Lemmy is a free and open-source link aggregator, discussion and content management platform, similar to Reddit or Hacker News. This tutorial will guide you through the steps to install Lemmy on Elementary OS Latest.
Before starting with the installation, you should make sure that your system is up-to-date and has the required packages installed. You can do this by running the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
You will also need to have Git and Rust installed on your system. If you don't have them, you can install them with the following command:
sudo apt install git rustc
First, clone the Lemmy repository from Github by running the following command:
git clone https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy.git
Navigate to the Lemmy directory:
cd lemmy
Build the Lemmy backend with the following command:
cargo build --release --features mysql
This may take some time depending on your system's performance.
Install MySQL database server and client by running:
sudo apt install mysql-server mysql-client
Create the Lemmy database:
sudo mysql -u root
mysql> CREATE DATABASE lemmy;
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON lemmy.* TO 'lemmy'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> EXIT;
Replace password with a secure password for the Lemmy user.
Set up the Lemmy configuration by copying the example configuration file:
cp config/example.env .env
Open the .env file in your preferred text editor and edit the following settings:
DATABASE_URL=mysql://lemmy:password@localhost:3306/lemmy
Replace password with the password you set for the Lemmy user in step 5.
Build the Lemmy frontend:
cd frontend
npm install
npm run build
cd ..
Start the Lemmy server:
RUST_BACKTRACE=1 ./target/release/lemmy start
Access the Lemmy web interface at http://localhost:8536. You should see the Lemmy login page.
That's it! You have now successfully installed and configured Lemmy on Elementary OS. You can now register a new user, create communities and start sharing links and discussions with others.
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!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
