Install Node.js 20 LTS

1. Download the Windows Installer (.msi) from: https://nodejs.org/en/download
2. Choose Node.js 20 LTS (the recommended version).
3. Run the installer. Accept the defaults, ensuring "Add to PATH" is checked.
4. Verify installation — open a new PowerShell or Command Prompt:

PowerShellnode --version
# Expected: v20.x.x

npm --version
# Expected: 10.x.x

Install PostgreSQL

1. Download the Windows installer from: https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/
2. Run the installer (EDB installer recommended). During setup:
   • Set a password for the postgres superuser — remember this password.
   • Keep the default port 5432.
   • Accept other defaults (locale, data directory).
3. The installer includes pgAdmin — a GUI tool for managing the database.
4. Verify installation — open a new PowerShell:

PowerShellpsql --version
# Expected: psql (PostgreSQL) 15.x or higher

PowerShell# Add to PATH for current session
$env:PATH += ";C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\bin"

Create the Database

Open PowerShell and run:

SQL# Connect as the postgres superuser
psql -U postgres

# At the psql prompt, create the database and a dedicated user:
CREATE DATABASE minusnow;
CREATE USER minusnow_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'YourStrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE minusnow TO minusnow_user;
ALTER DATABASE minusnow OWNER TO minusnow_user;

# Exit psql
\q

Verify the connection:

PowerShellpsql -U minusnow_user -d minusnow -h localhost
# Enter your password when prompted. If you see the psql prompt, it works.
\q

Install Git (if not installed)

1. Download from: https://git-scm.com/download/win
2. Run the installer with default settings.
3. Verify:

PowerShellgit --version
# Expected: git version 2.x.x

Clone the Repository

PowerShell# Navigate to your preferred project directory
cd E:\Projects

# Clone the repository
git clone <your-repo-url> MinusNow

# Enter the project directory
cd MinusNow

Install Dependencies

PowerShellnpm install

Expected output ends with: added 800+ packages in 30s

Configure Environment Variables

Step 7a: Create the file in your project folder:

PowerShell# Make sure you are inside the project folder
cd E:\Projects\MinusNow

# Create the .env file
New-Item -Path .env -ItemType File -Force

Step 7b: Open the file in Notepad (or any text editor):

PowerShellnotepad .env

Step 7c: Paste the following into the file, then edit the values marked with ←:

.env# ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
# │  REQUIRED — App will NOT start without these     │
# └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Your PostgreSQL connection string
# Format: postgresql://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE_NAME
#
# ← Replace the username, password, and database name with what
#    you created in Step 3 when setting up PostgreSQL.
#
#    Example breakdown:
#    postgresql://minusnow_user:YourStrongPassword123!@localhost:5432/minusnow
#                ├── username ──┤├── your password ────┤├─ host ─┤├port┤├─ db ─┤
#
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://minusnow_user:YourStrongPassword123!@localhost:5432/minusnow

# A secret key used to encrypt user sessions (login cookies).
# ← Replace with any random string of 32+ characters.
#    (See the tip below to auto-generate one.)
#
SESSION_SECRET=change-me-to-a-random-string-at-least-32-characters-long


# ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
# │  OPTIONAL — Safe to leave as-is for local testing│
# └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Which port the app listens on (default: 5000)
PORT=5000

# Set to "production" when deploying for real users
NODE_ENV=development

# Your company name (shown in the UI header)
# APP_ORG_NAME=YourCompany

# Admin email for notifications
# ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourcompany.com

# Active Directory / LDAP (only if your org uses AD login)
# AD_URL=ldap://your-ad-server:389
# AD_DOMAIN=YOURDOMAIN
# AD_EMAIL_DOMAIN=yourcompany.com

# App URL (used in email links — only needed if sending emails)
# APP_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000
# APP_URL=http://localhost:5000

Step 7d: Save the file (Ctrl + S in Notepad) and close it.

[Convert]::ToBase64String((1..32 | ForEach-Object { Get-Random -Minimum 0 -Maximum 256 }) -as [byte[]])

📋 Quick Reference — What each variable does

# This should print your DATABASE_URL (confirms the file is being read)
Get-Content .env | Select-String "DATABASE_URL"

Initialize the Database Schema

PowerShellnpm run db:push

Expected output: [✓] Changes applied

Build the Application

PowerShellnpm run build

This compiles the TypeScript backend and builds the React frontend. Build artifacts are placed in dist/:

• dist/index.cjs — compiled server
• dist/public/ — compiled frontend assets

Start the Application

For testing/development:

PowerShellnpm run dev

For production:

PowerShellnpm run start

Access the Application

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:5000

You should see the MinusNow login page.

