How to Install Pootle on Elementary OS

In this tutorial, we will provide step-by-step instructions for installing Pootle on the latest version of Elementary OS.

Before we get started, please note that Pootle is a web-based translation management tool. It intends to provide an environment for translators to work collaboratively, focusing on the translation rather than remembering the PHP or Python syntax.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you need to have:

• A stable internet connection
• The latest version of Elementary OS installed on your system
• Sudo privileges on your Elementary OS account

Step 1 - Install Dependencies

Before we can install Pootle itself, we need to install some dependencies.

Open up the terminal and execute the following command:

sudo apt install git python-virtualenv python-pip libpq-dev python-dev virtualenvwrapper

This command installs the necessary dependencies such as Git, Python, and the PostgreSQL database on which Pootle depends.

Step 2 - Clone Pootle Repository

Now, we need to download the Pootle source code from GitHub:

cd ~ && mkdir -p pootle_installation && cd pootle_installation

git clone --recursive https://github.com/translate/pootle.git

This command will create a directory pootle_installation in your home directory, navigate to it, and then clone the Pootle source code including all submodules.

Step 3 - Setup Virtual Environment

Pootle runs on Python, and it's good practice to run Pootle in a virtual environment to avoid conflicts between packages. Here's how to create one:

cd pootle
mkvirtualenv pootle

This command will create a new virtual environment named pootle and activate it. From here, you can install and manage packages without affecting your system Python installation.

Step 4 - Install Pootle

Now that we have all dependencies installed, and the virtual environment is set up, we can proceed to install Pootle itself.

First, let's install the Python dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

This command installs all required packages for running Pootle.

Next, we need to initialize the database:

./manage.py migrate

This command will create Pootle's database tables.

Step 5 - Setup Administrator Account

By default, Pootle comes with no administrator account on the system. To set up an initial administrator account, use the following command:

./manage.py createsuperuser

This command will prompt you to enter a username, email, and password for the administrator account.

Step 6 - Start Pootle

Congratulations! You've installed Pootle on your Elementary OS system. Now, we need to start the Pootle server:

./manage.py runserver

This command starts the Pootle server, which will be available at http://localhost:8000/. Open your web browser and navigate to that URL.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Pootle on your Elementary OS system. You can now start working with translations, upload language files, and manage the translations using Pootle's web interface. Happy translating!