How to install Misago on Ubuntu Server

Misago is a free, open-source discussion forum application that can be used to create your own online community. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Misago on an Ubuntu Server.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need:

• A server running Ubuntu Server 20.04 or later.
• A user account with sudo privileges.
• A domain name that is pointed to your server's IP address.

Step 1 - Update the system

Make sure your server is up-to-date by running the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2 - Install the required packages

Misago requires some packages to be installed on your system. Run the following command to install them:

sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev python3-venv build-essential libssl-dev libffi-dev

Step 3 - Create a virtual environment

Next, we will create a virtual environment for Misago. This will isolate the Misago installation from other Python packages on your system. Run the following commands:

cd ~
python3 -m venv misagoenv

Step 4 - Activate the virtual environment

Activate the virtual environment with the following command:

source misagoenv/bin/activate

Step 5 - Install Misago

Install Misago using pip:

pip install misago

Step 6 - Configure Misago

Create a configuration file for Misago:

misago startproject misago

This will create a new directory called misago in your current working directory. Use your favorite text editor to open misago/misago/settings.py and make the following changes:

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your-domain.com']
DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
        'NAME': 'misago',
        'USER': 'misago',
        'PASSWORD': 'your-password',
        'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
        'PORT': '',
    }
}

Replace your-domain.com with your domain name, your-password with a strong password, and save the file.

Next, create a PostgreSQL database and user for Misago:

sudo -u postgres createuser -P misago
sudo -u postgres createdb -O misago misago

When prompted for a password, use the same password that you entered in the Misago configuration file.

Step 7 - Run migrations and create a superuser

Activate the virtual environment one more time:

source misagoenv/bin/activate

Run migrations:

cd misago
python manage.py migrate

Create a superuser:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Answer the prompts to create the superuser. This will be the administrator account for your Misago installation.

Step 8 - Run the development server

You can now run Misago on the development server with the following command:

python manage.py runserver

This will start the development server on http://localhost:8000/. You can access the admin interface at http://localhost:8000/admin.

Step 9 - Deploy Misago on a production server

To deploy Misago on a production server, you will need to configure a web server and a WSGI server. Consult the Misago documentation for more information on how to do this.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Misago on your Ubuntu Server.

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