Discourse is a powerful open-source community discussion platform built using the Ruby language. It offers a flexible and customizable solution for creating forums, chat software, or mailing lists. In this step-by-step tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Discourse Forum with the Nginx server on a server running Rocky Linux 9. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully functional Discourse forum up and running.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

1. A server running Rocky Linux 9 with at least 2GB RAM and 1 Core CPU.
2. A non-root user with sudo privileges.
3. A domain name (e.g., discourse.example.com) pointing to your server.
4. Ensure that your server is up to date by running the following command:

sudo dnf update

Step 1 – Configure Firewall

The first step is to configure the firewall on your Rocky Linux server. By default, Rocky Linux uses Firewalld Firewall. You can check the status of the firewall by running the following command:

sudo firewall-cmd --state

If the firewall is not running, start it with the following command:

sudo systemctl start firewalld

To allow Discourse to function properly, you need to open HTTP and HTTPS ports. Run the following commands to open the necessary ports:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https

To apply the changes, reload the firewall:

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 2 – Install Git

Git is a version control system that is required for installing Discourse. Install Git by running the following command:

sudo dnf install git -y

You can confirm the installation by checking the Git version:

git --version

Step 3 – Install Docker

Docker is a platform that allows you to package, distribute, and run applications in containers. Discourse uses Docker to simplify the installation process. To install Docker, follow these steps:

1. Add the official Docker repository:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

2. Install Docker:

sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io -y

3. Enable and start the Docker service:

sudo systemctl enable docker --now

4. Add your user to the Docker group to avoid using sudo every time you run Docker commands:

sudo usermod -aG docker $(whoami)

Note: You need to log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.

Step 4 – Download Discourse

In this step, we will clone the official Discourse Docker GitHub repository and prepare it for installation. Follow these steps:

1. Clone the Discourse Docker repository to the /var/discourse directory:

sudo git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker.git /var/discourse

2. Change to the Discourse directory:

cd /var/discourse

3. Set the appropriate permissions:

sudo chmod 700 containers

Step 5 – Configure Discourse

Before installing Discourse, we need to configure some settings. Open the app.yml file for editing:

sudo nano containers/app.yml

Set Domain

Set the DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME variable to your domain name or IP address. If you don’t have a domain name, you can use an IP address instead.

DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: 'discourse.example.com'

Configure Exposed Ports

Change the line "80:80" to "8080:80". This will change the external HTTP port for Discourse to 8080 since we will use Nginx on port 80. Comment out the line "443:443" since we will install SSL externally.

expose:
- "8080:80" # http
  #- "443:443" # https

Configure Email IDs for the Administrator

Set the email addresses for your administrator account and the developer using the DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS variable. Replace admin@example.com and dev@example.com with your actual email addresses.

DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS: 'admin@example.com,dev@example.com'

Configure SMTP Settings

Fill out the following variables with the appropriate values for your SMTP server. If you’re using a service like Gmail, you can find the SMTP settings in their documentation.

DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS: smtp.example.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT: 587
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME: username@example.com
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD: your_smtp_password
#DISCOURSE_SMTP_ENABLE_START_TLS: true # (optional, default true)
#DISCOURSE_SMTP_DOMAIN: discourse.example.com # (required by some providers)
#DISCOURSE_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL: noreply@example.com # (address to send notifications from)

Memory Settings (Optional)

If your server has limited RAM, you can configure the memory settings to optimize Discourse’s performance. Adjust the values of db_shared_buffers and UNICORN_WORKERS according to your server’s resources.

db_shared_buffers: '128MB'
UNICORN_WORKERS: 2

Save the File

Save the changes to the app.yml file by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y, and finally Enter.

Step 6 – Install Discourse

In this step, we will bootstrap the Discourse container and start the Discourse application. Run the following commands:

sudo ./launcher bootstrap app
sudo ./launcher start app

Step 7 – Install Nginx

Nginx is a popular web server that we will use as a reverse proxy for Discourse. Follow these steps to install Nginx:

1. Add the official Nginx repository:

sudo dnf install -y dnf-utils
sudo nano /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo

Paste the following code into the file:

[nginx-stable]
name=nginx stable repo
baseurl=http://nginx.org/packages/centos/$releasever/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
module_hotfixes=true

[nginx-mainline]
name=nginx mainline repo
baseurl=http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/centos/$releasever/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0
gpgkey=https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
module_hotfixes=true

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y, and finally Enter.

2. Install Nginx:

sudo dnf install nginx -y

3. Enable and start the Nginx service:

sudo systemctl enable nginx --now

Step 8 – Install SSL

To secure your Discourse forum with SSL, we will use Let’s Encrypt, a free and widely trusted certificate authority. Follow these steps to install an SSL certificate:

1. Install the Certbot tool:

sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install certbot -y

2. Generate the SSL certificate:

sudo certbot certonly --nginx --agree-tos --no-eff-email --staple-ocsp --preferred-challenges http -m admin@example.com -d discourse.example.com

3. Generate a Diffie-Hellman group certificate for added security:

sudo openssl dhparam-dsaparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 4096

This may take a few minutes to complete.

