OpenOLAT is an open-source learning management system (LMS) used by a number of organizations to deliver online courses and manage various learning activities. In this tutorial, we will see how we can install OpenOLAT on OpenBSD.
Before starting with the installation process, ensure that you have the following:
Follow the below steps to install OpenOLAT on OpenBSD:
OpenBSD offers a number of packages that are required to run OpenOLAT. You can use the below command to install all the required packages:
sudo pkg_add -I openjdk11 apachetomcat9 postgresql-server
This command will install the OpenJDK 11, Apache Tomcat 9, and PostgreSQL server on your system.
After installing the PostgreSQL server, we need to configure it. Use the below command to enable and start the PostgreSQL server:
sudo rcctl enable postgresql && sudo rcctl start postgresql
Once the server is started, login to the PostgreSQL shell using the psql command and create a new user for OpenOLAT. Execute the following commands:
$ sudo su - postgres
$ psql
postgres=# create user openolat with password 'openolat';
postgres=# create database openolat with owner openolat;
We will clone the OpenOLAT source code repository using the Git tool. Execute the following command to clone the repository:
sudo git clone https://github.com/OpenOLAT/OpenOLAT.git /var/www/OpenOLAT
After cloning the OpenOLAT repository, navigate to the /var/www/OpenOLAT directory and run the following command to build the OpenOLAT package:
sudo ./gradlew clean build -DskipTests
Once the build is completed, we need to configure the OpenOLAT. Navigate to the /var/www/OpenOLAT/build/deploy directory and copy the openolat.properties.dist file to openolat.properties. Execute the following command to create a copy:
sudo cp openolat.properties.dist openolat.properties
Edit the openolat.properties file and modify the following parameters:
openolat.db.jdbcuser=openolat
openolat.db.jdbcpassword=openolat
openolat.db.jdbcurl=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/openolat
Move to /var/tomcat/conf/Catalina/localhost and create a file called openolat.xml. Add the following content to the file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Context path="/openolat"
docBase="/var/www/OpenOLAT/build/deploy/OpenOLAT"
reloadable="true"
antiResourceLocking="false"
privileged="true">
<Loader className="org.apache.catalina.loader.VirtualWebappLoader"
virtualClasspath="/var/www/OpenOLAT/build/deploy/OpenOLAT/WEB-INF/classes:/var/www/OpenOLAT/build/deploy/OpenOLAT/WEB-INF/lib/*.jar"/>
</Context>
This Tomcat context configuration will deploy the OpenOLAT web application to Tomcat.
Start the Apache Tomcat server by running the following command:
sudo /etc/rc.d/tomcat start
Open a web browser and navigate to https://your-server-address/openolat. You should be redirected to the OpenOLAT setup page where you will be prompted to configure some basic settings for your OpenOLAT instance.
Enter the configuration details, such as your database settings and admin user credentials, and click on the Initialize button. OpenOLAT will then be installed and ready to use.
In this tutorial, we have seen how to install OpenOLAT on OpenBSD. OpenOLAT is a versatile LMS that offers various features and capabilities to deliver online courses and manage learning activities effectively.
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