Hubzilla is a powerful decentralized communication and social networking platform that allows you to create your own social media network. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Hubzilla on Elementary OS.
Before moving on to the installation process, make sure to have these requirements:
First, we need to install the required packages for Hubzilla.
Open the terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T and enter the following command to update the system:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Once the system is updated, run the following command to install required packages:
sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server php php-curl php-gd php-imagick php-intl php-json php-mbstring php-mysql php-xml php-zip php-apcu imagemagick
During the installation process, you will be prompted to create a MySQL root password, make sure to remember it.
To download the Hubzilla package, we need to install Git. Use the following command to install Git:
sudo apt install git
Now clone the Hubzilla repository by running the following command:
git clone https://framagit.org/hubzilla/core.git
To configure Apache for Hubzilla, run the following command:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/hubzilla.conf
Paste the following configuration in the file:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin admin@yourdomain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/core
ServerName yourdomain.com
ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
<Directory /var/www/html/core>
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/hubzilla-error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/hubzilla-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Change the "ServerAdmin" and "ServerName" fields according to your domain settings. Save the file and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y and Enter.
Now, enable the site by running the following command:
sudo a2ensite hubzilla.conf
Then restart Apache by running:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
To configure MySQL for Hubzilla, run the following command:
sudo mysql -u root -p
Enter the MySQL root password that you set during the package's installation.
Create a new database and user for Hubzilla by running these commands:
CREATE DATABASE hubzilla;
CREATE USER 'hubzilla'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'hubzilla_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON hubzilla.* TO 'hubzilla'@'localhost';
Replace hubzilla_password with your preferred password.
Navigate to the directory where you cloned the Hubzilla repository, usually in ~/core. Then copy the htconfig.php.sample file and rename it to htconfig.php using the following command:
cd ~/core
cp htconfig.php.sample htconfig.php
Open the htconfig.php file with a text editor using the command:
sudo nano htconfig.php
Change the following settings according to your MySQL database configuration:
$db_host = 'localhost';
$db_name = 'hubzilla';
$db_user = 'hubzilla';
$db_pass = 'hubzilla_password';
Save and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y and Enter.
Access the Hubzilla installation script by navigating to this URL on your web browser:
http://yourdomain.com/install/
Replace http://yourdomain.com with your own domain name. Follow the instructions given in the installation wizard to complete the Hubzilla installation.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Hubzilla on your Elementary OS Latest system. Now, you have a powerful decentralized communication and social networking platform that lets you create your own social media network. Share the Hubzilla experience with your family, friends, or colleagues!
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
