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Aggregating information with Huginn
Smart Collection
Getting Huginn
Once the database is running, run the following commands as the huginn
user to load the source code for the software into the matching home directory:
cd /home/huginn sudo -u huginn -H git clone https://github.com/cantino/huginn.git -b master huginn
The Huginn developers do not release stable versions; they only provide the current source code on GitHub (in the master branch). The second command therefore always automatically downloads the current Huginn version.
No fewer than two sample configuration files included with the distribution simplify the setup, which you simply copy to the appropriate location. Listing 4 displays the required commands and creates some subdirectories needed by Huginn – including directories for the logs – and then modifies the access permissions. The command
sudo -u huginn -H bundle install --deployment --without development test
finally installs the additional packages required for Ruby (the Gems).
Listing 4
Creating Subdirectories for Huginn
cd huginn sudo -u huginn -H cp .env.example .env sudo -u huginn -H cp config/unicorn.rb.example config/unicorn.rb sudo -u huginn mkdir -p log tmp/pids tmp/sockets sudo chown -R huginn log/ tmp/ sudo chmod -R u+rwX,go-w log/ tmp/ sudo chmod -R u+rwX,go-w log/ sudo chmod -R u+rwX tmp/ sudo -u huginn -H chmod o-rwx .env
Well Met
After completing the installation marathon, it's time to configure Huginn. To begin, determine the MySQL version number by typing mysql --version
. Note whether the number displayed here is greater than or equal to 5.5.3; then, call
sudo -u huginn -H rake <secret>
This command returns a long cryptic string that is copied to the clipboard for use later. Now, working as the huginn
user, open the .env
configuration file in a text editor:
sudo -u huginn -H nano.env
At the start of the file, replace REPLACE_ME_NOW!
with the cryptic string mentioned above. In the Database Setup
section, replace huginn_development
with huginn_production
:
DATABASE_NAME=huginn_production
Additionally, the Huginn operator needs to replace root
with huginn
:
DATABASE_USERNAME=huginn
To the right of DATABASE_PASSWORD=
, type the password in quotes used by the Huginn account to log in to MySQL (i.e., <secret>
in this example).
If the MySQL version you are using is version 5.5.3 or newer, then replace utf8
with utf8mb4
:
DATABASE_ENCODING=utf8mb4
The results should look like Figure 1. At the bottom of the config file, remove the leading hash (#
) in the line:
# RAILS_ENV=production
For Huginn to send email, you need to store the access credentials for an SMTP server: Search for the Email Configuration
section in the lower part of the configuration files. Enter the domain name of an SMTP server after SMTP_SERVER=
and the port after SMTP_PORT=
.
If Huginn needs a username and password to log in to the SMTP server, enter these after SMTP_USER_NAME=
and SMTP_PASSWORD=
. If necessary, adjust the authentication method after SMTP_AUTHENTICATION=
and the encryption after SMTP_ENABLE_STARTTLS_AUTO=
. Comments describing the settings can be helpful. Finally, add the sender address after EMAIL_FROM_ADRESS=
.
In Nano, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+O saves the changes, and Ctrl+X takes you back to the command line. The next step is to set up the database with the commands from Listing 5. The first line creates the database, and the second line updates it. So that you can immediately log into Huginn in the web interface, the third command sets up an admin
account with the password supersecret
. The final command in Listing 5 prepares all the files required by the web interface, including the JavaScript code.
Listing 5
Setting Up the Database
sudo -u huginn -H bundle exec rake db:create RAILS_ENV=production sudo -u huginn -H bundle exec rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production sudo -u huginn -H bundle exec rake db:seed RAILS_ENV=production SEED_USERNAME=admin SEED_PASSWORD=supersecret sudo -u huginn -H bundle exec rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production
If the first command prompts an error message or requires the password for the root MySQL user, the access credentials in the .env
configuration file are incorrect. In this case, check whether the correct password typed after DATABASE_PASSWORD=
is in quotes.
Init Scripts
The next step is to create a number of init scripts. To begin, type
sudo -u huginn -H nano Procfile
to create the configuration file, or Procfile
. Comment out the following two lines in the file, by adding hash signs at the start:
# web: bundle exec rails server -p ${PORT-3000} -b ${IP-0.0.0.0} # jobs: bundle exec rails runner bin/threaded.rb
Conversely, remove the hash signs from the following two lines in the PRODUCTION
section:
web: bundle exec unicorn -c config/unicorn.rb jobs: bundle exec rails runner bin/threaded.rb
After saving the files, generate the scripts, set up log rotation, and check whether Huginn is running:
sudo bundle exec rake production:export sudo cp deployment/logrotate/huginn /etc/logrotate.d/huginn sudo bundle exec rake production:status
If you want to change one of the Huginn configuration files – .env
, unicorn.rb
, or Procfile
– you need to regenerate the init scripts with:
sudo bundle exec rake production:export
Nginx delivers the web interface, and Huginn at least comes with a few prebuilt configuration files, which you only need to sign for the web server. If Huginn is the only website served up by Nginx, the fourth command disables the default Nginx page (Listing 6).
Listing 6
Installing and Configuring Nginx
sudo apt install nginx sudo cp deployment/nginx/huginn /etc/nginx/sites-available/huginn sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/huginn /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/huginn sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
Just one small setting is missing in the Nginx configuration file. In Nano, open the file
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/huginn
and replace the YOUR_SERVER_FQDN
placeholder with the domain name of the host running Huginn. When in doubt, or on a test system, this is usually localhost
. In any case, make sure you close the line with a semicolon. After saving, entering
sudo nginx -t
checks the configuration file for typos. If everything is correct, type
sudo service nginx restart
to restart Nginx.
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