---
title: "Admin Setup"
author:
- "Mark Padgham"
date: "`r Sys.Date()`"
vignette: >
%\VignetteIndexEntry{Admin setup}
%\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
%\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---
```{r setup, include=FALSE}
knitr::opts_chunk$set (
collapse = TRUE,
warning = TRUE,
message = TRUE,
width = 120,
comment = "#>",
fig.retina = 2,
fig.path = "README-"
)
```
This vignette describes the one-time infrastructure steps required to deploy
`roreviewapi` on a Digital Ocean droplet, including the editor volunteer search
feature introduced in v0.2.
The Software Peer Review Lead should set up a regular alert system to
automatically check the deployment status. This bash script issues an
alert if anything is wrong:
``` bash
#!/usr/bin/env bash
URL="https://reviewbot.ropensci.org"
status=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$URL")
if [[ "$status" != "404" ]]; then
echo -e "reviewbot is down"
exit 1
fi
```
That should then be regularly called, for example by calling it within a
`~/.bashrc` file, or via a local cron job.
## Prerequisites
- SSH access to the Digital Ocean droplet
- A [Postmark](https://postmarkapp.com) account with a verified sender address
- Access to the AirTable base containing the editor-in-chief rotation table
- Ability to request DNS records for your institution's domain
## Environment variables
The following environment variables must be set in the `Dockerfile` before
building the image. Each appears twice: once as an `ENV` declaration at the
top of the file, and once in the `~/.Renviron` block that makes the value
available to R at runtime.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| `GITHUB_PAT` | GitHub personal access token |
| `POSTMARK_API_TOKEN` | Postmark server API token (from the Postmark dashboard) |
| `POSTMARK_FROM` | Verified sender address registered with Postmark |
| `AIRTABLE_API_KEY` | AirTable personal access token |
| `AIRTABLE_BASE_ID` | ID of the AirTable base containing the EiC rotation table |
| `ROREVIEWAPI_BASE_URL` | Public HTTPS base URL of the deployed API (`https://reviewbot.ropensci.org`) |
| `PKGCHECK_TOKEN` | pkgcheck authentication token (set directly in `~/.Renviron`) |
Replace each `` in `Dockerfile` with the real value before building.
## Postmark
1. Create a Postmark account at .
2. Add and verify a sender address under **Sender Signatures**. This address
will appear as the `From:` address on all outgoing emails and must be set as
`POSTMARK_FROM`.
3. Navigate to **Servers → Your Server → API Tokens** and copy the server API
token. Set this as `POSTMARK_API_TOKEN` in the `Dockerfile`.
## AirTable
1. Generate a personal access token at with
at least `data.records:read` scope on the relevant base. Set this as
`AIRTABLE_API_KEY`.
2. Open the AirTable base and copy the base ID from the URL
(`https://airtable.com/appXXXXXXXX/...`). Set this as `AIRTABLE_BASE_ID`.
The `editor-in-chief-rotation` table within that base must have `period_start`,
`period_end`, and `acting_eic_email` fields.
## Droplet preparation
Create the persistent data directory that will be bind-mounted into the
container. This directory holds the SQLite database and the notify-email cache
file and must survive container rebuilds.
```bash
sudo mkdir -p /srv/roreviewapi/data
sudo chmod 700 /srv/roreviewapi/data
```
## DNS
Ask your DNS administrator to add an `A` record pointing your chosen subdomain
to the droplet's IP address, for example:
```
review.example.org. IN A
```
Allow up to 24 hours for propagation, though it is usually much faster.
## TLS certificate
Once the DNS record is live, obtain a Let's Encrypt certificate on the droplet.
The `--standalone` method requires port 80 to be free (stop the running stack
first if necessary):
```bash
sudo apt install certbot
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d reviewbot.ropensci.org
```
The certificate and key are written to
`/etc/letsencrypt/live/review.example.org/`. Certbot installs a systemd timer
that renews certificates automatically; confirm it is active:
```bash
systemctl status certbot.timer
```
### Troubleshooting: HTTP-01 challenge failed
The HTTP-01 challenge works by certbot binding a temporary server to port 80.
Two things can prevent this:
**Port 80 occupied.** The Docker stack must be stopped before running certbot,
otherwise nginx holds port 80 and the challenge fails immediately:
```bash
docker-compose down
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d review.example.org
docker-compose up -d
```
**Port 80 blocked by a firewall.** There are two independent firewalls to check:
*Droplet firewall (ufw):*
```bash
sudo ufw status
```
If ufw is active and port 80 is not listed, open it:
```bash
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
```
*Digital Ocean cloud firewall:* in the DO console under
**Networking → Firewalls**, confirm there is an inbound rule allowing TCP
port 80 from all sources. The cloud firewall sits in front of the droplet and
blocks traffic before it reaches ufw, so both layers must allow port 80.
To confirm DNS has propagated before retrying certbot, check that the A record
resolves to the droplet IP:
```bash
dig +short review.example.org
```
## Deployment
Set `NGINX_SERVER_NAME` in the environment before starting the stack — this
value is substituted into `nginx.conf` at container startup:
```bash
export NGINX_SERVER_NAME=review.example.org
docker-compose up -d --build
```
The compose file:
- Mounts `/srv/roreviewapi/data` into the plumber container at `/data/email`,
and sets `ROREVIEWAPI_EMAIL_DB=/data/email/searches.sqlite` so the SQLite
database persists across rebuilds.
- Mounts `/etc/letsencrypt` read-only into the nginx container so the
certificate is available.
- Exposes ports 80 (HTTP → HTTPS redirect) and 443 (HTTPS).
## Editor search endpoints
Four endpoints support the volunteer editor search workflow. All require the
shared `secret` token.
### `GET /send_search`
Fetches current editor email addresses from AirTable and GitHub, inserts a
search record into the database, and dispatches personalised click-link emails
via Postmark. The submission type (standard vs. stats) is determined
automatically from the GitHub issue template.
Parameters: `repourl`, `repo` (org/repo), `issue_id`, `secret`.
### `GET /click/`
Records a volunteer response. Returns an HTTP 200 confirmation page, an
"already used" page on duplicate clicks, or an "expired" page if the search
has been deactivated. Sends a notification email to the current
editor-in-chief on the first valid click.
No authentication required — the token itself is the credential.
### `GET /list_searches`
Returns a data frame of all active and inactive searches with recipient totals
and click counts. Use this to find the `repourl` value needed to deactivate a
search.
Parameters: `secret`.
### `GET /deactivate_search`
Marks the search inactive (preventing further click responses) and permanently
deletes all recipient rows and the search record from the database.
Parameters: `repourl`, `secret`.
## Notify email cache
At startup, `serve_api()` fetches the current editor-in-chief email address
from AirTable and writes it to
`/data/email/notify_email.txt` (alongside the SQLite database). This cache is
refreshed every 24 hours via a background timer. If the AirTable call fails,
the existing cached value is preserved and an error is logged.
The cached address is used as the notification recipient whenever a volunteer
clicks a search link.