For Debian based distributions the preferred installation method is using our deb repository.

You need to add the following line to your apt sources:

Instead of (Ubuntu) "trusty" you may use names of other supported linux distributions like "squeeze" for the Debian release of the same name. We offer repositories for all Ubuntu LTS releases since "Hardy" and all Debian stable releases since "Lenny". If on any inbetween/later release choose the name of the previous LTS/stable release. However, a repository will not contain OpenWGA versions that were released prior to the respective linux release.

For the installation you must have root access on your system. On Debian just login as root. For Ubuntu systems without a "real" root user qualify the installation commands with a preceding sudo to have superuser rights. So for example issue "sudo apt-get update" instead of just "apt-get update". You will be prompted for your user password on the first command.

The repository key can be imported by running:

Then tell your package management to update the available packages:

Now you are ready to install OpenWGA. Choose a package name according to the OpenWGA version you want to install. Debian package names for OpenWGA (since version 7.0) consist of the following format:

The edition identifier may be "ce" for community and "ee" for enterprise edition. See Editions and Licenses for details about that.

You install packages with the "apt-get install" command plus the package name. So, for example, to install the current OpenWGA 7.7 base release:

The package management will automatically check all dependencies and install a Java SDK if not yet installed. OpenWGA will be started after installation is complete. Just point your browser to:

During installation the package automatically registers a start/stop script '/etc/init.d/openwga' which can be used to start and stop the OpenWGA server. To start the OpenWGA server type:

To stop the OpenWGA server type:

OpenWGA is by default configured to start automatically if you reboot your server.

Preparing OpenWGA for MySQL

If you intend to use a MySQL database server to store your OpenWGA content data you might also want to install the package openwga-driver-mysql. It will install the most up-to-date MySQL JDBC database driver that is available in your deb repositories and automatically add it to the classpath of the OpenWGA server.

Just issue this console command:

This will also automatically restart your OpenWGA server so the MySQL driver will be instantly available.

Updating OpenWGA to new maintenance releases

Maintenance releases of OpenWGA versions have the same major and minor version number as your installed version but a higher "maintenance version number" which is the third version number. So 7.3.1 is the first maintenance release of OpenWGA version 7.3.

When OpenWGA is installed from a Debian package it can be automatically updated to the latest maintenance release of the installed version using your normal OS upgrade command:

If you want to solely update OpenWGA without affecting other packages use:

Updating OpenWGA to new feature releases

A feature release is every release that brings a major pack of new features to the platform. It is identified by having a new major or minor version number. A change to the major version identifies a new release  (like 7.6 to 7.7). To update to a news feature release you have to use "apt-get install" to install the new version. the old version will automatically uninstalled and replaced by the new version.

Instructions for upgrading to a new feature release should be taken from the documentation of the respective OpenWGA target version. Every versions documentation hosts a guide "Updating to <new-version-number>" whose instructions should be followed for a smooth update process.