LiquidFeedback Installation Instructions

This document gives a short outline about the necessary steps to setup a LiquidFeedback system.

1. Install necessary dependencies

If you're using a Debian system, make sure that the following packages are installed:

build-essential
postgresql
postgresql-server-dev-12
libbsd-dev
lua5.3
liblua5.3-dev
mercurial
bmake
lsb-release
imagemagick

If you're using any other Linux distribution or BSD system, install the necessary software components accordingly.

2. Ensure that the user account of your webserver has access to the database

The useraccount of Moonbridge server process needs to have access to your PostgreSQL installation. This is done by executing PostgreSQL's shell command createuser as database superuser (usually pgsql, or postgres for Debian installations):

su - postgres -s $SHELL
createuser --no-superuser --createdb --no-createrole www-data
exit

3. Install and configure LiquidFeedback-Core

We recommend to create the database with the same user as your webserver (usually www-data) to avoid having to setup database privileges.

The example below installs the database as www-data and stores the three executables lf_update, lf_update_issue_order and lf_update_suggestion_order in the directory /opt/liquid_feedback_core/:

# Download and unpack LiquidFeedback-Core
# from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/backend/
make
mkdir /opt/liquid_feedback_core
cp core.sql lf_update lf_update_issue_order lf_update_suggestion_order /opt/liquid_feedback_core
su www-data -s $SHELL
cd /opt/liquid_feedback_core
createdb liquid_feedback
psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -f core.sql liquid_feedback

A simple configuration may look as follows:

psql liquid_feedback

INSERT INTO system_setting (member_ttl) VALUES ('1 year');
INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 hour', 20, 6);
INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (false, '1 day', 80, 12);
INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 hour', 200, 60);
INSERT INTO contingent (polling, time_frame, text_entry_limit, initiative_limit) VALUES (true, '1 day', 800, 120);

Create an invite code for an admin user:

INSERT INTO member (invite_code, admin) VALUES ('sesam', true);

Exit the psql interface by typing:

\q

And don't forget to quit the www-data shell:

exit

4. Install Moonbridge

# Download and unpack Moonbridge
# from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/moonbridge/
pmake MOONBR_LUA_PATH=/opt/moonbridge/?.lua
mkdir /opt/moonbridge
cp moonbridge /opt/moonbridge/
cp moonbridge_http.lua /opt/moonbridge/

5. Install WebMCP

# Download and unpack WebMCP
# from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/webmcp/
make
mkdir /opt/webmcp
cp -RL framework/* /opt/webmcp/

6. Install the LiquidFeedback-Frontend

Unpack source tree into appropriate directory, e.g. /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend:

# Download LiquidFeedback-Frontend
# from http://www.public-software-group.org/pub/projects/liquid_feedback/frontend/
mv liquid_feedback_frontend-vX.X.X /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend

Make tmp/ directory of LiquidFeedback-Frontend writable for webserver:

chown www-data /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/tmp

7. Configure mail system

It may be necessary to configure your server's mail system.

8. Configure the LiquidFeedback-Frontend

cd /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/config
cp example.lua myconfig.lua
# edit myconfig.lua according to your needs

9. Setup regular execution of `lf_update` and related commands

The executables lf_update, lf_update_issue_order, and lf_update_suggestion_order must be executed regularly. This may be achieved by creating a file named /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh with the following contents:

#!/bin/sh

while true; do
  nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
  nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_issue_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
  nice /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update_suggestion_order dbname=liquid_feedback 2>&1 | logger -t "lf_core"
  sleep 5
done

This file must be marked as executable:

chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_updated

And this file should be started automatically at system boot. On systems with systemd, create a file named /etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_core.service:

[Unit]
Description=LiquidFeedback Core update

[Service]
User=www-data
ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_core/lf_update.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service:

systemctl start liquid_feedback_core
systemctl enable liquid_feedback_core

10. Start the frontend

After lf_update has been executed at least once, you should be able to use your LiquidFeedback system.

Create a file named /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh:

#/bin/bash

/opt/moonbridge/moonbridge /opt/webmcp/bin/mcp.lua /opt/webmcp/ /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/ main myconfig  2>&1 | logger -t "lf_frontend"

Make it executable:

chmod +x /opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh

On systemd based systems, create a file named /etc/systemd/system/liquid_feedback_frontend.service:

[Unit]
Description=LiquidFeedback Frontend

[Service]
User=www-data
ExecStart=/opt/liquid_feedback_frontend/run.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target