Ask @lvkaszus!

Documentation describing the steps and process of installation.

Let's begin!

Below are the prerequisites, that must be met before installing this application:

Get a domain name and a server with preferably Linux installed on it - Cloud Solutions with a Free-Tier: Detailed list
Point your domain name to your server by editing DNS records in your domain registrar - Detailed help: OVHcloud / GoDaddy / Namecheap
Open ports 80 and 443 to enable HTTP and HTTPS on your server. Below is an example how to enable incoming traffic on those ports using iptables.

IPv4:

# Enable incoming HTTP and HTTPS traffic
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

# Save new iptables rules
sudo iptables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v4

IPv6:

# Enable incoming HTTP and HTTPS traffic
sudo ip6tables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
sudo ip6tables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

# Save new iptables rules
sudo ip6tables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v6

Installation Methods

Choose one of those installation methods below:

Docker Compose Installation
Use this method to set up the application using Docker Compose. This approach is recommended if you prefer an easy-to-manage multi-container environment.
Docker CLI Installation
Follow this method to set up the application using Docker's command-line interface (CLI). This method is suitable if you prefer more control over individual Docker containers.
Manual Installation
If you prefer to install the application manually, follow this method. This is ideal for those who need complete flexibility or are working in an environment without Docker.

If you do not have any special requirements, it is recommended to use one of the Docker installation methods.

Docker Compose Installation

Docker Compose simplifies the management of multi-container Docker applications. This method is ideal if you want a streamlined setup with clear dependencies and configuration, all managed from one file.

If you haven't installed Docker Engine and/or Docker Compose Plugin, do it now!
Install git package with your server's package manager.

sudo apt install git

Clone application repository on to your server.

git clone https://github.com/lvkaszus/asklvkaszus

Enter the cloned application repository folder.

cd asklvkaszus

Open docker-compose.yml file with your favourite text editor.

nano docker-compose.yml

Update required configuration inside docker-compose.yml file to match your setup.

volumes:
  asklvkaszus_mariadb_data:
  asklvkaszus_config_data:

networks:
  asklvkaszus-network:
    driver: bridge

services:
  asklvkaszus-mariadb:
    image: mariadb:latest
    container_name: asklvkaszus-mariadb
    networks:
      - asklvkaszus-network
    environment:
      MYSQL_USER: asklvkaszus
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ChangeMePlease # Update that with strong MySQL user password!
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ChangeMePlease # Update that with strong MySQL root password!
      MYSQL_DATABASE: asklvkaszus
    volumes:
      - asklvkaszus_mariadb_data:/var/lib/mysql
    restart: unless-stopped

  asklvkaszus-redis:
    image: redis:latest
    container_name: asklvkaszus-redis
    networks:
      - asklvkaszus-network
    volumes:
      - /etc/redis/asklvkaszus:/usr/local/etc/redis
    command: ["redis-server", "/usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf"]
    restart: unless-stopped

  asklvkaszus-backend:
    image: lvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend:latest
    container_name: asklvkaszus-backend
    networks:
      - asklvkaszus-network
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3030:3030"
    environment:
      TZ: "Europe/Warsaw" # Update that with your current timezone!
      GUNICORN_WORKERS: 1
      GUNICORN_THREADS: 4
      GUNICORN_TIMEOUT: 60
    volumes:
      - asklvkaszus_config_data:/asklvkaszus/backend/config
    depends_on:
      - asklvkaszus-mariadb
      - asklvkaszus-redis
    restart: unless-stopped

  asklvkaszus-frontend:
    image: lvkaszus/asklvkaszus-frontend:latest
    container_name: asklvkaszus-frontend
    networks:
      - asklvkaszus-network
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3031:3031"
    environment:
      TZ: "Europe/Warsaw" # Update that with your current timezone!
      DOMAIN: "https://domain.tld" # Update that with your application domain name!
      YOUR_NICKNAME: "@yourNickname" # Update that with your nickname that will be displayed in the application!
    depends_on:
      - asklvkaszus-backend
    restart: unless-stopped

Deploy your Docker Compose Stack.

docker compose up -d

Copy example Redis configuration file to your application Redis configuration directory.

sudo cp asklvkaszus-backend/config/redis.conf /etc/redis/asklvkaszus

Open /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf file with your favourite text editor.

sudo nano /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf

Update required configuration inside /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf file to match your setup.

