You can now install Mahara using the Synaptic Package Manager. But before you install mahara, you should create a database for mahara in MySQL or PostgreSQL. You will be asked for the database connectivity information during installation.

$ sudo apt-get install mahara

Once installation is complete, go to the mahara installation directory

$ cd /usr/share/mahara

and backup the config file

$ cp config.php config.orig.php

Then edit the config file. Make sure the following variables are defined

$cfg->dbtype   = 'mysql5';
$cfg->dbhost   = 'localhost';
$cfg->dbname   = 'mahara';
$cfg->dbuser   = 'mahara';
$cfg->dbpass   = 'your_database_password';
$cfg->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/mahara/';
$cfg->dataroot = '/var/maharadata';

Next, create a directory to store your files. Make it apache writable.

$ sudo mkdir /var/maharadata
$ sudo chown -R www-data /var/maharadata

To use, go the your web browser and type

http://localhost/mahara

Enjoy Mahara!