How to Install eLabFTW on NetBSD

eLabFTW is an open source electronic lab notebook that allows scientists to organize experiments, manage data, and collaborate with team members. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install eLabFTW on NetBSD.

Prerequisites

Before installing eLabFTW, you will need:

• A NetBSD system running on your computer or server
• A web server, such as Apache or Nginx, installed and configured
• PHP 7.2 or higher
• MySQL or MariaDB server installed and configured

Step 1: Download eLabFTW

Download the latest version of eLabFTW using the following command:

$ wget https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/archive/latest.tar.gz

Extract the downloaded file using the following command:

$ tar -xvzf latest.tar.gz

Move the extracted folder to your web server's root directory using the following command:

$ mv elabftw-latest /var/www/html/elabftw

Step 2: Configure MySQL or MariaDB

Create a new database and user for eLabFTW using the following commands. Replace 'your_db_name', 'your_username', and 'your_password' with your own values.

$ mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE your_db_name;
CREATE USER 'your_username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON your_db_name.* TO 'your_username'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 3: Install eLabFTW

Open your web browser and navigate to http://your_ip_address/elabftw. Choose your preferred language and click the "Next Step" button.

On the next page, enter the following details:

• Database Host: localhost
• Database Name: your_db_name
• Database User: your_username
• Database Password: your_password

Click the "Next Step" button. The installation process will begin, and it may take a few minutes to complete.

Once the installation is complete, you will need to create a configuration file. Open config.php in the elabftw directory and add the following lines at the end:

// Database Settings
define('db_host', 'localhost');
define('db_name', 'your_db_name');
define('db_user', 'your_username');
define('db_password', 'your_password');

Save the file and make it read-only using the following command:

$ chmod 0644 config.php

Step 4: Configure Apache

Create a new virtual host configuration file for eLabFTW using the following command:

$ nano /usr/local/etc/httpd/conf/extra/elabftw.conf

Add the following lines to the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/elabftw
    ServerName your_domain_name
    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/elabftw_error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/elabftw_access.log combined

    <Directory /var/www/html/elabftw>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Replace 'your_domain_name' with your own domain name or IP address.

Save the file and restart Apache using the following command:

$ /etc/rc.d/httpd restart

Step 5: Access eLabFTW

Open your web browser and navigate to http://your_domain_name to access eLabFTW. You will be asked to create an admin account.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed eLabFTW on NetBSD.