How to Install GNU FM on OpenBSD

GNU FM is a free software that powers music community websites such as Libre.fm. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install GNU FM on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have the following prerequisites installed on your OpenBSD server:

• OpenBSD 6.7 or later
• MySQL or MariaDB database
• Apache or Nginx web server
• PHP 5.6 or later with the pdo_mysql extension

Step 1: Install Git

The first step is to install Git to clone the GNU FM repository. Open a terminal and type the command:

$ sudo pkg_add git

Step 2: Clone the GNU FM Repository

Now, clone the GNU FM repository using the Git command:

$ git clone https://code.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-fm.git

This will create a directory named gnu-fm in your current directory with all the GNU FM files.

Step 3: Install the Dependencies

The next step is to install the dependencies required by GNU FM. OpenBSD comes with most of the dependencies pre-installed, but you still need to install a few additional packages. Run the following command to install the dependencies:

$ sudo pkg_add php-xml php-gd php-mysql php-zlib php-gettext php-curl php-mbstring

Step 4: Create a Database

You need to create a database for GNU FM to store its data. If you haven't already installed MySQL or MariaDB, install one of them using the following command:

$ sudo pkg_add mysql-server

Now, log in to the database server using the following command:

$ mysql -u root -p

Create a new database by running the following command:

mysql> CREATE DATABASE gnu_fm;

Create a new user and grant all privileges to the user on the database by running this command:

mysql> GRANT ALL ON gnu_fm.* TO 'gnu_fm_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Replace password with a strong password for the user.

Step 5: Configure the GNU FM Installation

Copy the sample configuration file config.ini.sample to config.ini in the GNU FM directory:

$ cd gnu-fm
$ cp config.ini.sample config.ini

Edit the config.ini file to update the database settings. Set the database name, username, and password to the ones you created in Step 4:

[database]
type = MySQL
host = localhost
port = 3306
username = gnu_fm_user
password = password
database = gnu_fm

Save and close the file.

Step 6: Fix PHP File Permissions

Change the ownership of the GNU FM directory to the user running the web server. By default, the user is www for Apache or nginx for Nginx on OpenBSD:

For Apache:

$ sudo chown -R www:www /var/www/htdocs/gnu-fm

For Nginx:

$ sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/htdocs/gnu-fm

Step 7: Set Up Virtual Host

Finally, configure your web server to serve the GNU FM files. For Apache, create a new virtual host file /etc/httpd.conf.d/gnu-fm.conf with the following content:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/htdocs/gnu-fm
    <Directory /var/www/htdocs/gnu-fm>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name.

For Nginx, create a new server block file /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/gnu-fm.conf with the following content:

server {
    listen       80;
    server_name  yourdomain.com;
    root   /var/www/htdocs/gnu-fm/;
    index  index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:9000;
        fastcgi_index  index.php;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include        fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Again, replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name.

Step 8: Start the Web Server

Restart the web server to apply the changes:

$ sudo /etc/rc.d/httpd restart    # For Apache
$ sudo /etc/rc.d/nginx restart    # For Nginx

Now, visit your domain name in a web browser to complete the GNU FM installation.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed GNU FM on OpenBSD!

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!