--- title: "Campfire Installation Guide for Oracle Cloud + Cloudflare" description: "Step-by-step installation of Basecamp's Once Campfire on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Cloudflare DNS" date: 2025-08-21 tags: [CHEATSHEET, Oracle Cloud, Cloudflare, Rails, Deployment] tldr: "Complete guide to installing Basecamp's Once Campfire on Oracle Cloud. Covers memory constraints, firewall layers, asset compilation, and SSL configuration for production deployment." author: "Nikola Balić" topics: [Basecamp Once deployment, Oracle Cloud setup, Cloudflare DNS, Rails production, server configuration] entities: [Basecamp, Oracle Cloud, Cloudflare, Ubuntu, Nginx, Redis, SQLite3, Rails] answers_questions: - How do you deploy Basecamp's Once Campfire on Oracle Cloud? - What are the common pitfalls in Rails deployment on low-memory VMs? - How do you configure multi-layer firewalls for cloud applications? --- > **⚠️ Performance Warning**: This setup works on Oracle's Always Free VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro but the experience is quite limited due to the very weak CPU (1/8 OCPU). Expect slow page loads, sluggish UI interactions, and lengthy asset compilation times. Consider upgrading to a more powerful instance for production use. This guide covers installing Basecamp's Once Campfire on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Cloudflare DNS. The process involves system setup, dependency installation, database configuration, asset compilation, and firewall management. ## Prerequisites - Oracle Cloud VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro (1/8 OCPU, 1GB RAM) or larger - Domain name managed by Cloudflare - SSH access to your server **Note**: The Always Free VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro (1/8 OCPU, 1GB memory, 480 Mbps networking) works but is underpowered. Asset compilation will be slow and memory-intensive operations may require patience. ## Key Lessons Learned 1. **Memory Constraints**: Docker builds fail on low-memory VMs - use direct installation instead 2. **Database Choice**: Campfire uses SQLite3 by default, not PostgreSQL 3. **Firewall Layers**: Oracle Cloud has both Security Lists AND instance-level iptables 4. **Asset Compilation**: Rails assets must be precompiled in production 5. **SSL Configuration**: Disable SSL forcing for initial HTTP setup ## Step-by-Step Installation ### 1. Initial System Setup ```bash # Update system sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # Install basic dependencies sudo apt install -y git curl wget build-essential ``` ### 2. Clone Campfire Repository ```bash cd /opt sudo git clone https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire.git sudo chown -R $USER:$USER once-campfire cd once-campfire ``` ### 3. Install Ruby and Dependencies ```bash # Install Ruby, Node.js, and system libraries sudo apt install -y ruby-full nodejs npm postgresql-client redis-tools sudo apt install -y libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libyaml-dev libffi-dev sudo apt install -y libreadline-dev libssl-dev zlib1g-dev libvips-dev # Install bundler sudo gem install bundler # Install Ruby dependencies (this may take several minutes) bundle config set --local deployment 'true' bundle config set --local without 'development test' bundle install ``` ### 4. Install and Configure Services ```bash # Install and start Redis sudo apt install -y redis-server sudo systemctl start redis-server sudo systemctl enable redis-server # Install Nginx sudo apt install -y nginx ``` ### 5. Create Environment Configuration ```bash # Create .env file nano .env ``` Add this content (replace with your actual values): ```env SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_secret_key_here VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=your_vapid_public_key VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=your_vapid_private_key RAILS_ENV=production DISABLE_SSL=true CAMPFIRE_HOST=your-domain.com REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0 ``` Generate secret key: ```bash openssl rand -hex 64 ``` ### 6. Database Setup ```bash # Set environment variables export RAILS_ENV=production export DISABLE_SSL=true unset DATABASE_URL # Create database directory mkdir -p storage/db # Create and migrate database bundle exec rails db:create bundle exec rails db:migrate ``` ### 7. Compile Assets ```bash # Precompile assets (this may take several minutes) bundle exec rails assets:precompile # Verify assets were created ls -la public/assets/ | head -10 ``` ### 8. Create Startup Script ```bash nano /opt/once-campfire/start_campfire.sh ``` Add this content: ```bash #!