How to Install Expressa on Arch Linux

This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Expressa, a RESTful API generator built with Node.js and MongoDB, on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before installing Expressa, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

• Node.js version 12 or higher
• MongoDB version 3.6 or higher

Installation Steps

Follow the steps below to install Expressa on Arch Linux:

1. Open the terminal on your Arch Linux system.

2. Install the latest version of Node.js and npm by running the following command:

   sudo pacman -S nodejs npm
   

3. Install MongoDB by running the following command:

   sudo pacman -S mongodb
   

4. Start the MongoDB service by running the following command:

   sudo systemctl start mongodb
   

5. Clone the Expressa repository from GitHub by running the following command:

   git clone https://github.com/thomas4019/expressa.git
   

6. Navigate to the Expressa directory using the following command:

   cd expressa
   

7. Install the Node.js packages required by Expressa by running the following command:

   npm install
   

8. Copy the config.yaml.example file to config.yaml by running the following command:

   cp config.yaml.example config.yaml
   

9. Edit the config.yaml file and update the following configuration settings:

   • db.host - the hostname or IP address of the MongoDB database server
   • db.port - the port number used by the MongoDB database server
   • db.name - the name of the database to use for Expressa
   • jwt.secret - a secret key used to sign and verify JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) used for authentication

   For example:

   db:
     host: localhost
     port: 27017
     name: expressa_db
   jwt:
     secret: mysecretkey
   

10. Start the Expressa service by running the following command:

    npm start
    

    You should see output similar to the following:

    > expressa@0.7.0 start /path/to/expressa
    > node app.js
    
    Expressa started on port 3000
    MongoDB connected
    

11. Open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 to access the Expressa web interface.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Expressa on Arch Linux. You can now use it to generate a RESTful API for your Node.js and MongoDB projects.

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