How to Install Canvas LMS on Alpine Linux

Canvas LMS is a learning management system that is used in schools and universities to manage course materials, track student progress, and provide online assignments. Installing Canvas LMS on Alpine Linux is a bit of an involved process, but this tutorial will walk you through the steps.

Prerequisites

• A server running Alpine Linux
• Root access to the server
• At least 8GB of RAM
• At least 20GB of free disk space
• A stable internet connection

Step 1: Install Required Packages and Dependencies

First, we need to install the required packages and dependencies:

apk add --no-cache \
    curl \
    tar \
    ca-certificates \
    libcurl \
    libjpeg-turbo \
    libpng \
    freetype \
    icu-libs \
    libxslt \
    nodejs \
    nodejs-npm \
    nginx \
    postgresql \
    postgresql-client \
    unzip \
    supervisor

This will install all the packages required for Canvas LMS to run.

Step 2: Install Ruby and Bundler

Next, we need to install Ruby and Bundler. Canvas LMS requires Ruby 2.5, so we'll install that version:

apk add --no-cache \
    ruby \
    ruby-bundler \
    ruby-dev \
    ruby-json

Step 3: Configure PostgreSQL

Canvas LMS requires PostgreSQL as its database. First, we need to create a new database user and database:

sudo -u postgres createuser canvasuser
sudo -u postgres createdb canvasdb -O canvasuser

Next, we'll modify the PostgreSQL settings by opening the pg_hba.conf file:

nano /etc/postgresql/pg_hba.conf

Add the following line to the bottom of the file:

host    canvasdb    canvasuser    127.0.0.1/32    md5

Then, open the postgresql.conf file:

nano /etc/postgresql/postgresql.conf

Add the following line to the bottom of the file:

listen_addresses = 'localhost'

Restart the PostgreSQL service to apply the changes:

/etc/init.d/postgresql restart

Step 4: Install Canvas LMS

Now we're ready to install Canvas LMS. First, create a new directory for the installation:

sudo mkdir /var/canvas
cd /var/canvas

Next, download the latest version of Canvas LMS and extract it:

sudo curl https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms/archive/refs/tags/stable.zip -L -o stable.zip
sudo unzip -q stable.zip
sudo mv canvas-lms-stable canvas-lms

Now that we've installed Canvas LMS, we need to install the required Ruby gems:

cd canvas-lms
sudo cp config/database.yml.example config/database.yml
sudo bundle install --without=sqlite mysql

Step 5: Configure Canvas LMS

Next, we need to configure Canvas LMS. We'll start by generating the configuration files:

sudo cp config/canvas.yml.example config/canvas.yml
sudo cp config/security.yml.example config/security.yml
sudo cp config/outgoing_mail.yml.example config/outgoing_mail.yml
sudo cp config/domain.yml.example config/domain.yml

Then, we'll edit the canvas.yml file to include the database information:

sudo nano config/canvas.yml

Change the following lines to reflect your database information:

database:
  adapter: postgresql
  host: localhost
  port: 5432
  database: canvasdb
  username: canvasuser
  password: yourpassword

Step 6: Start Canvas LMS

Now that Canvas LMS is installed and configured, we can start the application:

cd /var/canvas/canvas-lms
sudo script/server -e production

Finally, open a web browser and navigate to http://your-server-ip:3000 to access the application.

Conclusion

Installing Canvas LMS on Alpine Linux is a bit of a process, but by following these steps, you should have a fully functioning instance of Canvas LMS up and running. Good luck!