SKSI/Tutorials/BigBlueButton install

Installing BigBlueButton - the Free and Open Source video conferencing / virtual seminar / virtual conference platform - on a Ubuntu Linux server instance.

Tutorial Video from initial offering.

Overview
Almost overnight, with the advent of COVID19, the world - and particularly education - has developed a complete dependence on video conference services. In places like the Pacific Islands, where proximity to those with similar interests is difficult, video conferencing creates new opportunities for those who would previously have been quite isolated. But the widely used video conferencing platforms are all run by foreign corporations, charging large amounts of money for their services, and with little interest in serving the needs of small populations - who represent negligible profit for these global corporations. How can Samoans take charge of their own digital communications?

By learning rather than spending money: BigBlueButton is 'free and open source software' (what we call 'FOSS') that is functionally similar to familiar, highly publicised tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Apple Facetime,and Google Hangouts might hold a compelling answer.

It's available at no cost for licenses and a very small cost of hosting, and an interested community of technically inclined people in Samoa can host it for yourselves, either locally, or in 'the Cloud'. It would be your software then, too, with the ability to improve it in ways to make it more useful to you and your community. For example, it would be possible to translate the interface into Samoan, and contributing that back to the main BigBlueButton development community would mean it was available to any Samoan language speaker, anywhere in the world.

Prerequisite

 * set up an Ubuntu Linux Docker Compose host

Tutorial Content

 * provide overview of BigBlueButton's purpose and community background.
 * identify and configure the selected BBB domain name for the target server.
 * explain how the BBB community develops its code, like
 * using Git to manage the collaboration and deployment process,
 * how the application is a collection of discrete FOSS components, just like most applications, although this process makes those components visible,
 * explain the split between the BBB application, its API (and explain what an API is, with relevant integration examples, e.g. Moodle, Rocket.Chat, NextCloud), and its default interface, Greenlight
 * how the BBB community is adopting Docker to streamline and simplify deployment and testing,
 * how to get the community's Docker Compose 'recipe'
 * show the containers and give an overview of their roles, and explain, in particular, the need for the STUN/TURN service.
 * run the configuration script and install BBB's containers
 * demonstrate configuring the reverse proxy on the host, and acquiring a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate and enabling it.
 * log in and test BBB, to ensure the components are functioning.
 * test a recording. Explain the recording process and composition.
 * explain data backups and ongoing maintenance.

Companion BBB install reference on OERu TechBlog.