diaspora* is a decentralized, open-source social network that allows you to own, control, and protect your data. This tutorial will guide you through the installation of diaspora* on Linux Mint.
Before installing any software, it's important to keep your system up to date. Run the following commands as root to update your system:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
diaspora* requires a PostgreSQL database to run. Run the following command to install PostgreSQL:
sudo apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib libpq-dev
After installing PostgreSQL, you need to create a new database user and database. Run the following commands to create a new user named "diaspora" with a password of your choice:
sudo -u postgres createuser -P diaspora
sudo -u postgres createdb -O diaspora diaspora_production
diaspora* is based on Ruby on Rails, so you need to install Ruby and Bundler. Run the following commands to install them:
sudo apt-get install ruby-full build-essential
sudo gem install bundler
NGINX is a web server that will serve your diaspora* instance. Run the following command to install NGINX:
sudo apt-get install nginx
After installing NGINX, you need to create a new configuration file. Run the following command to create a new file:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/diaspora
Add the following content to the file:
upstream diaspora {
server unix:/home/<your_username>/diaspora/tmp/diaspora.sock;
}
server {
listen 80;
server_name <your_server_name>;
location /.well-known/webfinger {
return 200 '{ "subject": "acct:USERNAME@DOMAINNAME", "links": [{ "rel": "http://webfinger.net/rel/profile-page", "href": "https://DOMAINNAME/u/USERNAME" }] }';
}
location / {
return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
}
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name <your_server_name>;
ssl_certificate /path/to/ssl/cert;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/ssl/key;
client_max_body_size 0;
client_body_buffer_size 1k;
client_header_buffer_size 1k;
large_client_header_buffers 4 8k;
keepalive_timeout 60;
root /home/<your_username>/diaspora/public;
try_files $uri $uri/ @diaspora;
error_page 500 502 504 /500.html;
location @diaspora {
proxy_pass http://diaspora;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_redirect off;
}
}
Note:
<your_username> with your Linux Mint username.<your_server_name> with your domain name./path/to/ssl/cert and /path/to/ssl/key with the paths to your SSL certificate and key files.After adding the content, save and close the file. Then run the following commands to enable the site and reload NGINX:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/diaspora /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo service nginx reload
diaspora* requires Redis for background jobs. Run the following command to install Redis:
sudo apt-get install redis-server
After installing Redis, you need to configure it to use Unix sockets instead of TCP. Run the following command to open the configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf
Find the bind directive and change it to the following:
# bind 127.0.0.1
unixsocket /var/run/redis/redis.sock
unixsocketperm 777
Then find the supervised directive and change it to the following:
supervised systemd
After making these changes, save and close the file. Then run the following command to restart Redis:
sudo systemctl restart redis.service
Run the following commands to download and extract the latest release of diaspora*:
cd ~
curl -LO https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/archive/master.tar.gz
tar xzf master.tar.gz
After extracting the files, you need to configure diaspora*. Run the following commands to install the dependencies and configure the application:
sudo apt-get install build-essential curl git-core libssl-dev libyaml-dev libffi-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev software-properties-common libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev sqlite3 zlib1g-dev libpostgresql-dev nodejs
cd diaspora-master
bundle install --deployment --without development test
Next, run the following command to configure the database:
bin/rake db:create db:migrate
Then run the following command to precompile the assets:
bin/rake assets:precompile
Run the following command to start the server:
bin/start
diaspora* is now running on your Linux Mint machine. You can access it by navigating to https://
In this tutorial, you learned how to install diaspora* on Linux Mint. diaspora* provides a secure and private social networking experience that doesn't compromise your data. With these steps, you can start your own diaspora* instance and take control of your social networking.
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!
