How to Install the Etherpad Collaborative Web Editor on Rocky Linux 8 (2024)

Etherpad is a free, open-source, web-based file editing application that allows you to collaborate on a file in actual time. It is written in Nodejs and supports thousands of simultaneous real-time users. It has data export capabilities and runs on your server, under your control. It allows authors and editors to see all of the participants’ edits in real-time.

In this post, we will show you how to install Etherpad on Rocky Linux 8.

Step 1 – Install and Configure Database

First, enable the MariaDB version 10.04 repository using the following command:

dnf update -ydnf module enable mariadb:10.5

Next, install MariaDB 10.5 with the following command:

dnf install mariadb-server -y

After the installation, start and enable the MariaDB service using the command below:

systemctl start mariadb systemctl enable mariadb

Next, log in to the MariaDB shell with the following command:

mysql

Once you are connected, create a database and user for Etherpad:

create database `etherpaddb`;create user 'etherpaduser'@'localhost' identified by 'yourpassword';

Next, grant all the privileges to the etherpad database:

grant CREATE,ALTER,SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE on `etherpaddb`.* to 'etherpaduser'@'localhost';

Next, flush the privileges and exit from MariaDB with the following command:

Step 2 – Install Node.js

Etherpad is written in Node.js, so it must be installed on your server.

First, enable the Node.js repository using the following command:

curl --silent --location https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | bash -

Next, install the Node.js with the following command:

dnf install nodejs git -y

Once Node.js is installed, verify the Node.js version using the following command:

node --version

You will get the following output:

v18.19.0

Step 3 – Install Etherpad on Rocky Linux 8

First, create a dedicated user to run Etherpad:

adduser --system --home /opt/etherpad --create-home --user-group etherpad

Next, switch the user to etherpad and download the latest version of Etherpad with the following command:

su - etherpadcd /opt/etherpadgit clone --branch master git://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite.git

Next, change the directory to the downloaded directory and run Etherpad with the following command:

cd etherpad-lite./src/bin/run.sh

If everything is fine, you will get the following output:

[2021-12-05 11:19:21.804] [INFO] server - Installed plugins: [2021-12-05 11:19:21.805] [INFO] console - Report bugs at https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/issues[2021-12-05 11:19:21.806] [INFO] console - Your Etherpad version is 1.8.16 (142a47c)[2021-12-05 11:19:23.514] [INFO] http - HTTP server listening for connections[2021-12-05 11:19:23.514] [INFO] console - You can access your Etherpad instance at http://0.0.0.0:9001/[2021-12-05 11:19:23.514] [WARN] console - Admin username and password not set in settings.json. To access admin please uncomment and edit "users" in settings.json[2021-12-05 11:19:23.514] [WARN] console - Etherpad is running in Development mode. This mode is slower for users and less secure than production mode. You should set the NODE_ENV environment variable to production by using: export NODE_ENV=production[2021-12-05 11:19:23.514] [INFO] server - Etherpad is running

Press CTRL+C to stop the Etherpad.

Step 4 – Create a Systemd Service File for Etherpad

Next, create a systemd service file to manage the Etherpad service:

nano /etc/systemd/system/etherpad.service

Add the following lines:

[Unit]Description=Etherpad, a collaborative web editor.After=syslog.target network.target[Service]Type=simpleUser=etherpadGroup=etherpadWorkingDirectory=/opt/etherpadEnvironment=NODE_ENV=productionExecStart=/usr/bin/node --experimental-worker /opt/etherpad/etherpad-lite/node_modules/ep_etherpad-lite/node/server.jsRestart=always[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and close the file, then reload the systemd daemon using the command below:

systemctl daemon-reload

Next, start and enable the Etherpad service using the following command:

systemctl start etherpadsystemctl enable etherpad

You can check the status of Etherpad using the following command:

systemctl status etherpad

You should see the following output:

● etherpad.service - Etherpad, a collaborative web editor. Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/etherpad.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled) Active: active (running) since Sun 2021-12-05 11:22:04 UTC; 5s ago Main PID: 13518 (node) Tasks: 13 (limit: 11411) Memory: 104.9M CGroup: /system.slice/etherpad.service └─13518 /usr/bin/node --experimental-worker /opt/etherpad/etherpad-lite/node_modules/ep_etherpad-lite/node/server.jsDec 05 11:22:04 rockylinux node[13518]: DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME: 'latin1',Dec 05 11:22:04 rockylinux node[13518]: DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME: 'latin1_swedish_ci'Dec 05 11:22:04 rockylinux node[13518]: } utf8mb4 latin1_swedish_ciDec 05 11:22:04 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:04.915] [INFO] plugins - Running npm to get a list of installed plugins...Dec 05 11:22:08 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:08.268] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_etherpad-lite...Dec 05 11:22:08 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:08.270] [INFO] plugins - Loaded 1 pluginsDec 05 11:22:08 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:08.932] [INFO] APIHandler - Api key file read from: "/opt/etherpad/etherpad-lite/AP>Dec 05 11:22:09 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:09.000] [INFO] server - Installed plugins:Dec 05 11:22:09 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:09.001] [INFO] console - Report bugs at https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/issu>Dec 05 11:22:09 rockylinux node[13518]: [2021-12-05 11:22:09.002] [INFO] console - Your Etherpad version is 1.8.16 (142a47c)

Step 5 – Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy for Etherpad

Next, you will need to install and configure Nginx as a reverse proxy for Etherpad.

First, install Nginx with the following command:

dnf install nginx -y

Once Nginx is installed, start and enable the Nginx service using the command below:

systemctl start nginxsystemctl enable nginx

Next, create an Nginx virtual host configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/etherpad.conf

Add the following configuration:

server { listen 80; server_name etherpad.example.com; access_log /var/log/nginx/etherpad.access.log; error_log /var/log/nginx/etherpad.error.log; location / { rewrite ^/$ / break; rewrite ^/locales/(.*) /locales/$1 break; rewrite ^/locales.json /locales.json break; rewrite ^/admin(.*) /admin/$1 break; rewrite ^/p/(.*) /p/$1 break; rewrite ^/static/(.*) /static/$1 break; rewrite ^/pluginfw/(.*) /pluginfw/$1 break; rewrite ^/javascripts/(.*) /javascripts/$1 break; rewrite ^/socket.io/(.*) /socket.io/$1 break; rewrite ^/ep/(.*) /ep/$1 break; rewrite ^/minified/(.*) /minified/$1 break; rewrite ^/api/(.*) /api/$1 break; rewrite ^/ro/(.*) /ro/$1 break; rewrite ^/error/(.*) /error/$1 break; rewrite ^/jserror(.*) /jserror$1 break; rewrite ^/redirect(.*) /redirect$1 break; rewrite /favicon.ico /favicon.ico break; rewrite /robots.txt /robots.txt break; rewrite /(.*) /p/$1; proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9001; proxy_buffering off; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_pass_header Server; # proxy headers proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_http_version 1.1; }}

Save and close the file, then edit the nginx.conf file and define hash_bucket size:

nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Add the following line below the line http {:

server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;

Save and close the file, then verify Nginx for any syntax errors:

nginx -t

You should see the following output:

nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is oknginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Finally, restart Nginx to apply the configuration changes:

systemctl restart nginx

Step 6 – Access Etherpad Web Interface

Now, open your favorite web browser and access the Etherpad web interface using the URL http://etherpad.example.com. You should see the following page:

Provide your pad name and click on the OK button. You should see the following page:

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Etherpad with Nginx as a reverse proxy on Rocky Linux 8. You can now use Etherpad to manage your content easily from the central location. Try it on dedicated hosting from Atlantic.Net!