HOWTO: Install Relay AJAX File Server on Ubuntu 6.06 LTS LAMP Server

[crichell]

Relay is an awesome free and open source web based AJAX file storage and serving application. This article describes how to install Relay on Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. This installation is completed on a fresh Ubuntu 6.06 LTS LAMP Server installation.

The original How To is here.

Check out Relay here.

Most commands can be cut and pasted into your terminal - adjust for your own passwords. One command per line. So lets get started.

Install Ubuntu Lamp Server

1. Download and burn the Ubunty 6.06 LTS Server CD
2. Boot from the CD and choose Install LAMP Server
3. Get your server up to date:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo reboot

Install Dependencies

We will now install ImageMagick, GD2, and GhostScript. These applications are used for creating nice thumbnails of the files on your server.

sudo apt-get install php5-gd imagemagick gs-common unzip libapache2-mod-perl2
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 force-reload

Setup MySQL

To setup MySQL you will need to first create a password for your mysql root user. After that we create your Relay database and a new MySQL user with access to the Relay database. Record the following information. Adjust with your own passwords, database name, Relay admin username.

MySQL Root Password: mysqlrootpw
Relay Database Name: relay
Relay Database Table Prefix: relay_
Relay Database Username: relaydbuser
Relay Database Password: relaydbpass

Relay Admin Username: admin
Relay Admin Password: relayadminpass

Create MySQL Root Password

The following commands create your MySQL root password.

sudo mysqladmin -u root password mysqlrootpw

For the next command you will be prompted for a password. Enter the mysqlrootpw you just created.

sudo mysqladmin -u root -p -h localhost password mysqlrootpw

Create Relay Database and Database User

The following commands will create our Relay database and the database user. When prompted for a password enter your mysqlrootpw.

mysql -u root -p
create database relay;
grant all privileges on relay.* to 'relaydbuser'@'localhost' identified by 'relaydbpass';
exit

Download Relay

Now we need to download Relay and place it in the appropriate directory.

wget http://ecosmear.com/relay/download.php?download=true
sudo unzip relayb01-070606.zip
sudo cp -r relay /var/www/

Configure Permissions

Next we'll set the appropriate permissions.

cd /var/www/

sudo chown www-data relay/
sudo chown www-data relay/uploads/
sudo chown www-data relay/filestore/
sudo chown www-data relay/upload.pl
sudo chmod 755 relay/
sudo chmod 755 relay/upload.pl
sudo chmod 755 relay/uploads/
sudo chmod 755 relay/filestore/

Apache2 Config

Next we'll edit the apache configuration file to allow CGI Perl execution in the /var/www/relay directory.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Use the down arrow key to reach the bottom of the file. Cut and paste the following lines into your terminal (at the bottom of the file).

<Directory "/var/www/relay/">
     AllowOverride All
     Options +ExecCGI
     AddHandler cgi-script cgi pl
</Directory>

Now to save the changes:

press Ctrl+x then y then Enter

Reload Apache

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 force-reload

Install and Configure Relay

From another computer use Firefox (not IE only because it sucks) to browse to your relay server.
Enter the appropriate information that we recorded from above. i.e. database name, username, relay admin & password, etc.

For the Utilities section:

GhostScript: /usr/bin/gs
ImageMagick: /usr/bin/convert

Click Submit Query

Use Relay and Have Fun

Now browse to your new relay server. Enter the admin username and password we created earlier. Tada, woop, and whatever else - you're done. Take a look around - Relay is pretty awesome. Click Admin Panel to create new virtual directories, users, and to view statistics.