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Setting up a MusicBrainz Server

Introduction

Thank you for considering helping out with MusicBrainz server development! The first thing you will need is to set up a running mb_server on your own machine. You will need to following things for this:

• A linux box: A PIII-700 or better, with 256MB RAM and 2Gb of free disk space

• Knowledge of Apache, Perl, mod_perl, PostgreSQL and a number of perl modules

• Subversion knowledge which will enable you to check out the source code.

• Knowledge on how to compile and install packages from source on a Linux box.

• Knowledge on how to patch existing packages is also helpful - we can help you out if you have questions about that.

  • A less painful option is to install VMWare (or the VMWare player) and run a copy of the VirtualMusicBrainzServer.

  • The server has never been ported to Windows, and we suspect that it would be a fair amount of work to make that happen.

  • You do not actually need to know SQL/Perl to setup the server. But if you plan on adding features to MusicBrainz, you will need Perl, and probably also SQL experience.

Installation instructions

If you meet the above requirements you should read the complete installation instuctions. Even if you are not familiar with all the requirements above, but are serious about mb_server development, join us in the IRC channel or post questions to the DevelopersMailingList, and we will attempt to help out if you get stuck. There is more information on how to install the server and load the correct dataset listed in ServerInstallationFAQ - make sure to read this page before asking questions.

Which flavour of Linux should I use for mb_server?

We use Ubuntu as our Linux flavour of choice, however it is possible to setup the mb_server on other distributions as well.

Instructions for other distributions (may be sparse):

• GentooServerSetup

If you just want a running database, there is a guideline in DatabaseSetup which helps setting up just the database.

Don't be discouraged by the steep learning curve

We realize that this is a stiff set of requirements to get started, but please don't let this discourage you. The INSTALL file is thorough and contains a lot of information, and thus also looks daunting. We recommend that you dive in and give it a try - who knows how far you'll get and what you might learn along the way. Once you get the MusicBrainz server running, dive in and tackle a task on the DevelopmentToDoList or send us mail via the HelpWanted page.

Related HowTo's

• LuceneServerSetup

  • If you want to setup your own search server (LuceneServer) instead of querying the one of MusicBrainz (search.musicbrainz.org).

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