great @Ben-Lubar ! Thanks

The cron tab is for what exactly ?

@julian I tried this already.
But this is not secure, as the API can still be requested manually (for example user pages are public).

Using a middleware I can filter all requests and only serve the login or register page.

Front code is not secure because the user can remove it.

@PitaJ I think I begin to understand the concept.
Using the following plugin.json my script can use the express object to intercept each requests?

{
    "id": "nodebb-plugin-private-forum",
    "url": "httls://github.com/..../.......",
    "library": "./private-forum.js",
    "hooks": [
        {  "hook": "static:app.load", "method": "init" }
    ]
}

I am not sure about the hook configuration.

This is the kind of code I would like to use in my plugin:

app.use(function(req, res, next) {
    if (req.session.user == undefined) {  
          return res.render('/login');
        }   
        else {
            next();
        }
    });

@PitaJ said in Private forum plugin:

What you want is to add a new middleware that applies to all routes except those related to login and register.

Yes, you are totally right.

Do you have in mind a plugin that add a middleware in static:app.load handler?
It will be faster to clone and edit it

I will take a look at the documentation.

Hello,

I would like to create a private forum using NodeBB but it seems that there is no real complete option or plugin to achieve this.

My idea is to add a new route that will be used before all. It will check if the user is connected (using the cookie).
If not : the request is blocked and redirected to /login, if yes, the request is allowed.

Workflow:

• A client send a request to NodeBB
• The request passes through this first route
• This route check if the user is logged in (based on its cookie)
  if no, redirect it to /login (Only /login and /register are allowed)
  if yes, the request is allowed

Can a NodeBB developper help me to:

• Confirm if it is possible to create a plugin that will add a new route at top level
• Where to add a route in order to be the first one called (I know Node.JS but not yet how to create a plugin for NodeBB).

Thanks a lot!

Problem solved, for the record I have added all file on my GitHub: https://github.com/LM1LC3N7/Dockerfiles/blob/master/nodebb/README.md

@PitaJ I know that, but this is not the error I am facing.
Actually, I opened a parallel GitHub issue (for my first message) and they find out the root cause.

My configuration file is not correct, the "session_store" should be an object like "redis" and not a simple string.

I tried also to start from the official Dockerfile with some edit, another error (EADDRINUSE).

Dockerfile

FROM node:lts

WORKDIR /nodebb

ENV NODE_ENV=production

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install git -y

RUN git clone https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB /nodebb \
 && cp install/package.json /nodebb/package.json

RUN npm install --only=prod && \
    npm cache clean --force

ENV NODE_ENV=production \
    daemon=false \
    silent=false

EXPOSE 4567

CMD node ./nodebb build ;  node ./nodebb start

Error after the web configuration

2020-05-25T09:02:27.704Z [4567/154] - info: Initializing NodeBB v1.13.3 http://sub.domain.tld
2020-05-25T09:02:29.383Z [4567/154] - info: [socket.io] Restricting access to origin: http://sub.domain.tld:*
2020-05-25T09:02:29.723Z [4567/154] - info: Routes added
2020-05-25T09:02:29.725Z [4567/154] - info: NodeBB Ready
2020-05-25T09:02:29.728Z [4567/154] - info: Enabling 'trust proxy'
2020-05-25T09:02:29.730Z [4567/154] - error: NodeBB address in use, exiting...listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567 {"code":"EADDRINUSE","errno":"EADDRINUSE","syscall":"listen","address":"0.0.0.0","port":4567,"stack":"Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567\n    at Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2] (net.js:1313:16)\n    at listenInCluster (net.js:1361:12)\n    at doListen (net.js:1500:7)\n    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:85:21)"}
2020-05-25T09:02:29.732Z [4567/154] - error: uncaughtException: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567
Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567
    at Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2] (net.js:1313:16)
    at listenInCluster (net.js:1361:12)
    at doListen (net.js:1500:7)
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:85:21) {"error":{"code":"EADDRINUSE","errno":"EADDRINUSE","syscall":"listen","address":"0.0.0.0","port":4567},"stack":"Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567\n    at Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2] (net.js:1313:16)\n    at listenInCluster (net.js:1361:12)\n    at doListen (net.js:1500:7)\n    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:85:21)","exception":true,"date":"Mon May 25 2020 09:02:29 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)","process":{"pid":154,"uid":0,"gid":0,"cwd":"/nodebb","execPath":"/usr/local/bin/node","version":"v12.16.3","argv":["/usr/local/bin/node","/nodebb/app.js"],"memoryUsage":{"rss":137650176,"heapTotal":109584384,"heapUsed":80475200,"external":1559251}},"os":{"loadavg":[3.6689453125,2.95263671875,2.63623046875],"uptime":13644475},"trace":[{"column":16,"file":"net.js","function":"Server.setupListenHandle [as _listen2]","line":1313,"method":"setupListenHandle [as _listen2]","native":false},{"column":12,"file":"net.js","function":"listenInCluster","line":1361,"method":null,"native":false},{"column":7,"file":"net.js","function":"doListen","line":1500,"method":null,"native":false},{"column":21,"file":"internal/process/task_queues.js","function":"processTicksAndRejections","line":85,"method":null,"native":false}]}
2020-05-25T09:02:29.733Z [4567/154] - error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 0.0.0.0:4567 {"code":"EADDRINUSE","errno":"EADDRINUSE","syscall":"listen","address":"0.0.0.0","port":4567}
2020-05-25T09:02:29.733Z [4567/154] - info: [app] Shutdown (SIGTERM/SIGINT) Initialised.
2020-05-25T09:02:29.735Z [4567/154] - error: Error [ERR_SERVER_NOT_RUNNING]: Server is not running.
    at Server.close (net.js:1604:12)
    at Object.onceWrapper (events.js:416:28)
    at Server.emit (events.js:322:22)
    at emitCloseNT (net.js:1657:8)
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:83:21)
    at runNextTicks (internal/process/task_queues.js:66:3)
    at processImmediate (internal/timers.js:429:9)
[cluster] Child Process (154) has exited (code: 1, signal: null)
[cluster] Spinning up another process...

