Modify the interface language

NOTE: We are in the process of modifying the file structure and configuration for many Bitnami stacks. On account of these changes, the file paths stated in this guide may change depending on whether your Bitnami stack uses native Linux system packages (Approach A), or if it is a self-contained installation (Approach B). To identify your Bitnami installation type and what approach to follow, run the command below:

 $ test ! -f "/opt/bitnami/common/bin/openssl" && echo "Approach A: Using system packages." || echo "Approach B: Self-contained installation."

The output of the command indicates which approach (A or B) is used by the installation, and will allow you to identify the paths, configuration and commands to use in this guide. Refer to the FAQ for more information on these changes.

Open edX uses Transifex, an open source translation platform, to power the translation of edX software into different languages. All translations are hosted at Transifex.com, which provides a web application allowing translators to write, submit, and manage their translations.

In order to change the language, follow the steps described in the sections below:

Step 1: Install and configure transifex-client

• Sign up and join the edX platform Transifex project as a translator. See the Transifex documentation for help with Transifex.

• Log in to the server console.

• Install the GCC compiler.

  • On Debian/Ubuntu, run the commands below:

      $ sudo apt-get update
      $ sudo apt-get install gcc g++
    

  • On RHEL/CentOS, run the commands below:

      $ sudo yum group install "Development Tools"
    

• Install Python dependencies:

    $ pip install transifex-client
  

• Create the ~/.transifexrc file and set your credentials as follows:

    [https://www.transifex.com]
    hostname = https://www.transifex.com
    username = USER
    password = PASS
    token =
  

  NOTE: Remember to replace the USER and PASS placeholders in the previous example with your Transifex credentials.

Step 2: Modify the language for Open edX LMS and Studio/CMS

Approach A: Bitnami installations using system packages

• Make sure that all languages you wish to download are present and uncommented in the /opt/bitnami/edx/app/edxapp/edx-platform/conf/locale/config.yaml.

• Set the value of the LANGUAGE_CODE variable to the language you desire (for example, set it to “es_es” to translate it to Spanish) in the configuration files:

  • /opt/bitnami/edx/etc/studio.yml
  • /opt/bitnami/edx/etc/lms.yml
  • /opt/bitnami/edx/app/edxapp/edx-platform/lms/envs/common.py

• Change to the root user:

    $ sudo su
  

• Download the translations by running the commands below as root:

    $ cd /opt/bitnami/edx/app/edxapp/edx-platform
    $ source ../edxapp_env
    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/edx/app/edxapp/venvs/edxapp/bin/paver i18n_robot_pull
  

Approach B: Self-contained Bitnami installations

• Make sure that all languages you wish to download are present and uncommented in the /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/edx-platform/conf/locale/config.yaml.

• Set the value of the LANGUAGE_CODE variable to the language you desire (for example, set it to “es_es” to translate it to Spanish) in the configuration files:

  • /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/conf/cms.yml
  • /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/conf/lms.yml
  • /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/edx-platform/lms/envs/common.py

• Download the translations by running the commands below:

    $ cd /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/edx-platform
    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/apps/edx/bin/paver.edxapp i18n_robot_pull
  

Step 3: Modify the language for Open edX LMS and Studio/CMS

• Download the translation for the Forum by running the commands below, depending on your installation type:

  • Approach A (Bitnami installations using system packages):

      $ cd /opt/bitnami/edx/app/forum/cs_comments_service
      $ bundle install --with test
      $ bundle exec bin/rake i18n:pull
    

  • Approach B (Self-contained Bitnami installations):

      $ cd /opt/bitnami/apps/forum/cs_comments_service
      $ bundle install --with test
      $ bundle exec bin/rake i18n:pull
    

Reload server configuration

Restart the server to reload the configuration changes:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart apache

You can find more information at the Open edX Internationalization and localization wiki page.