How to Install Fider on Debian Latest

Fider is an open-source feedback platform, which allows users to easily collect and manage feedback. In this tutorial, we will explain how to install Fider on Debian Latest.

Prerequisites

• A Debian Latest server with root access.
• A domain name pointed to your server IP address.
• A valid SSL certificate installed for your domain.
• Nginx web server installed on your server.

Step 1: Update your system

Before installing Fider, ensure your system is updated.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Fider requires the following dependencies to be present:

• Node.js (version 12 or later)
• Yarn package manager
• MySQL or MariaDB

To install Node.js, use the following command:

sudo curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

To install Yarn, run the following commands:

curl -sL https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y yarn

To install the MySQL/MariaDB database, run:

sudo apt install -y mysql-server
sudo mysql_secure_installation

Now log in to the MySQL command-line interface and create a new database for Fider:

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE fiderdb;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON fiderdb.* TO 'fideruser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypassword';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Replace fiderdb, fideruser, and mypassword with your desired database name, username, and password.

Step 3: Download and Install Fider

Create a new directory for Fider and move into it:

mkdir fider
cd fider

Clone the Fider repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/getfider/fider.git .

Run the following commands to install the Fider dependencies and build the application:

yarn install
yarn build

After building the application, create the configuration file by copying the example file provided:

cp config.example.yml config.yml

Open the config.yml file using your preferred text editor and modify the following parameters:

app:
   domain: yourdomain.com
   ssl: true
   port: 443
db:
   host: localhost
   user: fideruser
   password: mypassword
   name: fiderdb
mailer:
   EmailFrom: [email protected]

• app.domain: should be set to your domain name.
• app.ssl: should be set to true if you have an SSL certificate installed for your domain.
• db.host, db.user, db.password, and db.name: should match your MySQL/MariaDB database configuration.
• mailer.EmailFrom: should be set to an email address that Fider can use to send notifications to your users.

Step 4: Run Fider

To start Fider, run the following command:

yarn start

Fider should now be accessible on your domain name.

Step 5: Set up Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

To configure Nginx as a reverse proxy for Fider, create a new server block configuration file in the Nginx sites-available directory:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/fider

Enter the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/chain.pem;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Replace yourdomain.com with your domain name, and ensure that the SSL certificate and key file paths match your installation. Save and close the file.

Next, create a symbolic link to enable the server block:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/fider /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Finally, reload the Nginx service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Fider should now be accessible over a secure HTTPS connection.

Conclusion

That's it! You have successfully installed Fider on your Debian Latest server and set up Nginx as a reverse proxy to serve it over HTTPS. You can now start using Fider to collect and manage feedback from your users.