# Disables default Redis user
user default off

# Allows new Redis user with specified username and password to access all keys in the databases and execute all commands
user YOUR_REDIS_USERNAME on >YOUR_REDIS_PASSWORD ~* +@all

List all available Docker volumes.

docker volume ls

Inspect a volume that contains asklvkaszus_config_data to find where to put application main configuration file.

docker volume inspect asklvkaszus_asklvkaszus_config_data

[
    {
        "CreatedAt": "2024-08-29T10:22:03Z",
        "Driver": "local",
        "Labels": {
            "com.docker.compose.project": "asklvkaszus",
            "com.docker.compose.version": "2.29.2",
            "com.docker.compose.volume": "asklvkaszus_config_data"
        },
        "Mountpoint": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/asklvkaszus_asklvkaszus_config_data/_data",
        "Name": "asklvkaszus_asklvkaszus_config_data",
        "Options": null,
        "Scope": "local"
    }
]

Enter the application main configuration folder from the Mountpoint variable.

cd /var/lib/docker/volumes/asklvkaszus_asklvkaszus_config_data/_data

Copy existing example configuration file as a new application main configuration file.

sudo cp config.example.yml config.yml

Open config.yml file with your favourite text editor.

sudo nano config.yml

Update required configuration inside config.yml file to match your setup.

debug: true
logfile: ""

secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for sessions
jwt_secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for JWT cookies (you can provide the same value as in secret_key variable)

mysql:
  host: "localhost" # MySQL database container name
  port: "3306"
  username: "asklvkaszus"
  password: "asklvkaszus" # MySQL database user password
  database: "asklvkaszus"

redis:
  host: "localhost" # Redis database container name
  port: "6379"
  username: "asklvkaszus" # Redis username from the Redis configuration file
  password: "asklvkaszus" # Redis user password from the Redis configuration file
  rate_limiting_db: "0"
  blacklisted_tokens_db: "1"

your_nickname: "@lvkaszus" # Update that with your nickname that will be displayed in the application!

server_url: "https://ask.lvkasz.us" # Update that with your application domain name!
api_allowed_clients_url: "*"

cookies_secure: true # Change only to false when you are using insecure (HTTP) connection!

rate_limits:
  auth: "35 per hour"
  admin: "250 per hour"
  api_admin: "250 per hour"
  user: "10 per hour"
  api_user: "10 per hour"

Restart application Docker Compose Stack.

docker compose restart

And from now, application should be up and running!

Please visit Reverse Proxy Setup page for exposing it behind a reverse proxy to the public!

Docker CLI Installation

Docker Command-Line Interface (CLI) provides a flexible and powerful way to manage application containers. This method is particularly useful if you need to customize individual application containers or manage them manually.

If you haven't installed Docker Engine, do it now!
Install git package with your server's package manager.

sudo apt install git

Clone application repository on to your server.

git clone https://github.com/lvkaszus/asklvkaszus

Enter the cloned application repository folder.

cd asklvkaszus

Create database Docker volume.

docker volume create asklvkaszus_mariadb_data

Create configuration data Docker volume.

docker volume create asklvkaszus_config_data

Create application Docker network.

docker network create --driver bridge asklvkaszus-network

Run application MySQL database Docker container.

Update MYSQL_PASSWORD and MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD with strong MySQL root and user password!

docker run -d \
  --name asklvkaszus-mariadb \
  --network asklvkaszus-network \
  -e MYSQL_USER=asklvkaszus \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=ChangeMePlease \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=ChangeMePlease \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=asklvkaszus \
  -v asklvkaszus_mariadb_data:/var/lib/mysql \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  mariadb:latest

Run application Redis database Docker container.

docker run -d \
  --name asklvkaszus-redis \
  --network asklvkaszus-network \
  -v /etc/redis/asklvkaszus:/usr/local/etc/redis \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  redis:latest \
  redis-server /usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf

Run application Backend Docker container.

Update TZ with your current timezone!

docker run -d \
  --name asklvkaszus-backend \
  --network asklvkaszus-network \
  -p 127.0.0.1:3030:3030 \
  -e TZ="Europe/Warsaw" \
  -e GUNICORN_WORKERS=1 \
  -e GUNICORN_THREADS=4 \
  -e GUNICORN_TIMEOUT=60 \
  -v asklvkaszus_config_data:/asklvkaszus/backend/config \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend:latest

Run application Frontend Docker container.

