OpenOLAT is a open-source learning management system (LMS) that provides a wide range of tools to create, manage and deliver online courses, assessments and other e-learning resources. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install OpenOLAT on Debian latest version.
Before starting, make sure you have the following:
Before installing any package, it's important to ensure your system is up-to-date. You can do this by running the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
OpenOLAT runs on Java, so you'll need to install the latest version. To check if Java is already installed on your system, run:
java -version
If it's not installed or it's an older version, you can install it using the following command:
sudo apt install openjdk-11-jdk
Verify that the installation was successful by running the following command:
java -version
OpenOLAT requires a relational database to store data. In this tutorial, we will install and use MySQL as the database. To install MySQL on Debian, run:
sudo apt install mysql-server
After the installation is complete, start and enable the MySQL service:
sudo systemctl start mysql
sudo systemctl enable mysql
Then, secure your MySQL installation by running:
sudo mysql_secure_installation
In this step, we will show you how to install OpenOLAT.
First, visit the OpenOLAT official website and download the latest version of the package from https://www.openolat.com/?lang=en.
You can download the package using the following command:
wget https://www.openolat.com/fileadmin/openolat/install/openolat-15.5.1.zip
After downloading the package, extract it to the /opt directory:
sudo apt install unzip
sudo unzip openolat-15.5.1.zip -d /opt/
After extracting OpenOLAT, you'll need to configure it by creating a configuration file in the /opt/openolat/conf/ directory:
sudo cp /opt/openolat/conf/OpenOLAT-dist.properties /opt/openolat/conf/OpenOLAT.properties
sudo nano /opt/openolat/conf/OpenOLAT.properties
In this file, you'll need to edit the following parameters to match your MySQL settings:
db.driver = com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
db.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/openolat
db.user = <db_user>
db.password = <db_password>
Save and exit the file.
To start and stop OpenOLAT easily, you can create a systemd service.
Create a new file at /etc/systemd/system/openolat.service with the following content:
[Unit]
Description=OpenOLAT Learning Management System
After=syslog.target
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -server -Xms512m -Xmx768m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dopenolat.home=/opt/openolat -jar /opt/openolat/openolat.war
User=<openolat_user>
Restart=always
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Note: Update
with the username of the user you want to run OpenOLAT as.
Then, reload the systemd daemon and start the OpenOLAT service:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start openolat
sudo systemctl enable openolat
OpenOLAT is now installed and running, you can access the OpenOLAT web interface on your Debian system by navigating to your server's IP address or domain name followed by :8080.
http://your_server_ip_or_domain:8080
You should see the OpenOLAT login page.
In this tutorial, you learned how to install OpenOLAT on Debian latest version. To ensure security, always remember to keep your system and OpenOLAT installation up-to-date.
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