Installing BookStack on OpenBSD

BookStack is an open-source platform for creating and organizing documentation. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install BookStack on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following requirements:

• OpenBSD installed on your server
• Root access
• Internet connectivity

Step 1: Install Dependencies

The first step is to install the dependencies required by BookStack:

sudo pkg_add php php-pdo_mysql php-curl php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-gd php-mysqli mysql-server nginx

Step 2: Configure MySQL

Next, we need to create a database and user for BookStack. Login to the MySQL server shell as root:

mysql -u root -p

Run the following commands to create a new database and user:

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

Replace 'password' with a secure password.

Step 3: Download and Install BookStack

Now, we will download and install BookStack:

cd /var/www
sudo git clone https://github.com/BookStackApp/BookStack.git bookstack
sudo chown -R www:www bookstack

Change to the bookstack directory:

cd bookstack

Install dependencies using Composer:

php composer.phar install --no-dev --prefer-dist 

Generate .env file:

cp .env.example .env

Open and modify .env files with following settings:

nano .env

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=bookstack
DB_USERNAME=bookstackuser
DB_PASSWORD=password 

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Create new Nginx server block configuration file:

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

Add the following server block configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/bookstack/public;
    index index.php;
    charset utf-8;

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

    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Save and exit the file.

Create a symbolic link:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/bookstack.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the configuration and restart nginx service:

sudo nginx -t
sudo service nginx restart

Step 5: Finish Installation

Visit your server IP or domain name in your web browser. Please allow a few seconds for the initial system check.

Fill in the form with your desired details, selecting MySQL as the database type and filling in your database details.

Once you have filled in the details, click the 'Install' button.

And that's it! You have successfully installed BookStack on OpenBSD. Enjoy!

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!