Discourse Setup Log

Table of Contents

1. Discourse Setup Log
   1. AWS setup
      1. Create instance
      2. Create static IP
      3. Modify firewall
   2. DNS Setup
      1. Created DNS record for reboil.com subdomain:
   3. Instance setup
      1. Install dependencies
   4. Transactional Email Setup
      1. Create account at Mailgun.com
   5. Setup Let's Encrypt
   6. Run Discourse Setup Script
   7. Costs
      1. AWS Lightsail (Cloud Computer)
      2. FreeDNS (DNS Service)
      3. Mailgun (Transactional Email)

Note: Passphrases removed.

AWS setup

Create instance

• Created with personal SSH key (0xa0a295abdc3469c9) at Amazon Lightsail in us-west-2 (Oregon Zone A). Specified 5 USD/month option. Name: 20220116..discourse_test.

Create static IP

• Created 20220116..static_ip_1 at 35.80.240.35 and attached it to the lightsail instance.

Modify firewall

• Add HTTPS service by opening port 443 to TCP traffic from any IPv4 address.

DNS Setup

Created DNS record for reboil.com subdomain:

• Type: A
• Subdomain: forum
• Domain: reboil.com
• Destination: 35.80.240.35
• TTL: 1000 seconds

Instance setup

Install dependencies

• Install git netcat

• Install Docker

  Reference: Link

  • Run: # apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

  Add Docker GPG key:

  • Run: # curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

  Install Docker Engine:

  • Run:

    # apt update # apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Transactional Email Setup

Create account at Mailgun.com

• Choose Flex tier (0.80 USD/(10k emails))
• Create TXT record (at freedns.afraid.org):
  • Type: TXT
  • Subdomain: mg
  • Domain: reboil.com
  • Destination: "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all"
• Create TXT record (at freedns.afraid.org):
  • Type: TXT
  • Subdomain: krs._domainkey.mg
  • Domain: reboil.com
  • Destination: "k=rsa; p=xxxx"
• Create CNAME record (at freedns.afraid.org):
  • Type: CNAME
  • Subdomain: email.mg
  • Domain: reboil.com
  • Destination: mailgun.org.
• Create MX record
  • Type: MX
  • Subdomain: mg
  • Domain: reboil.com
  • Destination: 10:mxa.mailgun.org
• Create MX record
  • Type: MX
  • Subdomain: mg
  • Domain: reboil.com
  • Destination: 10:mxb.mailgun.org
• Note: The TXT records are required for SPF and DKIM. Maingun says: "TXT records (known as SPF & DKIM) are required to send and receive email with Mailgun." SPF and DKIM are required by the Discourse install guide which says "To ensure mail deliverability, you must add valid SPF and DKIM records in your DNS".
• Note: The MX records are required for receiving emails.

• Note: The CNAME record is required for tracking opens, clicks, and unsubscribes.

• Receive following SMTP credentials:

  SMTP hostname: smtp.mailgun.org Port: 587 (recommended) Username: postmaster@mg.reboil.com Default password: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx

Setup Let's Encrypt

Reference: Link (note: this step should not be necessary, apparently with a new Discourse install as of 2020-11.

Run Discourse Setup Script

As root and with /var/discourse as the working directory, run ./discourse-setup

Hostname for your Discourse? [discourse.example.com]: forum.reboil.com
Email address for admin account(s)? [me@example.com,you@example.com]: baltakatei@gmail.com
SMTP server address? [smtp.example.com]: smtp.mailgun.org
SMTP port? [587]: 587
SMTP user name? [user@example.com]: postmaster@mg.reboil.com
SMTP password? [pa$$word]: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx
notification email address? [noreply@forum.reboil.com]:
Optional email address for Let's Encrypt warnings? (ENTER to skip) [me@example.com]: baltakatei@gmail.com
Optional Maxmind License key (ENTER to continue without MAXMIND GeoLite2 geolocation database) [1234567890123456]:

Read verification message:

Does this look right?

Hostname          : forum.reboil.com
Email             : baltakatei@gmail.com
SMTP address      : smtp.mailgun.org
SMTP port         : 587
SMTP username     : postmaster@mg.reboil.com
SMTP password     : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx
Notification email: noreply@forum.reboil.com
Let's Encrypt : baltakatei@gmail.com
Maxmind license: (unset)

Costs

AWS Lightsail (Cloud Computer)

• 5.00 USD/month for 1 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD Linux instance.

FreeDNS (DNS Service)

• 5.46 USD/month for DNS services

Mailgun (Transactional Email)

• 0.80 USD/(10k emails)