Hoteldruid on Raspberry Pi

[Martin Pusch]

Hello,

We have a hostel for help workers and volunteers, and we started making reservations with Hoteldruid in April 2015. I think it works best if Hoteldruid is installed on a server, so everything is available in the internal network. An internet server is not an option for us, because the internet connection is not always working. I installed Hoteldruid on a Raspberry Pi (Model B+ 512MB), using Raspbian. I used the file hoteldruid_2.1.2.zip to make the installation.

The pages of Hoteldruid react fast enough on the Raspberry Pi B+. Some pages take more time to open, for exemple the document page. But the Raspberry Pi is a cheap computer, makes no noise and doesn't need much energy. I put the Raspberry Pi on an UPS, to avoid problems with the Flash memory, as we have very frequent power failures. The battery of the UPS will stand many hours, because of the low power needed by the Raspberry Pi.

Martin

[clayton256]

This is really cool to know about! I thought about doing an install on a Beaglebone Black but installed it on a Mac Mini instead. Maybe I'll buy a RPi and move my hoteldruid install onto it.

What database are you using?

Thanks for posting.

Mark Clayton

[Martin Pusch]

What database are you using?

I'm using MySQL. I installed also PHPMyAdmin, because I wanted to be able to see the databases. Finally I added Exim, to be able to send E-Mails, and a script (backup2mail), to send the whole database once a day by E-Mail to my GMail-Account (edited crontab for this). I do this at 3 o'clock in the morning.

I made a second installation on my webspace with 1und1 (in Germany) as a backup. From time to time, I upload a backup file there, to have a working copy of everything. In case my Raspberry Pi will die, I can point my staff to the copy to continue work. At the moment, as they are learning to work with Hoteldruid, we use the copy on the internet as a playground.

Martin

[clayton256]

You have a very interesting setup! I'm working towards a very similar setup. I have a local install running on a server on my LAN and a remote install running on my webspace. Do you use the hoteldruid's backup and restore to copy your data from the local to remote installs? Or did you write your own tools? I ask because I was about to start writing some scripts to copy local bookings to a remote, hosted database. I will use the hosted database as a read-only database so that clients can check availability from our website without having to expose the local install to the internet. Would you be willing to share any of your work for copying your data?

I use sqlite3 database for now. I find it easier to deal with sqlite3 during development. I plan to move to MySQL over the winter.

My wife and I will use hoteldruid with a caravan park we are buying. We expect to finish the purchase and be on site in about 4-5 weeks. We have 112 RV sites and 2 rustic cabins. So we'll have a lot of data to copy back and forth.

Thanks again for all the great information!
Mark

[Martin Pusch]

Do you use the hoteldruid's backup and restore to copy your data from the local to remote installs? Or did you write your own tools?

I use the hotel druid's backup and restore to copy our data, I didn't write any own tool. I can't run any script on my remote web space; and I don't want to open the local network.

Martin

[AndilgE]

Hi Martin,

Raspberry Pi is a cool approach for self hosters, a little ubergeeky perhaps? I find it interesting as it surely uses very little electrical energy which could even be arranged by solar panels. So you could do your very own thing, real green IT and totally autonomic. Not for everyone, but if you run your property out in the pampas this might become a need. We encounter many energy interruptions, voltage peaks and drops in our region which harm every half intelligent device. For us being independent with energy is not only a cost question, but simply crucial to be better than our concurrence.

We also have to deal with unstable internet connection and need local installation. We didn't want to enter the very low level with Raspberry Pi as my time is limited, had got to get HotelDruid running under pressure. We have arranged a second hand QNAP TS-210 for some bucks. It's a weak device, 256 Mb memory, a 1 core processor running on 800 MHZ and 14 watt power consumption at max. It matches our needs and runs smooth enough for us to work with. We have at maximum 5 people working with HotelDruid so the old device is ok.

On what concerns the db I have made good expediences with PostgreSQL and prefer that to MySQL for the simple fact that it is real community driven open source. MySQL is Oracle, today open and free but who knows about tomorrow? I admit we use MySQL today but only due to the fact that it comes together with the all in 1 software package QNAP offers.

One thing I really miss in HotelDruid is a scheduled backup of the db with a crone job without a hassle. This is a must have for every management system involving client data/payment info and one of my wishes for the next versions to come.

I'm also looking for a redundant installation on different continents. My scenario is property in north eastern Brazil and stable web space with netzone.ch in Switzerland. Apart from the basic questions about scheduled nightly export, distribution and scheduled import with some delay I want to get this running on a secure base, encrypting or at least password protect the db exports (sensitive client data). How do you deal with this? Every information about this would come in very handy.

Brgs

AndilgE