How to Install Omeka on FreeBSD Latest

In this tutorial, we'll be installing Omeka on FreeBSD latest. Omeka is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) and web publishing platform that is specifically designed for the showcase of libraries, archives, museums, and scholarly collections. We'll be installing Omeka version 2.8. Also, before getting started, make sure your FreeBSD machine has the latest updates installed.

Step 1: Install Required Packages

We'll first install the required packages that are needed for running Omeka. Log in to FreeBSD, switch to the root user, and enter the following command in the terminal:

# pkg install apache24 mysql80-server php80 php80-mysqli mod_php80 php80-gd php80-curl php80-zip php80-xml php80-simplexml php80-json php80-mbstring

This command will install all the packages that are necessary for running Omeka on FreeBSD.

Step 2: Configure MySQL

We'll move on to configuring MySQL. Start and enable MySQL by running the following commands:

# sysrc mysql_enable=YES 
# service mysql-server start

Now, let's set up root user credentials for MySQL. Enter the following command in the terminal:

# mysql_secure_installation

This will start a prompt-based interface where you'll be able to create a root user password, delete anonymous users, and remove the test database.

Step 3: Configure Apache

We'll now configure Apache. Start and enable Apache by running the following commands:

# sysrc apache24_enable=YES 
# service apache24 start

Step 4: Download and Install Omeka

We'll now download and install Omeka. Navigate to the website directory and download Omeka version 2.8 from the official website:

# cd /usr/local/www/apache24/data 
# fetch https://github.com/omeka/Omeka/archive/refs/tags/v2.8.zip 
# unzip v2.8.zip 
# mv Omeka-2.8/ omeka/

We have successfully downloaded and installed Omeka.

Step 5: Configure Omeka

We'll now configure Omeka. Navigate to the Omeka directory:

# cd /usr/local/www/apache24/data/omeka/

Rename the "db.ini" file to "db.ini.back":

# mv db.ini db.ini.back

And create a new "db.ini" file by running the following command:

# cp application/config/database.ini application/config/db.ini

Change the owner and file permissions by running the following command:

# chown -R www:www *
# chmod 755 files tmp

Step 6: Setup Virtual Host for Omeka

We'll now set up a virtual host for Omeka. Go to the Apache configuration directory and edit the httpd.conf file:

# cd /usr/local/etc/apache24/ 
# ee httpd.conf

Add the following lines to the httpd.conf file:

Listen 8080
<VirtualHost *:8080>
ServerName www.example.com # replace with your website URL
DocumentRoot "/usr/local/www/apache24/data/omeka/"
<Directory "/usr/local/www/apache24/data/omeka/">
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
CustomLog "/var/log/httpd-access.log" common
ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd-error.log"
</VirtualHost>

Save and exit the httpd.conf file.

Step 7: Restart Apache

We need to restart Apache to apply our configuration changes. Run the following command:

# service apache24 restart

Step 8: Access Omeka

Visit the URL you specified for "ServerName" in the httpd.conf file in your web browser to access Omeka. For example, if you specified "www.example.com", then you should visit "http://www.example.com:8080". You'll now see the Omeka installation page. Follow the instructions to complete the installation process.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Omeka on FreeBSD.

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