How to Install Isso on POP!_OS Latest?

Isso is a commenting system for static websites which requires minimal resources and easy to use. If you are looking for a secure and uncomplicated commenting system, installing Isso on POP!_OS is a perfect choice for you. The following step-by-step guide will help you to install Isso on your POP!_OS.

Prerequisites

Before we get started with the installation process, we need to make sure that our POP!_OS has the following prerequisites installed and configured, which are:

  • Python3
  • Pip3
  • Virtualenv

To install the above-mentioned prerequisites, open the terminal by pressing CTRL + ALT + T and type the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip virtualenv -y

Installation

Step 1:

First, we need to create a virtual environment where we will install Isso. To create a virtual environment, enter the following command in the terminal:

virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3 isso

Step 2:

Activate the virtual environment using the following command:

source isso/bin/activate

Step 3:

Now, run the following command to install Isso:

pip3 install isso

Step 4:

After installing Isso, you’ll need to create a configuration file named isso.cfg. To create this file, enter the following terminal command:

nano isso.cfg

Then copy and paste the following configuration:

[general]
dbpath = /path/to/comments.db  // Replace /path/to with the actual path of the comments database
host = http://localhost:8080    // Replace http://localhost:8080 with the actual website URL

Step 5:

Create the directory for storing the database by running the following command:

sudo mkdir /var/lib/isso

Step 6:

Create a system user and a group for running the Isso service.

sudo groupadd isso
sudo useradd -g isso -d /var/lib/isso isso

Step 7:

Change the ownership of the database directory to new system users.

sudo chown -R isso:isso /var/lib/isso

Step 8:

Create a systemd service file with the following command

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/isso.service

and include the following configuration

[Unit]
Description=Isso commenting system
After=network.target

[Service]
User=isso
Group=isso
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/isso
Environment="PATH=/home/username/isso/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
ExecStart=/home/username/isso/bin/isso -c /home/username/isso/isso.cfg run
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Make sure you replace:

  • /home/username/isso with the actual path to your virtual environment folder.
  • /home/username/isso/isso.cfg with the actual path to the Isso configuration file.

Step 9:

Reload the systemd daemon with the following command:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Step 10:

Now, start the Isso service by entering the following command:

sudo systemctl start isso

You can check its status using

sudo systemctl status isso

If it is running, enable it to start at system boot.

sudo systemctl enable isso

Conclusion

Congratulations on successfully installing Isso on your POP!_OS. You can now use Isso as a commenting system for your static websites.