How to Install Mastodon on POP! OS Latest

Mastodon is an open-source decentralized social media platform that allows users to interact with each other through microblogging. In this tutorial, we will explain how to install Mastodon on POP! OS Latest.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure your system has the following prerequisites:

Root access to the system.
Latest version of POP! OS installed.
Basic knowledge of Linux/Unix commands.

Installation

Follow the steps below to install Mastodon on POP! OS Latest:

Step 1: Install dependencies

Mastodon requires several dependencies to run. Use the following command to install them:

sudo apt-get install imagemagick libicu-dev libidn11-dev libjemalloc-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev pkg-config redis-server

Step 2: Install Node.js

Mastodon requires Node.js version 10.13.0 or later. Use the following command to install Node.js:

sudo apt-get install nodejs

To check the Node.js version, run the following command:

node -v

Step 3: Install Yarn

Yarn is a package manager that Mastodon uses. Use the following command to install Yarn:

sudo apt-get install yarn

Step 4: Create a new user

Mastodon should not run as root. Create a new user for Mastodon using the following command:

sudo adduser mastodon

Step 5: Clone Mastodon

Clone the Mastodon repository using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon.git ~/live

Step 6: Install dependencies for Mastodon

Change the directory to the cloned Mastodon repository and use the following command to install the Mastodon dependencies:

cd ~/live
bundle install --deployment --without development test

Step 7: Create a production environment file

Create a .env.production file using the following command:

cp .env.production.sample .env.production

Edit the .env.production file with the following command:

nano .env.production

Replace the following values:

LOCAL_DOMAIN=my-domain.com
SMTP_SERVER=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_LOGIN=my-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSWORD=my-password
SECRET_KEY_BASE=your-random-key-here

Save the changes and exit.

Step 8: Precompile assets

Use the following command to precompile Mastodon assets:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile

Step 9: Run database migrations

Use the following command to prepare the database:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:setup

Step 10: Start Mastodon

Start Mastodon using the following command:

RAILS_ENV=production bin/tootctl start

Conclusion

Mastodon is now installed on your POP! OS Latest system. You can now use Mastodon to interact with other users through microblogging. Enjoy!

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