Isso is an open-source commenting software that can be used as an alternative to Disqus or other hosted comment systems. In this tutorial, we will go through the process of installing Isso on an Arch Linux machine.
Before installing Isso, you need a few things:
Isso requires a database to store the comments, and we can use PostgreSQL.
First, install PostgreSQL on Arch Linux with the following command:
sudo pacman -S postgresql
Then proceed to create a new user for PostgreSQL.
sudo -iu postgres createuser isso
A password prompt will show up asking you to set a password for the new user. Remember this password, as we will use it later.
Next, create a new database for Isso comments.
sudo -iu postgres createdb isso --owner=isso
Finally, enable and start the PostgreSQL service with the following commands.
sudo systemctl enable postgresql
sudo systemctl start postgresql
Now it's time to install Isso on Arch Linux.
We can install Isso using pip, which is a package installer for Python.
First, install pip on Arch Linux with the following command:
sudo pacman -S python-pip
Then, install Isso with pip:
sudo pip install isso
After installing Isso, create a new configuration file at /etc/isso.cfg.
sudo touch /etc/isso.cfg
sudo nano /etc/isso.cfg
Enter the following configuration into the isso.cfg file.
[general]
dbpath = postgresql://isso:password@localhost/isso
host = http://yourdomain.com/
Replace password with the password you set for the isso user in PostgreSQL. Replace http://yourdomain.com/ with your website's domain name or IP address.
Save and close the file.
Now that Isso is installed and configured, it's time to add it to your web server.
If you're using Apache, add the following configuration to your virtual host file.
ProxyPass /comments http://localhost:8080
ProxyPassReverse /comments http://localhost:8080
If you're using Nginx, add the following configuration to your server block:
location /comments {
rewrite /comments/(.*) /$1 break;
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;
proxy_redirect off;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Scheme $scheme;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $server_name;
proxy_connect_timeout 300;
proxy_send_timeout 300;
proxy_read_timeout 300;
}
Restart your web server to apply the changes.
Finally, start the Isso daemon with the following command:
sudo isso run /etc/isso.cfg
The Isso daemon is now running in the background. Check the logs at /var/log/isso/isso.log if you encounter any issues.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Isso on Arch Linux. Your website is now equipped with a simple and secure comment system.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
