LiquidFeedback Installation Instructions ======================================== This document gives a short outline about the necessary steps to setup a LiquidFeedback system. 1. Install necessary dependencies --------------------------------- If you're using a Debian system, make sure that the following packages are installed: * build-essential * postgresql * postgresql-server-dev-12 * libbsd-dev * lua5.3 * liblua5.3-dev * mercurial * bmake * lsb-release * imagemagick * sassc If you're using any other Linux distribution or BSD system, install the necessary software components accordingly. 2. Ensure that the user account of your webserver has access to the database ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The useraccount of Moonbridge server process needs to have access to your PostgreSQL installation. This is done by executing PostgreSQL's shell command `createuser` as database superuser (usually `pgsql`, or `postgres` for Debian installations): su - postgres -s $SHELL createuser --no-superuser --createdb --no-createrole www-data exit 3. Install and configure LiquidFeedback-Core -------------------------------------------- We recommend to create the database with the same user as your webserver (usually `www-data`) to avoid having to setup database privileges. The example below installs the database as `www-data` and stores the three executables `lf_update`, `lf_update_issue_order` and `lf_update_suggestion_order` in the directory `/opt/liquid_feedback_core/`: # Download and unpack LiquidFeedback-Core # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/backend/ make mkdir /opt/liquid_feedback_core cp core.sql lf_update lf_update_issue_order lf_update_suggestion_order /opt/liquid_feedback_core su www-data -s $SHELL cd /opt/liquid_feedback_core createdb liquid_feedback psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -f core.sql liquid_feedback A simple configuration may look as follows: psql liquid_feedback INSERT INTO system_setting (member_ttl) VALUES ('1 year'); INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 hour', 20, 6); INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 day', 80, 12); INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 hour', 200, 60); INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 day', 800, 120); Create an invite code for an admin user: INSERT INTO member (invite_code, admin) VALUES ('sesam', true); Exit the `psql` interface by typing: \q And don't forget to quit the `www-data` shell: exit 4. Install Moonbridge --------------------- # Download and unpack Moonbridge # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/moonbridge/ pmake MOONBR_LUA_PATH=/opt/moonbridge/?.lua mkdir /opt/moonbridge cp moonbridge /opt/moonbridge/ cp moonbridge_http.lua /opt/moonbridge/ 5. Install WebMCP ----------------- # Download and unpack WebMCP # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/webmcp/ make mkdir /opt/webmcp cp -RL framework/* /opt/webmcp/ 6. Install the LiquidFeedback-Frontend -------------------------------------- Unpack source tree into appropriate directory, e.g. `/opt/liquid_feedback_frontend`: # Download LiquidFeedback-Frontend # from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/frontend/ mv liquid_feedback_frontend-vX.X.X /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend Make `tmp/` directory of LiquidFeedback-Frontend writable for webserver: chown www-data /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/tmp 7. Configure mail system ------------------------ It may be necessary to configure your server's mail system. 8. Configure the LiquidFeedback-Frontend ---------------------------------------- cd /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/config cp example.lua myconfig.lua # edit myconfig.lua according to your needs 9. Setup regular execution of `lf_update` and related commands -------------------------------------------------------------- The executables `lf_update`, `lf_update_issue_order`, and `lf_update_suggestion_order` must be executed regularly. This may be achieved by creating a file named `/opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh` with the following contents: #!/bin/sh while true; do nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core" nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_issue_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core" nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_suggestion_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core" sleep 5 done This file must be marked as executable: chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_updated And this file should be started automatically at system boot. On systems with systemd, create a file named `/etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_core.service`: [Unit] Description=LiquidFeedback Core update [Service] User=www-data ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target Enable and start the service: systemctl start liquid_feedback_core systemctl enable liquid_feedback_core 10. Start the frontend ---------------------- After `lf_update` has been executed at least once, you should be able to use your LiquidFeedback system. Create a file named `/opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh`: #/bin/bash /opt/moonbridge/moonbridge /opt/webmcp/bin/mcp.lua /opt/webmcp/ /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/ main myconfig 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_frontend" Make it executable: chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh On systemd based systems, create a file named `/etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_frontend.service`: [Unit] Description=LiquidFeedback Frontend [Service] User=www-data ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target Enable and start the service: systemctl start liquid_feedback_frontend systemctl enable liquid_feedback_frontend In the latter case, the Moonbridge server will open a TCP port according to your configuration. Directly accessing this TCP port through your webbrowser is helpful for development purposes. For real-life deployment, however, it is recommended to further proxy the application (e.g. using nginx). The proxy can also add HTTPS and/or HTTP/2 support (which is not supported by Moonbridge itself).