Does anyone have a ‘tried and tested’ set of instructions of how to install Discourse on a Plesk server?
My Plesk Server has a Docker option, would that help? (see image)
Thanks in advance.
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Note that this kind of installation is not supported so if you have trouble you are on your own. You can always ask for help here, but it is not said that you receive it.
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Daniela.
Thanks for replying, it’s appreciated.
Yes, I’ve already read that thread, it was very fragmented and seemed fraught with frustration.
I will try setting it up on a test server just in case I make a mess of it.
Which of these many Docker images is the best one to use? (see image)
Thanks.
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The Official Discourse Image
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OK thanks, I will report back my findings for the benefit of others.
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And that is what you can expect as you do the same.
The one that you build yourself with launcher.
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Would it not be in Discourse’s own self-interests to release fully tested, comprehensive installation instructions for all the main platforms? e.g. cPanel, Plesk, AWS Lightsail etc, The more active installations the better.
Unless the only money they make is from installation fees?
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The provided instructions work fine on all the major VPS providers that don’t ship a *panel with their server.
Discourse should really be kept on it’s own server due to the nature of application.
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It would not. They provide exactly one way to install Discourse and it works for people who know nothing about system administration. If you want to do it any other way, you are mostly on your own. Installing with Plesk (or cPanel) makes the job much, much, harder, and I suspect that not every Plesk is the same across providers, so even supporting that would be very difficult. The last client that wanted me to do an installation with Plesk I bid an additional $500 and was relieved that they didn’t take me up on it.
(Installing on Lightsail is a standard install and works just fine.)
They make money only from hosting fees. For the past 3 years they have made no money from installations.
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Thanks for replying, it’s genuinely appreciated.
So what I am trying to achieve is:
A WordPress Website and a Discourse forum both installed on the same server.
Ideally as a domain and a subdomain, respectively.
I am just stating the obvious here, Bitnami offer:
WordPress
Discourse
But not both together?!? A lost opportunity?
I don’t really care about Plesk. What I am after is Discourse.
If that means provisioning another machine, so be it.
The official AWS AMI for Discourse is far too expensive at €49.24 p/m
https:// aws.bitnami. com/vms/new?image_id=iL2LqoI
(I added spaces to get around the 2 link, new user limit rule, remove to visit)
It’s using, IMHO, an overpowered EC2 instance.
I really like AWS Lightsail because it’s affordable.
Could I install both WordPress & Discourse on a Lightsail instance?
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Allow me to innoculate you against what I am not saying.
I am not here to bash Discourse.
I think its UI/UX is second to none.
I understand Discourse needs to make money, otherwise, the development would cease.
Docker abstracts away the SysAdmin, that’s only a good thing.
I will keep grinding away for a solution that fits.
Thanks for your help.
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Oh. That’s a whole other thing, and quite do-able. Search results for 'discourse apache' - Discourse Meta has a bunch of topics.
Oh, then I’ve been answering the wrong question. 
For $1500 I’ll install as many Discourse and Wordpress and Ghost sites as you want on a single server with traefik on the front end doing https. You can even have Discourse in a sub-folder (which I really don’t recommend, but a client wants it so I’ve got that scripted.
But the search above links to a couple howto documents that should get you where you need to be for free.
Hi,
I’ll try not to be dramatic.
It is totally possible to run WordPress & Discourse on the same physical server through the use of a simple reverse proxy application e.g. nginx in front of discourse
I’ve set up over a dozen installs that way for various projects & clients.
Process is very simple:
- Install discourse on an adequately sized VPS
- Configure discourse to use external Nginx Reverse Proxy
- Install WordPress as usual and making another server block in nginx config to handle wordpress traffic.
- Profit.
Although I do offer such installs for fairly reasonable rates but You’re always welcome to DIY and I’ll be happy to help you along the adventures if You get stuck.
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Gentlemen thank you both for your kind help, it’s appreciated.
To give you a better understanding. I use to be a web developer and I occasionally make WordPress websites for clients, as and when they crop up. Which is why I have an old Plesk server hanging around. I wanted to try and squeeze this project onto it as well to save money, but I am more than happy to provision a new machine especially for this website, as it’s my own pet project. It will probably take a couple of years before it makes me any money, so I can’t afford any developer fees.
I’ve never set up a Discourse forum before, no one has ever asked me to do so. I’ve no intention of becoming a ‘Discord Developer’ This would be a one-off just for myself and six months from now I will have likely forgotten everything I did to set it up in the first place 
So any links are really appreciated.
Thanks very much.
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FWIW I manage two Discourse installs linked to WordPress sites w/ the WP Discourse plugin, but on separate servers, works great. I started out just knowing WordPress so I can see why it feels like it should maybe be simpler to just use one server for both, but I think actually not the case.
If the main concern is cost, keep in mind a dedicated server for Discourse on Digital Ocean starts at just $5 / month. That’s what I opted to use for my own small side project which doesn’t make any revenue, but the way I’d think about it, if it saves even a few hours of your own time per year vs. some more complex setup, it’s worth the relatively small cost!
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First, Please get through the official installation guide for Discourse.
https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md
Then, There are plenty of good tutorials which explain how to set up nginx in front of discourse. Feel free to use the search button.
Running other websites on the same machine as Discourse
The last part is WordPress so You just go to the usual /var/www/html directory, wget the latest wordpress package and then extract it.
Install mariadb & php-fpm on the server and add a simple nginx server block that uses /var/www/html as root and forwards requests to php-fpm
Once that’s done, You should be able to access wordpress on your fqdn to complete set up.
This way, both the applications are installed. Now you can install the wp-discourse plugin to connect wp & discourse together.
If You need to clear any doubts before you begin, I’ll be happy to help.
Just so that You know, If you can reformat your server and get rid of plesk then You can save up the cost and get a working set up in about 2-3 hours if you have basic understanding of ssh.
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Sorry for my slow reply.
Halloween has interrupted proceedings.
I will attempt installation tomorrow and will report back.
Thanks, everyone for your help, it’s appreciated.
Happy Halloween
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