The config file generated after the web installer is:

{
    "url": "http://sub.domain.tld",
    "secret": "2fe83efb-3317-4e9e-98c4-b590353711df",
    "database": "redis",
    "port": 4567,
    "redis": {
        "host": "nodebb-redis",
        "port": "6379",
        "password": "",
        "database": "0"
    }
}

If I try to stop:

# node ./nodebb stop
NodeBB is already stopped.

If I search for running processes:

b# ps -aux
USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         1  0.0  0.0   4268   616 pts/0    Ss   09:06   0:00 /bin/sh -c node ./nodebb build ;  node ./nodebb start ; bash
root        91  0.0  0.0  18172  2076 pts/1    Ss+  09:06   0:00 bash
root        99  0.0  0.0 606504 25060 ?        Ssl  09:08   0:00 node loader.js
root       117  0.6  0.2 967676 97928 ?        Sl   09:08   0:04 /usr/local/bin/node /nodebb/app.js
root       183  0.0  0.0  18176  2092 pts/0    S    09:08   0:00 bash
root       258  0.0  0.0  36624  1524 pts/0    R+   09:19   0:00 ps -aux

It seems that nodebb is already running, but why?

Hello,

I cannot start NodeBB using the following Dockerfile. I have a weird error that I never saw in the forum or GitHub:

[...]
Schema update complete!

2020-05-25T08:29:29.588Z [4567/92] - error: Cannot find module './undefined'
Require stack:
- /nodebb/src/database/index.js
- /nodebb/src/start.js
- /nodebb/require-main.js
- /nodebb/app.js {"code":"MODULE_NOT_FOUND","requireStack":["/nodebb/src/database/index.js","/nodebb/src/start.js","/nodebb/require-main.js","/nodebb/app.js"]}
[cluster] Child Process (92) has exited (code: 0, signal: null)

Dockerfile
Note: I tried also cloning the main GitHub repo, same error.

FROM node:lts as build

SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"]

ENV NODE_ENV=production \
    daemon=false \
    silent=false

WORKDIR /nodebb

RUN echo \
 && echo "[*] Installing build dependencies" \
 && apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git \
    curl \
    wget \
    unzip

RUN echo \
 && echo "[*] Cloning NodeBB" \
 && wget https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/archive/v1.13.3.zip \
 && unzip v1.* \
 && find ./NodeBB-* -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -exec mv -t . {} + \
 && cp install/package.json package.json

RUN echo \
 && echo "[*] Installing NodeBB dependencies" \
 && npm install --only=prod \
 && npm cache clean --force

COPY rootfs/nodebb/config.json /nodebb/config.json

VOLUME /nodebb/public/uploads /etc/nodebb /var/lib/redis

EXPOSE 4567

CMD node ./nodebb build ; node ./nodebb start ; echo ; echo "ERROR, opening bash for debug" ; bash

config.json

{
  "url": "http://sub.domain.tld",
  "secret": "random-password-9_aHYo9eczr3WO8vSTItJH",
  "database": "redis",
  "redis": {
    "host": "nodebb-redis",
    "port": "6379",
    "password": "",
    "database": "0"
  },
  "port": "4567",
  "bcrypt_rounds": "21",
  "upload_path": "/public/uploads",
  "jobDisabled": "false",
  "bind_address": "0.0.0.0",
  "isCluster": "false",
  "session_store": "redis",
  "logFile": "logs/output.log"
}

Start Redis and NodeBB

docker run --name nodebb-redis -d --rm redis
docker build -t my/nodebb:debian .
docker run --name nodebb -ti --rm -p 4567:4567 my/nodebb:debian

Once started, I connect inside the docker container to debug.
The following commands are running with success:

node ./nodebb build
node ./nodebb upgrade

But impossible to start nodebb using either:

node ./nodebb start
node app.js
node loader.js

NodeBB v1.13.3 Copyright (C) 2013-2014 NodeBB Inc.
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions.
For the full license, please visit: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Clustering enabled: Spinning up 1 process(es).

2020-05-25T09:26:16.897Z [4567/425] - info: Initializing NodeBB v1.13.3 http://leclos.lmilcent.com
2020-05-25T09:26:18.331Z [4567/425] - error: Error: Cannot find module './undefined'
Require stack:
- /nodebb/src/database/index.js
- /nodebb/src/start.js
- /nodebb/require-main.js
- /nodebb/app.js
    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:957:15)
    at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:840:27)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1019:19)
    at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:77:18)
    at Object.primaryDB.initSessionStore (/nodebb/src/database/index.js:27:20)
    at Object.start.start (/nodebb/src/start.js:33:12)
[cluster] Child Process (425) has exited (code: 0, signal: null)

For a GDPR compliance, you must clearly obtain the user's consent. You cannot preselect the answer or "hide" the question in a bunch of text, it must be absolutly clear.
And a user who want to remove all data about him must ask for it or do it himself.

No @julian, because the container exit quickly after the error.

What was your idea ? I can try to pass a command just after the launch just to try.