NodeBB

Community forum software

Declared in: projects/NodeBB/default.nix

Try the service in a VM

Install Nix
Debian
Bash
$ apt install --yes curl git jq nix
Ubuntu
Bash
$ apt install --yes curl git jq nix
Arch
Bash
$ pacman --sync --refresh --noconfirm curl git jq nix

Download a configuration file

# default.nix
{
  ngipkgs ? import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/ngi-nix/ngipkgs/tarball/main") { },
}:
ngipkgs.demo-vm (
  { pkgs, ... }:

  {
    services.nodebb = {
      enable = true;
      enableLocalDB = true;
      openFirewall = true;
      admin = {
        username = "admin";
        email = "admin@example.com";
        # Do *NOT* do this in production!
        passwordFile = pkgs.writeText "nodebb-admin-password" "nodebb";
      };
      settings.database = "postgres";
      # Do *NOT* do this in production!
      databasePasswordFile = pkgs.writeText "postgresql-password" "nodebb";
    };

    # Do *NOT* do this in production!
    services.postgresql.initialScript = pkgs.writeText "init-sql-script" ''
      CREATE ROLE nodebb LOGIN PASSWORD 'nodebb';
    '';
  }

)

    Download

    
  

Enable binary substituters
Bash
```
$ export NIX_CONFIG='substituters = https://cache.nixos.org/ https://ngi.cachix.org/
trusted-public-keys = cache.nixos.org-1:6nchdd59x431o0gwypbmraurkbj16zpmqfgspcdshjy= ngi.cachix.org-1:n+cal72roc3qqulxihpv+tw5t42whxmmhpragkrsrow='
```
Build and run a virtual machine
Debian Sid/Trixie
Bash
$ nix-build ./default.nix && ./result
Ubuntu 25.04
Bash
$ nix-build ./default.nix && ./result
Ubuntu 24.04
Bash
$ rev=$(nix-instantiate --eval --attr sources.nixpkgs.rev https://github.com/ngi-nix/ngipkgs/archive/master.tar.gz | jq --raw-output)

$ nix-shell -I nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/$rev.tar.gz --packages nix --run "nix-build ./default.nix && ./result"
Arch
Bash
$ nix-build ./default.nix && ./result
Missing Contribute usage instructions.

Options

services.nodebb

: The admin user email address.

Type:

string

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Path to a file containing the admin user's password.

Type:

absolute path

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The admin user username.

Type:

string

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Path to a file containing the database password.

Type:

absolute path

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Whether to enable NodeBB.

Type:

boolean

Default:

false

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Whether to enable a local database for NodeBB.

Type:

boolean

Default:

false

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The group to run NodeBB under.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Whether to open ports in the firewall.

Type:

boolean

Default:

false

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The nodebb package to use.

Type:

package

Default:

pkgs.nodebb

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: NodeBB settings that will be written to config.json.

Type:

open submodule of (JSON value)

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database type.

Type:

one of "mongo", "postgres", "redis"

Default:

"mongo"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database name.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host address.

Type:

string

Default:

"127.0.0.1"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host port.

Type:

16 bit unsigned integer; between 0 and 65535 (both inclusive)

Default:

default port of selected database

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database user.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The port where NodeBB is accessible.

Type:

16 bit unsigned integer; between 0 and 65535 (both inclusive)

Default:

4567

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database name.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host address.

Type:

string

Default:

"127.0.0.1"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host port.

Type:

16 bit unsigned integer; between 0 and 65535 (both inclusive)

Default:

default port of selected database

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Whether to enable TLS.

Type:

boolean

Default:

false

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database user.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database name.

Type:

signed integer

Default:

0

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host address.

Type:

string

Default:

"127.0.0.1"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: Database host port.

Type:

16 bit unsigned integer; between 0 and 65535 (both inclusive)

Default:

default port of selected database

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The URL where NodeBB is accessible.

Type:

string

Default:

"http://localhost:4567"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix
: The user to run NodeBB under.

Type:

string

Default:

"nodebb"

Declared in:

projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/module.nix

Examples

Enable NodeBB with postgresql

{ pkgs, ... }:

{
  services.nodebb = {
    enable = true;
    enableLocalDB = true;
    openFirewall = true;
    admin = {
      username = "admin";
      email = "admin@example.com";
      # Do *NOT* do this in production!
      passwordFile = pkgs.writeText "nodebb-admin-password" "nodebb";
    };
    settings.database = "postgres";
    # Do *NOT* do this in production!
    databasePasswordFile = pkgs.writeText "postgresql-password" "nodebb";
  };

  # Do *NOT* do this in production!
  services.postgresql.initialScript = pkgs.writeText "init-sql-script" ''
    CREATE ROLE nodebb LOGIN PASSWORD 'nodebb';
  '';
}

    
    
  

Declared in: projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/examples/postgresql.nix

Enable NodeBB with redis

{ config, pkgs, ... }:

{
  services.nodebb = {
    enable = true;
    enableLocalDB = true;
    admin = {
      username = "admin";
      email = "admin@example.com";
      # Do *NOT* do this in production!
      passwordFile = pkgs.writeText "nodebb-admin-password" "nodebb";
    };
    settings.database = "redis";
  };

  services.redis.servers."nodebb" = {
    port = 6379;
    # Do *NOT* do this in production!
    requirePassFile = pkgs.writeText "redis-password" "nodebb";
  };
}

    
    
  

Declared in: projects/NodeBB/services/nodebb/examples/redis.nix

This project is funded by NLnet through these subgrants:

Commons: NodeBB-collections
Core: NodeBB