How to Install Open Food Network on Windows 11

Introduction

Open Food Network is a free and open-source software platform designed to support local food systems. It allows farmers and food enterprises to sell their produce directly to consumers through a single online marketplace. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Open Food Network on Windows 11.

Prerequisites

• A computer running Windows 11
• An active internet connection
• Administrative access to your computer

Installation Steps

1. Install Docker - Open Food Network requires Docker to run. Download Docker from the official website using the following link: https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop. Once the download completes, double-click on the .exe file to start the installation process. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.

2. Download and Unzip Open Food Network - Download the latest release of Open Food Network from the official website using the following link: https://github.com/openfoodfoundation/openfoodnetwork/releases. Once the download completes, extract the file to a folder on your computer.

3. Create an Environment File - Create a new file in the folder where you have extracted Open Food Network. Name the file .env. Edit the file in a text editor and add the following lines to set up your environment variables:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres@db/ofn
SMTP_ADDRESS=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USERNAME=user@example.com
SMTP_PASSWORD=password

You can replace the SMTP_ADDRESS, SMTP_USERNAME, and SMTP_PASSWORD values according to your email settings.

4. Start the Containers - Open Command Prompt by searching for "cmd" in the Start menu, then right-clicking on it and selecting "Run as administrator". Navigate to the folder where you have extracted Open Food Network using the cd command, for example:

cd C:\Downloads\openfoodnetwork-2.5.0

Then, run the following command to start the containers:

docker-compose up

Wait for a few minutes as the containers start up. If everything goes well, you should see output in the console similar to the following:

db_1   | LOG:  database system is ready to accept connections
web_1  | => Booting Puma
web_1  | => Rails 5.2.5 application starting in development 

5. Access Open Food Network - Finally, open a web browser and go to localhost:3000. You should see the Open Food Network homepage. Congratulations, you have successfully installed Open Food Network on Windows 11!

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have guided you through the process of installing Open Food Network on Windows 11. If you encountered any issues during the installation process, consult the Open Food Network documentation or seek help from the community. We hope this tutorial has been helpful to you in getting started with Open Food Network.

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