New installation help and tips

[kimikelku]

Hello everyone, i have been browsing around this site and i would really like to use it, but i have never used node.js.
I'm going to host the site over digitalocean using this tutorial

Setting up a NodeBB Forum “for Dummies” | Burn after compiling

(burnaftercompiling.com)

Is there any other thing that i should have in mind before i continue?

[finid]

@kimikelku

After creating your Droplet and updating and securing it and installing Nginx and all the server software needed to run NodeBB, make a snapshot of it before doing anything else. It will save you time and effort, if you ever need to recreate the Droplet.

That's just one.

[julian]

@kimikelku Always good to read up on securing your Redis instance

[kimikelku]

So its installed and working, now i need to install nginx to foward the connection to the port were nodebb is running right?
After that i can close every port with a firewall except 80?

[finid]

@kimikelku

Sounds about right, provided you're not running any other publicly-accessible server on the Droplet.

[kimikelku]

Ok i have manage to make nginx foward with a proper domain, but i noticed that the site doesnt load, it shows the front page but if i enter in a category it gets stuck and doesnt end up loading.

Also i was reading that article that julian posted and i still didnt touch in any config file from redis, can this loading problem be because of the firewalldenying access to the database?

[finid]

@kimikelku

If you can load the front page, I can bet that you're already accessing the DB. Check the Nginx log file (/var/log/nginx/error.log) and get the messages from the console of the browser that you are using.

Btw, what version of Nginx did you install?

[kimikelku]

I'm with version 1.1.19

And the error log shows this:
2014/04/12 16:32:03 [error] 877#0: *133 upstream timed out (110: Connection timed out) while reading upstream, client: 95.93.72.250, server: , request: "GET /socket.io/1/websocket/q6w_hHABW1OLIgcen7pK HTTP/1.1", upstream: "http://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/1/websocket/q6w_hHABW1OLIgcen7pK", host: "recbug.com"
2014/04/12 16:32:13 [error] 877#0: *113 upstream timed out (110: Connection timed out) while reading response header from upstream, client: 95.93.72.250, server: recbug.com, request: "GET /socket.io/1/xhr-polling/q6w_hHABW1OLIgcen7pK?t=1397334695220 HTTP/1.1", upstream: "http://127.0.0.1:4567/socket.io/1/xhr-polling/q6w_hHABW1OLIgcen7pK?t=1397334695220", host: "recbug.com", referrer: "http://recbug.com/"

Also if i access the site from the domain the site doesnt fully cover the screen but typing the port after the domain loads every page, so it must be a problem with nginx right?

[finid]

@kimikelku

You've got to be running Nginx 1.3.1 or later. Upgrade your version and, I think, you should be good to go.

[kimikelku]

@planner Updated nginx and it's now working, thanks alot for your help and time.

[kimikelku]

I don't know if i should create a new topic or just continue here, but i have a new problem, not so big but can be annoying, so im using supervisor to keep the nodebb running but supervisor just restarts nodebb if he was already running right? For instance if i restart my server supervisor wont start nodebb right?
In the github page it shows how to make the nodebb start:

(github.com)

My question is can this configuration, to start nodebb after a restart, create a conflit with supervisor?

Edit: been playing around with it and managed to make it start after a restart.

[kimikelku]

Now i need to setup the email service but i have no clue on how to do this, any documentation regarding this step?

[finid]

@kimikelku

The best option I can recommend is to use a 3rd party email service provide, like Mandrill. Of the ones available, I think that Mandrill should be enough for your needs. Register at Mandrill, then install the NodeBB plugin for it and follow the Mandrill docs on how to set up your DNS to use their service. The NodeBB plugin for Mandrill is nodebb-plugin-email-mandrill, so you can install it with:

npm install nodebb-plugin-email-mandrill

[kimikelku]

Done it, thanks again for your help @planner .