How To: Install NodeBB on DigitalOcean/Ubuntu 18.04

julian

Interested in installing NodeBB? There has always been a latent demand for free forum software – oftentimes, monetary investment in a solution does not make sense for communities just starting out, or smaller enthusiast forums.

At the same time, community leaders often don't have the technical know-how to install software such as NodeBB, especially when the steps require use of the command line. It often becomes an instant no-go for some evaluations of the software. In reality, the use of the command line is minimal, and this guide aims to be used as a reference for installing NodeBB, and making it accessible to even those with minimal-to-no background knowledge with the bash shell. (If you don't know what the bash shell is – perfect! This guide is for you.)

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xinbenlv

That's great! Thank you Julian. I was just wondering, has anyone ever attempted to create a DigitalOcean image or applet for easier deployment?

sharonyue

It also looks good to add several lines to show how to install redis..

Step 4: Log into your new Droplet and install some necessary software to run NodeBB and harden your server

sudo apt install redis-server

Above DOES NOT work (see https://askubuntu.com/questions/1112053/ubuntu-18-04-update-stuck-at-setting-up-redis-server-54-0-9-1ubuntu0-1 ), the following works:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/redis-server
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt -y install redis-server

julian

Hello @sharonyue, this guide is actually meant for installation with MongoDB as the data store, so redis is not necessary however you may use it if you wish.

The chris-lea PPA is no longer necessary on 18.04

Joe Morris

These instructions seem to be missing the mongo user and db creation for nodebb

julian

@joe-morris Yes, for simplicity, the guide does not cover setting up a dedicated user for MongoDB.

Those specific instructions can be found in our more technical installation instructions here: https://docs.nodebb.org/installing/os/ubuntu/