How to Host Greenstone Libraries on the Amazon AWS Cloud Service


Car Collections and Digital Technology

1. Login in to Amazon AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/

2. Choose "Create a Free Account" You'll see "AWS Accounts Include 12 Months of Free Tier Access"

3. Create a new account with your email address, choose a password and give the account a name, such as "Greenstone"

4. You will then have a choice between a business or personal account. "Personal" works well. On that page, enter your contact information.

5. Provide credit card information on the next page.

6. Login to AWS console at below location:

https://console.aws.amazon.com/

7. Go to the GoToForge website for detailed instructions:

https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/how-to-setup-linux-server-with-aws/

then go down to the subsection "Setup a Linux VM in AWS". Follow all directions, including downloading "Putty" to setup a public and private key.

In step 4.a. of the GoToForge website, it is not necessary to choose Red Hat Linux; the first choice, "Amazon Linux AMI" should be sufficient. 

8. The AWS instructions on using Putty to create a private key are detailed and good: 

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/console/ec2/instances/connect/putty

9.  Continue to follow the directions for Putty to connect to your instance as "root" at a command line.  Upload and install the latest Greenstone for Linux.

10.  If you are using a Windows system and would prefer a graphical interface, you can use the free WinSCP program to connect to your Linux instance to upload and install Linux Greenstone (2.87 or 3.09).   AWS gives directions at:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/putty.html#Transfer_WinSCP

11.  These are the libraries now on the Amazon AWS:  CarLibrary.org Collection

September 23, 2019