Update TZ with your current timezone, DOMAIN with your application domain name and also YOUR_NICKNAME to your nickname that will be displayed in the application!

docker run -d \
  --name asklvkaszus-frontend \
  --network asklvkaszus-network \
  -p 127.0.0.1:3031:3031 \
  -e TZ="Europe/Warsaw" \
  -e DOMAIN="https://domain.tld" \
  -e YOUR_NICKNAME="@yourNickname" \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lvkaszus/asklvkaszus-frontend:latest

Copy example Redis configuration file to your application Redis configuration directory.

sudo cp asklvkaszus-backend/config/redis.conf /etc/redis/asklvkaszus

Open /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf file with your favourite text editor.

sudo nano /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf

Update required configuration inside /etc/redis/asklvkaszus/redis.conf file to match your setup.

# Disables default Redis user
user default off

# Allows new Redis user with specified username and password to access all keys in the databases and execute all commands
user YOUR_REDIS_USERNAME on >YOUR_REDIS_PASSWORD ~* +@all

Inspect application configuration volume to find where to put application main configuration file.

docker volume inspect asklvkaszus_config_data

[
    {
        "CreatedAt": "2024-08-29T11:22:03Z",
        "Driver": "local",
        "Labels": null,
        "Mountpoint": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/asklvkaszus_config_data/_data",
        "Name": "asklvkaszus_config_data",
        "Options": null,
        "Scope": "local"
    }
]

Enter the application main configuration folder from the Mountpoint variable.

cd /var/lib/docker/volumes/asklvkaszus_config_data/_data

Copy existing example configuration file as a new application main configuration file.

sudo cp config.example.yml config.yml

Open config.yml file with your favourite text editor.

sudo nano config.yml

Update required configuration inside config.yml file to match your setup.

debug: true
logfile: ""

secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for sessions
jwt_secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for JWT cookies (you can provide the same value as in secret_key variable)

mysql:
  host: "localhost" # MySQL database container name
  port: "3306"
  username: "asklvkaszus"
  password: "asklvkaszus" # MySQL database user password
  database: "asklvkaszus"

redis:
  host: "localhost" # Redis database container name
  port: "6379"
  username: "asklvkaszus" # Redis username from the Redis configuration file
  password: "asklvkaszus" # Redis user password from the Redis configuration file
  rate_limiting_db: "0"
  blacklisted_tokens_db: "1"

your_nickname: "@lvkaszus" # Update that with your nickname that will be displayed in the application!

server_url: "https://ask.lvkasz.us" # Update that with your application domain name!
api_allowed_clients_url: "*"

cookies_secure: true # Change only to false when you are using insecure (HTTP) connection!

rate_limits:
  auth: "35 per hour"
  admin: "250 per hour"
  api_admin: "250 per hour"
  user: "10 per hour"
  api_user: "10 per hour"

Restart all application containers.

docker restart asklvkaszus-mariadb asklvkaszus-redis asklvkaszus-backend asklvkaszus-frontend

And from now, application should be up and running!

Please visit Reverse Proxy Setup page for exposing it behind a reverse proxy to the public!

Manual Installation

Manual installation provides a hands-on approach for setting up this application, giving you full control over every aspect of the installation process. This method is ideal if you prefer to configure each component individually or if you have specific requirements that are not easily addressed by automated tools.

Install curl, git, python3-venv, redis, mariadb-server, package with your server's package manager.

sudo apt install curl git python3-venv redis mariadb-server

Install NodeSource Repository.

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -

Install Node Runtime Environment.

sudo apt install nodejs

Run MariaDB Secure Installation.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Run MariaDB CLI.

sudo mariadb -u root

or when you set a new database root password
sudo mariadb -u root -p

Create a new application database.

CREATE DATABASE asklvkaszus;

Create a new user with password that application will use.

Update password with a strong password!
CREATE USER 'asklvkaszus'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Grant all database privileges on a new database user.

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON asklvkaszus.* TO 'asklvkaszus'@'localhost';

Reload database privileges table.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Logout from MariaDB CLI Session.

exit

Open /etc/redis/redis.conf file with your favourite text editor.

sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf

Update and add at the bottom this required configuration inside /etc/redis/redis.conf file to match your setup.

