In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to install diaspora* on your Fedora Server latest version. diaspora* is a free and decentralized social networking platform that puts users in control of their data.
Before we begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:
First, let's start by updating the system with the following command:
sudo dnf update
Next, we need to install the required dependencies for diaspora* to run. Run the following command to install the required packages:
sudo dnf install -y postgresql postgresql-server postgresql-devel postgresql-contrib postgresql-libs libxml2-devel libxslt-devel \
imagemagick-devel wkhtmltopdf openssl-devel libsodium-devel git make gcc-c++
Once the installation is completed, start the PostgreSQL server and enable it to auto-start on system startup with the following commands:
sudo systemctl enable --now postgresql
diaspora* is built on Ruby on Rails, so we need to install Ruby and all required gems. To do this, run the following command:
sudo dnf install -y ruby rubygem-bundler
Afterward, change the default gem installation location with the following command:
echo 'gem: --no-document' >> ~/.gemrc
Then, install the required gems with the following command:
cd /opt/
sudo git clone https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora.git
cd diaspora
sudo bin/bundle install
To configure the application, create a database and user for diaspora* with the following commands:
sudo su - postgres
psql
CREATE USER diaspora WITH PASSWORD 'yourpassword';
CREATE DATABASE diaspora_dev OWNER diaspora;
CREATE DATABASE diaspora_test OWNER diaspora;
ALTER USER diaspora CREATEDB;
\q
exit
Next, copy the database.yml file and update the file with the following command:
sudo cp /opt/diaspora/config/database.yml.example /opt/diaspora/config/database.yml
sudo vim /opt/diaspora/config/database.yml
Update the following lines with your PostgreSQL credentials:
adapter: postgresql
database: diaspora_dev
username: <your_postgresql_username>
password: <your_postgresql_password>
Then, copy the diaspora.yml file and update the file with the following command:
sudo cp /opt/diaspora/config/diaspora.yml.example /opt/diaspora/config/diaspora.yml
sudo vim /opt/diaspora/config/diaspora.yml
Update the following lines with your domain name and SSL certificate paths:
pod_uri: "https://<your_domain_name>"
# ...
certificate_authorities: [/path/to/ca-bundle.crt]
cert_chain: /path/to/ssl.crt
ssl_key: /path/to/ssl.key
To prepare the application, run the following commands:
cd /opt/diaspora
sudo RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake assets:precompile
Then, migrate the database with the following command:
sudo RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:create db:migrate db:seed
Create a systemd service file to manage the diaspora* application with the following command:
sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/diaspora.service
And add the following contents:
[Unit]
Description=diaspora*
After=syslog.target postgresql.service
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/opt/diaspora
ExecStart=/usr/bin/env -P /usr/local/bin bundle exec rails server -e production
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Then, reload the systemd daemon and start the application service with the following commands:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now diaspora.service
In this tutorial, we have demonstrated how to install diaspora* on your Fedora Server. Now, you can use diaspora* and enjoy a free and decentralized social networking platform that puts users in control of their data.
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