etherpad

My own etherpad configuration built using advice from HowToForge and DigitalOcean.

Instructions

MariaDB

Follow MariaDB instructions here

1. apt update -y
2. apt install gnupg2 git unzip libssl-dev pkg-config gcc g++ make build-essential -y
3. apt install mariadb-server
4. mysql
   1. create database etherpad;
   2. grant all privileges on etherpad.* to etherpad@localhost identified by 'PASSWORD'; with your own, secure password in place of PASSWORD
   3. flush privileges;
   4. exit;

Node.js

Follow Node.js instructions from here.

1. curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_17.x -o nodesource_setup.sh Note the updated version. If facing issues, 17 and 14 both worked for me previously.
2. bash nodesource_setup.sh
3. apt install nodejs returns something like v17...

Etherpad

Install and configure Etherpad via instructions from same site above

1. adduser --home /opt/etherpad --shell /bin/bash etherpad and set a secure password when prompted
2. install -d -m 755 -o etherpad -g etherpad /opt/etherpad
3. su - etherpad
4. git clone --branch master https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite.git
5. cd etherpad-lite
6. bin/run.sh
7. vim settings.json
8. Remove the following lines

"dbType" : "dirty",
"dbSettings" : {
                 "filename" : "var/dirty.db"
               },

9. Change the MySQL settings to match previous set up

"dbType" : "mysql",
"dbSettings" : {
  "user":     "etherpad",
  "host":     "localhost",
  "port":     3306,
  "password": "PASSWORD", #change this to match your secure password!
  "database": "etherpad",
  "charset":  "utf8mb4"
},

10. Change the trustProxy line: "trustProxy": true,
11. Define a password for admin user:

"users": {
  "admin": {
    "password": "SUPERSECUREPASSWORD#CHANGEME",
    "is_admin": true
  },

12. ./bin/installDeps.sh and ignore any errors. They shouldn't cause any real issues for a personal use server, although you'll want to fix the security issues if this is used in a more sensitive context
13. exit

Systemd Service

Create systemd service.

1. Use file and follow instructions inside.

Nginx

Set up nginx

1. sudo apt install nginx
2. sudo ufw allow "Nginx Full"
3. Set up [etherpad.conf] file as instructed in file. Make sure to replace e.mysterylie.xyz with your own preferred domain, for example etherpad.example.com
4. sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/etherpad.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
5. sudo nginx -t to test your configuration file and look for "ok" and "successful" at end of output
6. sudo systemctl reload nginx

Certbot and SSL

Install certbot and SSL

1. sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
2. sudo certbot --nginx -d e.mysterylie.xyz (but update the domain to match the one you used in the previous step)
3. When asked, choose option 2 to redirect all traffic to HTTPS. You can change this back if you run into issues later.
4. Reload your site and make sure you see the lock!! If you see the lock, you're done!