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The fastest path to a working VuFind instance is a packaged release on a Debian/Ubuntu server. This guide installs all required system packages, runs install.php to configure your environment, starts Solr, and confirms the application responds. A packaged release bundles all PHP dependencies, so you do not need to run Composer for an initial evaluation.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm the following on your server:
RequirementMinimum versionNotes
PHP8.2php-curl, php-gd, php-intl, php-mbstring, php-xml required
Apache2.4mod_rewrite must be enabled
Java11+Required by Apache Solr (bundled with VuFind)
MySQL or MariaDB5.7 / 10.3For user accounts and saved searches
Disk space2 GBFor the application, Solr index, and dependencies
VuFind also supports Nginx, but the packaged installer generates Apache configuration. Nginx users should follow the full installation guide.

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Steps

1

Install system dependencies

Update your package index and install the required system packages. The Vagrantfile in the repository demonstrates the canonical dependency set for Ubuntu 24.04.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y git zip unzip apache2 default-jdk mysql-server \
  libapache2-mod-php php-pear php php-curl php-dev php-gd php-intl \
  php-json php-ldap php-mbstring php-mysql php-soap php-xml
Enable the Apache rewrite module:
sudo a2enmod rewrite
2

Download a packaged release

Download the latest release archive from vufind.org/vufind/downloads.html and extract it to your chosen installation directory. Packaged releases include all Composer-managed PHP dependencies.
# Replace x.y.z with the actual release version
tar -xzf vufind-x.y.z.tar.gz -C /usr/local/
mv /usr/local/vufind-x.y.z /usr/local/vufind
If you prefer to install from a Git checkout instead, see the full installation guide which covers running composer install manually.
3

Run the interactive installer

VuFind ships with install.php, a Symfony Console command that generates your Apache configuration, environment files, and local override directory structure.
cd /usr/local/vufind
php install.php
The installer prompts you for:
  • Local settings directory — where VuFind stores configuration overrides and cache (default: local/ inside the VuFind home directory)
  • Custom module name — an optional PHP module for local code changes; leave blank to skip
  • Base path — the URL path segment for VuFind (default: /vufind)
  • Solr port — the port Solr will listen on (default: 8983)
For a non-interactive installation using all defaults, pass --use-defaults:
php install.php --use-defaults
For scripted environments with a custom override directory:
php install.php --non-interactive --overridedir=/vufindlocal
The installer writes local/httpd-vufind.conf (the Apache include file), env.sh (Unix environment variables), and local/import/import.properties (SolrMarc configuration).
4

Load the Apache configuration

Link the generated Apache configuration file into your server’s active configuration directory, then restart Apache:
# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo ln -s /usr/local/vufind/local/httpd-vufind.conf \
           /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/vufind.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2
On Red Hat / CentOS systems the conf directory is /etc/httpd/conf.d. The installer’s success message also prints the exact path for your platform.
5

Start Solr

VuFind’s Composer post-install scripts download a compatible Solr distribution into the project. Source the environment file so VuFind’s CLI tools know where to find the installation, then start Solr:
source /usr/local/vufind/env.sh
/usr/local/vufind/solr.sh start
Solr starts on port 8983 by default. Confirm it is running:
curl -s http://localhost:8983/solr/admin/cores?action=STATUS | grep -o '"status"'
6

Verify the installation

Open a browser and navigate to your VuFind base URL:
http://your-server/vufind
You should see the VuFind search interface. If you used the default base path, the URL is http://localhost/vufind.To confirm the auto-configuration page is no longer displayed, open local/config/vufind/config.ini and set:
autoConfigure = false

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What to do next

Full installation guide

Covers system requirements, Git-checkout installation, Nginx, and troubleshooting.

Configuration overview

Connect your ILS, configure search backends, and set your site title and email.

Index records

Import MARC records or configure OAI-PMH harvesting to populate your Solr index.

Apply a theme

Customise the Bootstrap 5 interface with your institution’s branding.

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