How to Install eLabFTW on Kali Linux

eLabFTW is an open-source electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) that allows scientists to organize and share their experiments. Installing eLabFTW on Kali Linux is a simple process that only requires a few steps. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Prerequisites

Before you start the installation process, make sure your system meets the following requirements:

• Kali Linux latest version
• Apache or Nginx web server
• MySQL or MariaDB database
• PHP version 7.2 or higher
• Git installed

Step 1: Install Required Packages

First, you need to install the required packages for eLabFTW to work properly. Open the terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2 nginx mysql-server php7.2 php7.2-fpm php7.2-mysql php7.2-intl php7.2-xml php7.2-mbstring git

Step 2: Clone eLabFTW

After installing the required packages, navigate to the root directory of your webserver (/var/www/html) and clone the eLabFTW repository from GitHub using the following command:

cd /var/www/html
sudo git clone https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw.git

Step 3: Configure Permissions

Before proceeding, you need to change the ownership and permissions of the eLabFTW directory. Run the following command to change the ownership to the Apache or Nginx user:

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

Next, set the folder permission to 775:

sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/elabftw

Step 4: Create a Database

Create a new MySQL or MariaDB database for eLabFTW. You can use the following command to create a new database named "elabftw":

sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE elabftw;

Step 5: Configure PHP Settings

Next, you need to configure the PHP settings for eLabFTW. Open the PHP configuration file using the following command:

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/fpm/php.ini

Find and modify the following lines in the file:

upload_max_filesize = 50M
max_file_uploads = 20
post_max_size = 50M
max_input_vars = 5000
max_execution_time = 300
memory_limit = 512M

Save and exit the file.

Step 6: Configure Virtual Host

Configure a virtual host for the eLabFTW installation. Create a new configuration file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/ or /etc/nginx/sites-available/ (depending on your web server) named elabftw.conf with the following content.

For Apache:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName elabftw.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/elabftw
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

For Nginx:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name elabftw.local;
    root /var/www/html/elabftw;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/elabftw_error.log;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/elabftw_access.log;
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 300;
    }
}

Make sure to modify the ServerName and root as per your setup.

Then, enable the virtual hosts using the following commands:

sudo a2ensite elabftw.conf #For Apache
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/elabftw /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ #For Nginx

Step 7: Configure eLabFTW

Copy the "config-sample.php" file in the "src/" directory to "config.php" and modify it with your database connection settings:

cd /var/www/html/elabftw/
cp src/config-sample.php config.php
sudo nano config.php

Find the following lines in the file and modify them according to your database details:

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_NAME', 'elabftw');
define('DB_PORT', '');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASSWORD', '');

Save and exit the file.

Step 8: Access eLabFTW

Restart Apache or Nginx using the following command and then access the eLabFTW installation through your web browser:

sudo service apache2 restart #For Apache
sudo service nginx restart #For Nginx

Open your web browser and access your server by entering the IP address or domain name of your server in the address bar:

http://your_server_IP_address_or_domain_name/elabftw

You will see the eLabFTW installation page. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed eLabFTW on Kali Linux.

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