain only the essential programs.

If you need some help on how to set-up your Linux operating system, you can watch these two videos I made some time back.