Is there a simple step-by-step guide to get a Answers deployed onto cloud with ngnix?

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support ssl nginx installation

Based on the few questions around deployment, it seems like it would be beneficial to have a simple guide with a cloud provider on getting Answers deployed with a database on to <my-domain>.dev with all the pre-requisites steps including SSL, perhaps even with one or two recommended cloud providers, one for those optimizing for simplicity and another with all the bells and whistles.

In current state, the friction of deployment feels still a bit high. I suppose that will get resolved once there is a "Hosted Answers" provider, but wondering if something can be done until that point?

Anton25
2 Answers

This might be a viable cheap hosting solution, which supports Answers:

https://www.pikapods.com/apps

My full journey to successful clean set-up where users can log-in using Google log-in as well as sign-up using their email is roughly as follows:

  1. Create a AWS Lightsail Droplet / Domain / DNS
  2. fiddle fiddle fiddle
  3. Realize that AWS Lightsail kinda sucks
  4. Switch to Digital Ocean
  5. Set-up New DO Droplet with a clean ubuntu (do not do Ubuntu + Docker image, had problems there)
  6. Install pre-requisites
  7. Compile w/ OAuth2, create docker image (to compile, up the droplet to 2GB Memory or even 4GB, to run can go back down to 1GB to start)
  8. Create MySQL DB on Digital Ocean
  9. Run docker image
  10. Follow initial install steps to get Answers up and running
  11. Install Nginx Proxy Manager(Yes!) to get SSL and port forwarding
  12. Configure Oath2 with Google, following Google instructions / questions here
  13. Figure out SMTP outgoing email, ended up using https://forwardemail.net/, but there are many options
  14. Configure that, viewing docker logs for debugging
  15. Success!

Took about 3-4 days about 1 hour each day. I'm technical, but mostly doing this for the first time. All-in-all, I'm happy, would be great to include above with detailed instructions in some sort of getting started guide.

Anton25

Hi Anton, there are simple steps you can take to self host Answer on lets say Digital Ocean.

  1. Create Digital Ocean Droplet VM
  2. Point A record of sub/domain to Droplets IP
  3. Use Nginx Proxy Manager to get automated SSL cert and proxy FQDN to the docker instance of Answer.

Do let me know if you need help.

Beck1