How to Install Homer on Debian Latest

Homer is a powerful and customizable dashboard that helps you monitor and visualize various types of data from multiple sources. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the installation process of Homer on Debian latest step-by-step.

Prerequisites

• A Debian latest operating system
• Root or superuser access to the system
• A running web server (Apache or Nginx)
• PHP version 7.0 or higher with some extensions (mysqli, pdo_mysql, json, gd)

Step 1: Update and Upgrade System Packages

First, we need to update and upgrade our system packages to the latest version available. This will ensure that all necessary dependencies are installed and up to date. To do this, run the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Next, we need to install some required packages that Homer depends on. You can install them by running the following command:

sudo apt install git apache2 mariadb-server mariadb-client php php-mysqli php-pdo php-gd php-json php-xml php-mbstring php-curl -y

Step 3: Install Composer

We need to install Composer package manager to install and manage the dependencies of Homer. You can download composer globally by running the following command:

cd ~
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Step 4: Install Homer

We are now ready to install Homer. In this step, we will clone the Homer repository from Github and install its dependencies. Run the following commands in sequence:

cd /var/www/html/
git clone https://github.com/bastienwirtz/homer
cd homer
composer install

Step 5: Configure Homer

Now, we need to configure Homer. Firstly, we will create an environment variable file to store database and other settings. You can copy the example file as follows:

cp .env.example .env

Then, you can edit .env file with your preferred text editor and update the following configuration settings:

APP_URL=http://localhost  # change it to your domain name
DB_DATABASE=homer     # create a homer database
DB_USERNAME=root     # your mysql user
DB_PASSWORD=password # mysql user password

To save and exit from the text editor, use the :wq command.

Step 6: Database Configuration

Now, we need to create a database for Homer using the mysql client.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Enter the password that you created for your MySQL root user when prompted, then run the following commands to create a database, a user, and allow the user all privileges to the database:

CREATE DATABASE homer;
CREATE USER 'homer_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON homer.* TO 'homer_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Don't forget to replace password with a strong password of your choice.

Step 7: Migrations and Seeder

After configuring the database, we need to run Laravel migrations and the database seeder. You can do this as follows:

php artisan migrate
php artisan db:seed

Step 8: Web Server Configuration

Finally, we need to configure the virtual host file for our web server.

For Apache, run the following command:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/homer.conf

Add the following content to the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerAdmin admin@example.com
        DocumentRoot /var/www/html/homer/public
        ServerName yourdomain.com

        <Directory /var/www/html/homer>
            AllowOverride All
        </Directory>

        ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
        CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Replace admin@example.com with your email address and yourdomain.com with your domain name.

For Nginx, run the following command:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/homer.conf

Add the following content to the file:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/html/homer/public;

    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000; # PHP-FPM listens on this port
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_path_info;
    }

    error_log /var/log/nginx/homer_error.log;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/homer_access.log;
}

Don't forget to replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

After adding the virtual host file, we need to enable it and restart our web server by running:

sudo a2ensite homer.conf # For Apache only
sudo systemctl restart apache2 # For Apache
sudo systemctl reload nginx # For Nginx

Step 9: Access Homer Dashboard

You're done with Homer installation and configuration. You can access Homer dashboard by browsing to your domain name in your web browser.

http://yourdomain.com

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Homer dashboard. Now you can start visualizing and monitoring your data with ease.

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!