Tutorial: How to Install Pleroma on Linux Mint

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will be learning how to install Pleroma on Linux Mint. Pleroma is a free and open-source social networking platform that allows users to create their own social network. It is written in Elixir, a functional programming language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications.

Prerequisites

Before we start the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Linux Mint distribution (version 20.1 or higher)
• A non-root user with sudo privileges
• Basic knowledge of command-line interface

Step 1: Install Dependencies

To get started with the installation of Pleroma, we need to make sure that all the necessary dependencies are installed on our system. Open a terminal window and enter the following command to update the package manager:

sudo apt update

Now that the package manager is updated, install the required dependencies by running the following commands:

sudo apt install git erlang elixir postgresql cmake pkg-config gcc libssl-dev libxml2-dev libpq-dev

Step 2: Clone the Pleroma Repository

Once all dependencies are installed, clone the Pleroma repository using Git. Enter the following command in the terminal:

git clone https://git.pleroma.social/pleroma/pleroma.git

This will download the necessary files to your system.

Step 3: Configure PostgreSQL Database

Pleroma uses PostgreSQL as its database management system. We need to create a new database and user for Pleroma. To do this, run the following commands:

sudo -u postgres psql

This will open a PostgreSQL command prompt. Next, create a new database and user by entering the following commands, replacing pleromadb and pleromauser with your preferred names:

CREATE DATABASE pleromadb;
CREATE USER pleromauser WITH PASSWORD 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE pleromadb TO pleromauser;
\q

Step 4: Configure Pleroma

The next step is to configure the Pleroma installation. Copy the sample configuration file by running the following command:

cd pleroma
cp config/pleroma.example.secret.exs config/pleroma.secret.exs

Edit the config/pleroma.secret.exs file using your preferred text editor to add the following configurations:

config :pleroma, :instance,
  # Your instance URL. Must be a valid URL.
  url: "https://example.com",
  # The name of your instance.
  name: "Your instance name",
  # The email address for your instance admin.
  email: "your-email@example.com",
  # A brief description of your instance.
  description: "Your instance description",
  # The maximum number of characters per post.
  max_toot_chars: 500,
  # Override the instance-wide character limit for CWs on this instance.
  # 0 to disable overrides.
  max_cw_chars: 0,
  # Allow registration on your instance.
  registrations_open: true,
  # Allow uploads on your instance.
  uploads_enabled: true,
  # Set the theme for your instance.
  # Options: "default", "yotsuba", "burichan", "futaba",
  # "tomorrow", "lainchan", "ccchan", "lainon", "sakura", "tachiyomi",
  # "tomo-chan", "waifu".
  theme: "default"

# Configure the PostgreSQL database
config :pleroma, :postgres,
  database: "pleromadb",
  username: "pleromauser",
  password: "your_password",
  hostname: "localhost",
  # Port where the PostgreSQL server is listening
  port: 5432,

# Set the email configuration for password recovery.
config :plug_cowboy, :scheme, :http
config :pleroma, Pleroma.Mailer,
  email_backend: Bamboo.SendgridAdapter,
  from_name: "Your instance name",
  from_address: "your-email@example.com",
  subject_prefix: "[Your instance name]"

Save the changes and exit the editor.

Step 5: Install Pleroma Dependencies

Before we can start Pleroma, we need to install its dependencies. Run the following command to install dependencies:

mix deps.get

Step 6: Compile Pleroma

Now we can compile Pleroma using the following command:

mix compile

Step 7: Initialize the Database

To initialize the database, run the following command:

mix ecto.create
mix ecto.migrate

This will create the required tables in the database.

Step 8: Start Pleroma

Finally, start Pleroma using the following command:

MIX_ENV=prod mix phx.server

This will start the server in production mode.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install Pleroma on Linux Mint. Pleroma is a powerful social networking platform that allows you to create your own social network. By following these steps, you can easily install Pleroma and enjoy its features.

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