Installing on Linode

Figured I would add to this thread since why not.

Installed Ares on Linode since I have a thing there that I’ve been messing around with some stuff on. Process was pretty easy to follow. However, I am unable to access the webportal. Keep getting 403 Forbidden errors or 500 Internal Server errors.

I’m assuming I must have forgot to toggle something. I will say I did put the port for the web thing at 80 like the instructions said.

It sounds like your nginx web server setup is missing something. The automated install scripts are intended for Digital Ocean; there might be some subtle differences in Linode and other environments that require some tweaks.

I’d start by checking the sites-enabled directory in your nginx folder (usually it’s /etc/nginx/sites-enabled) and make sure it looks like this one, with the upstream forwarding: https://github.com/AresMUSH/aresmush/blob/master/install/templates/nginx.erb (things like <%= @engine_api_port %> should be replaced by your actual port numbers.)

If that looks correct you can try restarting the web service with sudo service restart nginx and see if it says OK or if there were any errors.

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So, part of the problem is that nginx isn’t even installed by default. So I installed that, configured it. Met with a modicum of success on part of it. Still need to tweak some things, I reckon.

I’d say that unless you have experience with Ubuntu, folks interested in hosting a MU should probably stay away from Linode. Not to say it’s a bad service, I don’t think it is. It’s just that even when I installed PennMUSH, I had to configure a LOT of stuff that I’ve taken for granted on other hosts. (had to install the make command once, which kinda blew my mind, heh).

I add this to this thread merely as feedback to encourage people who want to pursue the easiest path to really, REALLY heed the advice given on this page: https://aresmush.com/tutorials/install/easy-mode/

Actually if you use the Digital Ocean self-hosting, the Ares install scripts will set up everything you need on the server - including nginx. That process is described here.

I tested the scripts on Linode too and they worked okay, though I don’t “officially support” that host. Meaning it’ll probably work as long as you use the same version of Ubuntu. I’m happy to answer general questions, but I’m not going to bend over backwards to ensure that the install scripts work seamlessly on any arbitrary Ubuntu install. Digital Ocean is my supported host.

I understand that the install scripts path might not have worked for you since you had other stuff on the box already and the scripts are assuming a blank slate, but it should be fine for general users.

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I did use a clean install. Once my Comcast problems go away later today (wellllll hopefully later today, one can never be sure with Comcast), I’m going to start afresh and give it another go. Like I said earlier, the process was painless, and really easy to follow. There’s just this one little thing I need to figure out on my end. My earlier post wasn’t meant as any criticism, but rather encouragement for folks who aren’t familiar with things to follow your Easy Path, so my apologies if it came off as sounding critical.

It’s no biggie - even if it was criticism it’s totally fine :slight_smile: I was just clarifying that Easy Mode is really not necessary for someone without technical experience IMHO. The install scripts are thoroughly tested on Digital Ocean servers. After all - when I make a new server for someone using Easy Mode, I use those same scripts!

It’s curious that it didn’t work on Linode for you. Especially installing nginx, which is just a single command (apt-get install -y nginx). Makes me wonder if there was some kind of general error when you ran setup_server.

ETA: Did you use Ubuntu 16.04?

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I did use 16.04.

Now that the internet outages seem to be clearing up, I’m going to spend this afternoon making a new Ubuntu 16.04 install and running the installer again. See if anything pops out.

I just tried using the install scripts on Linode. It appears that Lindoe’s distribution of Ubuntu does not include a library that’s needed. You’ll need to manually run:

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https

before running setup_server.

Apart from that, it all seemed to work ok. Let me know if you have any further issues.

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Wow.

That’s fantastic. Thank you very much @faraday. :slight_smile:

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What do you think of Google GCE. I have one mediate level google hosting server which is powered by Cloudways in spare and I am planning to use that server for the installation process. So, will it work ok. or DO should be the option that I must go with.

I’ve never used Google’s cloud services, so I can’t make any guarantees. If it’s running Ubuntu it should be possible to run Ares on it, but other versions of Linux are hit-or-miss depending on which version of Ruby and Redis their package managers support.

Also be aware that the Ares setup scripts are designed to install to a standalone VM (meaning Ares is the only app running on it) on Digital Ocean. If you’re trying to install on a different environment, you won’t be able to run the automated setup.

You can use the setup scripts as a guide for what needs to be done, but you’re on your own(*) for figuring out how to adapt things for your environment.

(*) I certainly don’t mind questions, but my experience with other environments is limited and I can’t provide in-depth guidance. The only environment guaranteed for an automatic install is a standalone VM on Digital Ocean.