TaskBoard is a free and open-source Kanban application used to keep track of things that need to get done. It is a PHP-based and self-hosted application that helps you to keep track of all tasks. It provides a simple and user-friendly web interface for managing all your tasks. It is used by teams or organizations to represent work and its path towards completion.
Features
- Free and open-source
- Unlimited boards
- Simple and easy to install
- Easy customization
- RESTful API
- Basic User management
In this tutorial, I will show you how to install Taskboard on Debian 11.
Prerequisites
- A server running Debian 11.
- A valid domain name pointed with your server IP.
- A root password is configured on the server.
Getting Started
Before starting, it is a good idea to update your system packages to the updated version. You can update all of them by running the following command:
apt-get update -y
Once all the packages are updated, you can proceed to the next step.
Install Apache, PHP, and Sqlite
First, you will need to install the Apache web server, PHP, SQLite, and other required dependencies to your server. You can install all of them by running the following command:
apt-get install apache2 sqlite3 php libapache2-mod-php php-cli php-common php-json php-readline php-sqlite3 libaio1 libapr1 libhtml-template-perl libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap libaprutil1 libdbi-perl libterm-readkey-perl curl libwrap0 unzip wget -y
Once all the packages are installed, start the Apache service and enable it to start at system reboot:
systemctl start apache2
systemctl enable apache2
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Download Taskboard
First, download the latest version of Taskboard using the following command:
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/kiswa/TaskBoard/releases/latest |grep browser_download_url | cut -d '"' -f 4 | wget -i -
Once the download is completed, extract the downloaded file to the Apache web root directory with the following command:
unzip TaskBoard_v*.zip -d /var/www/html/taskboard
Next, set proper ownership and permission on the Taskboard directory:
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/taskboard
chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/taskboard
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Configure Apache for Taskboard
Next, you will need to create an Apache virtual host configuration file for Taskboard. You can create it by running the following command:
nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/taskboard.conf
Add the following lines:
ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot "https://www.howtoforge.com/var/www/html/taskboard"
ServerName taskboard.example.com
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
ErrorLog "https://www.howtoforge.com/var/log/apache2/taskboard-error_log"
CustomLog "https://www.howtoforge.com/var/log/apache2/taskboard-access_log" combined
Save and close the file when you are finished then enable the Apache virtual host with the following command:
a2ensite taskboard.conf
Next, enable the Apache rewrite module and restart the Apache web service with the following command:
a2enmod rewrite
systemctl restart apache2
You can now check the status of the Apache service using the following command:
systemctl status apache2
You will get the following output:
? apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2021-11-06 14:46:54 UTC; 5s ago
Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
Process: 23704 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/apachectl start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 23709 (apache2)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 4679)
Memory: 15.3M
CPU: 110ms
CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
??23709 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??23710 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??23711 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??23712 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??23713 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
??23714 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
Nov 06 14:46:54 debian11 systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Access Taskboard
At this point, Taskboard is installed and configured. Now, open your web browser and access the Taskboard using the URL http://taskboard.example.com. You will be redirected to the Taskboard login page:
Provide default admin username and password admin/admin and click on the Sign In button. You should see the Taskboard dashboard on the following page:
Now, click on the Settings button to change the Taskboard default admin password. You should see the following page:
Provide your new admin password and click on the Change Password button to apply the changes.
Secure Taskboard with Let’s Encrypt SSL
If you want to secure your Taskboard with Let’s Encrypt SSL, you will need to install the Certbot client package and manage the Let’s Encrypt SSL for your Taskboard.
You can install it by running the following command:
apt-get install python3-certbot-apache -y
Once the Certbot package is installed, run the following command to download and install the Let’s Encrypt SSL for your Taskboard website.
certbot --apache -d taskboard.example.com
You will be asked to provide your email and accept the term of service as shown below:
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Plugins selected: Authenticator standalone, Installer None Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to cancel): [email protected] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please read the Terms of Service at https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must agree in order to register with the ACME server at https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (A)gree/(C)ancel: A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Y)es/(N)o: Y Plugins selected: Authenticator apache, Installer apache Obtaining a new certificate Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for taskboard.example.com Enabled Apache rewrite module Waiting for verification... Cleaning up challenges Created an SSL vhost at /etc/apache2/sites-available/taskboard-le-ssl.conf Enabled Apache socache_shmcb module Enabled Apache ssl module Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/apache2/sites-available/taskboard-le-ssl.conf Enabling available site: /etc/apache2/sites-available/taskboard-le-ssl.conf
Next, select whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS as shown below:
Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration. 2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this change by editing your web server's configuration. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2
Type 2 and hit Enter to install the Let’s Encrypt SSL for your website:
Enabled Apache rewrite module Redirecting vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/taskboard.conf to ssl vhost in /etc/apache2/sites-available/taskboard-le-ssl.conf - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://taskboard.example.com You should test your configuration at: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=taskboard.example.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IMPORTANT NOTES: - Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/taskboard.example.com/fullchain.pem Your key file has been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/taskboard.example.com/privkey.pem Your cert will expire on 2022-02-7. To obtain a new or tweaked version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot again with the "certonly" option. To non-interactively renew *all* of your certificates, run "certbot renew" - If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by: Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/donate Donating to EFF: https://eff.org/donate-le
Now, you can access your website securely using the URL https://taskboard.example.com.
Conclusion
Congratulations! you have successfully installed Taskboard with Apache and Let’s Encrypt SSL. You can now create your board, add users, assign tasks and manage all from the central dashboard. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
