Installation

Installation is not difficult, but there are many steps. This is a brief explanation of what needs to be done:

1. Install git
2. Download the code from GitHub using git
3. Install node.js (Node), the runtime environment the application will need to work.
4. Configure the Node Package Manager (pnpm) to automatically use the correct version of Node for our application.
5. Use pnpm to install TypeScript, the language the application is written in.
6. Install other supporting software such as the database.
7. Configure the application
8. Start the application

These steps are explained in more detail in the sections that follow.

Prerequisites

In this section we'll explain how to set up all the prerequisite software packages to get you up and running.

Install git

The easiest way to get the latest copies of our code is to install the git package on your computer.

Follow the setup guide for git on official git docs. Basic git knowledge is required for open source contribution so make sure you're comfortable with it. Here's a good tutorial to get started with git and github.

Setting up this repository

First you need a local copy of talawa-api. Run the following command in the directory of choice on your local system.

1. On your computer, navigate to the folder where you want to setup the repository.
2. Open a cmd (Windows) or terminal (Linux or MacOS) session in this folder.
   1. An easy way to do this is to right-click and choose appropriate option based on your OS.

The next steps will depend on whether you are:

1. an end user installing our software (Production Environments) or
2. one of our open source contributors (Development Environments).

Please follow them closely.

For Production Environments

Follow the steps in this section if you are using Talawa-API as an end user.

1. Clone the repository to your local computer using this command:

   $ git clone https://github.com/PalisadoesFoundation/talawa-api.git

   1. Proceed to the next section.

For Development Environments

If you are one of our open source software developer contributors then follow these steps carefully in forking and cloning the talawa-api repository.

1. Follow the steps in our Git Guide for Developers
2. As a developer you will be working with our develop branch.
3. You will now have a local copy of the code files.
4. For more detailed instructions on contributing code, please review the following documents in the root directory of the code:
   1. CONTRIBUTING.md
   2. CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
   3. CODE_STYLE.md
   4. DOCUMENTATION.md
   5. INSTALLATION.md
   6. ISSUE_GUIDELINES.md
   7. PR_GUIDELINES.md

Proceed to the next section.

Install node.js

The best way to install and manage node.js is making use of node version managers. We recommend using fnm, which will be described in more detail later.

Follow these steps to install the node.js packages in Windows, Linux and MacOS.

For Windows Users

Follow these steps:

1. Install node.js from their website at https://nodejs.org
   1. When installing, don't click the option to install the necessary tools. These are not needed in our case.
2. Install fnm. Please read all the steps in this section first.
   1. All the commands listed on this page will need to be run in a Windows terminal session in the talawa-api directory.
   2. Install fnm using the winget option listed on the page.
   3. Setup fnm to automatically set the version of node.js to the version required for the repository using these steps:
      1. Refer to the Shell Setup section of the fnm site's installation page for recommendations.
      2. Open a Windows PowerShell terminal window
      3. Run the recommended Windows PowerShell command to open notepad.
      4. Paste the recommended string into notepad
      5. Save the document.
      6. Exit notepad
      7. Exit PowerShell
      8. This will ensure that you are always using the correct version of node.js

Proceed to the next section.

For Linux and MacOS Users

Follow these steps:

1. Install node.js from their website at https://nodejs.org
2. Install fnm.
   1. Refer to the Shell Setup section of the fnm site's installation page for recommendations.
   2. Run the respective recommended commands to setup your node environment
   3. This will ensure that you are always using the correct version of node.js

Proceed to the next section.

Install pnpm

The application uses pnpm to manage the various node.js packages that need to be installed.

• Install pnpm from the pnpm website

Proceed to the next section.

Install TypeScript

TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript. It adds optional types, classes, and modules to JavaScript, and supports tools for large-scale JavaScript applications.

To install TypeScript, you can use the pnpm command:

pnpm install -g typescript

This command installs TypeScript globally on your system so that it can be accessed from any project.

Proceed to the next section.

Install The Required Packages

Run the following command to install the packages and dependencies required by the app:

pnpm install

The prerequisites are now installed. The next step will be to get the app up and running.

Install Docker

Follow these steps to install Docker on your system:

1. The steps are different for Windows/Mac versus Linux users:

   1. Docker Desktop for Windows/Mac
   2. Docker Engine for Linux

2. You must ensure that docker is running for the Talawa-API application to work correctly. Follow these steps to verify its operation:

   1. Open a terminal window.
   2. Run the following commands to check if the required software is installed:

      docker --version
      docker-compose --version

   3. Run this command to check whether docker is running:

      docker info

   4. Using the Docker documentation, you must ensure that Docker will restart after your next reboot.

Note: Restart the docker if you are getting this error Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Configuring Talawa API

• Please go to the Configuration Guide to get Talawa-API configured.