How to install on Linux

The instructions were last verified on CentOS 7.4, current as of April 2021. Follow these instructions to run BlueRange in a Docker container. For production use of one of the supported Linux flavors as docker host system is required.

BlueRange may be run on any operating system supported by Docker, e.g. macOS is a known to be working host. Notice however, environments not officially listed are not covered by these instructions and are suitable for evaluation purposes only.

The instructions cover installation and configuration of a fully functional BlueRange system incl. all required services all running in Docker containers on one (physical) host.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure that:

  • The host machine is connected to the Internet

  • You have root (or sudo) permissions

  • The networking environment is known so that DNS and firewall can be set up

  • You have an SSL certificate for your host name

Please make sure to choose a host name for your server wisely as it is not easy to change once devices where added for management. For security reasons communication requires HTTPS/TLS encryption throughout the system.

The installation supports the use of self-signed certificates, but it is not recommended. Self-signed certificates are not trusted by default so that additional work is required for any client accessing BlueRange later on. Also notice, not all features may be available when self-signed certificates are used.

Validly signed certificates may be obtained from an official certification authority. Certificates of Let’s Encrypt are known to be working. The service requires installation of a certification renewal agent that supports the ACME protocol, and a registered domain name. A list of available ACME clients can be found at ACME client with certbot as the recommended one. Usually the ACME client needs to be reachable from the Internet. Its setup is beyond the scope of this installation guide.