Caprover is essentially a self-hosted Heroku, along with the ability to one-click-deploy a Docker container.
The details for these one-click apps are in a .yml — one currently exists for Discourse, but this is based on Discourse version 2.4.4.
The installation relies on the environment variable ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes.
Installing a newer version of Discourse than version 2.4.4 simply doesn’t work: it throws errors asking for PostgreSQL and Redis passwords to be provided in env variables. When they are provided, it fails another way (I gave up trying, so can’t recall!).
Installing version 2.4.4 and trying to upgrade from the dashboard doesn’t work, as it throws the error that Sidekiq isn’t running, and you can’t open a shell in the application.
I don’t understand how Discourse, Docker or Caprover works enough to modify the .yml file to make it work with a newer version!
Does anyone have any pointers?
Any updates on this? I am also trying to install Discourse via Caprover, but only 2.4.4 works and uses the unsafe empty passwords. Whenever I try to use any other versions, it doesn’t work.
When they are provided, it fails another way (I gave up trying, so can’t recall!).
Funny that I went the exact same route, trying a newer installation, setting postgres password env variables, trying to update postgres pass in container, yet it still didn’t work…
It sounds much more difficult than a standard install. What is appealing to you about this setup? Do you want to run multiple web sites on a single host?
Also contacting the Caprover people doesn’t do much, as they are only handling the platform itself, each app developer must provide their own one-click configuration file based on Docker containers. Also, because 2.4.4. works, I assume it should be easy to figure out what changed and fix it for the latest version?
Third parties create packages to encourage users to utilize their product, service or platform.
As you’re experiencing those packages aren’t well-maintained. We can’t really assume any of the technical debt they incur, but we can help you install discourse in a way that will continue to work in the future.
You’re welcome to make that assumption. Years of assisting users here has shown that these packages can and will break in unpredictable ways. It’s really between you, caprover and the package developer though.
I understand, I am an app developer myself, but there are definitely ways users can install the app easier. This is why, for example, you do provide a Docker image, even though Docker is also a third-party. I also think I saw on DigitalOcean a one-click-app for Discourse. I do believe it is up to the developers to provide various ways the users can install their product and support different platforms.
Yes, things break over time if the developer doesn’t support them, this is why I think it’s up to the developer to create and maintain them, and offer the users an easy way to install their product on various environments.
Isn’t this the same like the developer providing a build for Windows, one for Linux? Yes, the developer can say we only support Linux and force the users to use that if they want the product, but they could also add support for other platforms.
Also, from what I saw so far with CapRover, everything that has to be done is to only create a correct yml file, that is unlikely to break over time unless the product itself (or technologies it uses) receive breaking updates.