Re: [Koha] Running koha from removable media
Krishnan, This is a great start. The intention for this concept is to provide remote knowledge centre's with a simple way to use their computer to monitor their books, CD's and DVD's , in places without tech support or reliable computers. These remote communities don't get support or funding to purchase a library management system and so I am wondering if it would be very difficult to make a USB stick library management system. A copy could be made - one for the administrator as the master and one for the public to use for browsing. Any changes can be made on the 'admin stick', duplicating this at any time would update the public database. It would be best if it could be run from within a Windows environment without having to boot from the stick. This way, any computer that is working (desktop PC or a laptop) could be used to host the USB stick and software. Most of these remote libraries would have less than 1000 items total. Some have Internet - some don't. I have started a blog with a map showing where they all are : http://ikcnetwork.blogspot.com/ I might try and create mu own kitchen sink! Cheerio, James James Leech Project officer - Keeping Culture Strong State Library of Queensland - Cairns Reef Terminal Building Level 1, 1 Spence Street, Cairns Qld 4870 P.O. Box 2352, Cairns, 4870 mob: 0407 674 378 wk:(07) 4031 3232 hm: (07) 4095 2724 fax: (07) 4031 1234 ________________________________ From: Krishnan M [mailto:kmlist@yahoo.in] Sent: Wednesday, 14 January 2009 5:01 PM To: koha@lists.katipo.co.nz; James Leech Subject: Re: [Koha] Running koha from removable media While i haven't tried it yet, it should certainly be possible. The Koha installer merely adds "web resources" (perl, javascript, images, and such), and a couple of configuration files for itself and Apache Koha depends on Apache, MySQL, and Perl language facilities plus Perl modules. The configuration file and the database contain everything unique that Koha "knows" about a particular installation. Indeed, very often i simply do a 'mysqldump' of Koha's database to my own USB stick when i want to work on my library catalog on my laptop elsewhere, instead of on the server itself. Also, i have the same database user setup, so that config files match. Also, a user called 'koha' on the operating system itself, that owns all of Koha's files. Of course, there are security risks with just setting up users on multiple machines this way. i have no experience with zebra, and can't comment on its configuration. A 'lite' version on a stick might assume that these are available on the server you plug it into, BUT have the database (and config) files on the stick itself so you can move between servers. A 'full' version might bundle everything, but the OS. A 'kitchen-sink' version is probably one that you can boot into with a full OS. Now, for some data: A 'du -sh /usr/share/koha' yields 316Mbytes Similar du -sh readings are as follows: 316M /usr/share/koha 1.4M /var/lib/mysql/koha3/ 476M /usr/local/share/perl/ 6.6M /usr/local/lib/perl/ The first is all the files for Koha's "pages". The second is a relatively freshly-installed Koha database (not much data), and the last two are the Perl modules Koha needs (and some more). This suggests a size under 1 Gig for the whole gig (pun intended) a USB stick throws up interesting possibilities for distribution, since i have now been supplying DVDs for Koha installs in places where no Internet is available. More about that in later mail. regards, krishnan --- On Wed, 14/1/09, James Leech <James.Leech@slq.qld.gov.au> wrote: From: James Leech <James.Leech@slq.qld.gov.au> Subject: [Koha] Running koha from removable media To: koha@lists.katipo.co.nz Date: Wednesday, 14 January, 2009, 2:39 AM Hello Has anyone ever heard of anyone attempting to run a simple library management system off a USB Stick? With USB sticks getting larger, and various solutions offering to boot Linux from your portable USB stick, would it be possible to run a version of koha that could manage a small library collection? I'm not very cluey about client / database solutions, but I noticed one post mentioning Koha running on a standalone PC with the client accessing the localhost. Also, how large would a koha installation be? Cheerio, James James Leech Project officer - Keeping Culture Strong State Library of Queensland - Cairns Reef Terminal Building Level 1, 1 Spence Street, Cairns Qld 4870 P.O. Box 2352, Cairns, 4870 mob: 0407 674 378 wk:(07) 4031 3232 hm: (07) 4095 2724 fax: (07) 4031 1234 State Library of Queensland <http://www.slq.qld.gov.au> ******************* Disclaimer ******************* This e-mail, together with any attachments, is intended for the named recipient(s) only. This e-mail may contain information which is confidential, of a private nature or which is subject to legal professional privilege or copyright. Accordingly, any form of disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this email message is prohibited unless expressly authorised by the sender acting with the authority of or on behalf of the Library Board of Queensland. If you have received this email by mistake, please inform the sender as soon as possible and delete the message and any copies of this message from your computer system network. The confidentiality, privacy or legal professional privilege attached to this email is not waived or destroyed by that mistake. The State Library of Queensland uses virus scanning software. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that this email does not contain and is not infected by a computer virus. Unless expressly attributed, the views expressed in this email do not necessarily represent the views of the Library Board of Queensland. ******************** Disclaimer ******************* _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha ________________________________ Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now. <http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_messenger_6/*http:/messenger.yahoo.com/i nvite/>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
See what is happening at the State Library of Queensland...
