How to Install Focalboard on NetBSD

Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted platform for team collaboration and project management. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps to install Focalboard on NetBSD, a free and open-source Unix-like operating system.

Prerequisites

• A NetBSD server with root access
• A web browser
• Basic knowledge of the command line

Step 1: Update System Packages

Before installing any software, it is recommended that you update the system packages. Open the terminal or SSH into your NetBSD server and execute the following command:

pkgin update && pkgin full-upgrade

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Focalboard requires several dependencies to be installed on the system. Run the following command to install them:

pkgin install go curl unzip git

Step 3: Download Focalboard

Create a new directory to download Focalboard using the following command:

mkdir focalboard && cd focalboard

Now, download the Focalboard binary file using the following command:

curl -L -o focalboard.zip https://github.com/mattermost/focalboard/releases/download/v0.9.5/focalboard-0.9.5-linux-amd64.zip

Extract the downloaded file using the following command:

unzip focalboard.zip

Step 4: Configure Focalboard

Focalboard provides a configuration file that needs to be modified as per your requirements. Copy the default configuration file using the following command:

cp config.json.sample config.json

Open the config.json file with a text editor and modify the following settings:

• ListenAddress: Specify the IP address and port number (default: :8000) where Focalboard will listen for requests.
• SiteURL: Specify the URL of your Focalboard installation.

{
    "ListenAddress": ":8000",
    "DatabaseSettings": {
        "DriverName": "postgres",
        "DataSource": "postgres://focalboard:<PASSWORD>@localhost/focalboard?sslmode=disable&connect_timeout=10",
        "DataSourceReplicas": [],
        "MaxIdleConns": 20,
        "MaxOpenConns": 300,
        "Trace": false,
        "DisableDatabaseSearch": false
    },
    "SiteURL": "http://<YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP>:8000",
}

Save and close the file.

Step 5: Create a Service Script

Create a service script to start and stop Focalboard using the following command:

nano /etc/init.d/focalboard

Copy and paste the following contents into the file:

#!/bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/focalboard

FBDIR="/path/to/focalboard"
FBEXEC="$FBDIR/focalboard"
FBUSER="focalboard"

case "$1" in
  start)
    su $FBUSER -c "cd $FBDIR && nohup $FBEXEC &"
    ;;
  stop)
    kill $(pgrep -f $FBEXEC)
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0

Replace /path/to/focalboard with the directory where you’ve installed Focalboard. Replace focalboard with the username you've used to install Focalboard.

Save and close the file.

Step 6: Enable the Service

Make the service script executable using the following command:

chmod +x /etc/init.d/focalboard

Now, enable the service using the following command:

rcctl enable focalboard

Step 7: Start the Service

Finally, start the Focalboard service using the following command:

/etc/init.d/focalboard start

Step 8: Access Focalboard

Focalboard should now be up and running. Open a web browser and navigate to the URL you specified in the SiteURL field in the config.json file.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the steps required to install Focalboard on NetBSD. You can now use Focalboard for team collaboration and project management.

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