Windows Installfest 2

Node

We will install the Linux version of NodeJS into WSL without any version manager. The commands here will install Node v10.x. For other versions, change the number after setup_ in the 2nd command accordingly. If you wish to run multiple versions of NodeJS on your machine, which may be necessary for legacy development work, look at the section on using nvm instead. Warning: Do NOT run through both sets of instructions (here, and the one for nvm) or you will encounter version/library conflicts.

• Run the following commands in order in the WSL terminal. Wait for each to complete before running the next.
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
  • curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
  • sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
    • mkdir ~/.npm
    • npm config set prefix '~/.npm'
    • echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
    • source ~/.bashrc
  • node -v (Checks the installed version of NodeJS)
  • npm -v (Checks the installed version of npm)

Installing PostgreSQL

• Any database system contains at least 2 parts: the database server itself, and the database client. As WSL does not officially support GUI tools, for our convenience, we will install database servers on Windows, and use command line clients in WSL. This allows us to optionally install GUI clients in Windows for more convenient data visualization.

• Installing the PostgreSQL server

  • Download and install the latest version for Windows x86-64 from (https://www.enterprisedb.com/downloads/postgres-postgresql-downloads). This will also install PGAdmin.
  • Use pgAdmin 4 to create a Login/Group Role for your server with the same name as your WSL username. Ensure that under the Privileges tab, the options for login and create databases are turned on.
  • Use pgAdmin 4 to create a Database with the same name as your WSL username, and set its owner to the user that you just created.

• Installing the PostgreSQL client

  • Open a WSL terminal and run the following commands in order.
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
  • sudo apt-get install postgresql-client-10 postgresql-client-common (Change the version after -client- to the version of PostgreSQL that you installed)
  • echo 'export PGHOST=localhost' >> ~/.bashrc
  • Either source ~/.bashrc or restart WSL to reload the config
  • psql to check that everything runs. Type \l to see a list of databases. Hit q to exit the list if needed, and type \q to exit the client.
  • If you want PostgreSQL to start automatically on boot, do the following.
    • Press the Win key and type services. Press enter.
    • Look for the PostgreSQL 10 Server service, right-click on it, and ensure that the Startup type: is set to Automatic.

• HeidiSQL

  • Go to the Microsoft Store, search for and install HeidiSQL. This is a much more user friendly graphical SQL client. Originally meant for MySQL installations (another type of SQL server), it now works for PostgreSQL as well.

Addendum: Installing NodeJS using the Node Version Manager (nvm)

This method allows you to use different versions of NodeJS if required, but incurs a WSL performance penalty as the NVM takes some time to start up each time you open a WSL window.

• Run the following commands in order at the WSL terminal.
  • curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash
  • nvm install node (may take very long if your computer has to compile node)

Addendum: Installing MongoDB

• Get and install MongoDB Community Edition from (https://www.mongodb.com/download-center#community). Optionally, grab the MongoDB Compass, a GUI frontend for MongoDB, from (https://www.mongodb.com/download-center#compass) and install it after all the steps here are done.
• We need to create the directories for MongoDB to store data and logs in.
  • Press the Windows key and type cmd.exe and press Ctrl-Shift-Enter to run it as an administrator. Run the following commands.        mkdir c:\data\db        mkdir c:\data\log
  • Use Explorer to navigate to C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\ and create a file called mongod.cfg. Open it with notepad and type the following: systemLog:        destination: file        path: c:\data\log\mongod.log storage:        dbPath: c:\data\db
  • Return to the Command Prompt and run the following.
    • "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\bin\mongod.exe" --config "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\mongod.cfg" --install
    • net start MongoDB
  • Open WSL and run the following commands
    • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
    • sudo apt-get install mongodb-clients mongodb-tools
    • mongo to check that everything runs. Type quit() to exit the client.
  • If you want MongoDB to start automatically on boot, i.e. you won't have to type net start MongoDB each time you want to start on your dev session, do the following.
    • Press the Win key and type services. Press enter.
    • Look for the MongoDB service, right-click on it, and ensure that the Startup type: is set to Automatic.