How to Install Collective Access - Providence on Void Linux

Collective Access - Providence is a free, open-source collection management software that is used by museums, galleries, and archives all around the world. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps to install Providence on Void Linux using the command line interface.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you should have the following:

• A Void Linux machine
• Root access to the machine
• A working internet connection

Step 1: Update the Package Manager

First, let's update the package manager:

xbps-install -S

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Providence requires a number of dependencies to be installed before it can run. You can install all of them at once using this command:

xbps-install -S php7-mysqlnd php7-pdo_mysql mariadb mariadb-client

Step 3: Download Providence

Next, we need to download the latest version of Providence from the official website. You can use the following command to download the latest version of Providence:

wget https://github.com/collectiveaccess/providence/releases/download/v1.7.10/providence-1.7.10.zip

Step 4: Extract the Downloaded File

Once the file has been downloaded, we need to extract it to the correct directory. You can use the following command to extract the file:

unzip providence-1.7.10.zip -d /var/www

Step 5: Create a Database

Providence requires a database to store and manage all of the data. We need to create a new database and user for Providence. You can use the following commands to do this:

mysql -u root -p

This will open up the MySQL terminal. Enter your root password when prompted.

CREATE DATABASE providence;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON providence.* TO 'providenceuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

This will create a new database called "providence" and a new user called "providenceuser" with the password "password". You can replace "password" with your own desired password.

Step 6: Configure Providence

We now need to configure Providence to use the database we just created. Navigate to the directory where you extracted Providence using the following command:

cd /var/www/providence-1.7.10

Then, rename the sample configuration file to the actual configuration file:

mv setup.php.dist setup.php

Edit the configuration file with the following command:

nano setup.php

In the file, uncomment the following lines:

define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');
define('DB_USERNAME', 'providenceuser');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'providence');

Replace "password" with the password you set for the "providenceuser" in Step 5 and save the file.

Step 7: Set Permissions

We need to set the correct permissions for the Providence files:

chown -R http:http /var/www/providence-1.7.10
chmod -R 775 /var/www/providence-1.7.10

Step 8: Start the Web Server

Finally, we need to start the web server. You can use the following command to start the Apache web server:

sv start apache

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Collective Access - Providence on Void Linux. You can now access the web interface by going to http://localhost/providence-1.7.10/ in your web browser.

Note: You may need to replace "localhost" with the IP address of your machine if you are accessing it remotely.

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!