Apache Answer on DigitalOcean

• I created a DigitalOcean Droplet (Basic, Regular, 1GB, running Ubuntu 22.04).
• For the most part, I followed these instructions to Setup a Production-Ready Droplet.
  • I did use the suggested user data script, which let me create my own user, jake, on the Droplet
  • I did create a Cloud Firewall, and I had to open inbound port 9080 (and eventually inbound 80 HTTP and inbound 443 HTTPS) along with SSH 22
• After getting that all set up, I just followed the Docker Compose installation instructions for Apache Answer.
  • Initially I used SQLite3 as my database, but I'm in the process of migrating over to Postgres
• The SMTP setup using my Google Workspace account was a bit of a pain, but that's documented in another Q&A here
  • https://ducky.foo/questions/10010000000000051/smtp-settings-for-apache-answer
  • https://ducky.foo/questions/10010000000000053/troubleshoot-email-sending-through-google-smtp

Apache Answer is an open-source platform for collecting, organizing, and analyzing questions and answers in the form of a comprehensive FAQ. To deploy answer.apache.org directly on a DigitalOcean droplet, follow these steps:

Prerequisites

1. Create a DigitalOcean account and set up a new Droplet (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or newer is recommended).
2. Install Docker on your DigitalOcean Droplet (optional but recommended for easier management).
3. Have a basic understanding of Linux and Unix-like file systems.

Step 1: Create a new Apache Answer database

1. Initialize the Apache Answer database by running the following command:

curl -fsS https://answer.apache.org/deploy | sh

This command will initialize the MySQL database and create the necessary schema.

Step 2: Configure Apache Answer configuration files

1. Create a new file /etc/apache-answers/apache-answers.conf with the following content:

database:
  username: your-db-username
  password: your-db-password
host: localhost
port: 3306

Replace your-db-username and your-db-password with the credentials you created in Step 1.

Step 3: Configure system dependencies

1. Install required system dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y mysql-server

Step 4: Configure Apache Answer services

1. Create a systemd service file /etc/systemd/system/apache-answers.service with the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Apache Answer
After=mysql.service
[Service]
User=apache
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/apache-answers start
Restart=always
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 5: Start Apache Answer services

1. Reload the systemd daemon:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

1. Start and enable Apache Answer services:

sudo systemctl start apache-answers
sudo systemctl enable apache-answers

Step 6: Configure Apache web server

1. Create a new Apache configuration file /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf with the following content:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName answer.apache.org
    DocumentRoot /var/www/apache-answers

    <Directory /var/www/apache-answers>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Step 7: Enable and reload Apache

1. Enable Apache:

sudo a2ensite 000-default

1. Reload Apache:

sudo service apache2 reload

Step 8: Access Apache Answer

1. Access your Apache Answer instance at http://your-droplet-ip:80
   To access your Apache Answer instance, replace your-droplet-ip with the IP address of your DigitalOcean Droplet.

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed Apache Answer on your DigitalOcean Droplet.

Note: Apache Answer uses Apache 2.4, which might require additional configuration for some Linux distributions. If you encounter issues, consider consulting the official Apache Answer documentation or seeking help from the Apache Answer community.

Deploying an application from source code repository on a DigitalOcean droplet involves several steps, including setting up the server environment, configuring DNS, securing the server, and initiating the deployment process. Let's walk through these steps for deploying Answer from the answer.apache.org repository.

Step 1: Create a DigitalOcean Droplet

1. Log in to your DigitalOcean account.
2. Create a new droplet:
   • Go to the "Droplets" section and click on "Create Droplet".
   • Choose your desired plan (e.g., Standard, Premium, etc.).
   • Select your datacenter region (choose a location close to your users).
   • Choose an image for your droplet. For this guide, we’ll use Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS).
   • Select your desired droplet size, based on the expected load.
   • Add SSH keys to secure your server access.
   • Set a hostname for your droplet (e.g., answer-deployment).
3. Click "Create Droplet" and wait for the process to complete.

Step 2: Initial Server Setup

1. SSH into your Droplet:
   • Open your terminal and connect to your droplet using the provided IP address.

   ssh root@your_droplet_ip
   

2. Update and Upgrade your System:

   apt update && apt upgrade -y
   

Step 3: Install Necessary Software

1. Install Apache and other dependencies:

   apt install apache2 git -y
   

2. Install additional utilities (Optional but recommended):

   apt install curl vim ufw -y
   

Step 4: Configure Apache

1. Enable required Apache modules:

   a2enmod rewrite
   systemctl restart apache2
   

2. Set up a virtual host:
   • Create a configuration file for your site.

   vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/answer.conf
   

   • Add the following content to the configuration file (You may need to adjust paths and settings as appropriate):

   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
       DocumentRoot /var/www/answer
       ServerName example.com
       ServerAlias www.example.com
   
       <Directory /var/www/answer>
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   
       ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
       CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
   </VirtualHost>
   

   • Enable your new virtual host:

   a2ensite answer.conf
   systemctl reload apache2
   

Step 5: Clone the answer.apache.org Repository

1. Clone the repository into your web root directory:

   git clone https://github.com/apache/answer.git /var/www/answer
   

2. Set appropriate permissions:

   chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/answer
   chmod -R 755 /var/www/answer
   

Step 6: Configure DNS (if needed)

1. Set up DNS records:
   • Go to your domain registrar's website and set an A record pointing to your droplet's IP address.
2. Wait for DNS propagation, which might take some time.

Step 7: Secure Your Server

1. Set up a basic firewall:

   ufw allow OpenSSH
   ufw allow 'Apache Full'
   ufw enable
   

Step 8: Install an SSL Certificate (Optional but recommended)

1. Install Certbot:

   apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
   

2. Obtain and install the certificate:

   certbot --apache -d example.com -d www.example.com
   

3. Follow the prompts to complete the SSL configuration.

Step 9: Finalize and Verify Deployment

1. Restart Apache to ensure all changes take effect:

   systemctl restart apache2
   

2. Visit your domain in a web browser to verify the deployment. If everything is configured correctly, you should see your Answer application running.

Troubleshooting

• Check Apache error logs located at /var/log/apache2/error.log for any issues.
• Ensure that DNS settings are correct and that they have fully propagated.
• Verify that your firewall settings are not blocking essential ports.

By following these steps, you should be able to deploy the Answer application from the answer.apache.org repository on a DigitalOcean droplet. Adjust configurations as needed to fit the specific requirements of your application and environment.