Install Big Blue Button on Ubuntu Server 10.04.2

Installation of BigBlueButton 0.71a

1. Install the BigBlueButton apt-get repository key

First, install the BigBlueButton apt-get repository key and URL (note: The URL has changed from 0.70).

   # Install the package key
   wget http://ubuntu.bigbluebutton.org/bigbluebutton.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

   # Add the BigBlueButton repository URL and ensure the multiverse is enabled
   echo "deb http://ubuntu.bigbluebutton.org/lucid/ bigbluebutton-lucid main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bigbluebutton.list
   echo "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid multiverse" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

2. Install a Voice Conference Server

BigBlueButton now lets you choose to use either Asterisk or FreeSWITCH for voice conferencing. We provide configuration packages for both, so it's easy to install either one. We recommend FreeSWITCH. To install FreeSWITCH:
  sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freeswitch-drivers/freeswitch-nightly-drivers
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install bbb-freeswitch-config

Or, instead, to install Asterisk (WARNING: Do not install both):

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install bbb-voice-conference

Again, install only one of the above

3. Install BigBlueButton

We’re now ready to install BigBlueButton. Type:

   sudo apt-get install bigbluebutton

This single command is where all the magic happens. This command will install all of BigBlueButton components with with their dependencies.

Here’s a screen shot of the packages it will install.

Type ‘y’ and press Enter. Then sit back. After a few moments, if you don’t have mysql installed, the mysql package script will ask to specify a password for the mysql ‘root’ user.

Enter a password for mysql’s ‘root’ user (you’ll need to enter it twice). Almost immediately, the package script for bbb-web will prompt you for that mysql root password (shown below). BigBlueButton needs to access the mysql to create a database. Enter the the same password your did a moment ago for mysql.

Note: The mysql password should not contain the following characters as ! # [ ^ $ ] ( ) as they will cause the bbb-web install script to break.

Finally, you’ll be prompted to access an End User License Agreement (EULA) for the installation of the Microsoft TrueType Fonts. These fonts help OpenOffice to convert Microsoft Office documents into PDF files.

4. Do a Clean Restart

To ensure BigBlueButton has started cleanly, enter the following commands:

   sudo bbb-conf --clean
   sudo bbb-conf --check

The output from sudo bbb-conf --check will display your current settings and, after the text, “ Potential problems described below “, print any configuration or startup problems it has detected. Normally, there is no text following this message.

Trying out your server (14:42 minutes later)

 

Change the hostname for port forwarding.

http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/BBBConf

Introduction

bbb-conf is the BigBlueButton configuration script for modifying BigBlueButton’s configuration, managing the BigBlueButton processes (start/stop/reset), and troubleshooting your installation.

If you are installing BigBlueButton from source, you can download bbb-conf from here.

When installed from packages, bbb-conf is located in /usr/local/bin/bbb-conf. If you are a developer, look through the source for bbb-conf (it’s a shell script) will help you understand the various components of BigBlueButton and how they work together.

Options

If you type bbb-conf with no parameters it will print out the list of available options.

BigBlueButton Configuration Utility - Version 0.71a
http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/BBBConf

   bbb-conf [options]

Configuration:
   --setip <host>                   Set IP/hostname for BigBlueButton
   --conference [konference|meetme|freeswitch]
                                    Switch conference module
   --setsalt <salt>                 Change the security salt in bigbluebutton.properties

Monitoring:
   --check <verbose>                Check configuration files and processes for problems
   --debug                          Scan the log files for error messages
   --watch                          Scan the log files for error messages every 2 seconds
   --salt                           View the URL and security salt for the server

Administration:
   --restart                        Restart BigBueButton
   --stop                           Stop BigBueButton
   --start                          Start BigBueButton
   --clean                          Restart and clean all log files
   --zip                            Zip up log files for reporting an error

Some of the bbb-conf options require that you run the command as root user. bbb-conf will print out a message prompting you to run the command with sudo if needed.

--setip <hostname_or_ip>[:<Port>]

Sets the IP/Hostname and port for BigBlueButton’s configuration.

Parameter Required/Optional Additional Information
Host Required Hostname or IP of the machine where BigBlueButton
Port Optional Port at which BigBlueButton is set

Example Usage:

   bbb-conf --setip 192.168.0.211

or

   bbb-conf --setip 192.168.0.211:8081

or

  bbb-conf --setip bbb.mybbbserver.com