Plone Quickstart on the Cloud in less than 5 minutes: Installing Plone on the Nitrous.io Platform

(update: August 18, 2015 the Nitrous.io free tier is no more, so you'll want to look at installing Plone on Cloud9 IDE)

(update: July 31, 2015)
A better free alternative to this is installing Plone on Cloud9 IDE.


(update: December 2, 2013, the script has been updated for Plone 4.3.2)
I learnt about Nitrous.io from +Tarik Carey at the July Plone Jamaica Meetup. He suggested that I should check it out and see if it can run Plone, so I did a few tests. Not only does it run Plone, but the installation can be done in less than 4 minutes*. I've created a little script (really a wrapper around the Plone Unified Installer) that does all the installation for you.

* I say 5 minutes in the title just so that I don't over promise.

Here are the steps:

Step 0 - Get a Nitrous.io account

You will need to get an account with Nitrous.io, so go and sign up over there and then come back here. (That link is a referral link, if you use it I get more units to use on my nitro boxes)

Step 1 - Start a new Python/Django Box

After logging in click 'New Box'. (update: so far I've tested all the different boxes and it actually doesn't matter if you choose a Node.js, Django or whatever box, no idea if this will change in the future)

Then select 'Python/Django', set your name and region, max out the storage and then click 'Create Box'

Step 2 - Run the Plone installer script

(update: December 1, the new URL will install Plone 4.3.2 now)
In the console of your new box paste the following command and press enter to begin the installation:

curl -L http://goo.gl/DiYOM8 | bash

You will see output similar to this:

Step 3 - Launch the server

Run the following command to start Plone (Zeo and Client1) as a foreground process.

(update: I've created start,stop,restart and debug scripts which should simplify development https://gist.github.com/pigeonflight/6089807, they are now integrated into the installer) 

Open a new console. Yes, you MUST open a new console!


In the new console window paste the following and press enter:

plone-start.sh

When you're ready to stop it you can open another console and use the command:

plone-stop.sh

If you've closed the browser and return to Nitrous.io you can check on your Plone process by running

plone-debug.sh

You can try "plone-restart.sh" though I prefer to explicitly stop it with "plone-stop.sh" then "plone-start.sh"

Step 4 - Setup Plone

You will know that Plone is running when you see the following message in the second console.

 "Zope Ready to handle requests" ([3] in the screenshot below). 

You can view the default administrator credentials, username and password under 'workspace' >  'zeocluster' in a file called adminPassword.txt ([2] in the screenshot below). To go to your live server select 'Preview' > 'Port 8080' ([1] in the screenshot below). 

You will see the Zope server ready to create your first Plone site.  You can now create a new Plone site, you will be prompted for your Admin credentials (stored in the adminPassword.txt [2] in the screenshot above).

Zope server, ready to create a Plone Site

Click create Plone site and enter your credentials.

Important things of note

This is definitely only suitable for development purposes, this is absolutely NOT FOR PRODUCTION USE. If you're a themer, integrator or developer, it should work nicely, I can see this coming in handy when working with a team on Plone projects or for running Plone training courses. 

Be careful, because this only runs in the foreground, the instance will die if you close the IDE or console window. If you want to work around this limitation there are ways to get shell access to your box and the Nitrous.io boxes support both screen and tmux (though I prefer the screen-based byobu). (See their tutorial on using tmux). 

Nitrous.io appears to be configured to limit background processes. The new plone-start.sh/plone-stop.sh scripts that now ship with this script are integrated with tmux, this means that, even though everything is a foreground process, your instances won't die if you close the console or window.