# Disables default Redis user
user default off

# Allows new Redis user with specified username and password to access all keys in the databases and execute all commands
user YOUR_REDIS_USERNAME on >YOUR_REDIS_PASSWORD ~* +@all

Restart the Redis database service.

sudo systemctl restart redis

Clone application repository on to your server.

git clone https://github.com/lvkaszus/asklvkaszus

Enter the Backend folder of the cloned application.

cd asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend

Create a new Python virtual environment inside Backend folder of the cloned application.

python3 -m venv .

Activate the freshly created Backend Python virtual environment.

source bin/activate

Install all packages required by the application backend inside virtual environment

pip install -r requirements.txt

Enter the Backend configuration folder.

cd config

Copy existing example configuration file as a new application main configuration file.

cp config.example.yml config.yml

Open config.yml file with your favourite text editor.

nano config.yml

Update required configuration inside config.yml file to match your setup.

debug: true
logfile: ""

secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for sessions
jwt_secret_key: "ChangeMeAsSoonAsPossible" # Secret key used for JWT cookies (you can provide the same value as in secret_key variable)

mysql:
  host: "localhost" # MySQL database host
  port: "3306"
  username: "asklvkaszus"
  password: "asklvkaszus" # MySQL database user password
  database: "asklvkaszus"

redis:
  host: "localhost" # Redis database host
  port: "6379"
  username: "asklvkaszus" # Redis username from the Redis configuration file
  password: "asklvkaszus" # Redis user password from the Redis configuration file
  rate_limiting_db: "0"
  blacklisted_tokens_db: "1"

your_nickname: "@lvkaszus" # Update that with your nickname that will be displayed in the application!

server_url: "https://ask.lvkasz.us" # Update that with your application domain name!
api_allowed_clients_url: "*"

cookies_secure: true # Change only to false when you are using insecure (HTTP) connection!

rate_limits:
  auth: "35 per hour"
  admin: "250 per hour"
  api_admin: "250 per hour"
  user: "10 per hour"
  api_user: "10 per hour"

Change directory to Backend root.

cd ..

Open asklvkaszus-backend.service file with your favourite text editor.

nano asklvkaszus-backend.service

Update required configuration inside asklvkaszus-backend.service file to match your setup.

Update YOUR_USER with your system username!

[Unit]
Description=Ask @lvkaszus! - Application Backend
After=network.target

[Service]
User=YOUR_USER
WorkingDirectory=/home/YOUR_USER/asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend
Environment="PATH=/home/YOUR_USER/asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend/bin"
ExecStart=/home/YOUR_USER/asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-backend/start.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Copy modified asklvkaszus-backend.service to /etc/systemd/system.

sudo cp asklvkaszus-backend.service /etc/systemd/system

Enable Application Backend System Service now and make it running at system boot.

sudo systemctl enable --now asklvkaszus-backend

Change directory to Frontend root.

cd ../asklvkaszus-frontend

Install all Node packages.

npm install

Set required environment variables for Frontend to match your setup.

Update https://domain.tld with your application domain and @yourNickname to your nickname that will be displayed in the application!
export DOMAIN=https://domain.tld ; export YOUR_NICKNAME=@yourNickname

Build Application Frontend.

npm run build

Open asklvkaszus-frontend.service file with your favourite text editor.

nano asklvkaszus-frontend.service

Update required configuration inside asklvkaszus-frontend.service file to match your setup.

Update YOUR_USER with your system username!

[Unit]
Description=Ask @lvkaszus! - Application Frontend
After=network.target

[Service]
User=YOUR_USER
WorkingDirectory=/home/YOUR_USER/asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-frontend
ExecStart=/home/YOUR_USER/asklvkaszus/asklvkaszus-frontend/start.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Copy modified asklvkaszus-frontend.service to /etc/systemd/system.

sudo cp asklvkaszus-frontend.service /etc/systemd/system

Enable Application Frontend System Service now and make it running at system boot.

sudo systemctl enable --now asklvkaszus-frontend

And from now, application should be up and running!

Please visit Reverse Proxy Setup page for exposing it behind a reverse proxy to the public!

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Installation.md

Installation.md

Ask @lvkaszus!

Documentation describing the steps and process of installation.

Let's begin!

Installation Methods

Docker Compose Installation

Docker CLI Installation

Manual Installation

Files

Installation.md

Latest commit

History

Installation.md

File metadata and controls

Ask @lvkaszus!

Documentation describing the steps and process of installation.

Let's begin!

Installation Methods

Docker Compose Installation

Docker CLI Installation

Manual Installation