Etherpad setup

Today I set up a Collaboration tool called Etherpad. I just love it. It is like a google docs application, except that it is a notepad-only application. There are no fancy Wordprocessors or Spreadsheets.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Etherpad-liteInstallation

This was not easy or straight-forward. I had to read many blogs and visit many websites to do it right.

1. Download the binaries from http://etherpad.org/#download
Most of the commands here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Etherpad-liteInstallation to create etherpad user and installing packages from aptitude are relevant:

apt-get install gzip git curl python libssl-dev pkg-config build-essential

The "Tweak the settings" section is very relevant
https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite#tweak-the-settings

Log rotation might need double quotes around the filename otherwise logrotate utility errors out.
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite
reading config file /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite
error: /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite:1 unknown option 'var' -- ignoring line
error: /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite:1 unexpected text
error: /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite:2 lines must begin with a keyword or a filename (possibly in double quotes)
error: /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite:13 unexpected }
removing last 0 log configs
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo vim /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite 
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite
reading config file /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite
error: error accessing var/log/etherpad-lite: No such file or directory
error: /etc/logrotate.d/etherpad-lite:1 glob failed for var/log/etherpad-lite/*.log
error: found error in "var/log/etherpad-lite/*.log"
, skipping
removing last 1 log configs

Handling 1 logs

rotating pattern: "var/log/etherpad-lite/*.log"
 1048576 bytes (no old logs will be kept)
empty log files are rotated, old logs are removed

1. Download the binaries for nodejs from http://nodejs.org/download/ and install from it. I installed it to /var/www with permissions 777.

2.If you face problems like the following:
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ ./bin/run.sh 
Ensure that all dependencies are up to date...  If this is the first time you have run Etherpad please be patient.
npm ERR! Linux 3.2.0-75-virtual
npm ERR! argv "node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "install" "--loglevel" "warn"
npm ERR! node v0.8.7
npm ERR! npm  v2.5.1
npm ERR! path /home/ubuntu/.npm/npm/2.2.0
npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! errno 3

npm ERR! Error: EACCES, mkdir '/home/ubuntu/.npm/npm/2.2.0'
npm ERR!  { [Error: EACCES, mkdir '/home/ubuntu/.npm/npm/2.2.0']
npm ERR!   errno: 3,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   path: '/home/ubuntu/.npm/npm/2.2.0',
npm ERR!   parent: 'ep_etherpad-lite' }
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Please try running this command again as root/Administrator.

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR!     /var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003/src/npm-debug.log

then,
Ensure that the .npm hidden directory is given 777 permissions under the /home/ubuntu directory

3. Another error is:
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo ./bin/run.sh
You shouldn't start Etherpad as root!
Please type 'Etherpad rocks my socks' or supply the '--root' argument if you still want to start it as root

Ensure that all dependencies are up to date...  If this is the first time you have run Etherpad please be patient.
npm ERR! Error: SSL Error: CERT_UNTRUSTED
npm ERR!     at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/request/main.js:440:26)
npm ERR!     at ClientRequest.g (events.js:185:14)
npm ERR!     at ClientRequest.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:88:17)
npm ERR!     at HTTPParser.parserOnIncomingClient (http.js:1455:7)
npm ERR!     at HTTPParser.parserOnHeadersComplete [as onHeadersComplete] (http.js:111:23)
npm ERR!     at CleartextStream.socketOnData (http.js:1366:20)
npm ERR!     at CleartextStream.CryptoStream._push (tls.js:492:27)
npm ERR!     at SecurePair.cycle (tls.js:846:20)
npm ERR!     at EncryptedStream.CryptoStream.write (tls.js:227:13)
npm ERR!     at Socket.ondata (stream.js:38:26)
npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this log at:
npm ERR!     <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues>
npm ERR! or email it to:
npm ERR!     <npm-@googlegroups.com>

npm ERR! System Linux 3.2.0-75-virtual
npm ERR! command "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "install" "--loglevel" "warn"
npm ERR! cwd /var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003/src
npm ERR! node -v v0.8.7
npm ERR! npm -v 1.1.49
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR!     /var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003/src/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0

Remedy is,
npm install npm -g --ca=""
(http://blog.npmjs.org/post/78085451721/npms-self-signed-certificate-is-no-more)

4. Generally the following commands can start and stop etherpad if the above steps are followed
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo service etherpad-lite start
etherpad-lite start/running, process 3011
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo service etherpad-lite stop
etherpad-lite stop/waiting
ubuntu@zeus:/var/www/ether-etherpad-lite-fb98003$ sudo service etherpad-lite start
etherpad-lite start/running, process 3068

5. Install all the nice plugins from:
http://localhost:9001/admin/plugins