Installation
Koha Installation Services — Set Up Properly, First Time
A working catalog, configured and tested — not a server you now own.
Where people get stuck
Installing Koha is the easy part
The package installs in an afternoon. What takes the time — and what a half-finished installation is missing — is everything that has to be configured afterwards.
“The install finished but nothing is configured.”
“Notices don't send and we can't work out why.”
“We’re on a version nobody supports any more.”
“The person who set it up has left.”
What we mean by installed
A library that can lend a book on Monday
Package installation is step one of about fifteen. Everything below is included, because a catalog missing any of it is not finished — it just looks finished.
- Server provisioning and hardeningOurs or yours — both are supported
- Koha installation on a current supported version
- HTTPS with automated certificate renewal
- MARC frameworks and item types
- Circulation rules, patron categories, branches
- Email — SMTP, SPF and DKIM, deliverability tested
- Notice templates written and testedOverdue, hold ready, due soon, welcome
- Z39.50 and SRU copy-cataloging targets
- Automated backups with a tested restore
- Scheduled jobs — fines, overdues, holds queue
- Public catalog on your own address, branded
- Handover documentation and a staff walkthrough
- Data migration from your old systemA separate service — see the migration page
- Certified staff trainingThe Koha Certificate course covers this properly
- RFID hardware supplyWe integrate what you own; we are not a hardware reseller
Items marked with a dash are deliberately out of scope. Saying so up front is what prevents the argument later.
Comparing quotes
What a Koha installation service provider should include
Koha is open source, so the software is identical whoever installs it. What differs is where the work stops — and these are the five lines to look for in any quote.
- 1
Configuration, not just installation
Frameworks, item types, patron categories and circulation rules per branch. A quote that ends at "Koha installed" ends four-fifths of the way from a library that can lend a book.
- 2
Email, including the DNS records
Setting an SMTP server is the easy half. SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your sending domain are what make notices arrive, and they are the most common thing left out.
- 3
Notice templates written and tested
Overdue, hold ready, due soon, welcome — written for your library and tested against a real inbox, not left on the shipped defaults.
- 4
Copy-cataloging targets that work
Z39.50 and SRU targets configured and verified. Without them every record is typed by hand, which is weeks of staff time nobody quoted for.
- 5
A backup that has been restored
Automated, held off the server, and restored once to prove the file is usable. An untested backup is a hope with a filename.
- 6
Documentation and a handover
How yours is configured, in writing, so the next person to join does not start from nothing when whoever set it up moves on.
All six are in the list above, and none of them is an extra. If you would rather do the work yourself, the step-by-step installation guide covers every one of them with the commands.
How it works
Five steps, and you know where you are in all of them
Scoping call
Collection size, number of branches, how many staff, what you are on today and what has to be true on day one. Half an hour, and it is what makes the rest of the estimate honest rather than a guess.
Server provisioning and installation
On our infrastructure or on yours. The operating system, the database, the application and the web server, sized for your collection rather than for a demo.
Configuration — frameworks, rules, categories, branches
MARC frameworks and item types, circulation rules per patron category, branches and pickup locations. This is the part that turns an installed package into a library that can lend a book.
Email, Z39.50, backups, scheduled jobs
SMTP with SPF and DKIM so notices arrive; notice templates written and tested; Z39.50 and SRU targets for copy cataloging; automated backups with a restore we have actually run; and the scheduled jobs that accrue fines and send overdues.
Handover, staff walkthrough, go-live
A working system, a walkthrough with the people who will use it every day, and written documentation of how yours is configured — so the next person to join does not start from nothing.
Afterwards
Two ways to run it
Neither is the wrong answer. Which one fits depends on whether your institution has someone whose job this can be.
You host it
We install on your server, configure it, document it and hand it over. You own the machine, the data sits inside your own network, and you decide when it is upgraded. You also own the backups, the patching and the 2am call — so this works best where there is already a system administrator who is not leaving next year.
We host it
Koha Cloud. The server, the backups, the security patches, the upgrades and the monitoring are ours, and your team never logs into a machine. You still keep your own copy of the backups and you can leave with your data at any time.
See Koha CloudTimeline
How long it actually takes
Ranges, not promises. The variable is almost never the software — it is how ready the data and the decisions are.
| Library | Typical timeline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single branch, catalog already in MARC | 2–3 weeks | Most of it is configuration, not installation |
| Single branch, records to clean up first | 3–5 weeks | The cleanup sets the pace |
| Multi-branch college | 4–8 weeks | Circulation rules per branch take review time |
| University with several libraries | 8–12 weeks | Usually runs alongside a migration |
FAQ
Before you ask
Can you install on our own server?
Yes. We install on your infrastructure, configure it the same way, and hand it over documented. Institutions with a data-residency requirement usually take this route, and it is a supported option rather than a grudging one.
Which Koha version will we get?
A current, supported release — never one that is already end-of-life at handover. If you are joining an existing installation on an older version, we tell you what upgrading involves before you decide.
Do you migrate our existing data too?
That is a separate service, priced separately, because the work varies enormously with the state of the data. It is very often done in the same engagement — the installation page and the migration page describe two halves of one project.
What if we already have a broken installation?
We audit it first: what version, what is configured, what is broken, whether the backups restore. Sometimes the answer is to repair it and sometimes it is to rebuild and move the data across. You get the recommendation in writing with the reasoning, not just a quote.
Do you train our staff?
The handover includes a walkthrough for the people who will use it daily. For proper certified training there is a structured course — eight weeks, hands-on, on a live system, with a certificate at the end.
What happens after go-live — do we get support?
Installation ends at handover. Ongoing support is a separate arrangement, and it is worth having: the failures that hurt a library — fines silently not accruing, notices going to spam — produce no error message and are usually found months later.
Related reading
The detail behind the decision
Including the guide that tells you how to do this without us.
What Koha installation costs
Self-hosting ranges in USD — hardware, hosting, the hours, and the parts people forget to budget for.
Read the guideKoha hosting, explained
What running the server involves month to month, so "you host it" is an informed choice.
Read the guideOther services
Get a quote
Get an installation quote
Tell us roughly how big the collection is and what you are running today. We reply by email with a quote and a timeline.