How to Install Notica on OpenBSD

Notica is a simple open source self-hosted notification service. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Notica on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A server or a virtual machine running OpenBSD
• A non-root user with sudo privileges

Step 1: Update the System

First, update the system packages to the latest version with the following command:

sudo pkg_add -uv

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Notica requires PostgreSQL and Redis. You can install them with the following command:

sudo pkg_add postgresql-server postgresql-client redis

Step 3: Configure PostgreSQL

Next, you need to configure PostgreSQL by editing the configuration file:

sudo vi /var/postgresql/data/postgresql.conf

Find the following lines and uncomment them:

listen_addresses = '*'
max_connections = 100

Save and exit the file.

Now, you need to create a user and a database for Notica:

sudo -u _postgresql createuser --no-password --createdb --no-createrole notica
sudo -u _postgresql createdb -O notica notica

Finally, restart PostgreSQL:

sudo /etc/rc.d/postgresql restart

Step 4: Configure Redis

Next, you need to configure Redis by editing the configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/redis.conf

Find the following line:

bind 127.0.0.1

Comment it out by adding a "#" at the beginning of the line:

# bind 127.0.0.1

Save and exit the file.

Finally, restart Redis:

sudo /etc/rc.d/redis restart

Step 5: Install and Configure Notica

First, download the latest version of Notica from the official website:

cd ~
wget https://github.com/noticaus/notica/archive/v1.1.0.tar.gz

Extract the archive:

tar xf v1.1.0.tar.gz

Change the directory to the Notica directory:

cd notica-1.1.0

Copy the default configuration file:

cp .env.example .env

Edit the configuration file:

nano .env

Find the following lines and replace them with your own values:

APP_NAME=Notica
APP_ENV=production
APP_KEY=base64:yourownbase64key
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://notica.yourdomain.com

Change yourownbase64key to your own base64 key. You can generate a base64 key using the following command:

openssl rand -base64 32

Also, change https://notica.yourdomain.com to your own domain name.

Next, find the following line:

DB_CONNECTION=sqlite

And replace it with:

DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=notica
DB_USERNAME=notica
DB_PASSWORD=

Save and exit the file.

Finally, install the required PHP packages:

sudo pkg_add composer php php-pdo_pgsql php-curl php-dom php-gd php-json

Install Notica dependencies:

composer install --no-dev

Generate the application key:

php artisan key:generate --force

Migrate the database:

php artisan migrate --force

Step 6: Run Notica

Finally, you can run Notica with the following command:

php artisan serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8000

You can access Notica at http://your_server_ip:8000.

If you want to run Notica as a service, you can create an rc.d script:

sudo vi /etc/rc.d/notica

Add the following lines:

#!/bin/sh

daemon="/usr/local/bin/daemon"
php="/usr/local/bin/php"
server="/var/www/notica/artisan"
name="notica"
pidfile="/var/run/$name.pid"
logfile="/var/log/$name.log"
cmd="$php $server serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8000"

. /etc/rc.d/rc.subr

rc_cmd $1

Save and exit the file.

Make the script executable:

sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.d/notica

Start Notica:

sudo /etc/rc.d/notica start

You can access Notica at http://your_server_ip:8000, and the service will automatically start on system boot.

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!