Lifeboat Updates 2021 - Deploy Xojo Web Apps!

About Lifeboat
Lifeboat was created to help anyone that wants to write a web app deploy a web app. Automate configuration and let Lifeboat juggle port assignments, system services, and reverse proxy software for running a web app server. Lifeboat is designed to deploy both Xojo Web 1.0 and Xojo Web 2.0 standalone applications.

In addition to the Xojo Web specific tools, Lifeboat offers features to manage static websites. Install and configure SSL in one (or two) click(s) for free with LetsEncrypt integration. Serve static HTML or PHP files to offer visitors a main landing page (or more!)

Download and evaluate Lifeboat for free. For evaluation Lifeboat will configure one server, one web application, and one static files directory. A license is required to unlock these limits.

For more information about Lifeboat, please visit the website:
https://strawberrysw.com/lifeboat

Download Lifeboat and try it for free on Mac or Windows 10:
https://strawberrysw.com/lifeboat/get

Contact the author directly:
support@strawberrysw.com

2 Likes

Build 54

Adds valuable Server Tools to create memory swapfiles and schedule cron jobs. Creating a swapfile can improve your server performance. Cron jobs run at regular intervals and can be used to schedule routine scripts.

New: Create and install a swapfile
New: Schedule and manage Cron jobs
New: Drag & Drop SSH keys to import
Fixed: Button locking on SSH key window
Fixed: Height of a dozen buttons on Windows are now correct
Changed: Developer license can now host multiple websites!
4 Likes

Build 60

Install PostgreSQL! Also in this update developers can now check for and install server software updates from Lifeboat.

New: Install and manage PostgreSQL
New: Install server software updates
New: Copy remote file server paths
New: Modify remote file permissions
Fixed: Clear Caches now works on Lightsail instances
Fixed: Shows configurations with no domain assigned
Changed: Improved install process and connection failures

Download the update: https://strawberrysw.com/lifeboat/get

5 Likes

Which is exactly what I am now using Lifeboat for. Good work Tim.

p.s. Please post this information to TOF as well or send Dana a PR and ask her to post it.

Not sure if Tim wants to carry testimonials in his website, but yours would be an excellent testimonial.

1 Like

Quite honestly, this screams for an in-depth review of LifeBoat for xDev. Unfortunately I’m the wrong person for this, but if anyone is willing to write one then I’m happy to proof-read it before submission.

Mine would be short.

  1. Set-up a FREE droplet on Digital Ocean.
  2. Get Lifeboat.
  3. Upload site or Xojo app to DO droplet.
  4. When you’ve calmed down from how easy that was, pay Tim moneh!

In all honesty, I don’t think I could be objective enough to write a review.

2 Likes

What the heck is a droplet??? A small drop? :flushed:

It appears to be what Digital Ocean call their virtualized private hosts. Confusing I know, I was. But you create a droplet, choose an OS and then with it, what you will.

As usual you are leaving out 9/10ths of the whole process. Like explaining what the benefits and drawbacks for Digital Oceans VPS is. Then you need to describe the droplets. For the DAUs like me (dĂĽmmster anzunehmender User = most stupid user) even a VPS sounds daunting.

Recently, I had to configure some stuff for the REST access for Gmail. The example code from Chilkat was easy to follow. But the Gmail stuff was really bad to understand. This is - always - left as “exercise for the user” instead of making nice screenshots with click here and then click there.

Hey Beatrix, I am sorry. I don’t do it intentionally, I am trying to do better.

Tim has some videos on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFj07YJfGMBIX6cMYDfA48A

1 Like

Not to get people excited for vaporware, but one of the things I’d like to do is record a screen cast for how to set up a regular website using Lifeboat. It does boil down to the steps Sam mentioned, but the videos do seem to be popular.

  1. Set up a new VPS instance (Digital Ocean Droplet or AWS Lightsail are tested providers)
  2. Connect Lifeboat to the new instance and perform the install procedure
  3. Configure your domain DNS records (you can quickly see how in my existing videos!)
  4. Configure the domain in Lifeboat (this is where you set up SSL in two clicks)
  5. Configure a Static Files entry, you can leave most things at default but be sure the Web Path is empty (this is what serves the pages)
  6. Upload some files and visit your website!

I think one of the most exciting things is that Sam successfully moved ohanaware.com to Lifeboat entirely in demo mode. Lifeboat’s demo has no artificial limits. You can set up one website and web app totally for free. No gimmicks.

2 Likes

Build 64

This update improves support for the Valentina libraries. Symbolic links are no longer lost from the libs folder during upload, which supports older versions of the Valentina libraries. Additionally, this is the update with custom error pages that @Sam_Rowlands blogged about!

New: Check for server software updates at connection
New: Configure custom error pages (like 404, 500)
Fixed: Symbolic links in the Libs folder are maintained through transfer (Support for Valentina)
Fixed: Apps failing to terminate no longer hang Lifeboat for 90 seconds
Fixed: Improved libsoup installation
Fixed: Button alignments on Windows
Changed: Cron job name restrictions are now more lenient

Download the update: https://strawberrysw.com/lifeboat/get

4 Likes

Build 68

This update improves SSH security. The installation process now ensures the port currently connected remains open on the firewall, and adds the ability to change the SSH port to the Secure Authentication server tools.

New: Hide nginx server tokens
New: Static Files now support HTTP 2.0
New: Change the SSH port from Secure Authentication
Fixed: Install process ensures the currently connected port is open on the firewall

Download the update: https://strawberrysw.com/lifeboat/get

3 Likes