Deployment

A Casnode install is a folder with the casnode binary, conf/, web/build/ and its data (database and uploads). The process listens on httpport (16900 by default) and starts the Next.js frontend on httpport + 1 itself.

Reverse proxy and HTTPS

Put Nginx, Caddy or CasWAF in front and proxy to httpport. An Nginx server block:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name forum.example.com;

    client_max_body_size 64m;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:16900;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_read_timeout 120s;
    }
}

client_max_body_size must be at least as large as the upload limit you configured. proxy_read_timeout should be longer than the 25 seconds the live-update long poll holds a request. Set trustProxyHeader = true in conf/app.local.conf so the forum records the real client IP (see Configuration).

Get a certificate with certbot --nginx -d forum.example.com or your usual certificate tool; no Casnode-specific configuration is needed.

Run it as a service

A systemd unit for a Linux server:

[Unit]
Description=Casnode forum
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=casnode
WorkingDirectory=/opt/casnode
ExecStart=/opt/casnode/casnode
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
Environment=PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

The Next.js frontend is a Node process started by the binary, so Node.js 20+ must be on the service's PATH. If you install Node with nvm, either install a system-wide Node or add the nvm bin directory to Environment=PATH.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now casnode
sudo journalctl -u casnode -f

Backups

Back up three things:

The database. For SQLite, copy casnode.db while the process is stopped, or use sqlite3 casnode.db ".backup '/backup/casnode.db'". For MySQL or PostgreSQL, use mysqldump or pg_dump.
Uploads. uploadsDir (files/uploads by default).
conf/app.local.conf, which holds the database DSN, the Casdoor secret and other settings.

A daily job that dumps the database and syncs the uploads folder is enough for a small forum. Test a restore into a throwaway folder once in a while.

Upgrades

For a 2.x release:

Stop the process.
Back up the database and uploads.
Unpack the new release over the old folder, keeping conf/app.local.conf, the database and uploadsDir. Do not overwrite app.local.conf with the new app.conf.
Start the process and open the forum; check the version in the footer and post a test reply.

2.x releases keep the database schema compatible. A 1.x forum cannot be upgraded in place: install 2.x as a separate site and import content if needed (see Importing topics).

Several forums on one server

A server can run several forums from one copy of the code. Each forum has its own folder with conf/app.local.conf, its own port, database and uploads, and reads the binary and web/build from the sibling casnode folder. See Configuration.

Scaling

Casnode is designed as a single process:

Live updates use an in-memory message bus, so two instances do not share them.
Sessions are files in tmp/, local to the instance.
SQLite allows one writer.

For a large forum, use MySQL or PostgreSQL, keep sessions and uploads on shared storage if you run more than one process, and put a sticky-session load balancer in front. Running one instance is the supported configuration.

Reverse proxy and HTTPS​

Run it as a service​

Backups​

Upgrades​

Several forums on one server​

Scaling​