Hello world tutorial - issues running on drupal

Submitted by bruceherbert on Thu, 01/08/2026 - 05:20
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Hi - I have set up the drupal dev environment on a virtualbox Ubuntu18 VM and double checked all settings. So far so good. I have then started the GreetingCard tutiorial, but cant seem to get it to appear in my content type list.

I have checked that the dev environment is functioning etc.

From the guides, it seems like if the folder is named correctly, and the files are in place and correct and everything is in the 'development' folder area, it should then appear in the list - after a restart there is nothing in there. What are the steps for getting it to dispaly? Do I need to make it into an .h5p file? I tried that but it still didnt seem to appear either... I feel that I am so close!

Thanks

otacke's picture

otacke

Thu, 01/08/2026 - 19:46

Hey, Bruce!

That documentation is completely outdated, unfortunately. You don't need to have a particular platform like the old and outdated Drupal 7 running anymore for development. But if you'd like to keep it: Have you made sure to activate the development mode in the H5P settings? Otherwise, the `development` folder does not serve a purpose.

The tool that is supposed to be used for development is the H5P CLI tool, see some instructions in the readme. There's still room for improvement, I think, but I have been using it for development for two years or so, and it's okay.

Cheers,
Oliver

bruceherbert's picture

bruceherbert

Fri, 01/09/2026 - 01:08

Ah! Ok, thanks for that - will investigate the CLI option. Thanks for tip:)

bruceherbert's picture

bruceherbert

Fri, 01/09/2026 - 04:39

Thanks Oliver:) I did the H5P CLI tool procedure and ran it - the list of content types as seen in the example video is not present, so won't allow me to make anything. That's maybe not an issue as I am wanting to make a new content type.

Also, I followed a tutorial to make and package and tried to import it - and got this error (in the 'Type Content Title here' box in the import window, I gave it the name of 'test1'):

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename 'temp/test1/content' -> 'content/test1'

Is there a step I am missing? There seems to be very specific instructions for one stage, then a gap, so its not at all obvious how all the parts fit together...it would be great if H5P folk could update the documentation and point out what is not currently recommended, and what is! I have spent a LOT of time getting this to work to no avail so far...

bruceherbert's picture

bruceherbert

Fri, 01/09/2026 - 04:39

Thanks Oliver:) I did the H5P CLI tool procedure and ran it - the list of content types as seen in the example video is not present, so won't allow me to make anything. That's maybe not an issue as I am wanting to make a new content type.

Also, I followed a tutorial to make and package and tried to import it - and got this error (in the 'Type Content Title here' box in the import window, I gave it the name of 'test1'):

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename 'temp/test1/content' -> 'content/test1'

Is there a step I am missing? There seems to be very specific instructions for one stage, then a gap, so its not at all obvious how all the parts fit together...it would be great if H5P folk could update the documentation and point out what is not currently recommended, and what is! I have spent a LOT of time getting this to work to no avail so far...

bruceherbert's picture

bruceherbert

Fri, 01/09/2026 - 04:40

Thanks Oliver:) I did the H5P CLI tool procedure and ran it - the list of content types as seen in the example video is not present, so won't allow me to make anything. That's maybe not an issue as I am wanting to make a new content type.

Also, I followed a tutorial to make and package and tried to import it - and got this error (in the 'Type Content Title here' box in the import window, I gave it the name of 'test1'):

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename 'temp/test1/content' -> 'content/test1'

Is there a step I am missing? There seems to be very specific instructions for one stage, then a gap, so its not at all obvious how all the parts fit together...it would be great if H5P folk could update the documentation and point out what is not currently recommended, and what is! I have spent a LOT of time getting this to work to no avail so far...

otacke's picture

otacke

Fri, 01/09/2026 - 18:36

You can set up libraries (which are listed in the H5P registry) using the setup command. Please be aware though that this will pull from the master branch and thus will likely contain code that's not meant for production yet. Alternatively, you can simply put "H5P.SomeLibrary-x.y" folders into the libraries folder.

I don't know whether there's a bug with importing files or whether it does not install libraries from the file deliberately (might be the case) or whether it's something else

The H5P Group developer who created the documentation was made aware of potential pitfalls but preferred a simple "How to get started" over a "tutorial".