Deploying MediaGoblin
=======================
-Step 1: Write code that can be deployed.
+GNU MediaGoblin is fairly new and so at the time of writing, there
+aren't easy package-manager-friendly methods to install MediaGoblin.
+However, doing a basic install isn't too complex in and of itself.
-Step 2: ?
+There's an almost infinite way to deploy things... for now, we'll keep
+it simple with some assumptions and use a setup that combines
+mediagoblin + virtualenv + fastcgi + nginx on a .deb or .rpm based
+GNU/Linux distro.
+
+Note: these tools are for administrators wanting to deploy a fresh
+install. If instead you want to join in as a contributor, see our
+`Hacking HOWTO <http://wiki.mediagoblin.org/HackingHowto>`_ instead.
+
+Install dependencies
+====================
+
+First thing you want to do is install necessary dependencies. Those
+are, roughly:
+
+ - Python 2.6 or 2.7
+ - python-lxml - http://lxml.de/
+ - git - http://git-scm.com/
+ - MongoDB - http://www.mongodb.org/
+ - Python Imaging Library (PIL) - http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/
+ - virtualenv - http://www.virtualenv.org/
+
+On a .deb based system (Debian, GnewSense, Trisquel, Ubuntu, etc) run
+the following:
+
+ sudo apt-get install mongodb git-core python python-dev \
+ python-lxml python-imaging python-virtualenv
+
+On a .rpm based system (Fedora, RedHat, etc):
+
+ yum install mongodb-server python-paste-deploy python-paste-script \
+ git-core python python-devel python-lxml python-imaging python-virtualenv
+
+Configure MongoDB
+=================
+
+So you have MongoDB installed... you should probably make sure that
+you have a few things configured before you start up MediaGoblin.
+
+For one thing, you almost certainly want to make sure `journaling
+<http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Journaling>`_ is enabled.
+Journaling is automatically enabled on 64 bit systems post-MongoDB
+2.0, but you should check. (Not turning on journaling means that if
+your server crashes you have a good chance of losing data!)
+
+MongoDB can take a lot of space by default. If you're planning on
+running a smaller instance, consider following our `scaling down
+<http://wiki.mediagoblin.org/Scaling_Down>`_ guide (keeping in mind
+that the steps recommended here are tradeoffs!).
+
+Install MediaGoblin and Virtualenv
+==================================
+
+For the moment, let's assume you want to run the absolute most
+bleeding edge version of mediagoblin in mediagoblin master (possibly
+not the best choice in a production environment, so these docs should
+be fixed ;)).
+
+Clone the repository:
+
+ git clone git://gitorious.org/mediagoblin/mediagoblin.git
+
+And setup the in-package virtualenv:
+
+ virtualenv . && ./bin/python setup.py develop
+
+(If you have problems here, consider trying to install virtualenv with
+one of the flags --distribute or --no-site-packages... Additionally if
+your system has python3.X as the default you might need to do
+virtualenv --python=python2.7 or --python=python2.6)
+
+(You might note that we've done an in-package install of
+virtualenv... this isn't the most traditional way to install
+virtualenv, and it might not even be the best. But it's the easiest
+to explain without having to explain python packaging, and it works.)
+
+At this point your development environment should be setup. You don't
+need to do anything else. However if at any point you update your
+codebase, you should also run:
+
+ ./bin/python setup.py develop --upgrade && ./bin/gmg migrate.
+
+
+Test-start the server
+=====================
+
+At this point mediagoblin should be properly installed. You can
+test-start it like so:
+
+ ./lazyserver.sh --server-name=broadcast
+
+You should be able to connect to the machine on port 6543 in your
+browser to ensure that things are working.
+
+
+Hook up to your webserver via fastcgi
+=====================================
-Step 3: Write the deployment guide and profit!
-But seriously, this is a stub since we're not quite there (yet) but if
-you want to see where we are now, you can try to run the latest
-development version by following the instructions on
-`the wiki <http://wiki.mediagoblin.org/>`_.