How to Install eLabFTW on Elementary OS

eLabFTW is an open-source electronic lab notebook software for managing experiments, lab inventory, and protocols. In this tutorial, we'll guide you through the installation process of eLabFTW on Elementary OS.

Prerequisites

Before installing eLabFTW, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

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Step 1: Download eLabFTW

First, download the latest version of eLabFTW from their official website using the following wget command:

sudo wget https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw/releases/download/1.8.5/elabftw-1.8.5.zip

Once the download is complete, extract the downloaded file using the unzip command:

sudo unzip elabftw-1.8.5.zip -d /var/www/html/elabftw

Step 2: Set Permissions

After extracting the eLabFTW files, ensure that the proper permissions are set for the elabftw directory using the following commands:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/elabftw/
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/elabftw/

Step 3: Create a MySQL Database

Next, we'll create a MySQL database that eLabFTW will use to store its data. To create a new database, enter the following command:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Once you're logged in, create a new database called "elabdb":

CREATE DATABASE elabdb;

After that, create a new user and grant access permissions to the "elabdb" database:

CREATE USER 'elabuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password_here';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `elabdb`.* TO 'elabuser'@'localhost';

Step 4: Configure eLabFTW

After creating the database, navigate to the eLabFTW configuration file, located at /var/www/html/elabftw/app/config.php, and update the following lines to reflect the database credentials you created in Step 3:

                'host'     => 'localhost',
                'user'     => 'elabuser',
                'password' => 'your_password_here',
                'database' => 'elabdb',

Step 5: Complete the Installation

After updating the configuration file, navigate to http://your_IP_address/elabftw in your web browser to access the eLabFTW installation page. Once there, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we walked you through the process of installing eLabFTW on Elementary OS. With eLabFTW, you can now easily manage your lab inventory, experiments, and protocols in a seamless and organized manner.

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