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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Koha is the first full-featured open source library management system that is widely used for efficiently managing libraries. However, setting up and maintaining Koha is no walk in the park. It is not as straightforward as setting up the other popular LAMP applications.This practical guide provides all the essential information that is needed to make the task of installing and configuring Koha really seem simple and easy. It demonstrates how to set up Koha and its various aspects – installation, configuration, application administration, and data migration. It also covers troubleshooting, software maintenance, software customization, and other advanced topics.The book starts with installing and configuring the LAMP stack and the Koha application to meet your needs. It then goes deeper into setting up various rules and configuring settings for Koha. It also covers data migration of catalog records, software maintenance, and customization of the application. Chapters are also dedicated to providing an insight into advanced topics such as LDAP integration and Internationalization. Filled with numerous code samples and screenshots, this book will tour you through setting up Koha for evaluation or test purposes. It also includes loads of tips for troubleshooting and maintenance activities.
By the end of this book, you will have gained the knowledge to get the most out of your Koha installation.
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Seitenzahl: 226
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010
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Table of Contents
Koha 3 Library Management System
Koha 3 Library Management System
Copyright © 2010 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: November 2010
Production Reference: 1091110
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
32 Lincoln Road
Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 978-1-849510-82-0
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by John M. Quick (<[email protected]>)
Credits
Authors
Savitra Sirohi
Amit Gupta
Reviewers
Kyle M Hall
Vimal Kumar V
Acquisition Editor
Steven Wilding
Development Editor
Wilson D'souza
Technical Editor
Kavita Iyer
Indexer
Hemangini Bari
Editorial Team Leader
Akshara Aware
Project Team Leader
Priya Mukherji
Project Coordinator
Srimoyee Ghoshal
Proofreaders
Aaron Nash
Clyde Jenkins
Graphics
Nilesh Mohite
Production Coordinator
Adline Swetha Jesuthas
Cover Work
Adline Swetha Jesuthas
About the Authors
Savitra Sirohi heads Nucsoft OSS Labs (http://www.osslabs.biz) – a Koha services provider. As part of his work, Savitra has lead several Koha implementations and conducts regular Koha workshops in India. Savitra is an Engineer and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management.
We would like to thank Kyle Hall, Vimal Kumar, and Nicole Engard and other members of the Koha community who took the time to review the chapter drafts. Their perspective and expertise helped improve this book immeasurably.
Many thanks are due to Wilson, Kavita, Srimoyee, Steven, and others at Packt for their expertise and hard work and also their patience with these first time authors.
Amit Gupta is the lead Koha specialist at Nucsoft OSS Labs (http://www.osslabs.biz), a Koha services provider. Amit has played a key role in several Koha implementations, including the one at Delhi Public Library, one of India's biggest Koha projects. Amit has a BSc and a Master's in Computer Applications.
About the Reviewers
Kyle M Hall is an IT specialist for the Meadville Public Library and the Crawford County Federated Library System of Pennsylvania is a Free Open Source Software advocate and software developer. His contributions to Koha include bugfixes and new features, as well as the Koha Off-line Circulation system. In addition to his work with Koha, he is also the author of a FOSS Kiosk Management System, Libk (http://libki.org), a cross-platform system for controlling access to computers via logins and time limits.
Vimal Kumar is a library professional with genuine interest in Linux and open source software. He is an active member of Koha community. He has a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from University of Kerala. He has done an evaluative study of open source library management system conducted in 2005 for the completion of MLISc degree project. During the past few years he has been active as a resource person for Koha training programs. He has been working with Mahatma Gandhi University Library and has also presented many papers in national and international conferences.
Preface
Much of what we have written in this book is based on our experiences teaching Koha installation and maintenance of technology and library staff.
We hope this book will help you to quickly install and set up a working Koha installation, complete with catalog data migrated from your current library system. The first nine chapters of this book are devoted to these topics. In the rest of the book we cover topics such as troubleshooting, installing software updates, and customizing Koha, which will be of interest to you when you start to use Koha in earnest.
