How to Install Mobilizon on OpenBSD

Mobilizon is a free and open-source federated platform designed to organize social events. In this tutorial, we will walk through the process of installing Mobilizon on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

• A server running OpenBSD (version 6.8 or later).
• A non-root user with sudo privileges.
• A domain name that points to your server's IP address.

Step 1: Update the System

Before installing Mobilizon, it is recommended to update the system to have the latest version of packages installed. Login to your OpenBSD server, and then run the following command:

$ doas pkg_add -uU

This will update all the packages installed on your OpenBSD system.

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Next, we need to install some packages required by Mobilizon. Connect to your OpenBSD server via SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges and then run the following command:

$ doas pkg_add postgresql sqlite git ruby--2.7 ruby-tzinfo-data

This will install PostgreSQL, SQLite, Git, Ruby, and tzinfo-data packages on your server.

Step 3: Install Node.js

Mobilizon requires Node.js version 14 or later. Connect to your OpenBSD server via SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges and then run the following command:

$ doas pkg_add node

This will install Node.js on your server.

Step 4: Install Ruby on Rails

Mobilizon is built on top of the Ruby on Rails web application framework. Connect to your OpenBSD server via SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges and then run the following command:

$ doas gem install rails -v 6.1.3.1

This will install the latest version of Ruby on Rails.

Step 5: Download and Install Mobilizon

Next, we will clone the Mobilizon Git repository and install it on our OpenBSD server. Connect to your OpenBSD server via SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges and then run the following commands:

$ doas git clone https://framagit.org/framasoft/mobilizon.git
$ cd mobilizon
$ doas gem install bundler
$ doas bundle install
$ doas yarn install
$ doas rails db:create db:migrate

These commands will clone the Mobilizon repository, install the Bundler gem (which manages Ruby dependencies), install the dependencies using Bundler, install the required Node.js packages using Yarn and create the database tables required by Mobilizon.

Step 6: Configure Mobilizon

Next, we need to configure Mobilizon by creating a configuration file. Connect to your OpenBSD server via SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges and then run the following command:

$ cp .env.sample .env

This command will create a copy of the sample configuration file.

Now open the .env file in your favorite text editor and edit the following lines:

APP_SECRET_KEY_BASE=some_random_string
APP_DOMAIN=your_domain_name
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password

Replace some_random_string with a random string of your choice, your_domain_name with your domain name, and your_database_password with a secure password.

Step 7: Start Mobilizon

Finally, we can start Mobilizon by running the following command:

$ doas rails s -b 0.0.0.0

This command will start the Mobilizon server on port 3000, and bind it to all IP addresses. You can now access your Mobilizon instance by visiting http://your_domain_name:3000 in your web browser.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have walked through the process of installing Mobilizon on OpenBSD. Mobilizon is now ready to use and organize social events with your friends, family or community.

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