/bin/bash cd /opt/once-campfire export RAILS_ENV=production export DISABLE_SSL=true export SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_secret_key_here export VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=your_vapid_public_key export VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=your_vapid_private_key export CAMPFIRE_HOST=your-domain.com export REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0 unset DATABASE_URL exec bundle exec rails server -b 0.0.0.0 -p 3000 ``` ```bash chmod +x /opt/once-campfire/start_campfire.sh ``` ### 9. Create Systemd Service ```bash sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/campfire.service ``` Add this content: ```ini [Unit] Description=Campfire Chat Application After=network.target redis.service Requires=redis.service [Service] Type=simple User=ubuntu WorkingDirectory=/opt/once-campfire ExecStart=/opt/once-campfire/start_campfire.sh Restart=always RestartSec=5 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` Enable and start the service: ```bash sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable campfire sudo systemctl start campfire sudo systemctl status campfire ``` ### 10. Configure Nginx ```bash sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/campfire ``` Add this content: ```nginx server { listen 80; server_name your-domain.com; location / { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000; 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_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host; } } ``` Enable the site: ```bash sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/campfire /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx ``` ### 11. Configure Oracle Cloud Firewall #### Security List Configuration 1. Go to Oracle Cloud Console 2. Navigate to **Networking** > **Virtual Cloud Networks** 3. Click your VCN, then your subnet 4. Click **Security Lists** > **Default Security List** 5. Add these **Ingress Rules**: - **HTTP**: Source CIDR `0.0.0.0/0`, Protocol `TCP`, Port `80` - **HTTPS**: Source CIDR `0.0.0.0/0`, Protocol `TCP`, Port `443` #### Instance-Level Firewall (Critical!) ```bash # Check current iptables rules sudo iptables -L -n # Add rules to allow HTTP/HTTPS (insert before reject rules) sudo iptables -I INPUT 4 -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT sudo iptables -I INPUT 5 -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT # Make rules persistent sudo apt install -y iptables-persistent sudo netfilter-persistent save ``` ### 12. Configure Cloudflare DNS 1. Go to Cloudflare dashboard 2. Navigate to **DNS** settings 3. Add/update A record: - **Name**: `@` (or subdomain) - **Content**: Your server's public IP - **Proxy status**: DNS only (gray cloud) initially 4. Set **SSL/TLS mode** to "Off" for initial testing ### 13. Test Installation ```bash # Test local access curl http://localhost/first_run # Test external access (after firewall configuration) curl http://your-domain.com/first_run ``` ### 14. Complete Setup 1. Open browser and navigate to `http://your-domain.com/first_run` 2. Fill out the setup form: - Enter your name - Add email address - Create password - Upload avatar (optional) 3. Submit to create admin account ## Troubleshooting ### Common Issues **Assets not loading (404 errors):** ```bash # Recompile assets export RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile sudo systemctl restart campfire ``` **Connection refused errors:** ```bash # Check iptables rules sudo iptables -L -n | grep -E "80|443" # Add missing firewall rules sudo iptables -I INPUT 4 -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT ``` **Rails errors:** ```bash # Check service logs sudo journalctl -u campfire -f # Check environment variables sudo systemctl status campfire ``` **Database issues:** ```bash # Verify SQLite database exists ls -la storage/db/ # Reset database if needed bundle exec rails db:drop db:create db:migrate ``` ### Verification Commands ```bash # Check all services sudo systemctl status campfire nginx redis-server # Test asset loading curl -I http://localhost:3000/assets/application-*.js # Check firewall rules sudo iptables -L INPUT -n --line-numbers # Monitor logs sudo journalctl -u campfire -f ``` ## Security Considerations 1. **Change default credentials** immediately after setup 2. **Enable SSL** for production use 3. **Regular updates**: Keep system and dependencies updated 4. **Backup database**: Regular backups of `storage/db/production.sqlite3` 5. **Monitor logs**: Set up log monitoring for security events ## Optional: SSL Setup After confirming HTTP works: 1. Install Certbot: `sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx` 2. Generate certificate: `sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com` 3. Update startup script: Remove `DISABLE_SSL=true` 4. Enable Cloudflare proxy: Change to orange cloud 5. Set Cloudflare SSL to "Full (strict)" ## Performance Optimization For production use: - Increase VM resources (2GB+ RAM recommended) - Set up database backups - Configure log rotation - Enable Gzip compression in Nginx - Set up monitoring and alerting ## Key Files and Locations - **Application**: `/opt/once-campfire/` - **Database**: `/opt/once-campfire/storage/db/production.sqlite3` - **Assets**: `/opt/once-campfire/public/assets/` - **Service**: `/etc/systemd/system/campfire.service` - **Nginx**: `/etc/nginx/sites-available/campfire` - **Environment**: `/opt/once-campfire/.env` This guide provides a complete, tested installation process that addresses the common pitfalls encountered during Campfire deployment on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.