New to Gibbon - Install help on Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

Where may I find instructions to install Gibbon on Ubuntu.
Here is what I have so far:

Windows 11 Host O/S
VirtualBox with Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS Guest OS
Downloaded and installed and working XAMPP:, using:
xampp-linux-x64-8.1.25-0-installer.run
Apache WebServer, MySQL Database and ProFTPD running using the XAMPP8.1.25-0
Downloaded and unzipped Gibbon GibbonEduCore-InstallBundle.zip
Copied all extracted files into:
/opt/lampp/htdocs/gibbon

all above done using sudo…

Where do I go from here as I am stuck when going to the webpage:
localhost
the following error:

Oh no!

Something has gone wrong: the Gibbons have escaped!

An error has occurred. This could mean a number of different things, but generally indicates that you have a misspelt address, or are trying to access a page that you are not permitted to access. If you cannot solve this problem by retyping the address, or through other means, please contact your system administrator.

I have come across this link and want to confirm if it’s still valid for the latest versions of Gibbon and Ubuntu?
on “how to forge”
how-to-install-gibbon-lms-on-ubuntu-20-04/#configure-apache-for-gibbon

Thanks

Hi not sure why you are trying to install it on a virtual machine using xampp, if you want to setup on windows you could use laragon https://laragon.org/

It will install a local webserver, and create a local url to play around with Gibbon

If you want to run it on linux, just setup linux as a webserver How To Install Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) Stack on Ubuntu | DigitalOcean then use this guide How to install gibbon for noobs (like me) on debian 12 or Ubuntu and similar

The other method is much easier, and no need for the VM

@tmike trying it out on VM because it’s a proof of concept for an NGO in Tanzania. If needed, I have complete control on the environment without affecting my own computing environment (laptop/desktop)

I personally think if this works out, you can even provide a VM on your site for anyone to download and try out the s/w - may be different flavours of OS.

Gibbon is a web app, just need to run it on a public web server. Hosting and maintaining a vm image would be a lot of additional work. Running a webserver on your windows machine will not hinder your work, it’s only a small service running in the background and will only take you 5 mins to be up and running.

While you could create a vm, it seems a bit overkill, would you setup wordpress on a vm?

Did you run these commands

sudo nano /etc/php/8.*/apache2/php.ini

Make sure you replace the * with the correct number based on the version you have.
Then in the nano editor you can change the value of this variables:
(you can search for them using ‘ctrl’ + ‘w’ - type ‘variable_name’ and press enter, than change the value

memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 256M
max_execution_time = 360
max_input_vars = 5000 (make sure you delete ‘’;‘’ at the beginning of the text in the editor )
date.timezone = Europe/Rome

When you are done you can save by using ‘ctrl’ + ‘o’
Then press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘x’ to exit nano.

sudo service apache2 reload

sudo service apache2 restart

I have just setup a virtualbox vm - installed apache using the link I posted, went through the install How to install gibbon for noobs (like me) on debian 12 or Ubuntu and similar and its running fine, I would suggest not using XAMP and just setting up a webserver, and make sure you follow all the steps in [dardiv] instructions.

1 Like

@tmike worked like a charm…thanks.
Now to get gibbon working.

Why VM?
Goal is to stay off grid (internet) - this is in remote locations where internet is costly, slow, unreliable at best…
so if we can get gibbon working on a local lan that would be a huge win for a start. As I mentioned earlier - it’s still a POC. FYI…never heard of gibbon before last week.

Did you use laragon or VM? they both need to run on a machine, the first is much easier to manage, then point the other machines to that PC’s ip

VirtualBox with Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS as the guest os on. Windows 11 host os.