How to Install Mahara on EndeavourOS

Mahara is an open-source ePortfolio and social networking platform. In this tutorial, we will discuss how to install Mahara on the latest version of EndeavourOS. EndeavourOS is an Arch-based Linux distribution that provides a user-friendly system installer and aims to be a minimal distro.

Prerequisites

Before we start the installation process, make sure that you have the following prerequisites:

  • A running instance of EndeavourOS on your system
  • Access to the terminal with sudo privileges
  • A stable and robust internet connection

Step 1: Update the System

Before we start the installation process, it is always a good practice to update the system to the latest version. You can do this by running the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -Syu

This command will update all the installed packages to the latest version.

Step 2: Install Apache Server

Mahara requires an Apache web server to run. To install Apache, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -S apache

After the installation is complete, start the Apache server and enable it to start automatically at boot time by running the following commands:

sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

To verify that the Apache server is running, open your web browser and enter the following URL:

http://localhost

If everything is working correctly, you should see the Apache default page.

Step 3: Install PHP

Mahara is a PHP-based application, so we need to install PHP on our system. To install PHP, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -S php php-apache

After the installation is complete, we need to enable the PHP module in Apache by editing the httpd.conf file. Open the httpd.conf file with your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Uncomment the following line by removing the # symbol:

LoadModule php_module modules/libphp.so

Save and close the file.

Restart the Apache server to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

To test if PHP is working correctly, create a new PHP file named info.php with the following content:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Save the file in the webroot of Apache:

sudo nano /srv/http/info.php

Open your web browser and enter the following URL:

http://localhost/info.php

If everything is working correctly, you should see the PHP information page.

After verifying that PHP is working correctly, remove the info.php file as it may contain sensitive information:

sudo rm /srv/http/info.php

Step 4: Install MariaDB

Mahara requires a database to store its data, and we will use MariaDB as our database server. To install MariaDB, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -S mariadb

After the installation is complete, start the MariaDB service and enable it to start automatically at boot time:

sudo systemctl start mysqld
sudo systemctl enable mysqld

Next, run the MySQL secure installation script to set the root password and other security-related settings:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer the questions as follows:

  1. Set the root password? [Y/n] y
  2. Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
  3. Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
  4. Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
  5. Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y

Step 5: Create a New Database for Mahara

After installing MariaDB, we need to create a new database and user for Mahara. To create a new database, log in to the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Enter the root password when prompted.

Create a new database named mahara:

CREATE DATABASE mahara;

Create a new user named maharauser with the password password123:

CREATE USER 'maharauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password123';

Grant all privileges on the mahara database to the maharauser:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mahara.* TO 'maharauser'@'localhost';

Flush the privileges and exit the MySQL shell:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 6: Install Mahara

Now that we have installed all the required dependencies and set up the database, we can proceed with the installation of Mahara. To download the latest version of Mahara, run the following command:

wget https://launchpad.net/mahara/21.04/21.04.0/+download/mahara-21.04.0.tar.gz

Extract the archive file:

tar -xzvf mahara-21.04.0.tar.gz

Move the extracted files to the Apache root directory:

sudo mv mahara-21.04.0 /srv/http/mahara

Set the ownership and permissions of the Mahara installation directory:

sudo chown -R http:http /srv/http/mahara/
sudo chmod -R 755 /srv/http/mahara/

Step 7: Configure Mahara

Before accessing the Mahara installation page, we need to configure some settings in the config.php file. Copy the sample configuration file to the htdocs directory:

sudo cp /srv/http/mahara/htdocs/config-dist.php /srv/http/mahara/htdocs/config.php

Edit the config.php file with your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /srv/http/mahara/htdocs/config.php

Update the following settings:

  • Set the database name, username, and password:
$cfg->dbhost = 'localhost';
$cfg->dbname = 'mahara';
$cfg->dbuser = 'maharauser';
$cfg->dbpass = 'password123';
  • Set the URL of your Mahara installation:
$cfg->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/mahara';
  • Set the session cookie name:
$cfg->sessioncookie = 'mahara';

Save and close the file.

Step 8: Access the Mahara Installation Page

After configuring the config.php file, open your web browser and enter the following URL:

http://localhost/mahara

The Mahara installation page will appear. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have discussed how to install Mahara on the latest version of EndeavourOS. We have covered the installation of Apache, PHP, and MariaDB, and configuring and installing Mahara. With Mahara, you can create and manage your ePortfolios and social network. Happy Learning!