Windows Firewall (Optional)

If you need to access the application from other devices on your network:

PowerShell (Admin)# Run as Administrator
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "MinusNow ITSM" -Direction Inbound -Port 5000 -Protocol TCP -Action Allow

Update System Packages

Ubuntu/Debian:

Bashsudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

RHEL/Rocky Linux:

Bashsudo dnf update -y

Install Node.js 20 LTS

Ubuntu/Debian (via NodeSource):

Bash# Install Node.js 20.x repository
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Verify
node --version   # Expected: v20.x.x
npm --version    # Expected: 10.x.x

RHEL/Rocky Linux (via NodeSource):

Bash# Install Node.js 20.x repository
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo dnf install -y nodejs

# Verify
node --version
npm --version

Install PostgreSQL

Ubuntu/Debian:

Bash# Install PostgreSQL
sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib

# Start and enable the service
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

# Verify
sudo systemctl status postgresql
psql --version

RHEL/Rocky Linux:

Bash# Install PostgreSQL
sudo dnf install -y postgresql-server postgresql-contrib

# Initialize the database cluster
sudo postgresql-setup --initdb

# Start and enable the service
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

# Verify
sudo systemctl status postgresql

Create the Database

SQL# Switch to the postgres system user
sudo -u postgres psql

# At the psql prompt:
CREATE DATABASE minusnow;
CREATE USER minusnow_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'YourStrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE minusnow TO minusnow_user;
ALTER DATABASE minusnow OWNER TO minusnow_user;
\q

sudo -u postgres psql -c "SHOW hba_file;"
sudo nano /etc/postgresql/15/main/pg_hba.conf

Verify the connection:

Bashpsql -U minusnow_user -d minusnow -h localhost
# Enter password when prompted
\q

Install Git (if not installed)

Bash# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install -y git

# RHEL/Rocky Linux
sudo dnf install -y git

# Verify
git --version

Clone the Repository

Bash# Navigate to installation directory
cd /opt

# Clone the repository
sudo git clone <your-repo-url> minusnow

# Set ownership (replace 'youruser' with your username)
sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /opt/minusnow

# Enter the project directory
cd /opt/minusnow

Install Dependencies

Bashnpm install

Configure Environment Variables

Step 8a: Create and open the file:

Bash# Make sure you are inside the project folder
cd /opt/minusnow

# Create and open the file in nano editor
nano .env

Step 8b: Paste the following, then edit the values marked with ←:

.env# ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
# │  REQUIRED — App will NOT start without these     │
# └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Your PostgreSQL connection string
# Format: postgresql://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE_NAME
#
# ← Replace the username, password, and database name with what
#    you created in Step 4 when setting up PostgreSQL.
#
#    Example breakdown:
#    postgresql://minusnow_user:YourStrongPassword123!@localhost:5432/minusnow
#                ├── username ──┤├── your password ────┤├─ host ─┤├port┤├─ db ─┤
#
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://minusnow_user:YourStrongPassword123!@localhost:5432/minusnow

# A secret key used to encrypt user sessions (login cookies).
# ← Replace with any random string of 32+ characters.
#    (See the tip below to auto-generate one.)
#
SESSION_SECRET=change-me-to-a-random-string-at-least-32-characters-long


# ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
# │  OPTIONAL — Safe to leave as-is for local testing│
# └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Which port the app listens on (default: 5000)
PORT=5000

# Set to "production" when deploying for real users
NODE_ENV=development

# Your company name (shown in the UI header)
# APP_ORG_NAME=YourCompany

# Admin email for notifications
# ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourcompany.com

# Active Directory / LDAP (only if your org uses AD login)
# AD_URL=ldap://your-ad-server:389
# AD_DOMAIN=YOURDOMAIN
# AD_EMAIL_DOMAIN=yourcompany.com

# App URL (used in email links — only needed if sending emails)
# APP_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000
# APP_URL=http://localhost:5000

Step 8c: Save the file — in nano press Ctrl + O, then Enter, then Ctrl + X to exit.

Step 8d: Secure the file so only your user can read it:

Bashchmod 600 .env

openssl rand -base64 32

📋 Quick Reference — What each variable does

grep DATABASE_URL .env

Initialize the Database Schema

Bashnpm run db:push

Build the Application

Bashnpm run build

Start the Application

For testing/development:

Bashnpm run dev

For production:

Bashnpm run start

Access the Application

http://localhost:5000

Or from another machine on the same network: http://<server-ip>:5000

Set Up as a systemd Service (Production)

Bashsudo nano /etc/systemd/system/minusnow.service

Add the following content:

systemd[Unit]
Description=MinusNow ITSM Platform
After=network.target postgresql.service
Wants=postgresql.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=youruser
Group=youruser
WorkingDirectory=/opt/minusnow
EnvironmentFile=/opt/minusnow/.env
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/minusnow/dist/index.cjs
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=minusnow

# Security hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=true
ReadWritePaths=/opt/minusnow/data /opt/minusnow/audit-logs /opt/minusnow/artifacts /opt/minusnow/support-tickets /opt/minusnow/ticket-responses

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service:

Bash# Reload systemd configuration
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable the service (starts on boot)
sudo systemctl enable minusnow

# Start the service
sudo systemctl start minusnow

# Check status
sudo systemctl status minusnow

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u minusnow -f

Linux Firewall (Optional)

UFW (Ubuntu/Debian):

Bashsudo ufw allow 5000/tcp
sudo ufw reload

firewalld (RHEL/Rocky Linux):

Bashsudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5000/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Access the Portal

Open your browser to http://server:5000 and sign in with your credentials.

Navigate to Settings → Enrollment

The Enrollment tab is the first tab in Settings, highlighted with an amber indicator when not yet activated.

Enter Your Enrollment Token

Paste the enrollment token provided by the MinusNow technical team in the format MNOW-[TYPE]-[YEAR]-[CODE]-[CODE].

Click Activate

The system validates the token and upgrades your organization from read-only to full access immediately.