Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) 7.0 was released September 30, 2019 (announcement).
Use it to “steal” the Internet’s crown jewels and craft your own LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA with a $35 Raspberry Pi computer, or an old laptop.
Our HOW-TO videos show you how to customize your Internet-in-a-Box “knowledge hotspot” — for your school, your clinic, your library, your entire region — or your very own family.
Install Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) 7.0 using its 1-line installer to transform an old laptop into a “learning palace” for a developing world school, that urgently needs this today!
Then drag-and-drop the very best of the World’s Free Knowledge (Wikipedia in any language, thousands of Khan Academy videos, zoomable OpenStreetMap, E-Books, WordPress journaling, the new Sugarizer 1.2, Toys from Trash electronics projects, RACHEL Content Packs, Kolibri, Nextcloud, ETC) for those who are burning for learning — but just happen to be offline.
The crown jewels are all free, liberated — and open source too! Internet-in-a-Box is now used in schools, libraries and medical clinics in more than 20 countries. Why not DIY your own LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA with a $35 Raspberry Pi computer, starting today?
What’s New?
- Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspbian Buster support, allowing IIAB installs that are 3X faster! IIAB also now supports the brand new Debian 10 “Buster” OS, on regular PC’s and laptops.
- OpenStreetMap is like Google Maps but better, for schools especially, as it works offline and avoids all the advertising. Implementers can easily download detailed vector-based Map Packs for an entire continent, or the entire world! Please try it out (after you install IIAB, go to its http://box.lan/admin > Install Content > Get Map Region) and ask us about satellite imagery and other mapmaking / map-mixing options coming soon. With URL box/maps #1710
- Internet Archive Decentralized Web helps you create your own offline digital library. It includes a crawler that can regularly synchronize local collections, against a list of Internet Archive items and collections, and those collections can be moved between installations. When connected to the Internet, it works as a Proxy, i.e. it will store Internet Archive content the user views for later offline viewing. With URL box:4244 (box/archive in future) PR #1617
- Beautify your IIAB home page (http://box) with new click-to-install logos for each of your Content Packs & IIAB Apps. Rewrite any of their descriptions in your own language, also from IIAB’s Admin Console (http://box.lan/admin > Content Menus) so students know exactly what’s available to them, in their own language! #1708
- Gitea 1.9.3 (changelog) lightweight self-hosted “GitHub” version control system, to learn to code collaboratively, with URL box/gitea PR #1242
- AzuraCast 0.9.6.5 is a self-hosted, all-in-one radio station platform. Use AzuraCast to schedule podcasts, music, and even do live streaming of audio content. A variety of streaming formats are supported. PR #1733
- Fix the clock’s time and date in your IIAB automatically, simply by browsing to your IIAB home page (http://box) using a nearby smartphone or laptop/tablet/computer. This can be a lifesaver in offline environments, with low-end Raspberry Pi servers that contain no RTC (real-time clock) or coin cell battery. #1680
- Bluetooth access to IIAB’s Admin Console, for IIAB field operators/administrators and advanced teachers too! You can enable this in /etc/iiab/local_vars.yml PR #1716 PR iiab/iiab-admin-console#209
- iiab-diagnostics dramatically speeds up remote troubleshooting and community support, so that Internet-in-a-Box Field Teams and Dev Teams can communicate efficiently (while each focusing on what they do best!) #1575 PR #1763
- Please see “What might future versions bring?”
What’s Upgraded?
- Internet-in-a-Box installation (http://download.iiab.io) is much more self-explanatory, hiding the details of Ansible 2.8 and 2.9 so implementers can focus on content curation instead! #1028
- If you build your IIAB from a Raspberry Pi, your teachers can now field-upgrade it without any networking changes at all (even IIAB’s with static IP addresses on their Ethernet port!) simply by plugging the IIAB into a live Ethernet port e.g. on the back of a cablemodem or DSL router. This allows teachers and non-technical operators to carry their IIAB device to a nearby city (e.g. on weekends, or once per semester) to upgrade its content and/or software — and then re-deploy the IIAB device to the school or clinic where it belongs.
