bsw@1657: LiquidFeedback Installation Instructions jbe@1046:

LiquidFeedback Installation Instructions

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This document gives a short outline about the necessary steps to setup a jbe@1046: LiquidFeedback system.

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1. Install necessary dependencies

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If you're using a Debian system, make sure that the following packages are jbe@1046: installed:

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If you're using any other Linux distribution or BSD system, install the jbe@1046: necessary software components accordingly.

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2. Ensure that the user account of your webserver has access to the database

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The useraccount of Moonbridge server process needs to have access to your bsw@1657: PostgreSQL installation. This is done by executing PostgreSQL's shell command bsw@1657: createuser as database superuser (usually pgsql, or postgres for bsw@1657: Debian installations):

jbe@1046: bsw@1657: 
su - postgres -s $SHELL
jbe@1191: createuser --no-superuser --createdb --no-createrole www-data
jbe@1046: exit
jbe@1046:
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3. Install and configure LiquidFeedback-Core

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We recommend to create the database with the same user as your webserver jbe@1046: (usually www-data) to avoid having to setup database privileges.

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The example below installs the database as www-data and stores the three bsw@1657: executables lf_update, lf_update_issue_order and bsw@1657: lf_update_suggestion_order in the directory /opt/liquid_feedback_core/:

jbe@1046: bsw@1045: 
# Download and unpack LiquidFeedback-Core
bsw@1045: # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/backend/
bsw@1045: make
bsw@1045: mkdir /opt/liquid_feedback_core
jbe@1196: cp core.sql lf_update lf_update_issue_order lf_update_suggestion_order /opt/liquid_feedback_core
jbe@1191: su www-data -s $SHELL
bsw@1045: cd /opt/liquid_feedback_core
bsw@1045: createdb liquid_feedback
jbe@1046: psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -f core.sql liquid_feedback
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A simple configuration may look as follows:

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psql liquid_feedback
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jbe@1046: INSERT INTO system_setting (member_ttl) VALUES ('1 year');
jbe@1046: INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 hour', 20, 6);
jbe@1046: INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 day', 80, 12);
jbe@1046: INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 hour', 200, 60);
jbe@1046: INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 day', 800, 120);
jbe@1046:
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Create an invite code for an admin user:

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INSERT INTO member (invite_code, admin) VALUES ('sesam', true);
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Exit the psql interface by typing:

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\q
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And don't forget to quit the www-data shell:

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exit
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4. Install Moonbridge

jbe@1046: jbe@1156: 
# Download and unpack Moonbridge
jbe@1156: # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/moonbridge/
jbe@1156: pmake MOONBR_LUA_PATH=/opt/moonbridge/?.lua
jbe@1156: mkdir /opt/moonbridge
jbe@1156: cp moonbridge /opt/moonbridge/
jbe@1156: cp moonbridge_http.lua /opt/moonbridge/
jbe@1156:
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5. Install WebMCP

jbe@1156: bsw@1045: 
# Download and unpack WebMCP
bsw@1045: # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/webmcp/
bsw@1045: make
bsw@1045: mkdir /opt/webmcp
jbe@1046: cp -RL framework/* /opt/webmcp/
jbe@1046:
bsw@1045: jbe@1156:

6. Install the LiquidFeedback-Frontend

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Unpack source tree into appropriate directory, e.g. /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend:

jbe@1046: bsw@1045: 
# Download LiquidFeedback-Frontend
bsw@1045: # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/frontend/
jbe@1046: mv liquid_feedback_frontend-vX.X.X /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend
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Make tmp/ directory of LiquidFeedback-Frontend writable for webserver:

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chown www-data /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/tmp
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7. Configure mail system

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It may be necessary to configure your server's mail system.

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8. Configure the LiquidFeedback-Frontend

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cd /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/config
bsw@1045: cp example.lua myconfig.lua
jbe@1046: # edit myconfig.lua according to your needs
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9. Setup regular execution of lf_update and related commands

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The executables lf_update, lf_update_issue_order, and jbe@1051: lf_update_suggestion_order must be executed regularly. This may be achieved bsw@1657: by creating a file named /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh with the jbe@1051: following contents:

jbe@1046: bsw@1045: 
#!/bin/sh
bsw@1045: 
bsw@1045: while true; do
bsw@1661:   nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
bsw@1661:   nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_issue_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
bsw@1661:   nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_suggestion_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
bsw@1045:   sleep 5
jbe@1046: done
jbe@1046:
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This file must be marked as executable:

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chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh
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And this file should be started automatically at system boot. On systems with bsw@1657: systemd, create a file named /etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_core.service:

bsw@1657: bsw@1657: 
[Unit]
bsw@1657: Description=LiquidFeedback Core update
bsw@1657: 
bsw@1657: [Service]
bsw@1661: User=www-data
bsw@1657: ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh
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bsw@1657: [Install]
bsw@1657: WantedBy=multi-user.target
bsw@1657:
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Enable and start the service:

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systemctl start liquid_feedback_core
bsw@1673: systemctl enable liquid_feedback_core
bsw@1673:
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10. Start the frontend

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After lf_update has been executed at least once, you should be able to use jbe@1244: your LiquidFeedback system.

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Create a file named /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh:

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#/bin/bash
bsw@1657: 
bsw@1661: /opt/moonbridge/moonbridge /opt/webmcp/bin/mcp.lua /opt/webmcp/ /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/ main myconfig  2>&1 | logger -t "lf_frontend"
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Make it executable:

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chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh
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On systemd based systems, create a file named bsw@1657: /etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_frontend.service:

jbe@1156: bsw@1657: 
[Unit]
bsw@1657: Description=LiquidFeedback Frontend
bsw@1657: 
bsw@1657: [Service]
bsw@1661: User=www-data
bsw@1657: ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh
bsw@1657: 
bsw@1657: [Install]
bsw@1657: WantedBy=multi-user.target
jbe@1156:
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Enable and start the service:

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systemctl start liquid_feedback_frontend
bsw@1673: systemctl enable liquid_feedback_frontend
bsw@1673:
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In the latter case, the Moonbridge server will open a TCP port according to jbe@1162: your configuration. Directly accessing this TCP port through your webbrowser jbe@1162: is helpful for development purposes. For real-life deployment, however, it is jbe@1162: recommended to further proxy the application (e.g. using nginx). The proxy can jbe@1190: also add HTTPS and/or HTTP/2 support (which is not supported by Moonbridge jbe@1190: itself).

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