# nopCommerce FOSS Ecommerce on a Full VM **URL:** \ **Category:** Tutorials\ **Tags:** sysadmins, users, tutorial\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://forum.threefold.io/t/nopcommerce-foss-ecommerce-on-a-full-vm/4310 "2024-04-17T19:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mik](https://forum.threefold.io/user_avatar/forum.threefold.io/mik/32/981_2.png) [@Mik](https://forum.threefold.io/u/Mik)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://forum.threefold.io/t/nopcommerce-foss-ecommerce-on-a-full-vm/4310/1 "2024-04-17T19:15:55Z")
# FOSS Ecommerce on a Full VM ## Table of Contents - [Introduction](#introduction) - [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) - [Deploy a Full VM](#deploy-a-full-vm) - [Create an SSH Tunnel](#create-an-ssh-tunnel) - [Preparing the VM](#preparing-the-vm) - [Set a Firewall](#set-a-firewall) - [Download nopCommerce](#download-nopcommerce) - [Access nopCommerce](#access-nopcommerce) - [Install nopCommerce](#install-nopcommerce) - [Access the Ecommerce from the Public Internet](#access-the-ecommerce-from-the-public-internet) - [Set a DNS Record](#set-a-dns-record) - [Access the Ecommerce](#access-the-ecommerce) - [HTTPS with Caddy](#https-with-caddy) - [Manage with Systemd](#manage-with-systemd) - [Access Admin Panel](#access-admin-panel) - [Manage nopCommerce with Systemd](#manage-nopcommerce-with-systemd) - [References](#references) - [Questions and Feedback](#questions-and-feedback) * * * ## Introduction We show how to deploy a free and open-source ecommerce on the ThreeFold Grid. We will be deploying on a full VM with an IPv4 address. [nopCommerce](https://www.nopcommerce.com/en) is an open-source ecommerce platform based on Microsoft’s [ASP.NET](http://ASP.NET) Core framework and MS SQL Server 2012 (or higher) backend Database. ## Prerequisites - [A TFChain account](https://manual.grid.tf/documentation/dashboard/wallet_connector.html) - TFT in your TFChain account - [Buy TFT](https://manual.grid.tf/documentation/threefold_token/buy_sell_tft/buy_sell_tft.html) - [Send TFT to TFChain](https://manual.grid.tf/documentation/threefold_token/tft_bridges/tfchain_stellar_bridge.html) ## Deploy a Full VM We start by deploying a full VM on the ThreeFold Dashboard. - On the [Threefold Dashboard](https://dashboard.grid.tf/#/), go to the [full virtual machine deployment page](https://dashboard.grid.tf/#/deploy/virtual-machines/full-virtual-machine/) - Deploy a full VM (Ubuntu 22.04) with an IPv4 address and at least the minimum specs for a full VM - IPv4 Address - Minimum vcores: 1vcore - Minimum MB of RAM: 512MB - Minimum storage: 15GB - After deployment, note the VM IPv4 address ## Create an SSH Tunnel We create an SSH tunnel with port 5432:80, as it is this combination that we will set for nopCommerce on the docker-compose file. - Open a terminal and create an SSH tunnel ```auto ssh -4 -L 5432:127.0.0.1:80 root@VM_IPv4_address> ``` Simply leave this window open and follow the next steps. ## Preparing the VM We prepare the full to run nopCommerce. - Connect to the VM via SSH ```auto ssh root@VM_IPv4_address ``` - Update the VM ```auto apt update ``` - [Install Docker](https://manual.grid.tf/documentation/system_administrators/computer_it_basics/docker_basics.html#install-docker-desktop-and-docker-engine) - Install docker-compose ```auto apt install docker-compose -y ``` ## Set a Firewall You can set a firewall to your VM for further security. This should be used in production mode. - Add the permissions - ```auto ufw allow 80 ufw allow 443 ``` - Enable the firewall - ```auto ufw enable ``` - Verify the fire wall status - ```auto ufw status verbose ``` ## Download nopCommerce - Clone the repository ```auto git clone https://github.com/nopSolutions/nopCommerce.git cd nopCommerce ``` - Build the image ```auto cd nopCommerce docker-compose -f ./postgresql-docker-compose.yml build ``` - Run the image ```auto docker-compose -f ./postgresql-docker-compose.yml up ``` ## Access nopCommerce You can access the nopCommerce interface on a browser with port 5432 via the SSH tunnel: ```auto localhost:5432 ``` ![image](https://forum.threefold.io/uploads/default/original/2X/b/bc583477381e5d6d909d04f5879f17a8a563c51d.png) For more information on how to use nopCommerce, refer to the [nopCommerce docs](https://docs.nopcommerce.com/en/index.html). ## Install nopCommerce You will need to set your ecommerce store and database information. - Enter an email for your website (e.g. `admin@example.com`) - For the database, choose PostgreSQL and check