This README describes how to install The Combine Rapid Word Collection tool on a laptop or desktop PC.

• System Requirements
• Install The Combine
• Running The Combine
• Advanced Installation Options

The Combine can be installed on a PC that meets the following requirements:

• Debian-based Linux Operating system
• 8 GB of memory;
• WiFi interface that supports creating a WiFi Hotspot;
• a wired-ethernet connection to the Internet
• User account that can run as root with sudo.

The installation script has been tested on Ubuntu 24.04.

1. Plug in the wired ethernet connection to the Internet.

2. Make sure WiFi is "on"; it does not need to be connected to a network.

3. Update all of the existing software packages through your OS's Software Updater application or by running:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

   This step is optional but will make the installation process go more smoothly. Restart the PC.

   Note for Wasta Linux users

   Wasta Linux includes Skype in its list of available software. Skype no longer supports installation via apt. (It's available as a Snap package.) As a result, when the installation script, or a user, updates the list of available software, the process fails. To address this issue, run:

   sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

4. Download the installation script from https://s3.amazonaws.com/software.thecombine.app/combine-installer.run

5. Open a terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-T) and make the script executable:

   cd [path where installer was downloaded]
   chmod +x combine-installer.run

6. Run the script:

   cd [path where installer was downloaded]
   ./combine-installer.run

   Notes:

   • The installation script requires elevated privileges to run most of its tasks. You may be prompted for your password in two ways:

     [sudo] password for {your username}:

     or

     BECOME password:

   • The first time you run the installation script, it will prompt you for an AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and an AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY. To get the values to enter here, send a request to the team at The Combine

   • When run with no options, ./combine-installer.run will install the current version of The Combine.

   • If the previous installation did not run to completion, it will resume where the previous installation left off.

   • If you get the error Job for k3s.service failed because the control process exited with error code., make sure no other instance of k3s is running. For example, if Docker Desktop is active on the current user, run:

     systemctl --user stop docker-desktop
     systemctl --user disable docker-desktop

The Combine will not be running when installation is complete.

To start The Combine, open a terminal window and run:

combinectl start

Once The Combine has been started, it will create a WiFi hotspot for users to access The Combine using any WiFi enabled device with a browser. It can also be accessed using the browser directly on the machine where The Combine is running.

The wireless network name will be thecombine_ap. You can connect your device to this network using the passphrase thecombine_pw.

If you would like to change the WiFi passphrase, see the options described in combinectl Tool.

Open a web browser and navigate to https://local.thecombine.app.

To shutdown The Combine, open a terminal window and run:

combinectl stop

Once installation is complete, you can use the combinectl command to manage the installation. The combinectl command is entered in a terminal window as combinectl COMMAND [parameters], where the possible commands are:

If the command is omitted or unrecognized, the help message is printed.

The Combine requires a web site certificate to be able to provide a secure connection between The Combine and the web browsers used to enter and cleanup the data. Having a secure connection prevents the browsers from asking the users to override their security settings.

The Combine refreshes its certificate when it is connected to the Internet via a wired Ethernet connection. A certificate will be valid for a time between 60 and 90 days. You can use the command combinectl cert to view when your current certificate will expire, for example:

$ combinectl cert
Web certificate expires at Jul  8 08:54:11 2024 GMT

To run combine-installer.run with options, the option list must be started with -- . The following options are supported: