BigBlueButton is something the same as Webex, and it’s open-source! I got a chance to install BBB for one of our clients. Even though BBB has a lot of tutorials available, It took hours for me to correct the installation errors and fix them. I have gone through all possible errors and manage to fix it. So I’m adding all those steps in detail and hope that will help you.
1) Know your OS type
I have installed the BBB in one of our VPS with 64bit, Debian Lenny as OS. ( It is important to know about your OS before the installation because if your OS is a 32bit one, then installing a 64bit package won’t work. ) And all the available tutorials are for 32 bit. I have added the changes you have to make if your OS is 64bit. ( I’ll mention if there is a difference in steps for 32 bit and 64 bit. )
To check the OS type and code name, you can execute the following command.
lsb_release -a
To know the OS bit, please execute the following command.
uname -m
x86_64 when it is a kernel 64 bits
i686 for 32 bits kernel
Or else execute the following command.
getconf LONG_BIT
2) Set your Locals
dpkg-reconfigure locales set to en_US.UTF-8
3) Know your OS
If your OS is Debian Squeeze, then you don’t have to follow this step.
To check the OS type and code name, you can execute the following command.
lsb_release -a
4 ) Setup OS
BBB recommends installing the software in Debian Squeeze. So if you are using a Lenny, you have to upgrade it first. ( If your OS is squeeze, then you don’t have to follow this step. )
Add the squeeze repository in the /etc/apt/source.list
vim /etc/apt/sources.list --- deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main non-free deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main non-free deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib --- apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade
( When you get the following prompt, I recommend choosing to install the package maintainers version if it is a new server. )
What would you like to do about it? Your options are:
Y or I: install the package maintainer's version N or O: keep your currently installed version D: show the differences between the versions Z: background this process to examine the situation
5) Install MySQL server and set a password
apt-get install mysql-server
6) Change Apache port 80 to something else ( Do not use 8080, because BBB requires tomcat6 and that uses 8080 port ) by editing /etc/apache2/ ports.conf and sites-enabled. Because BBB using 80port by default.
E.g., If you want to change the Apache port to 4444, follow the below steps.
vim /etc/apache2/ports.conf --- NameVirtualHost *:4444 Listen 4444 --- vim /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default --- ; ---
Then restart Apache.
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart
7) BBB Repository settings
# bigbluebutton repository key
wget http://ubuntu.bigbluebutton.org/bigbluebutton.asc -O- | apt-key add -
# Freeswitch PPA key
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 451AE93C echo -e "deb http://ubuntu.bigbluebutton.org/lucid/ bigbluebutton-lucid mainndeb http://ppa.launchpad.net/freeswitch-drivers/freeswitch-nightly-drivers/ubuntu lucid main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bigbluebutton.list
# 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
Update repository.
apt-get update aptitude apdate
If you get the error – NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5 type the below command.
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 40976EAF437D05B5
Then update apt-get and aptitude again.
8) Install libmpfr
apt-get install libgmp3c2
If your OS is 64 bit, please follow the below steps.
wget http://ubuntu.mirror.cambrium.nl/ubuntu//pool/main/m/mpfr/libmpfr1ldbl_2.4.2-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb dpkg -i libmpfr1ldbl_2.4.2-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb
If your OS is 32 bit, please follow the below steps.
wget http://ubuntu.mirror.cambrium.nl/ubuntu//pool/main/m/mpfr/libmpfr1ldbl_2.4.2-3ubuntu1_i386.deb dpkg -i libmpfr1ldbl_2.4.2-3ubuntu1_i386.deb
9) Another workaround to avoid packaging errors later on :
mkdir -p /var/www/nginx-default/ touch /var/www/nginx-default/50x.html
10) For the voice conference, we are going to install Asterisk ( Can use FreeSWITCH also )
To install Asterisk, please follow the steps.
apt-get install bbb-voice-conference
You may get the following errors.
Errors were encountered while processing: bbb-client bbb-config bigbluebutton E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
Please reinstall Asterisk to fix the issue by following the below steps.
apt-get --purge remove asterisk
Then reinstall Asterisk
apt-get install asterisk
Restart Asterisk to see if it is working fine.
/etc/init.d/asterisk restart
Then reinstall bbb-voice-conference
apt-get install bbb-voice-conference
( If you again get the same errors, ignore it and continue to install the BBB. That will be fixed after performing the coming sections. )
11) Install BigBlueButton
apt-get install bigbluebutton
To restart all services related to BBB, run the following command.
bbb-conf --clean
To check the info and the errors, execute the following command.
bbb-conf –check
You may get the following errors.
# Not Running: Nginx # This server could not connect to BigBlueButton through http://your IP/ If you try restarting the nginx, you will get the following errors. /etc/init.d/nginx restart Restarting nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok [emerg]: socket() [::]:80 failed (97: Address family not supported by protocol) configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed
You are getting this error because the IPv6 support is enabled in your nginx by default. Turning off the IPv6 support will fix this issue.
vim /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default --- #listen [::]:80 default ipv6only=off; ## listen for ipv6 ---
Then restart nginx.
/etc/init.d/nginx restart
Now it will create the bigbluebutton site under nginx.
You may get the following Asterisk “konference” error when executing the command “bbb-conf –check”.
** Potential problems described below ** # Did not detect the BigBlueButton configuration setup for asterisk. Missing # /usr/lib/asterisk/modules/app_konference.so # Try running: sudo apt-get install bbb-voice-conference
Follow the given steps to fix the issue.
Execute the below command to o find the app_konference location.
dpkg -L bbb-voice-conference | grep app_konference
The output will be as follows.
/var/tmp/app_konference-10.04-32.so /var/tmp/app_konference.so /var/tmp/app_konference-10.04-64.so
If your OS is 32 bit, then follow the below command to fix the issue.
cp /var/tmp/app_konference-10.04-32.so /usr/lib/asterisk/modules/app_konference.so
If your OS is 64 bit, then follow the below command to fix the issue.
cp /var/tmp/app_konference-10.04-64.so /usr/lib/asterisk/modules/app_konference.so
Then restart BBB to check if the issue is fixed.
bbb-conf --clean
12) To test the working
http://yourIP
To start using your BigBlueButton server, enter your name and click the ‘Join’ button. You’ll join the Demo Meeting.
To create your meetings or join a meeting, click on the “View API examples”, and you can see the options there.
So that’s how you install BigBlueButton.
