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Production deployment guide for Linux VM

Deploying to Linux VM​

This guide will help you to install UniLink on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. We have prepared a deployment script for you to run. Refer to the script and feel free to make changes accordingly to the operating system if you are on a non-Ubuntu system.

Steps to install​

Note: If you plan to use a domain with chatwoot, please add an A record before proceeding. Refer to the Configuring the installation domain section below.

  1. Create an install.sh file using the following commands.
wget https://get.chatwoot.app/linux/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
  1. Execute the script. The script will take care of the initial UniLink setup.
./install.sh --install
  1. UniLink Installation will now be accessible at http://{your_ip_address}:3000 or if you opted for domain setup, it will be at https://chatwoot.mydomain.com.

Note This will also install the UniLink CLI(cwctl) starting with UniLink v2.7.0. Use cwctl --help to learn more.

Configuring The installation Domain​

  1. Create an A record for chatwoot.mydomain.com on your domain management system and point it towards the installation IP address.
  2. Continue with the installation script by entering yes when prompted about domain setup.
  3. Enter your domain. The script will take care of configuring Nginx and SSL via LetsEncrypt.
  4. Your UniLink installation should be accessible from https://chatwoot.mydomain.com now.

Configure the required environment variables​

For your UniLink installation to properly function, you would need to configure the essential environment variables like FRONTEND_URL, Mailer, and a cloud storage config. Refer Environment variables for the full list.

  1. Login as chatwoot user and edit the .env file.
# Login as chatwoot user

sudo -i -u chatwoot
cd chatwoot
nano .env

  1. Refer Environment variables and update the required variables. Save the .env file.

  2. Restart the UniLink server and enjoy using your self-hosted UniLink.

Note If you have UniLink CLI(cwctl) installed, use cwctl -r.

sudo systemctl restart chatwoot.target

Whenever a new version of UniLink is released, use the following steps to upgrade your instance.

Note If you have UniLink CLI(cwctl) installed, use cwctl --upgrade to upgrade your UniLink installation.

To install cwctl, refer this section below.

Note If you are on an older version of UniLink(<2.7), follow the manual upgrade steps below if you face errors with cwctl.

Run the following steps on your VM. Make changes based on your OS if you are on a non-Ubuntu system.

# Login as UniLink user
sudo -i -u chatwoot

# Navigate to the UniLink directory
cd chatwoot

# Pull the latest version of the master branch
git checkout master && git pull

# Ensure the ruby version is upto date
rvm install "ruby-3.2.2"
rvm use 3.2.2 --default

# Update dependencies
bundle
yarn

# Recompile the assets
rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production

# Migrate the database schema
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:migrate

# Switch back to root user
exit

# Copy the updated targets
cp /home/chatwoot/chatwoot/deployment/chatwoot-web.1.service /etc/systemd/system/chatwoot-web.1.service
cp /home/chatwoot/chatwoot/deployment/chatwoot-worker.1.service /etc/systemd/system/chatwoot-worker.1.service
cp /home/chatwoot/chatwoot/deployment/chatwoot.target /etc/systemd/system/chatwoot.target

# Reload systemd files
systemctl daemon-reload

# Restart the chatwoot server
systemctl restart chatwoot.target

Running Rails Console​

Note If you have UniLink CLI(cwctl) installed, use cwctl -c.

# Login as UniLink user
sudo -i -u chatwoot

# Navigate to the UniLink directory
cd chatwoot

# start rails console
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails c

Viewing Logs​

Note If you have UniLink CLI(cwctl) installed, use cwctl -l web or cwctl -l worker.

Run the following commands in your ubuntu shell

# logs from the rails server
journalctl -u chatwoot-web.1.service -f

# logs from sidekiq
journalctl -u chatwoot-worker.1.service -f

If you used an older version of install script(<2.0), you will not have cwctl in your PATH. To install/upgrade UniLink CLI,

wget https://get.chatwoot.app/linux/install.sh -O /usr/local/bin/cwctl && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cwctl
cwctl --help

Note: The above command requires root access to install cwctl to /usr/local/bin.

Troubleshooting​

If precompile fails​

If the asset precompilation step fails with ActionView::Template::Error (Webpacker can't find application.css in /home/chatwoot/chatwoot/public/packs/manifest.json) or if you face issues while restarting the server, try the following command and restart the server.

RAILS_ENV=production rake assets:clean assets:clobber assets:precompile

This command would clear the existing compiled assets and would recompile all the assets. Read more about it here