Akhil Naidu

Posted on Jul 8, 2021 • Updated on Jul 18, 2021 • Originally published at app.leewardslope.com

Self hosting Forem(Dev) on your VPS; using t2d!

#selfhosting #t2d #webdev #tutorial

Now you can have your own [dev.to like] community. In this installation process, I use t2d(Talk to Dokku) a bash script which is powered by whiptail and dokku.

Forem

Forem is open source software for building communities. It is the open source software that powers DEV and other inclusive communities; including my own community

Other Communities which are using Forem: https://www.forem.com/discover/

t2d

t2d aka Talk to Dokku; is a Terminal User Interface(TUI) powered by dokku and whiptail. With t2d you will be able to deploy apps in most popular programming languages, link them to most popular databases and all that with almost zero configuration from your side. Apart from all these amazing features it will also save you money along the way.

For more info Click Here

Demonstrating Forem Installation using t2d

Screen Shots of t2d v2.1

Press "Enter", to automate the Dokku installation. More information can be seen in the video above.

Once the installation was done, sometimes you need to update your ENV variables or Update your entire Forem instance with the latest changes.

You can also use t2d for post deploy configuration. Right now, I added only few very necessary options. This section of the t2d will update daily.

Repository

akhil-naidu / t2d

TUI for Dokku-CLI

What is t2d?

t2d aka Talk to Dokku; is a beautiful Terminal User Interface(TUI) powered by dokku. With t2d you will be able to deploy apps in most popular programming languages, link them to most popular databases and all that with almost zero configuration from your side. Apart from all these amazing features it will also save you money along the way.

Our Vision

We started to work on this because current deployment solutions were expensive or hard to configure. With t2d we plan to provide a solution where deployment experience is smooth, enjoyable and affordable.

What is Dokku?

Dokku is Docker-powered Heroku-like tool that allows you to deploy complex applications by simply pushing it via Git repository. Behind the scenes it runs on herokuish, which essentially is emulating same functionalities that you are using when you deploy your apps on Heroku. As it supports all the Heroku buildpacks, it…

View on GitHub

Top comments (19)

I'm Duy • Dec 9 '21

Hi Akhil Naidu,
I have a problem with my AWS S3 setup for storing images for my Forem. I changed the ENVs at t2d (bash whip-dokku.sh) :

AWS_ID=AKIAUYGNLIVKHNQWTT00
AWS_SECRET=WL0nIva9MgEBlDTNbwr8iOrlmzoZLS6u0CvSEhAB
AWS_BUCKET_NAME=myname-bucket
AWS_UPLOAD_REGION=ap-southeast-1

But when I upload the image in the article, it gives an error like the image below.

Can you guide me or let me know any documentation on how to do this. Thank you, have a good day.

Akhil Naidu • Dec 10 '21

Hey sure, but don't post your ENV variables in public. You can contact me via my slack channel: join.slack.com/t/leewardslope/shar...

hustlebiginc • Feb 10

It's amusing how, on a platform primarily catering to developers, there's such a lack of comprehensive guides or YouTube tutorials detailing the step-by-step process of installing Forem on a VPS. I find myself wishing for a simpler installation process akin to WordPress or a PHP script, especially given the complexity of coding in 2024. Many of us yearn for a user-friendly GUI that would allow for straightforward installation and configuration, sparing us from the frustration of dealing with lines of code that often lead to dead ends. Sometimes, it feels like we're left longing for an Apple-like approach to creating a social media network script, where usability is at the forefront

I'm Duy • Dec 11 '21

Thank sir. I'm just giving examples, they're not real :D

Nguyễn Trung Kien • Apr 20 '23

Please help me, i need to install forem in VPS without docker. Is there any newest way for 2023?

hustlebiginc • Feb 10

soverxxx • Jan 16 '23

Can you make video how to deploy fork version on the vds/vps?

Gilad Levi • Nov 16 '21 • Edited

Hi, Thank you, I managed to build Forem on my VPS using this method.
I have few quotations

Is there a way to use my own fork with this method so I will be able to do custom changes and update?
Is there a way to custom css without rebuilding?

leo852 • Jan 28 '22

Installation failed on ubuntu 20.04 fresh install

    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.0.0/gems/bootsnap-1.10.2/lib/bootsnap/load_path_cache/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:30:in `require'
    from bin/rails:5:in `<main>'

=====> End of nforem release task (9835d32da) output
! Execution of release task failed: ./release-tasks.sh

leo852 • Feb 15 '22

Tried on both KVM and LXD containers, both failed. Anything I need to especially take care of?

Using Ubuntu Server 20.04 Fresh Install

Akhil Naidu • Feb 15 '22

can you elaborate the error you are facing, may be via sharing the logs?

Bo • Mar 21 '23

can you elaborate the error you are facing, may be via sharing the logs?

Deny Putra Asharianto • Dec 2 '21

please update t2d to last version forem

Akhil Naidu • Dec 4 '21

Both the script and repo were updated.

You can use the existing script to install the latest version of Forem, or download the latest updated script to keep in sync with the official Forem repo.

Deny Putra Asharianto • Dec 4 '21 • Edited

you can check live site on crot.wikion.tech/users

Akhil Naidu • Dec 5 '21

Check it again

I'm Duy • Dec 25 '21 • Edited

Hi @akhilnaidu ,
How can I backup and restore my Forem on t2d. Or can I backup and restore my Forem in any other way. I want to move my Forem server to another provider. Please guide me. Thank