For those who want to see the code that run's this thing, here's the Gist:

	The following script ever so slightly modifies the Unified Installer so that it works on nitrous.io. It does this by changing the version of lxml to 2.2.8 which compiles on nitrous.io (lxml 2.3.x does not)
	Installation
	==============
	Here are the steps to get going
	1. Sign up with nitrous.io
	2. Start up a python box
	3. From the IDE console run the following command to download Plone:
	curl -L http://goo.gl/kr6n5J | bash
	The result will be a Plone installation located under workspace/zeocluster
	Usage
	=========
	Open a new console. To start plone type and press enter:
	plone-start.sh
	To stop, open a second console and run:
	plone-stop.sh
	Other useful commands 'plone-restart.sh' and 'plone-debug.sh'
	To view your server from the IDE, go to "Preview" > "Port 8080".

view raw plone-on-nitrous.io notes.txt hosted with ❤ by GitHub

	echo "getting the installer"
	wget https://launchpad.net/plone/4.3/4.3.1/+download/Plone-4.3.1-UnifiedInstaller.tgz
	echo "unpacking the installer"
	tar xfz Plone-4.3.1-UnifiedInstaller.tgz
	echo "adding an altered versions.cfg file"
	cd Plone-4.3.1-UnifiedInstaller/base_skeleton
	wget https://gist.github.com/pigeonflight/6068222/raw/000849ebd9c4bf4b66a28b9dc4177b63e2dcfdf2/versions.cfg -O versions.cfg
	cd ..
	echo "installing (first pass)"
	./install.sh zeo --target=/home/action/workspace
	# the step above seems to only half install it so we brute force it a bit
	echo "installing (second pass)"
	cd ~/workspace/zeocluster
	bin/buildout
	echo "let's install some convenience commands"
	wget https://gist.github.com/pigeonflight/6089807/download -O plonecommands.tgz
	mkdir -p ~/bin
	tar xfz plonecommands.tgz
	cp `tar tfz plonecommands.tgz |head -1`plone* ~/bin/
	chmod +x ~/bin/plone*
	rm -rf `tar tfz plonecommands.tgz |head -1`
	rm plonecommands.tgz
	echo 'PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
	echo 'export PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
	PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
	export PATH
	echo "***********************************"
	echo "** **"
	echo "** Plone on N2O install complete **"
	echo "** **"
	echo "** the commands will not work in **"
	echo "** this console. Close this **"
	echo "** console now and run: **"
	echo "** **"
	echo "** plone-start.sh **"
	echo "** **"
	echo "** newly opened console **"
	echo "** **"
	echo "** **"
	echo "***********************************"

