How to Install Archivematica on NixOS Latest

Archivematica is a free and open-source software that helps in managing digital archives. It is a great tool for managing the lifecycle of digital archives, including preservation, access, and discovery. In this tutorial, we will guide you with the installation of Archivematica from the official website on NixOS latest.

Prerequisites

To install Archivematica on NixOS, you need the following prerequisites:

  • A running NixOS latest installation
  • Sudo user access

Step 1: Update the System

Firstly, update the system to get the latest packages for the operating system.

sudo nix-channel --update
sudo nixos-rebuild switch
sudo systemctl reboot

Step 2: Install the Archivematica Packages

Archivematica is available as an official Nix package. You can install the package by running the following command:

sudo nix-env -iA nixos.archivematica

Step 3: Configure the Archivematica System

After installing the Archivematica package, you will need to configure the system. The configuration file is located in /etc/archivematica/archivematicaCommonSettings.py. Update the configuration with the appropriate setting values. You can edit the file using your favorite command-line text editor such as nano or vim.

sudo nano /etc/archivematica/archivematicaCommonSettings.py

Ensure that you update the following settings in the configuration file:

  • DATABASES: Update the values for ‘NAME’, ‘USER’, and‘PASSWORD’ with your PostgreSQL database values.
  • SECRET_KEY: Set the value to a string that is a random and secure secret key.
  • TIME_ZONE: set the timezone of the system.
  • DEBUG: Set the value to ‘False’ for a production environment.

After making the necessary changes, save and exit the file.

Step 4: Start the Archivematica Services

After configuring the Archivematica system, you can now start the services using the following command:

sudo systemctl start archivematica-mcp-server archivematica-mcp-client archivematica-mcp-processor archivematica-storage-service

Step 5: Access the Archivematica Web Interface

Open your favorite web browser and navigate to the Archivematica web interface using https://localhost. Follow the instructions to complete the web-based installation by entering the configuration values.

Conclusion

Archivematica is a powerful tool that allows you to manage digital archives. In this tutorial, you learned how to install Archivematica on NixOS using the official Nix package. We also walked you through configuring the system and starting the services. You can now start to manage digital archives using the Archivematica web interface.