Manual Deployment

Deploy Faculty Bot directly on your server using Rust toolchain and system process managers for maximum control.

Prerequisites

Linux, macOS, or Windows Server
PostgreSQL 13 or later installed and running
512MB RAM minimum
Stable internet connection

Install Rust Toolchain

Download and install Rust

On Linux/macOS:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

On Windows, download and run rustup-init.exeWhen prompted, choose the stable toolchain.

Configure your shell

Add Rust to your PATH:

source $HOME/.cargo/env

Or restart your terminal.

Verify installation

rustc --version
cargo --version

You should see version information for both commands.

Build the Bot

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-org/faculty-bot.git
cd faculty-bot

Build release version

cargo build --release

This compiles an optimized production build. The binary will be located at:

target/release/faculty_manager

The first build may take 5-15 minutes as Cargo downloads and compiles all dependencies.

Test the build

Verify the binary runs:

./target/release/faculty_manager --version

Configuration

Create environment file

Create a .env file in the project root:

DISCORD_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token

DATABASE_URL=postgres://faculty_manager:password@localhost:5432/faculty_manager

PREFIX=>

SEND_FROM_ADDRESS=noreply@yourdomain.com
MAIL_USERNAME=your_email@yourdomain.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_email_password
SMTP_SERVER=smtp.yourdomain.com
SMTP_PORT=587

# Logging level
RUST_LOG="info,sqlx=error,sqlx::query=error,sqlx::query_as=error"

Configure bot settings

Edit config.json with your Discord server details. See the Docker Deployment guide for configuration examples.

Set up the database

Install PostgreSQL 13 and initialize the database:

# Create database and user
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE USER faculty_manager WITH PASSWORD 'password';"
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE faculty_manager OWNER faculty_manager;"

# Run migrations
psql -U faculty_manager -d faculty_manager -f migrations/faculty_manager.sql

See the Database Setup guide for detailed instructions.

Process Manager Setup

Keep the bot running continuously using a process manager.

systemd (Recommended for Linux)

systemd is the standard init system for most modern Linux distributions.

Create systemd service file

The repository includes faculty_manager.service:

[Unit]
Description=CourtJester bot
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
# Base settings
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

# Execution parameters
User=courtjester
Group=courtjester
WorkingDirectory=/home/faculty_manager/faculty_manager
Environment = "SCRIPT_ARGS=info.json"
ExecStart=/home/faculty_manager/faculty_manager/faculty_manager $SCRIPT_ARGS

# Limit damage in case something goes awry
MemoryLimit=256M
CPUQuota=200%

# Security
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectSystem=full
NoNewPrivileges=true
ProtectControlGroups=true
ProtectKernelModules=true
ProtectKernelTunables=true
PrivateDevices=true
RestrictAddressFamilies=AF_INET AF_INET6
RestrictNamespaces=true
RestrictRealtime=true
SystemCallArchitectures=native

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Update the User, Group, and WorkingDirectory paths to match your installation.

Install and start the service

Use the provided script:

chmod +x launch_systemd.sh
./launch_systemd.sh

Or manually:

sudo cp faculty_manager.service /etc/systemd/system/faculty_manager.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable faculty_manager
sudo systemctl start faculty_manager

Verify service status

sudo systemctl status faculty_manager

View logs:

sudo journalctl -u faculty_manager -f

systemd Management Commands

# Start the bot
sudo systemctl start faculty_manager

# Stop the bot
sudo systemctl stop faculty_manager

# Restart the bot
sudo systemctl restart faculty_manager

# View status
sudo systemctl status faculty_manager

# Enable auto-start on boot
sudo systemctl enable faculty_manager

# Disable auto-start
sudo systemctl disable faculty_manager

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u faculty_manager -n 100

OpenRC (Alpine Linux, Gentoo)

For systems using OpenRC as the init system.

Install the service

chmod +x launch_openrc.sh
./launch_openrc.sh

Or manually:

sudo cp faculty_manager.service /etc/init.d/faculty_manager
sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/faculty_manager
sudo rc-update add faculty_manager
sudo rc-service faculty_manager start

Verify service status

sudo rc-service faculty_manager status

OpenRC Management Commands

# Start the bot
sudo rc-service faculty_manager start

# Stop the bot
sudo rc-service faculty_manager stop

# Restart the bot
sudo rc-service faculty_manager restart

# Check status
sudo rc-service faculty_manager status

PM2 (Cross-platform)

PM2 is a process manager for Node.js applications but works great with any executable.

Install PM2

npm install -g pm2

Create PM2 ecosystem file

Create ecosystem.config.js:

module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: 'faculty_manager',
    script: './target/release/faculty_manager',
    cwd: '/path/to/faculty-bot',
    instances: 1,
    autorestart: true,
    watch: false,
    max_memory_restart: '512M',
    env: {
      NODE_ENV: 'production',
      RUST_LOG: 'info,sqlx=error'
    },
    error_file: './logs/err.log',
    out_file: './logs/out.log',
    log_date_format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss Z'
  }]
};

Start with PM2

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Follow the instructions from pm2 startup to enable auto-start on boot.

