Hey Terry
does anyone know of something like a VM image with openboxes on it
I might be building a virtual machine in the next few weeks for another client. If that happens I’ll try to publish it publicly and will notify you when it’s ready. The closest alternative at this point would be our docker repo, but I honestly think that’s too technical for most people as well.
or a bitnami stack type setup?
Installation is a major pain point and I’ve always wanted to make it much simpler, but just haven’t had the resources (time and money) to dedicate to this issue. However, we were just awarded a grant to build what I’m referring to as a “push button deployment” mechanism for OpenBoxes. Essentially, I’m hoping we’ll be able to put a “Deploy to [name-your-favorite-hosting-provider]” button on our website that will allow you to provision a VM with said hosting provider (i.e. AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean, etc) and will run scripts to install dependencies and OpenBoxes.
You can read more about the idea here (Self-Service Deployment, User On-Boarding Wizard, and Improved Documentation). Unfortunately, that project won’t be completed until next year.
I would rather just pay for cloud hosing but at $50 per user per month, it’s too steep for my company’s budget so im stuck trying to install one myself
Our managed hosting option is for larger companies that can afford to pay us to ensure the application is installed, configured, and always up and running. But it’s much cheaper to do self-hosting, i.e. purchase your own VM, install the software and manage the server yourself. Unfortunately, the hard part is the “install the software and manage the server yourself”.
So I’ll make you a deal. Let’s start a discussion here about what you are looking to do and where you want to host it (this might depend on where you live) and I’ll work with you on getting an OpenBoxes server up and running. And all you have to do is … well nothing, actually. I don’t really do this to make money. I just want to build good software that people enjoy using and help other people make money.
So what does this all mean for you. You pay the cost to the hosting provider (maybe $25-50 per month) and then you manage the server. If you encounter an issue or need to ask a question about a feature, you post your question here and the community (and I) will do our best to respond in a timely manner. If your business starts growing / making more money and you’d would like reliable support then you can reach back out and we can discuss options.
How does that sound?