How to Install Sourcehut on NetBSD

Sourcehut is a suite of free and open-source software for software development by Drew DeVault. It's one of the rare platforms that is completely API-driven, making it very flexible and open for integration.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to install Sourcehut on NetBSD, which is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system derived from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation, ensure that you have the following:

• A NetBSD system with root login access
• A stable internet connection
• Basic command-line familiarity

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

Sourcehut requires some dependencies, which need to be installed before we can proceed with the installation.

To install the dependencies, run the following command:

# pkgin -y install git go

In the above command, -y flag is used to indicate an automatic "yes" or confirmation to any prompts encountered during the installation.

Step 2: Install Sourcehut

To install Sourcehut, first clone the Git repository by running the following command:

$ git clone https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/sr.ht

This will create a new directory called sr.ht.

Navigate to the newly created directory by running the following command:

$ cd sr.ht

Build and install sourcehut by running the following command:

$ make
$ doas make install

The doas command is used to switch to the root user and run the installation as a privileged user.

Step 3: Configure Sourcehut

After installation, we need to configure Sourcehut to get it up and running.

Sourcehut uses a configuration file to specify its settings. By default, the configuration file is located at ~/.config/sr.ht/config.ini.

To create the configuration file, run the following command:

$ mkdir -p ~/.config/sr.ht/
$ cp ./example.ini ~/.config/sr.ht/config.ini

Now, edit the configuration file to add your settings. For example, an email address and SMTP server details for sending emails. Add the following lines to the configuration file:

[mail]
auth = "plain"
server = "smtp.gmail.com"
port = 587
account = "youremail@gmail.com"
password = "your email password"

Step 4: Start the Sourcehut Services

After configuring Sourcehut successfully, we need to start the Sourcehut services for it to work.

To start the services, run the following command:

# sh sourcehut start

This will start all the necessary services, including the web server and email services.

Conclusion

That's it. You've now installed and configured Sourcehut on NetBSD. Sourcehut is a very flexible and extensible platform, so feel free to explore it further and start building your software projects.

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!