​
Ubuntu Development Setup

This guide will help you set up your Ubuntu development environment for contributing to Chatwoot. These instructions work for Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, and newer versions.

​
Update System Packages

Open a terminal and run the following commands to update your system packages:

sudo apt-get update

​
Install Git

Install Git for version control:

sudo apt-get install git

Configure Git with your information:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Verify Git installation:

git --version

​
Install RVM

You need software-properties-common installed in order to add PPA repositories:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

Install RVM (Ruby Version Manager):

sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:rael-gc/rvm
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rvm
sudo usermod -a -G rvm $USER

Important: Enable Run command as a login shell in terminal Preferences. Restart your computer after installation.

​
Install Ruby

Chatwoot APIs are built on Ruby on Rails. You need to install Ruby 3.3.3:

rvm install ruby-3.3.3

Use Ruby 3.3.3 as default:

rvm use 3.3.3 --default

Verify Ruby installation:

ruby --version
# Should output: ruby 3.3.3

​
Install Node.js

Chatwoot requires Node.js version 20. Install Node.js from NodeSource using the following commands:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Verify Node.js installation:

node --version
# Should output: v20.x.x

npm --version

​
Install pnpm

We use pnpm as the package manager:

curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

Verify pnpm installation:

pnpm --version

​
Install PostgreSQL

The database used in Chatwoot is PostgreSQL. Use the following commands to install PostgreSQL:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

The installation procedure creates a user account called postgres that is associated with the default Postgres role. In order to use Postgres, you can log into that account:

sudo -u postgres psql

Install libpq-dev dependencies for Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install libpq-dev

Verify PostgreSQL installation:

psql --version

​
Install Redis Server

Chatwoot uses Redis server in agent assignments and reporting. You need to install redis-server:

sudo apt-get install redis-server

Next, enable Redis to start on system boot:

sudo systemctl enable redis-server.service

Verify Redis installation:

redis-cli ping
# Should output: PONG

​
Install ImageMagick

Install ImageMagick for image processing:

sudo apt-get install imagemagick

Verify ImageMagick installation:

convert --version

​
Troubleshooting Common Issues

​
Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

Your Ubuntu development environment is now ready for Chatwoot development! 🐧