How to enable importing and exporting different file formats in Ubuntu or OpenSuse or SLES with AbiWord

Etherpad Lite depends on [AbiWord][1] to import and export different file formats such as PDF, ODF and MS Word.

Table of Contents Ubuntu OpenSuse 11.4 Download and compile abiword on SLE-11 (Suse-Linux Enterprise Edition) Set up Etherpad lite to use abiword

Ubuntu

Installation instructions for AbiWord on Ubuntu are [here][2], the simplest method is probably by command line. Copy and paste then execute the following, line by line:

    echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/abiword-stable/ppa/ubuntu `lsb_release -c -s` main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/abiword-stable.list
    sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 2382D57E
    sudo aptitude update
    sudo aptitude install abiword

The `abiword` executable should now be installed to `/usr/bin/abiword` but you can confirm this by running `which abiword`. Make a note of the path.

OpenSuse 11.4

• Install abiword by using YaST

Download and compile abiword on SLE-11 (Suse-Linux Enterprise Edition)

• download the latest abiword release and untar to its subdirectory (on my system, there was a problem which I could overcome by disabling gnome-vfs):

 ./configure --enable-plugins="command" --without-gnomevfs
 make
 make install

• test the installation

 # which abiword
 /usr/bin/abiword
 # abiword --plugin=AbiCommand
 AbiWord command line plugin: Type "quit" to exit
 AbiWord:>

Set up Etherpad lite to use abiword

Now you need to configure Etherpad Lite to your AbiWord installation. Open `{path to etherpad}settings.json` in a text editor. If you want to use VIM from the command line, assuming Etherpad Lite is installed to `/usr/local/etherpad-lite`, run `sudo vim /usr/local/etherpad-lite`.

Find the line that says:

    "abiword" : null,

and change it to:

    "abiword" : "/usr/bin/abiword",

Use the path to AbiWord noted above. To do this in VIM:

1. Press `i` to enter INSERT mode 2. Find the 'abiword' configuration and change it 3. Save and close by pressing `<escape></escape>` then `:wq` then `<enter></enter>`

Restart the Etherpad Lite service by running `sudo restart etherpad-lite`.

[1]: http://www.abisource.com/ [2]: http://abisource.com/wiki/Install_on_Ubuntu