Install a Discourse development environment on Windows

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Hello,

I want to try getting started with developing plugins for Discourse.

I wanted to know if the documentation for Windows is still valid since it dates from 2017 :sweat_smile:

Otherwise, do you have another solution to suggest?

Thank you

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If it doesn’t work, you can run a Ubuntu/Debian-based OS VM via VirtualBox or similar, and use Install Discourse on Ubuntu or Debian for Development. I ran Linux Mint on VirtualBox on Windows after running into some problems with using the WSL instructions.

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I would recommend using WSL2, for sure! (and @NateDhaliwal link is perfect for that)

You can also try Install Discourse for development using Docker but I personally use @NateDhaliwal’s suggestion.

Doing this without Docker results is a faster local install, but it’s more maintenance.

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I’m also using WSL2. Note that the instructions posted by Nate also apply to a WSL2 setup if you use Ubuntu was WSL distribution.

Just remember to start postgres and redis when WSL has just been started.
I usually start my dev environment in WSL using a shell script. Something like:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

cd "$(dirname "$0")"

export RAILS_ENV=development
export TRACK_REQUESTS=true
export UNICORN_LISTENER=localhost:3000
export DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME=localhost

sudo service postgresql start
sudo service redis-server start

bundle install
pnpm install

LOAD_PLUGINS=1 ./bin/rails db:migrate

./bin/ember-cli -u
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Thank you for your help!!

I will try the experiment

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