Request a Droplet

Droplets are pre-built server instances at Digital Ocean which allow to quickly and easily set up apps like Filtered with minimal effort. Alternately, you can install from scratch.

Here’s how to run from a Droplet:

Sign up for Digital Ocean if you don’t already have an account. Email me with your Digital Ocean account (email address). During the month of January and February I may not be able to respond very quickly – I apologize for any delay. You can also install from scratch using the link above.

Once the Filtered droplet is in your account, you need to customize passwords and run the database migration script.

Setting Up Your Server

Digital Ocean will have provided you with a username (root) and password. Using Terminal on Mac OS X or an SSH application on Windows like Putty, you can log into your server.

ssh root@your-ip-address e.g. ssh root@161.242.200.199

or

ssh root@filtered.yourdomain.com

If you plan to keep your droplet, you will want to take steps to better secure it. I provide examples for using key-based logins here (Secure Your Instance) and turning off root login – which is more vulnerable to hacking. Digital Ocean also has a helpful tutorial.

Configure MySQL Access

Definitely change your MySQL administrator from password to something new:

sudo mysqladmin -u root -p password

Now, sign into MySQL with your new password:

mysql -u root -p

Reset the password for our filtered database user and re-grant privileges:

set password for user_filtered_11@localhost= PASSWORD("your-choice");
grant all privileges on db_filtered.* TO user_filtered_11@localhost
IDENTIFIED BY 'same-choice';
flush privileges;
exit;

Update the Apache Site Definition for Filtered

We need to tell your hostname to Apache:

cd /etc/apache2/sites-available
sudo nano mail_filter

Edit the ServerName to your hostname

   ServerName FILTERED.YOURDOMAIN.COM

Tell Apache to reload the site:

sudo service apache2 restart

Configure the Filtered Authentication File

Now, you need to set passwords in the filtered.ini file:

cd /var/secure

Edit the file and fill in all settings with your own accounts and passwords, using your MySQL username and password as well:

sudo nano filtered.ini

The Mailgun and Pushover codes can wait until after you’ve set them up. Refer to the Installation Guide for this.

Run the Database Migrations

The Yii Framework uses Active Record migrations to programmatically build your database:

cd /var/www/mail_filter
./app/protected/yiic migrate up

When prompted, enter your administrator username, email and password. This is what you’ll use to log in to the Filtered website.

Admin login [admin]: do_filtered
Admin email [webmaster@example.com]: you@yourdomain.com

Your Site is Ready!

You should be ready to go. Try visiting your web page:

http://filtered.yourdomain.com

Login with your user name and password.

If you run into any issues, double check the above instructions or post a question to our support forum. You can check the Yii application log this way:

tail -n 100 /var/www/mail_filter/app/protected/runtime/application.log

Report issues or bugs to the Github issues page.

Paid installation or technical support is also available.

When you’re ready to continue, follow the instructions for configuring Mailgun and your background tasks below and then read Getting Started with Filtered.