How to Install Gibbon on NetBSD

Gibbon is a free and open-source school management system. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Gibbon on NetBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we start our installation process, you need to ensure that:

• You have a NetBSD system installed.
• You have access to the root account or you are logged in as a user with sudo permissions.
• You have a web server installed on your system. We recommend using Nginx as it is fast and lightweight.

Step 1: Install PHP

Gibbon is built using the PHP programming language. So, before we proceed with the installation of Gibbon, we need to ensure that PHP is installed on our system.

To install PHP on NetBSD, run the following command:

sudo pkgin -y install php74

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Next, we need to install some additional PHP modules that Gibbon requires to function correctly.

sudo pkgin -y install php74-pdo_mysql php74-curl php74-gd php74-xml php74-zip

Step 3: Download Gibbon

With PHP and its modules installed, we can now download Gibbon to our system. You can download the latest version of Gibbon from their official website, or you can use the following command to download it via the terminal:

curl -o gibbon.zip -L https://github.com/GibbonEdu/core/archive/master.zip

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

unzip gibbon.zip

Step 4: Configure Nginx

We will be using Nginx as our web server for Gibbon. To install Nginx on NetBSD, run the following command:

sudo pkgin -y install nginx

Now that Nginx is installed, we need to configure it to serve Gibbon. Create a new server block for Gibbon by creating a new file /usr/pkg/etc/nginx/vhosts/gibbon.conf.

sudo vi /usr/pkg/etc/nginx/vhosts/gibbon.conf

Add the following configuration to the newly created file:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your.domain.com;

    root /path/to/gibbon/core-master;
    index index.php;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/gibbon.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/gibbon.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    location ~ ^(.+.php)(.*)$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include /usr/pkg/etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Replace your.domain.com with your domain or IP address, and /path/to/gibbon/core-master with the full path to the Gibbon directory.

Save and exit the file.

Step 5: Configure PHP-FPM

We need to configure PHP-FPM to work with Nginx.

Create a new file /usr/pkg/etc/php-fpm.d/gibbon.conf:

sudo vi /usr/pkg/etc/php-fpm.d/gibbon.conf

Add the following configuration to the new file:

[gibbon]

listen = /var/run/php-fpm.sock
listen.owner = www
listen.group = www
listen.mode = 0660

user = www
group = www

pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 5
pm.start_servers = 2
pm.min_spare_servers = 1
pm.max_spare_servers = 3

php_value[session.save_handler] = files
php_value[session.save_path] = /tmp
php_admin_value[upload_tmp_dir] = /tmp
php_admin_value[error_log] = /var/log/php/gibbon.error.log

Save and exit the file.

Step 6: Start Services

Start the Nginx and PHP-FPM services using the following commands:

sudo /usr/pkg/etc/rc.d/nginx start
sudo /usr/pkg/etc/rc.d/php-fpm start

Step 7: Access Gibbon

After following the above steps, you can now access your Gibbon application by visiting your assigned domain or IP address on your web browser.

http://your.domain.com

Conclusion

You should now have Gibbon up and running on your NetBSD system. If you face any issues during the installation process, make sure to check the logs and fix any errors that you may encounter.

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!