Diaspora* is an open-source social networking platform that allows users to connect with each other while retaining their privacy. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to install diaspora* on NixOS Latest.
Before we begin, ensure that you have the following:
Firstly, update your system packages to ensure that all software on your system is up-to-date:
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade
This could take several minutes to complete.
Install git on your system by running the following command:
sudo nix-env -i git
Clone Diaspora* repository by executing the command below:
git clone https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora.git
Switch to the diaspora* directory and install all required packages:
cd diaspora
sudo nix-env -i Ruby postgresql nginx nodejs imagemagick libxml2 libxslt
Install the bundler gem for Ruby:
sudo gem install bundler
Create a new PostgreSQL user and database for diaspora*:
sudo -iu postgres createdb diaspora_production -E UTF8 -O diaspora
sudo -iu postgres psql -c "ALTER USER diaspora WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'your_password';"
Generate a sample config/database.yml
file:
cp config/database.yml.example config/database.yml
And configure it to use your PostgreSQL database:
production:
adapter: postgresql
encoding: unicode
database: diaspora_production
pool: 5
username: diaspora
password: your_password
host: localhost
Use bundler to download dependencies:
bundle install --jobs $(nproc)
Generate a sample config/diaspora.yml
file:
cp config/diaspora.yml.example config/diaspora.yml
Then configure it to match your preferences. For instance,
production:
#...
pods:
- pod01.example.com
- pod02.example.com
- pod03.example.com
#...
identity:
- full_name: "your name"
email: "your@email"
key: "ssh-ed25519 AAA....J (your public key here)"
#...
Compile the assets and populate the database:
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile db:create db:schema:load db:migrate
Start the Diaspora* server:
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec thin start -C config/thin.yml
Create a new Nginx server block in nginx.conf
file:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Add the following server block to the nginx.conf
file:
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.com;
location / {
return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
}
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name example.com;
ssl_certificate /path/to/cert;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key;
# Set the maximum size of uploaded files
client_max_body_size 200M;
# Forward requests to the Diaspora* server
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_redirect off;
}
}
Make sure to replace example.com
with your domain name and replace /path/to/cert
and /path/to/key
with the path to your SSL certificate and key.
Save and exit the nginx.conf
file.
Now, restart the nginx and Diaspora* services:
sudo systemctl restart nginx
sudo systemctl restart diaspora
That's it! You have successfully installed Diaspora* on NixOS Latest. Access your diaspora instance by visiting your domain name in your web browser.
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!