@neounix I appreciate that incredibly in-depth response but it seems most of the issues I’m running into are a result of not being able to find a suitable updated tutorial. Several tutorials here say to enable SSL for Discourse in the yml file and one such tutorial says that I don’t need to add proxy information to my VirtualHost files because Let’s Encrypt should do it automatically. Your examples are wildly different even from my defaults making them just as confusing as trying to blend a CentOS configuration with Ubuntu.
You’re absolutely right in saying that understanding the basics goes a long way but the problem is the basics aren’t properly covered and when they are, they’re dated from three years ago and without any consideration that someone uses Apache instead of Nginx or Ubuntu instead of CentOS. It’s worth noting too that Discourse is the only reason I have any use for Docker.
After spending four days just trying to get the application installed alongside Apache, I’m done. Free or not, this isn’t worth the headache and I’m not going to continue combing the forums just to keep finding copy/pasted links to the same two outdated and incomplete tutorials. I’ve never had a frustrating experience with simply installing forum software until Discourse. Speaks volumes. XenForo and Invision are two platforms I have immeasurable experience with and they’re a cakewalk to install/use.
I truly do appreciate the effort you put into your response but I’m not going to ask you to do the work for me, nor should I have to if proper documentation existed. It’s simply amazing to me that my specific circumstances, which aren’t so specific to me, have not been highlighted in a new tutorial that would make this process easier for new users.
Whatever the case, best of luck to you.