Creating your Own Installation Script

Any user may propose a script in the language of their choice allowing users to install their application. This script will be run with the permissions for the account where installation took place and must start with a YAML format comment.

Scripts comprise two parts:

• the YAML format dataset for configuring the site and requesting the information required by the script (the FORM_* variables) from the user. It can be split into four:

  • site: refer to the API documentation that restates all of the possible options.
  • database: mysql, postgresql, couchdb, rabbitmq.
  • requirements: specify limiting requirements which blocks their installation on certain plans.
  • form: all of the variables requested from the user creating the site. Example: site title, administrator ID, e-mail address, administrator's name, etc.

• the actual script.

Environment variables

Variables	Description	Example
USER	Account name	foo
HOME	Account root for the script	/home/foo/example/
APPLICATION_NAME	Application name
INSTALL_URL	Site address	foo.example.net/test
INSTALL_URL_PATH	Site root (base URL)	/test
INSTALL_URL_HOSTNAME	Site host name	foo.example.net
INSTALL_PATH_RELATIVE	Relative path from the account root (without final slash)	example
INSTALL_PATH	Absolute path (without final slash)	/home/foo/example
DATABASE_USERNAME	Database connection user (managed automatically)	foo_*
DATABASE_PASSWORD	User password for database connection (managed automatically)
DATABASE_NAME	Site database (managed automatically)	foo_*
DATABASE_HOST	Host name for database server connection	mysql-foo.alwaysdata.net (base MySQL)
SMTP_HOST	Host name for mail sending server connection	smtp-foo.alwaysdata.net
RESELLER_DOMAIN	Root domain used by the hosting provider	alwaysdata.net
FORM_*	Other variables explicitly requested from the user in the "form" section in the YAML dataset
PORT	Specific port for User program, Node.js, Elixir, .NET or Deno type sites
:: or IP	Specific port for User program, Node.js, Elixir, .NET or Deno type sites (prefer :: to IP)

If other variables are needed, open a support ticket.

Notes and tips

• The script needs to start with set -e to stop it when it fails,
• Specify the version of the language used (PHP, Python, Ruby, Node.js and Elixir). This is recommended to avoid being dependent on the default account configuration,
• The root directory specified by the user (INSTALL_PATH) serves as the root for a script (an export HOME= is run by default),
• To make an installation script public, you must specify the disk condition in the requirements,
• It is preferable to request a minimum amount of information to avoid making the script an exhaustive one. Users may change the configuration of their application later on.
• To add an optional form field, set the required option to false. If the user does not specify anything, the field remains blank,
• Labels and regex_text are translatables. Depending on the language chosen in its alwaysdata administration interface, the user can have the form questions in the specified languages.

Examples

1. Odoo installation script

#!/bin/bash

# Declare site in YAML, as documented here: https://help.alwaysdata.com/en/docs/development/marketplace/build-application-script/
# site:
#     type: user_program
#     working_directory: '{INSTALL_PATH_RELATIVE}'
#     command: '.venv/bin/python odoo-bin --config=.odoorc --http-port=$PORT'
# database:
#     type: postgresql
# requirements:
#     disk: 1400

set -e

# https://www.odoo.com/documentation/19.0/administration/install/source.html
# https://www.odoo.com/documentation/19.0/administration/on_premise/deploy.html#builtin-server
# https://www.odoo.com/documentation/19.0/developer/reference/cli.html

export PYTHON_VERSION=3.13
export NODEJS_VERSION=24

git clone -b 19.0 --depth 1 https://github.com/odoo/odoo.git .

npm install -g rtlcss

# Create virtualenv & install dependencies in it
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

mkdir -p odoo-data

# Configuration
cat << EOF > .odoorc
[options]
db_name = $DATABASE_NAME
db_user = $DATABASE_USERNAME
db_password = $DATABASE_PASSWORD
db_host = $DATABASE_HOST
addons_path = $INSTALL_PATH/addons
data_dir = $INSTALL_PATH/odoo-data
email_from = $USER@$RESELLER_DOMAIN
http_interface = ::
EOF

# Install
python odoo-bin --config=.odoorc --init --no-http --stop-after-init

# Default credentials for first login: admin / admin

The disk:1400 condition specifies that the Odoo installation requires 1400 MB of disk space. The Free plan is therefore too tight.

2. Backdrop installation script

#!/bin/bash

# Declare site in YAML, as documented here: https://help.alwaysdata.com/en/docs/development/marketplace/build-application-script/
# site:
#     type: php
#     path: '{INSTALL_PATH_RELATIVE}'
#     php_version: '8.5'
# database:
#     type: mysql
# requirements:
#     disk: 60
# form:
#     language:
#         type: choices
#         label:
#             en: Language
#             fr: Langue
#         choices:
#             de: Deutsch
#             en: English
#             es: Español
#             fr: Français
#             it: Italiano
#     site_name:
#         label:
#             en: Site name
#             fr: Nom du site
#         max_length: 255
#     email:
#         type: email
#         label:
#             en: Email
#             fr: Email
#         max_length: 255
#     admin_username:
#         label:
#             en: Administrator username
#             fr: Nom d'utilisateur de l'administrateur
#         regex: ^[ a-zA-Z0-9.+_-]+$
#         regex_text:
#             en: "It can include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, spaces, and special characters: .+_-."
#             fr: "Il peut comporter des majuscules, des minuscules, des chiffres, des espaces et les caractères spéciaux : .+_-."
#         max_length: 255
#     admin_password:
#         type: password
#         label:
#             en: Administrator password
#             fr: Mot de passe de l'administrateur
#         min_length: 5
#         max_length: 255

set -e

# https://docs.backdropcms.org/documentation/system-requirements
# https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/bee/wiki/Usage

wget --no-hsts https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/bee/releases/download/1.x-1.1.0/bee.phar
php bee.phar download-core
php bee.phar install --db-name=$DATABASE_NAME --db-user=$DATABASE_USERNAME --db-pass=$DATABASE_PASSWORD --db-host=$DATABASE_HOST --username=$FORM_ADMIN_USERNAME --password=$FORM_ADMIN_PASSWORD --email=$FORM_EMAIL --site-mail=$USER@$RESELLER_DOMAIN --langcode=$FORM_LANGUAGE --site-name=$FORM_SITE_NAME --auto

Use the regex_text condition to explain the regex with words.