You will need some Linux expertise. Most Koha users use Debian. However you should feel free to try the installation on your preferred distribution. In the examples in this book, we have demonstrated Debian and openSuSE commands; we think these two are representative of most commonly used Linux distributions.
During the installation process, we would encourage you to seek help from the Koha community via the Koha mailing lists.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Installing the Software Stack
In the first chapter our goal will be to install Koha's software stack—the Koha application itself, MySQL database server, Apache2 web server, and the various system and Perl packages Koha uses.
Chapter 2, Configuring the Apache2 Web Server
Next, we will configure Koha's web server—Apache2. Apache2 serves Koha pages to users when they access the OPAC or the staff client.
Chapter 3, Installing Koha's Zebra Search Engine
In the third chapter we will focus on Zebra—Koha's powerful catalog search engine. We will learn how to install and test Zebra.
Chapter 4, Koha's Web Installer, Crontab, and Other Server Configurations
In the fourth chapter, we will learn about executing Koha's web installer, setting up Koha's Crontab, and configuring Koha services to start automatically when the machine reboots. At the end of this chapter, we will be able to launch Koha.
Chapter 5, Configuring the Cataloging Module
This chapter is the first of three application configuration chapters. In this chapter, we will learn how to configure Koha's Cataloging module, which is used to maintain information about items in the library.
Chapter 6, Configuring the Circulation Module
In this chapter, we will learn how to configure Koha's circulation module. This module is used to loan library items to the patrons. Our goal here will be to map the library's circulation policies to rules and preferences in Koha.
Chapter 7, Configuring Other System Preferences
In this chapter, we will learn how to configure system preferences related to the rest of Koha's modules—Patrons, Acquisitions and Serials, and Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). We will also study preferences related to styling and appearance, messaging, security, and search.
Chapter 8, Test Driving Your Koha Installation
By now we will be in a position to take our Koha installation for a test drive. We will look to complete a transaction cycle in each of the primary Koha modules—Patrons, Cataloging, Circulation, Acquisitions and Serials. We will also test the reports module and catalog search on the OPAC.
Chapter 9, Migrating Catalog Data
Migrating catalog data from the legacy system is a prerequisite to using Koha for most libraries. In this chapter we will learn how to convert MARC files from legacy systems into Koha compatible files. We will learn about Koha's MARC record import tools.
Chapter 10, Troubleshooting
In this chapter, we will learn about ways to troubleshoot Koha problems, we will learn about the community tools and resources and take a closer look at ten specific problems.
Chapter 11, Updating Software
It is good practice to keep your Koha software updated to benefit from new features and bug fixes, but also to avoid migration problems if your version falls too far behind. In this chapter we learn how to download and install software updates.
Chapter 12, Customizing Koha Software
Most serious Koha users will want to customize the software to suit their needs, perhaps to modify the styling or appearance or to tweak a certain page to show additional information. If you have the skills you can even take on more serious work such as adding new features. In this chapter, we learn how to customize Koha code.
Chapter 13, Advanced Topics
In this final chapter, we will learn about setting up some less widely used but nevertheless important features of Koha—custom record matching rules, LDAP authentication, custom OPACs for each library, internationalization, and setting up Koha as a Z39.50 source.
What you need for this book
You will need:
Who this book is for
This book is aimed at Linux System Administrators who need to install and maintain Koha. If you are a system administrator who wants to set up an open source integrated library system, then this book is for you. It will also be useful for system administrators who require help with specific aspects of implementing Koha.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "We use the ln command to create the symbolic link."
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "To edit these preferences, navigate to Administration|Global system preferences.".
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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Questions
You can contact us at <[email protected]> if you are having a problem with any aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.
