Installing Thingspeak on Ubuntu Server

Introduction

Thingspeak is an open source platform for the Internet of Things (IoT). It allows you to collect, store and analyze sensor data from connected devices. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Thingspeak on Ubuntu Server.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you need to have the following:

  • Ubuntu Server installed on your machine.
  • A working internet connection.
  • A user account with sudo privileges.

Step 1: Update system

The first step is to update your system.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 2: Install required packages

You need to install the following packages:

  • Git
  • Ruby Version Manager (RVM)
  • Ruby 2.5.1
  • Bundler
sudo apt-get install git curl
curl -sSL https://rvm.io/mpapis.asc | gpg --import -
curl -L get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
source /etc/profile.d/rvm.sh
rvm install 2.5.1
gem install bundler

Step 3: Download Thingspeak

Now, you can download Thingspeak using Git:

git clone https://github.com/iobridge/thingspeak.git

Step 4: Configure Thingspeak

Before running Thingspeak, you need to configure it. Go to the Thingspeak directory:

cd thingspeak

Copy the config.example.yml file and rename it to config.yml:

cp config/config.example.yml config/config.yml

Edit the config.yml file using your favorite text editor:

nano config/config.yml

You need to change the following:

production:
  adapter: mysql2
  encoding: utf8
  database: thingspeak
  username: your-database-username
  password: your-database-password
  host: localhost

Replace your-database-username and your-database-password with your MySQL database credentials.

Step 5: Install dependencies

You need to install the dependencies using Bundler:

bundle install --without test development

Step 6: Create the database

You need to create the Thingspeak database. First, log in to MySQL:

mysql -u your-database-username -p

Enter your MySQL password. Then, create the database:

CREATE DATABASE thingspeak;

Make sure to use the same database name as in the config.yml file.

Step 7: Run migrations

You need to run the database migrations:

rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

Step 8: Start Thingspeak

You can now start Thingspeak:

rails server -e production

By default, Thingspeak listens on port 3000. If your server is running a firewall, you need to allow traffic on this port.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have installed Thingspeak on Ubuntu Server. You can now use it to collect and analyze sensor data from your connected devices.