How to Install Ralph on Ubuntu Server Latest

Ralph is a web-based Asset Management system, designed for data centers and back offices. It is written in Python and Django Framework. This tutorial will guide you through the installation process of Ralph on Ubuntu Server Latest.

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu Server Latest 64-bit with root access
  • Python 3.6 or higher
  • PostgreSQL 9.6 or higher
  • Virtual Environment

Step 1: Update System

First and foremost, make sure that the system is up to date by running the commands below.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 2: Install Python 3.6 or Higher

To install the latest version of Python 3, run the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3.6

Step 3: Install PostgreSQL

To install PostgreSQL, run the commands below:

sudo apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib

By default, PostgreSQL creates a user postgres which is required for the Ralph installation.

Step 4: Install Virtual Environment

Next, we will install the virtualenv package that separates the dependencies for Ralph installation from the operating system. Run the following.

sudo apt-get install python3-venv

Create a new virtual environment directory and activate it with the command below.

mkdir ~/ralph-env
python3.6 -m venv ~/ralph-env
source ~/ralph-env/bin/activate

Step 5: Install Ralph

We will now install Ralph using Pip. Run the following command to install Ralph.

sudo apt-get install python3-dev libpq-dev libjpeg-dev libldap2-dev libsasl2-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libffi-dev gettext
sudo -H pip install ralph

Step 6: Configure Ralph Database

Before starting the Ralph server, we need to create a database and user for Ralph. Run the following commands to create a database named 'ralph' and a user named 'ralphuser'. Replace the password 'strongpassword' with your desired password.

sudo su - postgres
psql
CREATE DATABASE ralph;
CREATE USER ralphuser WITH PASSWORD 'strongpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE ralph TO ralphuser;

Exit from PostgreSQL and update the Ralph configuration file with the following details.

sudo nano /opt/ralph/conf/local.py

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'ralph',
        'USER': 'ralphuser',
        'PASSWORD': 'strongpassword',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '',
    }
}

Save and close the file.

Step 7: Start the Ralph Server

Initialize the Ralph database by running the following command:

sudo ralph migrate

Start the Ralph server with the following command:

sudo ralph runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

You can now access Ralph from your web browser by typing 'http://your-server-ip:8000'.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Ralph on Ubuntu Server Latest.