Discourse on Aruba Cloud
Deploy Discourse — the leading open-source community forum platform — on Aruba Cloud using Terraform and cloud-init. Discourse is installed via the official discourse_docker launcher, which bundles PostgreSQL, Redis, and NGINX inside a single managed container.
Provider version: arubacloud/arubacloud
~> 0.5| Terraform: ≥ 1.9
Introduction
Discourse is a modern, mobile-friendly discussion platform used by thousands of open-source projects and communities. This example uses the official Docker-based installation — the only method supported by the Discourse team for production — which provisions:
- discourse_docker launcher cloned from the official GitHub repository
- PostgreSQL, Redis, NGINX, and Sidekiq bundled inside the Discourse container
- SMTP configuration for outbound email (required for user registration)
- Ports 80 and 443 open to the internet
- Optional domain with SSL via Let's Encrypt (automatic inside the container when
hostnameis a real domain)
Bootstrap time: The launcher builds a Docker image from source the first time. Expect 20–30 minutes before the forum is accessible.
Email is required. Discourse uses email for account confirmation. Configure SMTP before deploying — registrations without working email will fail.
Architecture Overview
Infrastructure Created
| Resource | Name pattern | Description |
|---|---|---|
arubacloud_project | discourse-prod | Project container |
arubacloud_vpc | discourse-prod-vpc | Virtual Private Cloud |
arubacloud_subnet | discourse-prod-subnet | Basic subnet |
arubacloud_securitygroup | discourse-prod-vm-sg | Security group |
arubacloud_securityrule | discourse-prod-vm-ssh | SSH ingress |
arubacloud_securityrule | discourse-prod-vm-http | HTTP ingress TCP 80 |
arubacloud_securityrule | discourse-prod-vm-https | HTTPS ingress TCP 443 |
arubacloud_elasticip | discourse-prod-vm-eip | VM public IP |
arubacloud_blockstorage | discourse-prod-boot | 100 GB boot disk (Performance) |
arubacloud_keypair | discourse-prod-keypair | SSH public key |
arubacloud_cloudserver | discourse-prod-vm | CloudServer VM |
Estimated Monthly Cost
| Resource | Spec | Est. cost/mo |
|---|---|---|
| CloudServer VM | CSO4A8 — 4 vCPU / 8 GB | ~€35 |
| Boot disk | 100 GB Performance | ~€15 |
| Elastic IP | — | ~€3 |
| Total | ~€53/mo |
Requirements
- Terraform ≥ 1.9
- ArubaCloud Terraform Provider
~> 0.5 - An ArubaCloud account with OAuth2 API credentials
- An SSH key pair
- An SMTP server for outbound email (Gmail App Password, Mailgun, etc.)
- (Recommended) A domain name with an A record pointing to the VM's Elastic IP
Variables
Required
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
arubacloud_client_id | ArubaCloud OAuth2 client ID |
arubacloud_client_secret | ArubaCloud OAuth2 client secret |
ssh_public_key | SSH public key content |
admin_email | Email for the initial Discourse admin account |
smtp_host | SMTP server hostname |
smtp_user | SMTP login username |
smtp_password | SMTP login password |
Optional
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
app_name | "forum" | Short name used in all resource names |
environment | "prod" | Environment label |
location | "ITBG-Bergamo" | ArubaCloud region |
zone | "ITBG-1" | Availability zone |
billing_period | "Hour" | "Hour" or "Month" |
vm_flavor | "CSO4A8" | CloudServer flavor |
vm_image | "LU22-001" | Boot disk image (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS) |
vm_disk_size_gb | 100 | Boot disk size in GB (min 40 GB) |
ssh_cidr | "0.0.0.0/0" | CIDR for SSH |
web_cidr | "0.0.0.0/0" | CIDR for HTTP/HTTPS |
hostname | auto | Domain name (defaults to VM Elastic IP) |
smtp_port | 587 | SMTP port |
dev_smtp | false | Deploy Mailpit instead of a real SMTP server (see Testing without a mail server) |
Outputs
| Output | Description |
|---|---|
site_url | Discourse site URL |
vm_public_ip | Public IP address of the VM |
ssh_command | SSH command to connect to the VM |
Deployment Instructions
1. Clone and navigate
git clone https://github.com/arubacloud/terraform-arubacloud-examples.git
cd terraform-arubacloud-examples/discourse
2. Configure variables
cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
Set credentials, admin email, SMTP settings, and optionally a domain:
admin_email = "admin@example.com"
hostname = "forum.example.com" # omit to use the Elastic IP
smtp_host = "smtp.gmail.com"
smtp_port = 587
smtp_user = "you@gmail.com"
smtp_password = "your-app-password"
For Gmail, create an App Password (not your account password) at https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
3. Deploy
terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply
terraform applyreturns quickly (VM provisioned in ~2 min). The Discourse bootstrap continues in the background for 20–30 minutes. Monitor progress:
4. Create the admin account
terraform output site_url
Visit the URL and register with the same email address set in admin_email. Discourse automatically grants admin rights to the first user who registers with that email.
Testing without a mail server
Set dev_smtp = true in terraform.tfvars. This deploys Mailpit — a lightweight fake SMTP server — on the VM. Discourse is wired to it automatically; no smtp_host, smtp_user, or smtp_password are needed.
# terraform.tfvars
dev_smtp = true
admin_email = "you@example.com"
After bootstrap, open the Mailpit web UI to read captured emails (including the admin registration confirmation):
http://<vm_public_ip>:8025
Never use
dev_smtp = truein production. Emails are only visible in the Mailpit UI — nothing is delivered to real inboxes.
Enabling HTTPS (Let's Encrypt)
When hostname is set to a real domain:
- Create a DNS A record:
forum.example.com → <vm_public_ip> - Set
hostname = "forum.example.com"interraform.tfvars - Re-apply — Discourse auto-obtains a Let's Encrypt certificate on bootstrap
No additional configuration is needed; the discourse_docker launcher handles ACME automatically.
Upgrading Discourse
Discourse ships frequent updates. To upgrade:
ssh ubuntu@$(terraform output -raw vm_public_ip)
cd /var/discourse
git pull
./launcher rebuild app
The rebuild command pulls the latest image and restarts the container with zero downtime for the database.
Troubleshooting
Forum not loading after 30 minutes
ssh ubuntu@$(terraform output -raw vm_public_ip)
sudo tail -50 /var/log/discourse-bootstrap.log
cd /var/discourse && ./launcher logs app
Emails not being sent
Check SMTP connectivity from the VM:
nc -zv smtp.gmail.com 587
Then from the Discourse admin panel: Admin → Email → Test Email.