PM2 Management Commands

# Start the bot
pm2 start faculty_manager

# Stop the bot
pm2 stop faculty_manager

# Restart the bot
pm2 restart faculty_manager

# View status
pm2 status

# View logs
pm2 logs faculty_manager

# Monitor resources
pm2 monit

# Delete from PM2
pm2 delete faculty_manager

Windows Deployment

Build the bot

Open PowerShell and navigate to the project directory:

cd faculty-bot
cargo build --release

The executable will be at target\release\faculty_manager.exe

Use the launch script

Run the provided PowerShell script:

.\launch_windows.ps1

Set up as Windows Service (Optional)

Use NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager):

# Download NSSM from https://nssm.cc/
nssm install FacultyManager "C:\path\to\faculty_manager.exe"
nssm set FacultyManager AppDirectory "C:\path\to\faculty-bot"
nssm start FacultyManager

Troubleshooting

Build fails with linking errors

Symptoms: Compilation fails during linking phaseSolutions:

Install required build dependencies:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev cmake

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
sudo yum install openssl-devel cmake

# macOS
xcode-select --install
brew install cmake

Clear build cache and retry: cargo clean && cargo build --release

Bot fails to start with database errors

Symptoms: Connection refused or authentication failed errorsSolutions:

Verify PostgreSQL is running: sudo systemctl status postgresql
Test connection manually: psql -U faculty_manager -d faculty_manager
Check DATABASE_URL format in .env
Ensure database migrations have been run
Check PostgreSQL logs: sudo tail -f /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-13-main.log

Permission denied errors

Symptoms: Cannot read config files or write to directoriesSolutions:

Ensure the bot user has appropriate permissions:

sudo chown -R botuser:botuser /path/to/faculty-bot
chmod 644 config.json .env
chmod 755 images/ logs/

If using systemd, verify the User and Group in the service file

Service won't start automatically on boot

Symptoms: Bot doesn’t start after system rebootSolutions:

For systemd: sudo systemctl enable faculty_manager
For OpenRC: sudo rc-update add faculty_manager default
For PM2: pm2 startup && pm2 save
Check service logs for startup errors

High memory usage

Symptoms: Bot consuming excessive RAMSolutions:

Reduce logging verbosity: RUST_LOG=warn in .env
Set memory limits in service file (systemd example):
```
MemoryLimit=512M
MemoryAccounting=true
```
Monitor with: systemctl status faculty_manager or pm2 monit

Updating the Bot

Stop the bot

# systemd
sudo systemctl stop faculty_manager

# OpenRC
sudo rc-service faculty_manager stop

# PM2
pm2 stop faculty_manager

Pull latest changes

git pull origin main

Rebuild

cargo build --release

Run database migrations (if any)

psql -U faculty_manager -d faculty_manager -f migrations/faculty_manager.sql

Restart the bot

# systemd
sudo systemctl start faculty_manager

# OpenRC
sudo rc-service faculty_manager start

# PM2
pm2 restart faculty_manager

Security Best Practices

Follow these security guidelines for production deployments:

Run the bot as a dedicated non-root user
Set restrictive file permissions on .env and config.json
Use firewall rules to restrict database access
Enable systemd security features (see service file example)
Keep Rust toolchain and dependencies updated
Regularly backup your database and configuration
Use environment-specific Discord tokens (dev/prod)
Enable audit logging for administrative commands

Performance Optimization

Compile with Additional Optimizations

# Edit Cargo.toml
[profile.release]
opt-level = 3
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
panic = 'abort'
strip = true

# Rebuild
cargo build --release

Enable CPU-specific Optimizations

RUSTFLAGS="-C target-cpu=native" cargo build --release

Get Started

Configuration

Features

Deployment

Prerequisites

Install Rust Toolchain

Build the Bot

Configuration

Process Manager Setup

systemd (Recommended for Linux)

systemd Management Commands

OpenRC (Alpine Linux, Gentoo)

OpenRC Management Commands

PM2 (Cross-platform)

PM2 Management Commands

Windows Deployment

Troubleshooting

Updating the Bot

Security Best Practices

Performance Optimization

Compile with Additional Optimizations

Enable CPU-specific Optimizations

Next Steps

Database Setup

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Configuration

Features

Deployment

​Prerequisites

​Install Rust Toolchain

​Build the Bot

​Configuration

​Process Manager Setup

​systemd (Recommended for Linux)

​systemd Management Commands

​OpenRC (Alpine Linux, Gentoo)

​OpenRC Management Commands

​PM2 (Cross-platform)

​PM2 Management Commands

​Windows Deployment

​Troubleshooting

​Updating the Bot

​Security Best Practices

​Performance Optimization

​Compile with Additional Optimizations

​Enable CPU-specific Optimizations

​Next Steps

Database Setup

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Prerequisites

Install Rust Toolchain

Build the Bot

Configuration

Process Manager Setup

systemd (Recommended for Linux)

systemd Management Commands

OpenRC (Alpine Linux, Gentoo)

OpenRC Management Commands

PM2 (Cross-platform)

PM2 Management Commands

Windows Deployment

Troubleshooting

Updating the Bot

Security Best Practices

Performance Optimization

Compile with Additional Optimizations

Enable CPU-specific Optimizations

Next Steps