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macOS

Required Software

First, install the following programs:

Installing NodeBB

With mongoDB

The following is an abbreviation of the official MongoDB installation guide for macOS. If you're having issues, fall back to using that guide instead.

Homebrew requires the Xcode command-line tools from Apple's Xcode.

Install the Xcode command-line tools by running the following command in your macOS Terminal:

xcode-select --install

Install mongoDB with homebrew by entering the following commands into terminal:

brew tap mongodb/brew

brew update

brew install [email protected]

Verify installation of MongoDB. You should have version 7.0:

mongod --version

Start mongodb server, in your terminal enter:

brew services start [email protected]

Configure MongoDB

General MongoDB administration is done through the MongoDB Shell mongo. A default installation of MongoDB listens on port 27017 and is accessible locally. Access the shell:

mongosh

Switch to the built-in admin database:

use admin

Create an administrative user (the is different from the nodebb user we'll create later). Replace the placeholder <Enter a secure password> with your own selected password. Be sure that the < and > are also not left behind.

db.createUser( { user: "admin", pwd: "<Enter a secure password>", roles: [ { role: "root", db: "admin" } ] } )

This user is scoped to the admin database to manage MongoDB once authorization has been enabled.

To initially create a database that doesn't exist simply use it. Add a new database called nodebb:

use nodebb

The database will be created and context switched to nodebb. Next create the nodebb user with the appropriate privileges:

db.createUser( { user: "nodebb", pwd: "<Enter a secure password>", roles: [ { role: "readWrite", db: "nodebb" }, { role: "clusterMonitor", db: "admin" } ] } )

The readWrite permission allows NodeBB to store and retrieve data from the nodebb database. The clusterMonitor permission provides NodeBB read-only access to query database server statistics which are then exposed in the NodeBB Administrative Control Panel (ACP).

Exit the Mongo Shell:

quit()

Enable database authorization in the MongoDB configuration file /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf by appending the following lines:

security:
  authorization: enabled

(Hint: To find that file, navigate to root folder in Finder and enter shift + cmd + .. This reveals, hidden system folders and /usr should appear.)

Restart MongoDB and verify the administrative user created earlier can connect:

brew services restart mongodb/brew/[email protected]
mongosh "mongodb://localhost:27017" --username admin --authenticationDatabase admin

If everything is configured correctly the Mongo Shell will connect. Exit the shell.

Or with redis server

Install redis with homebrew:

brew install redis

Start redis server, in your terminal enter:

redis-server

Installing NodeBB

After you've installed MongoDB, we can continue with NodeBB. Clone NodeBB into an appropriate location. Here the local nodebb directory is used, though any destination is fine:

git clone -b v3.x https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB.git nodebb
cd nodebb

This clones the NodeBB repository from the v3.x branch to the nodebb directory. A list of alternative branches are available in the NodeBB Branches GitHub page, but only the versioned branches are stable.

NodeBB ships with a command line utility which allows for several functions. We'll first use it to setup NodeBB. This will install modules from npm and then enter the setup utilty.

./nodebb setup

If you setup with mongodb:

A series of questions will be prompted with defaults in parentheses. The default settings are for a local server listening on the default port 4567 with a MongoDB instance listening on port 27017. When prompted for the mongodb username and password, enter nodebb, and the password that you configured earlier. Once connectivity to the database is confirmed the setup will prompt that initial user setup is running. Since this is a fresh NodeBB install a forum administrator must be configured. Enter the desired administrator information. This will culminate in a NodeBB Setup Completed message.

If you setup with redis server:

You may leave all of the options as default, except "Which database to use (mongo)", which you should answer with "redis". Once connectivity to the database is confirmed the setup will prompt that initial user setup is running. Since this is a fresh NodeBB install a forum administrator must be configured. Enter the desired administrator information. This will culminate in a NodeBB Setup Completed message.

Finally, you can use the cli utility to start NodeBB:

./nodebb start

You can visit your forum at http://localhost:4567/