Frequently Asked Question

Please note that Link Digital can not directly support extensions added beyond what is packaged with the image we provide. We can provide advice however, and will attempt to point you in the right direction to solve the problem you're facing.

To add an extension to CKAN, simply find the extension you'd like to install and follow the installation instructions provided by the developer. These usually come in the README file for the extension itself.

Some key things to remember when installing extensions are:

1. You must install into the Python virtual environment, so be sure to activate that before running any installation commands (. /usr/lib/ckan/default/bin/activate)

2. CKAN runs under the ckan user/group. When installing you need to either sudo to that user to run your commands, or you can run them as root and make sure to fix the ownership of the entire virtual environment (/usr/lib/ckan/default/) back to ckan:ckan before restarting the CKAN processes.

3. Most extensions will require specific configuration options to be added to CKAN. You will need to add these to /etc/ckan/default/production.ini

4. Finally and most importantly, if CKAN does not work correctly after you add a new extension, check the CKAN logs (/var/log/prod_ckan/ckan_default.error.log) to find out why. Sometimes it might be as simple as a permission problem or a configuration error.