both options `Create a database` and `Enter raw connection`. Enter the following information (as per the docker-compose information) ```auto Server=nopcommerce_database;Port=5432;Database=nop;User Id=postgres;Password=nopCommerce_db_password; ``` - Note: For production, you will need to set your own username and password. ## Access the Ecommerce from the Public Internet ### Set a DNS Record - Go to your domain name registrar - In the section **Advanced DNS** , add a **DNS A Record** to your domain and link it to the IP address of the VM you deployed on: - Type: A Record - Host: @ - Value: \ - TTL: Automatic - It might take up to 30 minutes to set the DNS properly. - To check if the A record has been registered, you can use a common DNS checker: - ```auto https://dnschecker.org/#A/example.com ``` ### Access the Ecommerce You can now go on a web browser and access your website via your domain, e.g. `example.com`. ![image](https://forum.threefold.io/uploads/default/original/2X/5/5525b5d644ff0f11a645e69ea2f581825179407c.jpeg) ### HTTPS with Caddy We set HTTPS with Caddy based on this [forum post](https://forum.threefold.io/t/add-https-to-anything-easily-with-caddy/4216). - Install Caddy ```auto apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list apt update apt install caddy ``` - Set a reverse proxy on port 80 with your own domain ```auto caddy reverse-proxy -r --from example.com --to :80 ``` You should see in the logs that it successfully obtains an SSL certificate, and after that you can try navigating to your site’s domain again to verify it’s working. Using a private window or adding `https://` specifically might be necessary until your browser drops its cache. ![image](https://forum.threefold.io/uploads/default/original/2X/f/fc5f77550c398dc6e6dfa0312cab0ea29c980fa3.png) When you’re satisfied that everything looks good, hit `ctl-c` to exit Caddy and we’ll proceed to making this persistent. #### Manage with Systemd We create a systemd service to always run the reverse proxy for port 80. - Create a caddy service ```bash nano /etc/systemd/system/caddy.service ``` - Set the service with your own domain ```auto [Unit] Description=Caddy Service StartLimitIntervalSec=0 [Service] Restart=always RestartSec=5 ExecStart=caddy reverse-proxy -r --from example.com --to :80 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` - Enable the service ```auto systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable caddy systemctl start caddy ``` - Verify that the Caddy service is properly running ```auto systemctl status caddy ``` Systemd will start up Caddy immediately, restart it if it ever crashes, and start it up automatically after any reboots. ## Access Admin Panel You can access the admin panel by clicking on `Log in` and providing the admin username and password set during the nopCommerce installation. ![image](https://forum.threefold.io/uploads/default/original/2X/0/0aaef1b003418d63cf228bc36d2c145ced1a4bdf.png) In `Add your store info`, you can set the HTTPS address of your domain and enable SSL. You will need to properly configure your ecommerce instance for your own needs and products. Read the nopCommerce docs for more information. ## Manage nopCommerce with Systemd We create a systemd service to always run the nopCommerce docker-compose file. - Create a nopcommerce service ```bash nano /etc/systemd/system/nopcommerce.service ``` - Set the service with your own domain ```auto [Unit] Description=nopCommerce Service StartLimitIntervalSec=0 [Service] Restart=always RestartSec=5 StandardOutput=append:/root/nopcommerce.log StandardError=append:/root/nopcommerce.log ExecStart=docker-compose -f /root/nopCommerce/postgresql-docker-compose.yml up [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` - Enable the service ```auto systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable nopcommerce systemctl start nopcommerce ``` - Verify that the Caddy service is properly running ```auto systemctl status nopcommerce ``` Systemd will start up the nopCommerce docker-compose file, restart it if it ever crashes, and start it up automatically after any reboots. ## References For further information on how to set nopCommerce, read the [nopCommerce documentation](https://docs.nopcommerce.com/en/index.html?showChildren=false). ## Questions and Feedback If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know by either writing a post on the [ThreeFold Forum](https://forum.threefold.io/), or by chatting with us on the [TF Grid Tester Community](https://t.me/threefoldtesting) Telegram channel.