This guide will step you through setting up a Python-based virtualenv, installing the required packages, and configuring the basic web service. This guide assumes a clean Ubuntu 14.04 instance, commands may differ based on the OS and configuration being used.
..note:: Lemur was built with in AWS in mind. This means that things such as databases (RDS), mail (SES), and TLS (ELB), are largely handled for us. Lemur does **not** require AWS to function. Our guides and documentation try to be as generic as possible and are not intended to document every step of launching Lemur into a given environment.
..note:: PostgreSQL is only required if your database is going to be on the same host as the webserver. npm is needed if you're installing Lemur from the source (e.g., from git).
Before we run Lemur, we must create a valid configuration file for it. The Lemur command line interface comes with a simple command to get you up and running quickly.
..note:: This command will create a default configuration under ``~/.lemur/lemur.conf.py`` you can specify this location by passing the ``config_path`` parameter to the ``create_config`` command.
You can specify ``-c`` or ``--config`` to any Lemur command to specify the current environment you are working in. Lemur will also look under the environmental variable ``LEMUR_CONF`` should that be easier to setup in your environment.
Once created, you will need to update the configuration file with information about your environment, such as which database to talk to, where keys are stored etc.
For production, a dedicated database is recommended, for this guide we will assume postgres has been installed and is on the same machine that Lemur is installed on.
First, set a password for the postgres user. For this guide, we will use ``lemur`` as an example but you should use the database password generated by Lemur:
For this guide we assume you will use the `postgres` user to connect to your database, when deploying to a VM or container this is often all you will need. If you have a shared database it is recommend you give Lemur its own user.
Lemur provides a helpful command that will initialize your database for you. It creates a default user (``lemur``) that is used by Lemur to help associate certificates that do not currently have an owner. This is most commonly the case when Lemur has discovered certificates from a third party source. This is also a default user that can be used to administer Lemur.
In addition to creating a new user, Lemur also creates a few default email notifications. These notifications are based on a few configuration options such as ``LEMUR_SECURITY_TEAM_EMAIL``. They basically guarantee that every certificate within Lemur will send one expiration notification to the security team.
Additional notifications can be created through the UI or API. See :ref:`Creating Notifications <CreatingNotifications>` and :ref:`Command Line Interface <CommandLineInterface>` for details.
..note:: It is recommended that once the ``lemur`` user is created that you create individual users for every day access. There is currently no way for a user to self enroll for Lemur access, they must have an administrator create an account for them or be enrolled automatically through SSO. This can be done through the CLI or UI. See :ref:`Creating Users <CreatingUsers>` and :ref:`Command Line Interface <CommandLineInterface>` for details.
By default, Lemur runs on port 8000. Even if you change this, under normal conditions you won't be able to bind to port 80. To get around this (and to avoid running Lemur as a privileged user, which you shouldn't), we need setup a simple web proxy. There are many different web servers you can use for this, we like and recommend Nginx.
You'll use the builtin ``HttpProxyModule`` within Nginx to handle proxying. Edit the ``/etc/nginx/sites-available/default`` file according to the lines below
Lemur uses periodic sync tasks to make sure it is up-to-date with its environment. Things change outside of Lemur we do our best to reconcile those changes. The recommended method is to use CRON:
If you're familiar with Python you'll quickly find yourself at home, and even more so if you've used Flask. The ``lemur`` command is just a simple wrapper around Flask's ``manage.py``, which means you get all of the power and flexibility that goes with it.
Get familiar with how Lemur works by reviewing the :doc:`../guide/index`. When you're ready see :doc:`../production/index` for more details on how to configure Lemur for production.
The above just gets you going, but for production there are several different security considerations to take into account. Remember, Lemur is handling sensitive data and security is imperative.
