Best way to install DreamFactory on a VPS

GitHub Installers
1

Hello,
I’m just going through the docs and and trying to figure which is the best way to install DreamFactory. I’m currently on Ubuntu 14.04 which has a percon DB.

Went through this article - https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/DreamFactory/Installation#Minimum_Requirements

I have very basic doubts such as -

  1. What exactly is the Bitnami installer? I know you can install one click apps using them, it’s with their platform, connected with certain hosters like DO, AWS, etc. Is this installer supposed to work with all hosts?

  2. In the IaaS, i don’t see the name of my Host (OVH), does this mean it is not compatible with it?

What do you recommend is the best way to install it on my OVH Ubuntu 14.04 VPS?
Sorry for the noob question!
Many thanks!

2

…Just followed the Steps here - https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory

And after following everything, when i open websiteurl.com/dreamfactory/public … i just see a blank screen.

dreamfactory error.png765×357 17.2 KB

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Edit - Seems i’m not the only one - https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory/issues/62

1 Like
3

Hey @stevejohnson,

We recommend installing through Bitnami, it’s super easy. :slight_smile: You can use an array of hosts: https://bitnami.com/stack/dreamfactory/cloud

DreamFactory supports your local hosts: https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/DreamFactory/Installation

As for your error: This error is usually caused by improper migration, or improper file permissions. If you turn on DEBUG mode in your .env file you can get more detailed information in your DreamFactory log.

Since this issue has not been determined to be a bug, but rather falls into the category of installation troubleshooting.

Thanks,
@AlexBowen

1 Like
4

Hi Alex, thank you for the reply.

Q1.) Could you tell me where can i find this .env file. I tried looking but i can’t find it,

Q2.) BTW, following are the hosts displayed on the link below

1040×484 39 KB

Does this mean these are the only hosts supported for Bitnami installations?
Thanks!

5

Those hosts in your screen shot are through Bitnami.

See other ones we support here: https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/DreamFactory/Installation

You can find the .env file in the install directory.

6

Thanks, since i don’t use any of them i guess i will go with the github standard method.
Can you answer this please -

Thank you

7

Hey @stevejohnson

Thanks,
@AlexBowen

8

Hi @AlexBowen ,
I can’t find the install directory either. Either i’m doing something wrong, or i’m missing something very silly.
Here is the fill list of files and folders i have in the folder where DF is installed

1 Like
9

It’s automatically generated when you run php artisan dreamfactory:setup

It means that you haven’t finished your install: GitHub - dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory: DreamFactory API Management Platform

10

Hi,
This is what i get when i run -
php artisan dreamfactory:setup

It seems i already did that the first time i installed
…still no .env file or install directory

1 Like
11

Hey @stevejohnson, just checking in to see if you found a solution?

Perhaps, you can try a fresh instal and see if that works?

Thanks,
@AlexBowen

12

I just did a fresh install. And it still does not work… i still see a blank screen.
I really recommend you to review the github documentation, it is very blunt.

Trust me, there are MORE people giving up on dreamfactory, as compared to people who use it - for simple reasons like ‘not being able to install’.

1 Like
13

Thanks @stevejohnson for the feedback.

Which areas exactly would you think need an edit? The more specific you can be, the better we can help and update.

This is very important to us, so I appreciate your help and patience around this!

Can you please send me a screen shot of what you are seeing, and mean by “blank screen”? What step are you on, or have you completed all of the steps? What OS are you using?

Thanks,
@AlexBowen

14

Hi,

I have deleted that server config, can’t take screenshot now, but the screen looks exactly like the shots i have already posted above.

Just to be clear, i’m taking about this tutorial - GitHub - dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory: DreamFactory API Management Platform

Firstly, it says -

Check our wiki installation page for the minimum software and extensions required for your system to successfully install and run DreamFactory 2.0.

Here, It says -

The following php modules are also required for basic installation:
curl
mbstring
zip
sqlite
mongodb
Other modules/drivers will be required depending on which databases you intend to use.

I was just checking the list of extensions, and it was a HUGE list. Some are “apt-get install mbstring” and some are “apt-get install php-mbstring”. Plus the dependencies and related stuff is very complex. Since dreamfactory will require only specific extensions, maybe you can write the exact name of the extensions… with relation to the most popular linux servers like ubuntu, centos atleast.

Secondly, it says -

Clone this repository to a directory on your system -
git clone GitHub - dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory: DreamFactory API Management Platform ~/df2

What this does, is, make the folder df2 inside the root directory. A normal reader would usually just copy paste this as it is (you can’t stop people from doing that, if you don’t put notes). Later, the public folder inside this folder needs to be either moved to the web server’s (this is mentioned at the end). I’m not so clear whether it’s a good idea to start the installation on the web server’s public folder, or the default df2 folder. It would be nice if this can be stated clearly step by step.

Then it says -

composer install --no-dev

But actually you need to install composer first… not mentioned in the tutorial.

Then this is the part where i mess up -

php artisan dreamfactory:setup

So i can’t really say what is going wrong from here.
Maybe someone from dreamfactory can personally try and install the most common OSs (ubuntu, centos, debian) … and see what common errors are there. They will be common for everyone.

I know documentation is hard, and it’s pain to update after considering all the dependencies. But even small notes like “change directory to this now”, and “special note for ubuntu 14.04” would be very helpful.

Check out how DigitalOcean’s and Linode’s documentations are - to the point. And even the most basic user can follow along… and it adds to reputation. I’m a little surprised that they don’t have DF’s tutorial yet.

If there are 100,000 devs using dreapfactory currently, there probably are 800,000 giving up just because they can’t install it on a standard VPS on DigitalOcean or Linode. I don’t mind helping is this if you require, & i understand DreamFactory is opensource.

1 Like
15

Hi @stevejohnson, sorry to see you are having difficulty installing DreamFactory. The quick setup instruction on the GitHub repo is meant for quickly installing DreamFactory and trying it out using PHP built-in web server. And the instruction also assumes that you are familiar with composer, git and the basics of how to setup a web and database server. For an in depth installation guide please see this https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/DreamFactory/Installation. If any of the instruction on this page is not clear please feel free to ask here. Hope this will help you get going.

1 Like
16

Hi aislam,

The link here Installation - DreamFactory . My particular question is specific to the github installer. Yes i did follow that tutorial, most of it is the same as the github, with some additions.

I have followed it, and i still cannot finish the installation. I don’t know what exactly to ask as i don’t know what might be going wrong.
The above messages contain the screenshots and the details what i’ve seen during the installation. Could you tell how can i troubleshoot this?

Thanks.

1 Like
17

@stevejohnson try the instructions here.

These instructions cover Ubuntu 16.04 which installs PHP 7 by default from the apt repositories.

I would encourage starting fresh on Ubuntu 16.04 box or if there is some requirement to use Ubuntu 14.04 you can add the ppa for PHP 7 using the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then:

sudo apt-get install php7.0

The same modules will be required for install using PHP 7 you can install them as follows:

sudo apt-get install git curl php7.0-common php7.0-cli php7.0-curl php7.0-json php7.0-gd

and:

sudo apt-get install php7.0-mysqlnd php7.0-sqlite php7.0-pgsql php7.0-sybase

Then I would resume with the instructions I recommended above as they offer a more end-to-end/step-by-step flow.

If PHP 5 is already installed on the system you can switch between the two PHPs using the following:

sudo a2dismod php5.6

sudo a2enmod php7.0

sudo service apache2 restart

and vice versa. Verify your PHP version with: php --version

Hope this helps!