RHEL7: How to install the Meteor framework.

Presentation

Meteor is an Open Source Javascript framework with very innovative features like:

• Only one language used: Javascript is used both on the server side and on the client/browser side,
• Only one code location: all your code is at the same place,
• Strong integration with MongoDB & NodeJS: when installing Meteor, you get MongoDB & NodeJS installed transparently (see tutorial),
• Reactive programming: forget browser refresh, when you change anything to your data on your server or client, everything is displayed almost instantaneously in your browser.

Take the time to discover Meteor, you won’t regret it!
Be careful: Don’t learn Meteor if you plan to work with PHP or Java in the coming days: you will find these languages as belonging to the Middle Age of IT!

Note: This tutorial doesn’t present a production grade configuration but rather a development configuration.

Installation Procedure

By default, as your future application will run on the 3000 tcp port, you need to add a rule to the firewall:

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3000/tcp
success
# firewall-cmd --reload
success

To reduce the risk exposure, your application won’t run as root.
Therefore, create a new user (here called user) and put him into the wheel group:

# useradd -G wheel user

Give a password to your user:

# passwd user
Changing password for user user.
New password: myPassword
Retype new password: myPassword
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Become this user:

# su - user

Run the standard installer (check that you have at least 2GB of available disk space before):

$ curl https://install.meteor.com | sh
 % Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
 Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 7786 0 7786 0 0 15834 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 15857
Downloading Meteor distribution
######################################################################## 100.0%

Meteor 1.4.2.3 has been installed in your home directory (~/.meteor).
Writing a launcher script to /usr/local/bin/meteor for your convenience.
This may prompt for your password.

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

 #1) Respect the privacy of others.
 #2) Think before you type.
 #3) With great power comes great responsibility.

[sudo] password for user: myPassword

To get started fast:

 $ meteor create ~/my_cool_app
 $ cd ~/my_cool_app
 $ meteor

Or see the docs at:

 docs.meteor.com

Note: Without knowing it, you have not only installed the Meteor framework but also the MongoDB and NodeJS softwares in a development configuration.
Create a new application (here called myapp):

$ meteor create myapp

Add the Babel runtime:

$ cd myapp
$ meteor npm install --save babel-runtime
myapp@ /home/user/myapp
└─┬ babel-runtime@6.18.0 
  ├── core-js@2.4.1 
  └── regenerator-runtime@0.9.6 

Start your application:

$ meteor
[[[[[ ~/myapp ]]]]]                           

=> Started proxy.                             
=> Started MongoDB.                           
=> Started your app.                          

=> App running at: http://localhost:3000/

You should now be able to access your application by pointing your browser at http://servername:3000

Additional Resources

The Meteor website is the best starting point to learn the Meteor framework.