view raw plone-on-nitrous.io.sh hosted with ❤ by GitHub

	# http://dist.plone.org/release/4.3.1/versions.cfg
	[buildout]
	extends =
	zopeapp-versions.cfg
	zope-versions.cfg
	# http://download.zope.org/zopetoolkit/index/1.0.8/zopeapp-versions.cfg
	# http://download.zope.org/Zope2/index/2.13.20/versions.cfg
	[versions]
	# Zope overrides
	docutils = 0.9.1
	# Get support for @security decorators
	AccessControl = 3.0.6
	# More memory efficient version, Trac #13101
	DateTime = 3.0.3
	# Products.BTreeFolder2 2.13.4 causes a regression
	Products.BTreeFolder2 = 2.13.3
	# Override until ztk is updated
	Sphinx = 1.1.3
	# required for recent z3c.form and chameleon
	zope.pagetemplate = 3.6.3
	# Build tools
	buildout.dumppickedversions = 0.5
	collective.recipe.omelette = 0.15
	collective.recipe.template = 1.9
	#collective.xmltestreport = 1.3.0
	decorator = 3.4.0
	distribute = 0.6.28
	mr.developer = 1.21
	plone.recipe.alltests = 1.2
	plone.recipe.zope2instance = 4.2.11
	plone.recipe.zeoserver = 1.2.5
	robotframework = 2.7.6
	robotframework-selenium2library = 1.1.0
	robotsuite = 1.2.1
	selenium = 2.31.0
	setuptools = 0.6c11
	z3c.coverage = 1.2.0
	z3c.ptcompat = 1.0.1
	z3c.template = 1.4.1
	zest.releaser = 3.43
	zope.testrunner = 4.1.1
	# External dependencies
	Markdown = 2.0.3
	PIL = 1.1.7
	Pillow = 1.7.8
	# Unidecode 0.04.{2-9} break tests
	Unidecode = 0.04.1
	elementtree = 1.2.7-20070827-preview
	experimental.cssselect = 0.3
	feedparser = 5.0.1
	lxml = 2.2.8
	mailinglogger = 3.7.0
	ordereddict = 1.1
	python-dateutil = 1.5
	python-openid = 2.2.5
	repoze.xmliter = 0.5
	simplejson = 2.5.2
	six = 1.2.0
	WebOb = 1.0.8
	# Plone release
	Plone = 4.3.1
	Products.ATContentTypes = 2.1.13
	Products.ATReferenceBrowserWidget = 3.0
	Products.Archetypes = 1.9.1
	Products.CMFActionIcons = 2.1.3
	Products.CMFCalendar = 2.2.2
	Products.CMFCore = 2.2.7
	Products.CMFDefault = 2.2.3
	Products.CMFDiffTool = 2.1
	Products.CMFDynamicViewFTI = 4.0.5
	Products.CMFEditions = 2.2.8
	Products.CMFFormController = 3.0.3
	Products.CMFPlacefulWorkflow = 1.5.9
	Products.CMFPlone = 4.3.1
	Products.CMFQuickInstallerTool = 3.0.6
	Products.CMFTestCase = 0.9.12
	Products.CMFTopic = 2.2.1
	Products.CMFUid = 2.2.1
	Products.contentmigration = 2.1.4
	Products.DCWorkflow = 2.2.4
	Products.ExtendedPathIndex = 3.1
	Products.ExternalEditor = 1.1.0
	Products.GenericSetup = 1.7.3
	Products.Marshall = 2.1.2
	Products.MimetypesRegistry = 2.0.4
	Products.PasswordResetTool = 2.0.14
	Products.PlacelessTranslationService = 2.0.3
	Products.PloneLanguageTool = 3.2.7
	Products.PlonePAS = 4.1.1
	Products.PloneTestCase = 0.9.17
	Products.PluggableAuthService = 1.10.0
	Products.PluginRegistry = 1.3
	Products.PortalTransforms = 2.1.2
	Products.ResourceRegistries = 2.2.9
	Products.SecureMailHost = 1.1.2
	Products.TinyMCE = 1.3.4
	Products.ZopeVersionControl = 1.1.3
	Products.ZSQLMethods = 2.13.4
	Products.i18ntestcase = 1.3
	Products.statusmessages = 4.0
	Products.validation = 2.0
	archetypes.querywidget = 1.0.8
	archetypes.referencebrowserwidget = 2.4.18
	archetypes.schemaextender = 2.1.2
	borg.localrole = 3.0.2
	collective.monkeypatcher = 1.0.1
	collective.testcaselayer = 1.6
	collective.z3cform.datetimewidget = 1.2.3
	diazo = 1.0.3
	five.customerize = 1.1
	five.formlib = 1.0.4
	five.globalrequest = 1.0