Chapter 1. Installing the Software Stack
In this chapter, our goal will be to install Koha's software stack—the Koha application itself and the various system and Perl packages it uses. Installing the stack in itself is not enough to be able to use Koha, but is an important first step.
This task can be quite challenging, especially for novice Linux users. You will need to get familiar with using the Linux terminal and multiple installation tools. Expect problems with Perl modules, as troubleshooting these can be especially difficult.
We cover the chapter in three stages—first an orientation, next preparatory steps, and finally a demonstration of the installation. Throughout this book we will use two Linux distributions—Debian and openSuSE; the two combined are representative of most other distributions.
An orientation to Koha's installation
In this section we'll learn about:
Koha's architecture
First, let us take a quick look at Koha's architecture. Koha runs on the Linux, Apache2, MySQL, Perl (LAMP) platform:
What do we need to install?
We will install various packages related to:
Installation tools
Let us take a look at the various tools we will use to install Koha's software stack. These tools are:
Package manager
A package manager makes installation easy by automatically installing prerequisites, tracking versions and updates, and verifying checksums. Your choice of the package manager will usually depend on the Linux distribution you use. Here are some popular package managers:
Make utility
Perl programs such as Koha or the various Perl modules it uses can be installed using a series of commands:
CPAN shell
CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network)—is an archive of Perl modules.
The CPAN shell is a tool that automates the download and installation of Perl modules from the archive including the execution of the perl Makefile.PL, make, maketest, and make install commands given above.
Learn more about CPAN here: http://www.cpan.org/.
Git
Git is Koha's version control system. Git simplifies and automates the download of software from Koha's online repository. We use Git not only during installation, but also while installing software updates. If you wish to make software changes of your own, Git will help merge those changes with new versions of Koha.
Learn more about Git here: http://git-scm.com/.
Choosing between Linux Perl packages and CPAN modules
CPAN is the largest archive of Perl modules. Perl modules are always available on CPAN. Many, but not all of Koha's Perl prerequisites are available as packages in a distribution's sources.
The recommended approach in such a scenario is to use Linux packages where available. If you don't find packages for a certain module, then use CPAN to install it.
The Linux package manager can manage all prerequisites of a module. CPAN only knows about Perl prerequisites, and cannot install any non-Perl prerequisites. For this reason, you will likely have smoother installations with the package manager in comparison to CPAN.
Choosing a Linux distribution
It appears that Debian is the most popular when it comes to Koha. Some of the installation tasks are simpler in this distribution. Also you might get better community support from a large pool of Debian Koha users.
However, if you are skilled on another distribution, it might make sense to use that. Installation on Ubuntu is very similar to that on Debian. There are many Koha users on Fedora, CentOS, or openSuSE. Installation documents, live CDs, and other sorts of help are becoming available for these distributions as well.
In any case, once you are past the installation stage, it does not really matter distribution you are on.
Getting help—Koha's community resources
If you face trouble with the installation, Koha's community resources can be of excellent help:
Preparing for installation
In this section we prepare for the installation—setting up a server, preparing a list of packages for installation and configuring installation tools.
Server prerequisites
Before we start the installation, we will need a server setup as follows:
Prerequisites
Description
Server
2 GB RAM, 40 GB hard disk should be good for most libraries.
Internet connection
High speed Internet connection to download software.
Linux
Your preferred distribution installed on the server.
Firewall ports opened
Git port 9418
FTP port 21
HTTP port 80
Access
Access to the server via SSH, or directly.
User
A Linux user with sudo privileges, in this book we use user—koha.
Locale
Your locale setup on the server.
Downloading Koha and switching to a branch
One of the first things we do is to download Koha and switch to a version (or a branch) that we want to use. This helps us draw up, as explained in sections below, our package installation list.
Cloning Koha
To download the Koha application, we need Git. Let us install Git:
Now we are ready to download Koha, let us change to a folder where we want to install Koha. The user koha must own this folder:
To clone the application from Koha's git server we use the gitclone command:
