Download Full RACHEL Plus image on our own server

Deployment
#1

I would like to setup a RACHEL server with a new Raspberry Pi 4B. However, I’d also like to add a 500 GB SSD so I can fit the complete RACHEL Plus library (over 400 GB?). Is that possible? Does World Possible even offer that as an option (other than buying the pre-configured server)?

#2

Hi @MichaelK,

Unfortunately USB booting hasn’t been added to the Raspberry Pi 4B yet but the Raspberry Pi Foundation has said it’s on their list of things to do.

There are premade RACHEL-Pi images available at this post. with instructions on how to install it and how to install content modules. When they add USB booting support a new image will be available and all you should need to do to install it to your SSD is select the SSD device when flashing the image. Some people have used an SSD over USB with a Pi 3B+ so I think it should work when that’s available.

The images come without content so users can choose which content they want to install.

James

#3

Thanks for the response JamesK. I wasn’t necessarily trying to boot from the SSD drive, just use it to store some (or most) of RACHEL’s static content.

I am new to the RACHEL Pi install process, so at the moment I’m just trying to get her installed on my 4B (4GB) Pi. I downloaded and installed the “rachel-pi_kolibri_9_26_2019.7z” image on a 64GB SD card, but when I access the webpage at 10.10.10.10, I only see “File Share” and “Kolibri”. Shouldn’t I see more? I may still need to download content (trying to figure that out), which may also require me installing some/all of the files listed in the "rachelpi_64EN folder on World Possible’s FTP site. Any recommendations from the RPi experts would surely be appreciated.

#4

You’re welcome @MichaelK

There’s a tutorial PDF I’ve included with the image called “installing modules” which will walk you through installing content. The readme PDF has a list of supported modules and explains why file share and kolibri are there. The Kolibri user guide is here. You won’t need anything in the rachelpi_64EN folder from the FTP.

Loading modules from USB while booting from a MicroSD is not currently supported in RACHEL-Pi. It requires some advanced manual steps that are not maintainable for deployments so USB support is limited to the boot device being USB for now. It will be added in the future.

James