http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0019/128134/email_banner.gif
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
******************* Disclaimer ******************* This e-mail, together with any attachments, is intended for the named recipient(s) only. This e-mail may contain information which is confidential, of a private nature or which is subject to legal professional privilege or copyright. Accordingly, any form of disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this email message is prohibited unless expressly authorised by the sender acting with the authority of or on behalf of the Library Board of Queensland. If you have received this email by mistake, please inform the sender as soon as possible and delete the message and any copies of this message from your computer system network. The confidentiality, privacy or legal professional privilege attached to this email is not waived or destroyed by that mistake. The State Library of Queensland uses virus scanning software. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that this email does not contain and is not infected by a computer virus. Unless expressly attributed, the views expressed in this email do not necessarily represent the views of the Library Board of Queensland. ******************** Disclaimer *******************
Krishnan,
This is a great start. The intention for this concept is to provide remote knowledge centre’s with a simple way to use their computer to monitor their books, CD’s and DVD’s , in places without tech support or reliable computers. These remote communities don’t get support or funding to purchase a library management system and so I am wondering if it would be very difficult to make a USB stick library management system. A copy could be made – one for the administrator as the master and one for the public to use for browsing. Any changes can be made on the ‘admin stick’, duplicating this at any time would update the
This sounds like a job for Koha VMWare! [cue dramatic music, but where did they put the phone booth?] The uncompressed VMWare image of Koha 3.0 won't fit on a 2GB stick/card, but it fits on a 4GB one with room to spare. And the VMWare player can be downloaded for free. I haven't tried running a full-fledged production Koha system from a VMWare image myself (I'm learning Koha in my spare time, which has been in short supply the past few months), but I don't think it would present too many difficulties. Has anyone else here tried it? Fred King Medical Librarian, Washington Hospital Center fred.king@medstar.net 202-877-6221 koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz wrote on 01/14/2009 03:27:41 AM: publicdatabase.
It would be best if it could be run from within a Windows environment without having to boot from the stick. This way, any computer that is working (desktop PC or a laptop) could be used to host the USB stick and software. Most of these remote libraries would have less than 1000 items total. Some have Internet – some don’t. I have started a blog with a map showing where they all are : http://ikcnetwork.blogspot.com/
I might try and create mu own kitchen sink!
Cheerio,
James
James Leech Project officer - Keeping Culture Strong State Library of Queensland - Cairns Reef Terminal Building Level 1, 1 Spence Street, Cairns Qld 4870 P.O. Box 2352, Cairns, 4870 mob: 0407 674 378 wk:(07) 4031 3232 hm: (07) 4095 2724 fax: (07) 4031 1234
CONFIDENTIAL: The information contained in this communication, including its attachments may contain confidential information and is intended only for the individual (s) or entity (ies) to whom it is addressed . The information contained in this communication may also be protected by legal privilege , federal law or other applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication , you are hereby notified that any distribution, dissemination or duplication of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error please immediately delete and destroy all copies of this message and please immediately notify us of the error by separate communication . Thank you.
Yes, I built demo and production VMs for Koha using VMware and the stripped down debian "business card" ISO. It was straight-forward once you get the networking done correctly (a common VM setup issue). VMs are the best way I know to bundle every last thing needed to run into one image, without requiring the end user to actually image their system. As for James Leech's problem, he would also have to carry the various versions of VMware player that might be needed to install for different OS's encountered in the field. That should still fit in under 4 GB though, or on a separate stick/DVD. I would recommend installing a linux desktop and firefox also, if ongoing administration is going to be an issue, but that can add GBs pretty quickly. With 4GB sticks around USD $7 now, you might as well.. --Joe On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 4:17 PM, <Fred.King@medstar.net> wrote:
This sounds like a job for Koha VMWare! [cue dramatic music, but where did they put the phone booth?] The uncompressed VMWare image of Koha 3.0 won't fit on a 2GB stick/card, but it fits on a 4GB one with room to spare. And the VMWare player can be downloaded for free.
I haven't tried running a full-fledged production Koha system from a VMWare image myself (I'm learning Koha in my spare time, which has been in short supply the past few months), but I don't think it would present too many difficulties. Has anyone else here tried it?
Fred King Medical Librarian, Washington Hospital Center fred.king@medstar.net 202-877-6221
koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz wrote on 01/14/2009 03:27:41 AM:
Krishnan,
This is a great start. The intention for this concept is to provide remote knowledge centre's with a simple way to use their computer to monitor their books, CD's and DVD's , in places without tech support or reliable computers. These remote communities don't get support or funding to purchase a library management system and so I am wondering if it would be very difficult to make a USB stick library management system. A copy could be made – one for the administrator as the master and one for the public to use for browsing. Any changes can be made on the 'admin stick', duplicating this at any time would update the publicdatabase.
It would be best if it could be run from within a Windows environment without having to boot from the stick. This way, any computer that is working (desktop PC or a laptop) could be used to host the USB stick and software. Most of these remote libraries would have less than 1000 items total. Some have Internet – some don't. I have started a blog with a map showing where they all are : http://ikcnetwork.blogspot.com/
I might try and create mu own kitchen sink!
Cheerio,
James
James Leech Project officer - Keeping Culture Strong State Library of Queensland - Cairns Reef Terminal Building Level 1, 1 Spence Street, Cairns Qld 4870 P.O. Box 2352, Cairns, 4870 mob: 0407 674 378 wk:(07) 4031 3232 hm: (07) 4095 2724 fax: (07) 4031 1234
participants (3)
-
Fred.King＠Medstar.net -
James Leech -
Joe Atzberger