How to Install NodeBB on Linux Mint

NodeBB is a modern, open-source forum platform that runs on Node.js, and it's one of the most popular discussion forums on the internet. In this tutorial, we're going to walk you through the process of installing NodeBB on Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux
Node.js 14.x
Redis 5.x
MongoDB or PostgreSQL (optional, but recommended)

Step-by-Step Installation Instructions

First, update your package manager and install some necessary dependencies by running the following commands:
```
sudo apt update
sudo apt install curl git make gcc g++
```
Next, install Redis by running the following command:
```
sudo apt install redis-server
```
Now that Redis is installed, let's install NodeBB. You can either download the latest version directly from the NodeBB website or use Git to download the latest version of the source code. In this tutorial, we'll be using Git.
```
git clone -b v1.16.x https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB.git nodebb
cd nodebb
```
Now, we need to install the NodeBB dependencies. Run the following command to install them:
```
npm install
```
This will take a few minutes to complete, as it downloads and installs all the necessary packages.
Once the installation is complete, we need to configure NodeBB. Run the following command and follow the prompts:
```
./nodebb setup
```
When prompted, select the option to use Redis as the database, and provide the connection details.
Next, we need to start the application. Run the following command:
```
./nodebb start
```
NodeBB should now be running on your system. You can access it by opening your web browser and navigating to http://localhost:4567/.

Final Thoughts

In this tutorial, we showed you how to install NodeBB on Linux Mint. We covered the prerequisites, installation, and configuration of NodeBB. You should now have a working installation of NodeBB on your Linux machine. Enjoy!