	five.localsitemanager = 2.0.5
	plone.app.blob = 1.5.8
	plone.app.caching = 1.1.4
	plone.app.collection = 1.0.10
	plone.app.content = 2.1.2
	plone.app.contentlisting = 1.0.4
	plone.app.contentmenu = 2.0.8
	plone.app.contentrules = 3.0.3
	plone.app.controlpanel = 2.3.6
	plone.app.customerize = 1.2.2
	plone.app.dexterity = 2.0.8
	plone.app.discussion = 2.2.6
	plone.app.folder = 1.0.5
	plone.app.form = 2.2.2
	plone.app.i18n = 2.0.2
	plone.app.imaging = 1.0.9
	plone.app.iterate = 2.1.10
	plone.app.jquery = 1.7.2
	plone.app.jquerytools = 1.5.5
	plone.app.layout = 2.3.5
	plone.app.linkintegrity = 1.5.2
	plone.app.locales = 4.3.1
	plone.app.openid = 2.0.2
	plone.app.portlets = 2.4.4
	plone.app.querystring = 1.0.8
	plone.app.redirector = 1.2
	plone.app.registry = 1.2.3
	plone.app.search = 1.1.4
	plone.app.testing = 4.2.2
	plone.app.textfield = 1.2.2
	plone.app.theming = 1.1.1
	plone.app.upgrade = 1.3.3
	plone.app.users = 1.2a2
	plone.app.uuid = 1.0
	plone.app.viewletmanager = 2.0.3
	plone.app.vocabularies = 2.1.10
	plone.app.workflow = 2.1.5
	plone.app.z3cform = 0.7.3
	plone.alterego = 1.0
	plone.autoform = 1.4
	plone.batching = 1.0
	plone.behavior = 1.0.2
	plone.browserlayer = 2.1.2
	plone.cachepurging = 1.0.4
	plone.caching = 1.0
	plone.contentrules = 2.0.3
	plone.dexterity = 2.1.3
	plone.fieldsets = 2.0.2
	plone.folder = 1.0.4
	plone.formwidget.namedfile = 1.0.6
	plone.i18n = 2.0.8
	plone.indexer = 1.0.2
	plone.intelligenttext = 2.0.2
	plone.keyring = 2.0.1
	plone.locking = 2.0.4
	plone.memoize = 1.1.1
	plone.namedfile = 2.0.2
	plone.openid = 2.0.1
	plone.outputfilters = 1.10
	plone.portlet.collection = 2.1.5
	plone.portlet.static = 2.0.2
	plone.portlets = 2.2
	plone.protect = 2.0.2
	plone.registry = 1.0.1
	plone.reload = 2.0
	plone.resource = 1.0.2
	plone.resourceeditor = 1.0
	plone.rfc822 = 1.0.1
	plone.scale = 1.3.2
	plone.schemaeditor = 1.3.2
	plone.session = 3.5.3
	plone.stringinterp = 1.0.10
	plone.subrequest = 1.6.7
	plone.supermodel = 1.2.2
	plone.synchronize = 1.0.1
	plone.testing = 4.0.8
	plone.theme = 2.1
	plone.transformchain = 1.0.3
	plone.uuid = 1.0.3
	plone.z3cform = 0.8.0
	plonetheme.classic = 1.3.2
	plonetheme.sunburst = 1.4.4
	rwproperty = 1.0
	wicked = 1.1.10
	z3c.autoinclude = 0.3.4
	z3c.batching = 1.1.0
	z3c.blobfile = 0.1.5
	z3c.caching = 2.0a1
	z3c.form = 3.0
	z3c.formwidget.query = 0.9
	z3c.zcmlhook = 1.0b1
	zope.globalrequest = 1.0
	zope.schema = 4.2.2
	# Ecosystem (not officially part of core)
	collective.js.jqueryui = 1.10.1.2
	collective.z3cform.datagridfield = 0.11
	collective.z3cform.datagridfield-demo = 0.5
	five.grok = 1.3.2
	five.intid = 1.0.3
	grokcore.annotation = 1.3
	grokcore.component = 2.5
	grokcore.formlib = 1.9
	grokcore.security = 1.6.2
	grokcore.site = 1.6.1
	grokcore.view = 2.7
	grokcore.viewlet = 1.10.1
	martian = 0.14
	mocker = 1.1.1
	plone.app.intid = 1.0.2
	plone.app.lockingbehavior = 1.0.1
	plone.app.referenceablebehavior = 0.5
	plone.app.relationfield = 1.2.1
	plone.app.stagingbehavior = 0.1b4
	plone.app.versioningbehavior = 1.1
	plone.directives.dexterity = 1.0.2
	plone.directives.form = 2.0
	plone.formwidget.autocomplete = 1.2.4
	plone.formwidget.contenttree = 1.0.6
	plone.mocktestcase = 1.0b3
	z3c.objpath = 1.1
	z3c.relationfield = 0.6.2
	zc.relation = 1.0

view raw versions.cfg hosted with ❤ by GitHub