Step 9 – Configure Nginx

In this step, we will configure Nginx as a reverse proxy for Discourse. Open the configuration file for Discourse:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/discourse.conf

Paste the following Nginx configuration code into the file:

# enforce HTTPS
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name discourse.example.com;

location / {
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}
}

server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
server_name discourse.example.com;
access_log /var/log/nginx/discourse.access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/discourse.error.log;

# SSL
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/discourse.example.com/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/discourse.example.com/privkey.pem;
ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/discourse.example.com/chain.pem;

ssl_session_timeout 5m;
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
ssl_session_tickets off;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;
ssl_ecdh_curve X25519:prime256v1:secp384r1:secp521r1;
ssl_stapling on;
ssl_stapling_verify on;
ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem;
resolver 8.8.8.8;

http2_push_preload on;

# Enable HTTP/2 Server Push

# Enable TLSv1.3's 0-RTT. Use $ssl_early_data when reverse proxying to
# prevent replay attacks.
#
# @see: https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_ssl_module.html#ssl_early_data
ssl_early_data on;

# Security / XSS Mitigation Headers
# NOTE: X-Frame-Options may cause issues with the webOS app
add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
add_header X-Early-Data $tls1_3_early_data;

client_max_body_size 100m;

location / {
proxy_pass http://discourse.example.com:8080/;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
}
}

# This block is useful for debugging TLS v1.3. Please feel free to remove this
# and use the `$ssl_early_data` variable exposed by NGINX directly should you
# wish to do so.
map $ssl_early_data $tls1_3_early_data {
"~." $ssl_early_data;
default "";
}

You can now access your Discourse forum by visiting the URL https://discourse.example.com in your web browser. You will be greeted with the Discourse setup wizard.

Click the Register button to proceed with the installation. Enter your email address and choose a strong password for the administrator account. Click the Register button again to create the account.

If your SMTP settings are correct, you will receive an activation email. Follow the instructions in the email to activate your account.

Once activated, you will be redirected to the Discourse setup wizard. Fill in the required information, such as your forum name, description, and language preferences. Click Next to proceed to the next step.

On the Member Experience page, you can choose the options that best suit your forum’s needs. Click Next to continue.

Finally, you will be presented with the setup completion page. You can choose to configure more settings or jump right into using your forum. Feel free to explore the available options and customize your forum to your liking.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Discourse Forum with Nginx on Rocky Linux 9. Your Discourse forum is now live and ready for use.

Step 11 – Discourse Commands

Discourse provides a set of useful commands that you can use to manage your forum from the command line. Here are some common commands:

• Activate Discourse Administrator from the command-line: If you didn’t receive the activation email, you can activate the administrator account from the command line. Enter the following commands:

cd /var/discourse
sudo ./launcher enter app
rails c

In the Rails console, locate the administrator account using the following command:

User.find_by_email("admin@example.com")

Replace “admin@example.com” with the email address of your administrator account. Once you find the account, run the following commands to activate it:

user.approved = true
user.save
EmailToken.confirm(user.email_tokens.first.token)

Type exit twice to return to the command line.

• Backup Discourse: Discourse automatically backs up the database every 7 days by default. You can find the backup files in the /var/discourse/shared/standalone/backups/default directory. To manually trigger a backup, run the following command:

sudo ./launcher backup app

• Upgrade Discourse: To upgrade Discourse to the latest version, use the following commands:

cd /var/discourse
sudo git pull
sudo ./launcher rebuild app

This will update the Discourse installation with the latest files from GitHub and rebuild the Docker container.

• Stop Discourse: If you need to stop the Discourse application temporarily, use the following command:

sudo ./launcher stop app

• View Discourse Logs: You can view the Discourse logs by running the following command:

sudo ./launcher logs app

This will display the logs in the terminal.

Additionally, you can access detailed logs by visiting the URL https://discourse.example.com/logs/ in your web browser.

• View Rails / Unicorn Logs: Discourse uses Ruby on Rails and Unicorn as the web server. You can find the logs for Rails and Unicorn in the /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/rails directory. Use the following command to access the logs:

ls /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/rails

• View Nginx Logs: The Nginx logs for Discourse can be found in the /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/nginx directory. Use the following command to access the logs:

ls /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/nginx

• View Redis Logs: The Redis database logs can be found in the /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/redis directory. Use the following command to access the logs:

ls /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/redis

• View PostgreSQL Logs: The PostgreSQL database logs can be found in the /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/postgres directory. Use the following command to access the logs:

ls /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log/postgres

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Discourse Forum with Nginx on Rocky Linux 9. Discourse provides a powerful platform for building online communities, and with the Nginx server acting as a reverse proxy, your forum is secured and ready for users to engage in meaningful discussions.

Discourse offers a wide range of features and customization options that allow you to tailor your forum to your specific needs. Whether you’re looking to create a support forum, a community-driven Q&A platform, or a vibrant discussion board, Discourse provides the tools to make it happen.

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