How to install OSSN on macOS

OSSN (Open Source Social Network) is a PHP-based social networking platform that you can install on your macOS machine. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to do that.

Requirements

• macOS
• PHP 7.1 or higher
• MySQL 5.6 or higher
• Apache or Nginx
• Composer
• Git

Steps

1. Open terminal on your macOS.
2. Install the required software (if not already installed). For instance, for Apache on macOS, you can install it via Homebrew.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
brew install apache2

3. Now, let's create a virtual host file for the OSSN project. Run the following command in the terminal:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/other/ossn.conf

Replace nano with your preferred text editor.

4. Add the following content to the virtual host file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName ossn.local
DocumentRoot "/Library/WebServer/Documents/ossn"
<Directory /Library/WebServer/Documents/ossn>
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

5. Save and exit the file.

6. Enable the new virtual host by running the following command:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

Add the following line to the file:

127.0.0.1 ossn.local

7. Save and exit the hosts file.

8. Next, clone the OSSN project from its Github repository by running the following command:

cd /Library/WebServer/Documents
sudo git clone https://github.com/opensource-socialnetwork/opensource-socialnetwork.git ossn

9. Install the required dependencies using Composer:

cd ossn && composer install --no-dev

10. Create the data directory for OSSN's file uploads:

sudo mkdir /Library/WebServer/Documents/ossn-data
sudo chmod -R a+rwX /Library/WebServer/Documents/ossn-data

11. Create the MySQL database for OSSN:

mysql -u root -p

Enter your MySQL password when prompted. Then, in the MySQL shell, run the following commands:

CREATE DATABASE ossn_db;
CREATE USER 'ossn_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ossn_pass';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ossn_db.* TO 'ossn_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
quit;

12. That's it! Restart Apache for the new virtual host to take effect:

sudo apachectl restart

Now you can open your browser and navigate to http://ossn.local to start using OSSN!

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!