Helpy on Ubuntu 18.04 with Docker and the one line Helpy Installer

This article outlines the steps to install Helpy on a brand new Ubuntu 18.04 server or VPS. It covers installing Docker and then Helpy with the one-line installation script. It does not describe how to secure or otherwise protect your new system.

1. Install Docker

We will first install Docker and Docker-compose on the new system. Run the following commands to update your system and install Docker. If Docker is already installed on your system, skip to step #2.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common git
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu bionic stable"
sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-compose

2. Install Helpy

It is possible to install and launch a test image in one command. This will run a script that prompts you whether to install the open source version or cloud version, and what you would like to set your database password to. Note: you will need a purchase key to install the cloud version.

It will take a few minutes for the docker container comes up.

bash -c "$(wget -O - https://helpy.io/scripts/launch.sh)"

To update configuration, run the below command. This will do the full installation of Helpy, but will not start the image, instead allowing you to update configuration as needed.

bash -c "$(wget -O - https://helpy.io/scripts/setup.sh)"

Once you have installed, to run the instance:

cd helpy
docker-compose up -d

Remember to edit Caddyfile if you need automatic SSL. if you want Helpy to connect to your IMAP server, you need to add following just before last line

bundle exec rake helpy:mailman mail_interval=60&