Discourse is a powerful, open-source forum platform designed for modern communities. It’s an excellent choice for self-hosting due to its robust feature set, high customizability, and full data ownership. In this guide, we’ll explore how to deploy, configure, secure, and manage Discourse to maximize its potential for your community.
Installing Discourse
📦 Docker/Docker Compose Setup
Discourse officially recommends Docker for deployment. Start by creating a docker-compose.yml file tailored to Discourse. This setup includes necessary port mappings, volumes, and environment variables.
version: "3.8"
services:
discourse:
image: discourse/base:2.0.20230920-0045
container_name: discourse
restart: always
ports:
- "80:80"
- "443:443"
volumes:
- ./data:/var/www/discourse/data
- ./logs:/var/www/discourse/logs
environment:
DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME: "yourdomain.com"
DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS: "[email protected]"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS: "smtp.yourprovider.com"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT: "587"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME: "smtpuser"
DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD: "smtppassword"
Run the following commands to deploy Discourse with Docker Compose:
docker-compose up -d
docker-compose logs -f
🚀 Manual Installation
For a non-Docker setup, follow these steps to install Discourse on a Linux server:
Install dependencies:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git curl apt-transport-https ca-certificates software-properties-common build-essential libssl-dev libyaml-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev
Clone the Discourse repository and set up the application:
git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse.git /var/www/discourse
cd /var/www/discourse
bundle install --deployment --without test development
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:create db:migrate assets:precompile
Start the Discourse application:
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec puma -C config/puma.rb
Configuring Nginx as a Reverse Proxy
🌐 Nginx Configuration
Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy to route traffic to the Discourse application. Create a new configuration file, e.g., /etc/nginx/sites-available/discourse, with the following content:
server {
listen 80;
server_name yourdomain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
}
}
Activate the configuration and restart Nginx:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/discourse /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
🔒 SSL/TLS Setup
Secure your site with a Let's Encrypt certificate using Certbot:
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com
sudo systemctl reload nginx
Automate certificate renewal:
sudo crontab -e
0 0 * * * certbot renew --quiet
Logging and Debugging Discourse
🗃️ Enabling Debug Logs
Enable verbose logging for debugging by adding the following line to the app.yml file (for Docker installs) or discourse.conf (manual install):
DISCOURSE_LOG_LEVEL: debug
📄 Viewing Logs
Access logs via Docker:
docker logs -f discourse
For manual installations, check logs directly:
tail -f /var/www/discourse/log/production.log
🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Issues
Example: If Discourse fails to start due to database connection issues, check the database logs:
docker exec -it discourse_db psql -U postgres -c '\l'
📤 Exporting Logs
Send logs to an ELK Stack using Filebeat. Example Filebeat config snippet:
filebeat.inputs:
- type: log
enabled: true
paths:
- /var/www/discourse/log/*.log
Backup and Restore
🗂️ File-Based Backups
Create a snapshot of Discourse’s configuration and data:
tar -cvzf discourse_backup.tar.gz /var/www/discourse
🔄 Database Backups
Export and restore the database:
docker exec -it discourse_db pg_dump -U postgres discourse > backup.sql
docker exec -i discourse_db psql -U postgres discourse < backup.sql
📅 Automated Backup Scripts
Automate backups using a cron job. Example script:
#!/bin/bash
tar -czvf /backups/discourse_$(date +%F).tar.gz /var/www/discourse
Add this to crontab:
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup_script.sh
Updating and Upgrading Discourse
⬆️ Updating Docker Images
Pull the latest version and redeploy:
docker-compose pull
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d
🛠️ Manual Updates
For manual installs, update the repository and recompile assets:
cd /var/www/discourse
git pull
bundle install --deployment --without test development
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake assets:precompile
🔍 Checking for Updates
Check for updates via the command line:
docker-compose exec discourse /var/www/discourse/script/check_update
Leveraging Discourse’s Unique Features
🔧 Enabling APIs
Activate the API and create an API key via the Discourse admin panel. Use the key with the API:
curl -X GET "https://yourdomain.com/posts.json" \
-H "Api-Key: your-api-key" \
-H "Api-Username: your-username"
🌟 Advanced Configurations
Example: Enable SSO (Single Sign-On) by editing discourse.conf:
enable_sso: true
sso_url: https://sso.yourdomain.com
Restart Discourse to apply changes:
docker-compose restart
Wrapping Up
This guide covered all essential steps to deploy, configure, manage, and customize Discourse for a self-hosted environment. With its flexibility, robust API, and rich feature set, Discourse is a powerful platform for building vibrant online communities. Start implementing these steps today to take full control of your forum and unlock its full potential!
