Step 1 - Enable NixOS Package manager:
Run the following command to enable NixOS package manager:
sudo nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-21.05 nixos
sudo nix-channel --update
This will add the NixOS channel and update it.
Step 2 - Install MyBB:
To install MyBB, run the following command:
sudo nix-env -iA nixos.mybb
This installs MyBB package and its dependencies.
Step 3 - Create a database
You need to create a database for MyBB. We will use MariaDB as our database. To install MariaDB, run the following command:
sudo nix-env -iA nixos.mariadb
After installing MariaDB, run the following command to start the MariaDB server:
sudo systemctl start mariadb
Now, create a new database:
mysql -u root -p
Enter the password for the root user when prompted. Then, create a new database using the following command:
CREATE DATABASE mybb_db;
Create a new user and grant the necessary privileges:
CREATE USER 'mybb_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mybb_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mybb_db.* TO 'mybb_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Exit from MySQL with the following command:
exit
Step 4 - Configure MyBB
Now it's time to configure MyBB. Navigate to the MyBB directory (/var/lib/mybb/) and rename the file inc/settings.php to inc/settings.php.bak:
cd /var/lib/mybb/
sudo mv inc/settings.php inc/settings.php.bak
Copy the default settings file to the inc directory:
sudo cp inc/settings.default.php inc/settings.php
Then edit the inc/settings.php file with a command-line text editor like Nano:
sudo nano inc/settings.php
Set the database details in the settings.php file:
$config['database']['type'] = 'mysqli';
$config['database']['database'] = 'mybb_db';
$config['database']['table_prefix'] = 'mybb_';
$config['database']['hostname'] = 'localhost';
$config['database']['username'] = 'mybb_user';
$config['database']['password'] = 'mybb_password';
Save and exit the file.
Step 5 - Configure your web server
Now you need to configure your web server to serve MyBB. Here's an example of how to configure the Nginx web server to serve MyBB:
First, install Nginx:
sudo nix-env -iA nixos.nginx
Then, edit the Nginx configuration file with a command-line text editor like Nano:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Set the Nginx configuration as follows:
user nginx; # Use nginx as the user
worker_processes auto; # Use auto to determine the number of worker processes
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; # Set up error logging
pid /run/nginx.pid; # Set the PID file location
events {
worker_connections 1024;
}
http {
include /etc/nginx/mime.types; # Load the MIME types
default_type application/octet-stream; # Set the default type
log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
'$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
'"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main; # Set up access logging
sendfile on; # Enable sendfile
keepalive_timeout 65; # Set the keepalive timeout
server {
listen 80; # Listen on port 80
server_name example.com; # Change 'example.com' to your domain name
root /var/lib/mybb; # Set the root to the MyBB directory
index index.php; # Set the index.php file as the default index file
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; # Try to serve a file, then try a directory, then pass to index.php
}
location ~ \.php$ {
try_files $uri =404; # Try to serve the PHP file or return a 404 error
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.sock; # Use PHP-FPM to handle PHP files
fastcgi_index index.php; # Set the index.php file as the default index file
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
include fastcgi_params;
}
}
}
Save and exit the file.
Restart Nginx:
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Step 6 - Launch MyBB
Now you can launch MyBB in your web browser by visiting your domain (or IP address). MyBB's default login and password are: admin and password respectively.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed MyBB on NixOS.
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!