Checking Out Koha:

Experimenting with an
Open Source ILS
Josh & Maria Hertel
2016 Support Staff and Circulation Services Conference
Thursday May 26, 2016
Overview
1. History Behind the Project
2. Tools to get Koha Working
3. Demo of Installing the System
4. Looking at a Few Features
History Behind the Project
In 2012, Josh was a graduate student in the Mathematics
Department at Illinois State University.
The department had a small library dedicated to math
education materials.
They needed a system to keep things organized and
check out materials (spreadsheets and index cards were
not cutting it).
History Behind the Project
Josh investigated several open-source ILS systems.
Open-source means the systems are free to use and
distribute.

Koha seemed the best because it

is actively developed,
has strong community support
has commitment to keeping the software 0pen-source
From American Libraries May 2016 p. 32
Central Problem
Most people outside of information technology are only
familiar with the Windows operating system.

Koha is built using a different operating system (Debian

Linux). The developers have not updated the Windows
version in many years.

So how do you get software built for a different operating

system to run on Windows?
Answer: Virtual Machines
Think of a virtual machine like a container that you
create on your computer. Inside the container you can
run other operating systems.
Virtual Machines
Requirements to run a virtual machine are minimal (
512 MB ram, a few gigs of HD space, 1 GHZ processor)

Even older computers typically can run a virtual machine

without issue.
A Few Terms
Host: the machine running all the software. (e.g., your
laptop)

Virtual Machine: The software that creates a container to

run Koha.

Koha server: The Koha software running inside the

virtual machine.
Pro/Con Virtual Machine
Con
- Host computer needs more resources than if it were
running the software natively.
Pro
- Virtual machines can run on most operating systems
(including Windows!)
- You can update Koha
- You can copy, import, and export virtual
machines
Copy, Import, Export VM
Virtual machines can be exported as a single file. This
exported file is called an image.

The image can be copied and shared with others.

Once you have the image downloaded, you can import it

and have a working copy of the virtual machine.
Copy, Import, Export VM
The ability to copy, import, and export images is what
makes my method easy to use.

I have setup Koha on a virtual machine. You dont need

to worry about technical details.

You can just download the image and import it into your
VM software.
Big Overview of Process
1. Set up virtual machine software.
2. Download the Koha image.
3. Import image and start virtual machine.
4. Open a web browser and...
1. Set Up Virtual Machine Software
Virtual Box
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Huh?!? Click Windows hosts. Then double click on the .exe file after it is
done downloading.
Dont worry
about the
details here.

Just click
Next.
Leave all
the boxes
checked.

Then click
Next.
Dont worry!

Click Yes.
2. Download the Koha Image
1. Visit joshhertel.com/koha
2. Click on the link to the install guide.
a. Scroll to page 3 Instructions for Installing Using a
Pre-made Image
b. Congrats! Youve already completed step 1!

3. Click the link to download the server image

for Most Current Debian Jessie . . . .
Its ok - you can trust us.

Click Download anyway.

3. Import Image and Start VM
Click File and then Import appliance.
Whats all this?

Dont worry - just click

Import.
3. Import Image and Start VM

Click this, and

then click
start (it will
turn green).
If you get this,
its ok.

Just click
Allow access.
These are ok
too. Just
minimize the
window, or
close the little
x in each
message (not
the x in the top
right corner.)
This is a good
sign! This is
what the
server looks
like when it is
running. Just
minimize this
screen.
4. Open a Web Browser
Type the Staff or Guest Login number in the web address / search box

Staff Login: 127.0.0.1:8081

Guest Login: 127.0.0.1:8080
Default User Accounts:
username: admin password: admin
username: staff password: staff
Woo hoo! Youre in! Click Koha administration to get started setting up your
library, item types, patron types, circulation rules, etc.
Help Guides
https://koha-community.org/documentation/
Click on the manual for Koha 3.2 for the pdf.)
https://koha-community.org/support/community-support/
The mailing list here can be especially helpful.

Paid Support Companies

ByWater Solutions: http://bywatersolutions.com/
Equinox: http://esilibrary.com
Where Has This Been Used?
1. Buddhist Monastery with a small library
2. Elementary school library
3. University of Arizona, College of Education
(34K book collection)
4. Graduate research work (sorting materials)
Contact Us
Josh Hertel herteljt@gmail.com
twitter.com/herteljt
Maria Hertel
mariahertel@gmail.com
References
Images
https://openclipart.org/detail/182738/virtual-machine-host
https://openclipart.org/detail/190004/virtualization-icon-for-
virtual-machines