How to setup CodeIgniter application with LAMP and Jitsi Meet with Nginx

Hello,

For your school project, you can start with a basic droplet configuration on DigitalOcean. As you have mentioned you want to install both a LAMP stack for your CodeIgniter application and also set up a Jitsi Meet server with Nginx, it would be beneficial to choose a droplet with at least 2GB of RAM. Here are the steps to achieve this setup:

1. Create a new Droplet: Choose a Droplet for initial testing. Choose Ubuntu 20.04 as your operating system.

2. Set up LAMP stack: After creating the Droplet, SSH into your server and install the LAMP stack. Below are the commands to install Apache, MySQL, and PHP:

sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php php-mysql libapache2-mod-php php-cli

During the MySQL installation, you will be asked to set a password for the MySQL root user.

You can follow the instructions on how to do all that here:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-apache-mysql-php-lamp-stack-ubuntu-20-04

3. Install PHP extensions for CodeIgniter: CodeIgniter requires some specific PHP extensions. You can install these using the following command:

sudo apt install php-curl php-gd php-intl php-json php-mbstring php-xml php-zip

4. Deploy your CodeIgniter Application: Now, you can deploy your CodeIgniter application to the server. Typically, you can place your application in the /var/www/html directory.

5. Configure Apache for CodeIgniter: You will need to set up an Apache VirtualHost to serve your CodeIgniter application. This will be located in /etc/apache2/sites-available/.

6. Install Nginx: Jitsi Meet requires Nginx or Apache to serve its content, but as you have Apache serving your CodeIgniter application, you can install Nginx on a different port (for example, 8080). You can install Nginx with:

sudo apt install nginx

7. Configure Nginx: Before installing Jitsi Meet, you will need to configure Nginx to listen on the port you chose. You can do this by modifying the /etc/nginx/sites-available/default file.

8. Install Jitsi Meet: Now, you can install Jitsi Meet. The Jitsi Meet quick install guide (https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/docs/devops-guide/devops-guide-quickstart) provides a good step-by-step process to do this.

If possible, I would suggest considering using separate Droplets for the CodeIgniter application and the Jitsi Meet server. You can use DigitalOcean’s VPC networking features to securely communicate between the two servers.

Best,

Bobby

Setting up a CodeIgniter application with a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and a Jitsi Meet server with Nginx involves several steps. This guide will give you a general overview of the process. Note that specific details can vary depending on your Linux distribution and server configuration.

Part 1: Setting Up CodeIgniter with LAMP

1. Install LAMP Stack:

   • Linux: Most cloud providers offer Linux servers (e.g., Ubuntu, CentOS). Choose one and spin up a new instance.
   • Apache: Install Apache web server.

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install apache2

-   **MySQL**: Install MySQL database server.

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

• PHP: Install PHP and necessary modules.

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql

2. Configure Apache for CodeIgniter:

   • Create a new Apache configuration file for your CodeIgniter application or edit the default one in /etc/apache2/sites-available/.
   • Set the DocumentRoot to point to your CodeIgniter project’s public directory.
   • Enable mod_rewrite for friendly URLs:

sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo service apache2 restart

3. Install CodeIgniter:

   • Download and extract CodeIgniter into your Apache’s document root directory, typically /var/www/html/.
   • Adjust the base_url in the CodeIgniter config file.

4. Database Setup:

   • Create a new MySQL database and user for CodeIgniter.
   • Update the database configuration in CodeIgniter to connect to your MySQL database.

5. Permissions:

   • Ensure Apache has write permissions to the CodeIgniter application/cache and application/logs directories.

Part 2: Setting Up Jitsi Meet with Nginx

1. Install Nginx:

sudo apt-get install nginx

2. Install Jitsi Meet:

• Add the Jitsi repository to your system:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb https://download.jitsi.org stable/' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jitsi-stable.list"
wget -qO - https://download.jitsi.org/jitsi-key.gpg.key | sudo apt-key add -

Update package lists and install Jitsi Meet:

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get -y install jitsi-meet

3. Nginx Configuration for Jitsi Meet:

• During installation, Jitsi Meet should configure Nginx automatically.
• If needed, you can manually adjust the Nginx configuration in /etc/nginx/sites-available/.

4. SSL Configuration:

• You can use Let’s Encrypt for a free SSL certificate:

sudo /usr/share/jitsi-meet/scripts/install-letsencrypt-cert.sh

5. Firewall Settings:

• Ensure your firewall allows traffic on HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), and other ports used by Jitsi Meet.

Considerations:

• Different Servers: Typically, Jitsi Meet and a web application like a CodeIgniter app are hosted on separate servers due to resource and configuration requirements.

• DNS Settings: Configure your DNS records to point to the correct server IP for both the CodeIgniter app and Jitsi Meet.

• Security: Always ensure your server is secured, with firewall configurations, regular updates, and other standard security practices.

This overview provides a basic roadmap for setting up both a CodeIgniter application with a LAMP stack and a Jitsi Meet server with Nginx. Depending on your specific requirements and server environment, you may need to adjust or extend these instructions.