- Your IIAB’s firewall (iptables) and remote connections (OpenVPN) are now much easier to set up in /etc/iiab/local_vars.yml PR #1654 PR #1677
- OpenVPN is substantially more reliable — it now works even when DNS does not. PR #1752
- http web site “whitelisting” was beefed up, using Squid. #1879
- Kolibri 0.12.8+ (changelog, user guide) with new Physics/Chemistry LibreTexts, and URL box/kolibri #1545 #1807
- Nextcloud 17.0.0+ (blog) includes a collaborative rich text editor, with URL box/nextcloud #1957
- Lokole 0.4.4 (changelog) email for rural communities, students and teachers, with URL box/lokole PR #1853
- Moodle 3.7.2+, with URL box/moodle PR #1857
- WordPress 5.2.3+ based on 5.2, with URL box/wordpress #1703
- Kiwix 3.0.1-6 (changelog) with URL box/kiwix PR #1909
- Calibre-Web 0.6.4 (changelog) now does a better job showing visual thumbnail previews e.g. for locally uploaded PDF’s, with customizable URL’s box/books, box/libros, box/livres PR #1565 PR #1865
- Calibre 4.0+ (3.48+ on Raspberry Pi) with URL box:8080
- Sugarizer 1.2.0 (changelog) with Sugarizer Server 1.1.1 (changelog) with URL box/sugarizer PR #1777 PR #1966
- Node-RED 1.0+ (changelog) for electronics projects with a flow-based development tool for visual programming (introduction).
- MediaWiki 1.33.0 with URL box/mediawiki PR #1809
- Elgg 2.3.14 LTS with URL box/elgg PR #1897
- phpMyAdmin 4.9.1 for remote administration of MySQL #1956
What might future versions bring?
- Automatic installation of “content bouquets” during IIAB installation (up to 64 GB or 128 GB typically) so new implementers can pick a language — then hit the ground running. #1958
- IIAB out-of-box experience on “Raspbian With Desktop” OS. #1979 With HOW-TO Videos for enterprising teachers and students, with actionable subtitles in common languages. #1975
- Instant submission of Content Pack descriptions/logos for your IIAB home page, so non-technical implementers/educators around the planet can rapidly & efficiently circulate “menu item definitions” — putting community action into high gear. #1831
- Matomo for usage analytics, alongside some careful re-thinking of how IIAB teachers and content contributors can learn from users’ needs. #1762
- Magrit 0.8.11 for civic/local mapmaking, with URL box/magrit ? PR #1579
- Cham is a lightweight live video streaming platform with adaptive bitrates for IIAB. PR #1743
- For a more detailed list, see the Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) 7.1 Milestone
Credits
Thank you e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e for building your own DIY Library of Alexandria. To serve One & All.
Building on this software and designs contributed by Mir Rodríguez Lombardo, Mitra Ardron, Kurt Maier, T.K. Kang, Eric Nitschke, César López-Natarén, Joshua Kanani, Josh Dennis, Arky R., Matt Johnson, James Heilman, Sam Zidovetzki, Reno McKenzie, Anish Mangal, Mikko Kotila, Avni Khatri, Blondel Mondésir, Evelyn Fitzgerald, George Hunt, Tim Moody, Jerry Vonau, Adam Holt — among many other contributors !
Not just in your own community — but by keeping in touch with our global volunteer community network (http://OFF.NETWORK) each of you are providing the lifeblood “fieldback” — that keeps us motivated enabling Internet-in-a-Box’s quality content collaborations across ALL communities!
Join our Thursday calls if you too can help: MINUTES.IIAB.IO
Frequently Asked Questions: FAQ.IIAB.IO
Known Issues
- IIAB’s home page (http://box) will not display in browsers like Windows 7’s Internet Explorer 11. Please install a modern browser e.g. Firefox or Chrome, as js-menu requires a more recent version of JavaScript. #1517
- Kolibri blocks you from logging in at times, with its login page infinitely/rapidly looping. Deleting your browser’s cookies is not quite enough to work around this problem, but running your browser in incognito/privacy mode does work. #1532
- Sometimes Kolibri does not start after reboot, if you’ve downloaded Kolibri Channels #1648
- When trying to upgrade a Map Pack, Admin Console reports Map Pack as installed when it isn’t. iiab/iiab-admin-console#229
- Sugarizer generally requires MongoDB, which is no longer packaged by Linux OS’s like Debian 10 Buster, due to licensing issues. #1437
- Node.js applications like Asterisk/FreePBX, Node-RED and Sugarizer won’t work on Raspberry Pi Zero W (ARMv6) if you installed Node.js while on RPi 3, 3 B+ (ARMv7) or RPi 4 (ARMv8). If necessary, run
apt remove nodejs then (attempt!) things like cd /opt/iiab/iiab; ./runrole nodejs to install Node.js on the Raspberry Pi Zero W itself — before proceeding to install Asterisk/FreePBX, Node-RED and/or Sugarizer.
- A few residual issues remain at: https://github.com/iiab/iiab/milestone/5