How to Install Conference Organizing Distribution (COD) on FreeBSD Latest

The Conference Organizing Distribution (COD) is a Drupal-based web tool used to manage conferences and similar events. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to install COD on FreeBSD.

Prerequisites

Make sure your system meets the following requirements:

• FreeBSD 12 or later
• Apache, Nginx, or another web server
• PHP 7.2 or later
• MySQL or MariaDB

Installation Steps

1. Log in as the root user on your FreeBSD system.
2. Install the required software packages. In this example, we will use Apache, PHP, and MariaDB.

pkg install apache24
pkg install php72 php72-mysqli
pkg install mariadb102-client mariadb102-server

3. Start and enable the Apache and MariaDB services.

service apache24 start
service mariadb enable
service mariadb start

4. Download the latest version of COD from the official website at http://usecod.com/.
5. Extract the downloaded archive to the webroot directory of your web server. In this example, we will use Apache as the web server and the webroot directory is /usr/local/www/apache24/data.

tar xfz cod-*.tar.gz
mv cod-* /usr/local/www/apache24/data/cod

6. Create a new MySQL user and database for COD.

mysql -u root -p
MariaDB> CREATE USER 'coduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'codpassword';
MariaDB> CREATE DATABASE coddb;
MariaDB> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON coddb.* TO 'coduser'@'localhost';
MariaDB> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB> exit

7. Copy the settings.php file.

cd /usr/local/www/apache24/data/cod/sites/default/
cp default.settings.php settings.php

8. Edit the settings.php file.

vi settings.php

Change the following lines to match your MySQL user and database settings:

$databases['default']['default'] = array (
  'database' => 'coddb',
  'username' => 'coduser',
  'password' => 'codpassword',
  'host' => 'localhost',
  'port' => '3306',
  'driver' => 'mysql',
  'prefix' => '',
);

Save and exit the file.

9. Change the ownership and permissions of the settings.php file.

chown www:www settings.php
chmod 664 settings.php

10. Open your web browser and go to the web address of your COD installation. In this example, the address is http://localhost/cod. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed COD on FreeBSD.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!