Forem on Oracle Cloud with ARM Ubuntu 24.04

Admin McAdmin — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:05:55 +0000

Hosting Forem on ARM Ubuntu 24.04

Forem is an open-source platform for building communities, best known for powering DEV.to. With the rise of ARM-based servers and single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, hosting Forem on ARM Ubuntu 24.04 is both cost-effective and energy-efficient. This article provides a step-by-step guide to deploying Forem on an ARM Ubuntu 24.04 server.

Prerequisites

ARM-based server or SBC (e.g., Raspberry Pi 4, AWS Graviton, Oracle Ampere)
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (ARM64)
At least 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
Domain name (optional, for production)
Basic knowledge of Linux and Docker

1. Update System Packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Docker and Docker Compose

Forem uses Docker for deployment. Ubuntu 24.04 supports Docker on ARM out of the box.

sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in to apply the group change.

3. Clone the Forem Repository

git clone https://github.com/forem/forem.git
cd forem

4. Configure Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file and edit it:

cp .env.sample .env
nano .env

Set values for:

APP_DOMAIN (your domain or IP)
SECRET_KEY_BASE (generate with openssl rand -hex 64)
POSTGRES_PASSWORD (choose a strong password)
REDIS_URL (default is fine for local)

5. Build Docker Images for ARM

Forem's Docker images are multi-arch, but you may need to build them locally for ARM:

docker-compose build

If you encounter architecture issues, add the following to your Dockerfile(s):

FROM --platform=linux/arm64 ruby:3.2

6. Start Forem Services

docker-compose up -d

Check logs for errors:

docker-compose logs -f

7. Database Setup

Run database migrations and seed data:

docker-compose exec web rails db:setup

8. Access Forem

Visit http://<your-server-ip>:3000 in your browser.
Register the first user (becomes admin).

9. (Optional) Set Up a Reverse Proxy with Nginx

For production, use Nginx to proxy traffic and enable SSL:

sudo apt install nginx

Sample Nginx config:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Reload Nginx:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

10. Troubleshooting

Docker build fails on ARM: Ensure all images use ARM64 base images.
Out of memory: Increase swap or use a device with more RAM.
Ports in use: Make sure nothing else is running on port 3000.

11. Production Considerations

Use SSL (Let's Encrypt)
Set up backups for PostgreSQL
Monitor resource usage
Regularly update Forem and dependencies

Conclusion

Hosting Forem on ARM Ubuntu 24.04 is straightforward with Docker. This setup is ideal for self-hosted communities, hobby projects, or low-cost production deployments. For more advanced scaling, consider managed databases and cloud load balancers.

References:

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Admin McAdmin — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 14:18:23 +0000

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