Setting the Stage

As a library science student, I had always heard about DSpace — the world’s most popular open-source Institutional Repository platform used by universities, libraries, and research institutes worldwide. But setting it up seemed intimidating. Recently, I decided to take the plunge and install DSpace 9.2 on my own machine.

This blog post is about that journey — the challenges, the learning, and the joy of finally seeing it work!

My Setup

Since I do not have a dedicated Linux machine, I used Oracle VirtualBox on my Windows laptop to create a virtual Ubuntu 24.04 LTS environment. For the Ubuntu installation inside VirtualBox, I referred to a helpful tutorial by Saksham Choudhary — a clear and practical guide that gave me a good understanding of how to get Ubuntu running inside VirtualBox.

Koha Was Already Installed!

Managing multiple systems in a single VirtualBox environment presented unique challenges

Here is where things got interesting. I had already installed Koha 25.11 (Library Management System) in the same VirtualBox environment. This meant limited disk space and careful port management to avoid conflicts between the two systems. For Koha installation, I followed a step-by-step tutorial by RAFLIMTS — though the video is about a year old, it worked perfectly well for Koha on Ubuntu 24.04.

Since this was my first time working with VirtualBox and Ubuntu, I did not even think of creating a separate VM for DSpace — a lesson I learned along the way! I also used Claude AI to help me with VM-specific troubleshooting whenever I got stuck.

The Tutorial That Made It Possible

I came across an excellent tutorial by Sukhdev Singh Sir on his YouTube channel AI for Librarians (@AI4LIB). The tutorial covers the COMPLETE DSpace 9.2 installation — from Backend to Frontend — explained in Hindi with all commands clearly demonstrated.

What truly sets this tutorial apart is the accompanying step-by-step PDF installation manual available on his website sukhdevsingh.com.

What the Tutorial Covers

• ✅ Install Java 17, Maven, Ant, Git — all prerequisites
• ✅ Set up PostgreSQL 16 — database creation and authentication
• ✅ Configure Apache Solr 9.x — search cores and ICU fix
• ✅ Deploy Apache Tomcat 10 — web server configuration
• ✅ Build DSpace 9.2 Backend — Maven build and Spring Boot deployment
• ✅ Build DSpace 9.2 Frontend — Angular UI build and systemd service

6 Real Errors Documented & Solved

What makes this tutorial exceptional — it documents and fixes real errors encountered during actual installation:

• JavaScript heap out of memory — Angular production build crash FIXED ✓
• YAML duplicate key/indentation error in config.yml FIXED ✓
• CORS 500 Service Unavailable — frontend cannot reach backend FIXED ✓
• sudo chmod *.sh glob expansion failure FIXED ✓
• PostgreSQL apt repo 404 — Linux Mint codename not recognised FIXED ✓
• Port 4000 in use — systemd Restart=always trap FIXED ✓

The Tech Stack Used

The Final Result — Everything Working!

Both Koha and DSpace fully operational with auto-start on boot

Both Koha 25.11 and DSpace 9.2 are now fully working on my VirtualBox, with all services configured to auto-start on every boot:

What I Learned Along the Way

1. Always create a separate VM for each major software installation
2. Swap memory is critical for Angular production builds on low-RAM machines
3. Port management is crucial when running multiple services
4. systemd services make life much easier for auto-starting applications
5. A good tutorial manual is worth more than hours of random searching!
6. Do not blindly go for the latest version of software — always check if it has been tested and verified. Compatibility with your stack matters more than being on the cutting edge!