Building Screenlite An Open-Source Self-Hosted Digital Signage Cms

# Building Screenlite: An Open-Source Self-Hosted Digital Signage CMS

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on setting up your own self-hosted digital signage Content Management System (CMS) using Screenlite, an open-source project ideal for your homelab or production infrastructure. This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of DevOps, system administration, and automation.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS or higher (other distributions might work with slight modifications)
• Docker version 19.03.13+ (apt install docker-ce=5.0.8) and Docker Compose (apt install docker-compose-plugin)
• A non-root user with sudo privileges for a secure setup
• Basic network configuration (e.g., static IP address)

Setup

1. Create a Screenlite user and group

    sudo addgroup screenlite
    sudo adduser --system --group screenlite
   

2. Download the Screenlite Docker Compose configuration files

    git clone https://github.com/screenlite-io/screenlite-docker.git
    cd screenlite-docker
   

3. Modify the configuration files according to your requirements (e.g., database credentials, Nginx settings)

4. Set environment variables

    export DATABASE_USER=<your_db_user>
    export DATABASE_PASSWORD=<your_db_password>
    # Add more environment variables as needed
   

5. Run the Screenlite stack with Docker Compose

    sudo usermod -aG docker screenlite
    sudo chown -R screenlite:screenlite screenlite-docker
    screenlite@your-server:~$ docker-compose up -d --build
   

Troubleshooting

• Ensure that your firewall allows incoming traffic on port 80 (for Nginx) and the Screenlite web interface port (default is 8001).
• If you encounter issues with database connections, double-check your configuration files and ensure that your database is running.
• Verify that Docker Compose is using the correct configuration files by running docker-compose config.

Conclusion

You now have a self-hosted Screenlite instance up and running on your server! By following these steps, you’ve demonstrated your DevOps skills in setting up an open-source digital signage CMS. Keep optimizing its performance using caching strategies, load balancing, and scaling techniques as needed for your specific use case.

Remember to monitor your system closely for potential security threats and maintain a secure environment by keeping software up-to-date and following best practices such as limiting exposed ports and implementing strong authentication measures.

For more information on Screenlite, visit the official documentation. Happy digital signage! 🚀📺