Run Mastodon - A Federated Twitter Alternative - in Docker
17#Mastodon #Docker #Twitter
Full steps can be found at https://i12bretro.github.io/tutorials/0853.html
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub where users can follow friends and discover new ones. On Mastodon, users can publish anything they want: links, pictures, text, video. All Mastodon servers are interoperable as a federated network (users on one server can seamlessly communicate with users from another one, including non-Mastodon software that implements ActivityPub)! - https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon
Installing Docker
01. Log into the Linux based device
02. Run the following commands in the terminal
# install prerequisites
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg-agent -y
# add docker gpg key
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release)/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
# add docker software repository
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release) $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
# install docker
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-compose containerd.io -y
# enable and start docker service
sudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker
# add the current user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
# reauthenticate for the new group membership to take effect
su - $USER
Generating SSL Certificate with Let's Encrypt
NOTE: In order for Let's Encrypt to verify ownership of the DNS name, the host certbot is running from must be accessible via port 80 (http) or port 443 (https). For homelab users, this will normally involve port forwarding from the router to the certbot host, which is beyond the scope of this tutorial. Just note, I have forwarded port 80 on my router to the host running certbot for this handshake to complete successfully.
01. Continue with the following commands in a terminal window
# remove apt version of certbot if installed
sudo apt remove certbot -y
# install snapd
sudo apt install snapd -y
# install snap core and update
sudo snap install core; sudo snap refresh core
# install certbot snap
sudo snap install --classic certbot
# create certbot symbolic link
sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot
# if a web server process is currently using port 80, stop it before proceeding
# generate a certificate
sudo certbot certonly --standalone --preferred-challenges http -d ≪%DNS NAME%≫
02. When prompted, enter an email address and agree to the terms of service
03. Choose whether to share your email and receive emails from certbot
04. Certbot will output information regarding the location of the certificate files
05. Continue with the following commands in a terminal window
# create ssl-certs group
sudo groupadd ssl-certs
# add $USER and root users to group
sudo usermod -aG ssl-certs $USER
sudo usermod -aG ssl-certs root
# verify the members of ssl-cert
getent group ssl-certs
# set owner group of /etc/letsencrypt
sudo chgrp -R ssl-certs /etc/letsencrypt
# set permissions on /etc/letsencrypt
sudo chmod -R g=rX /etc/letsencrypt
Running the Mastodon Container Stack
01. Now that Docker is installed, run the following commands to setup the Mastodon Docker containers
# create working directories
mkdir ~/docker/postgres -p && mkdir ~/docker/redis -p && mkdir ~/docker/mastodon/public/system -p && mkdir ~/docker/nginx/conf -p
# pull the mastodon web container
docker pull tootsuite/mastodon
# generate secrets, run this 2 times
docker run --rm -it tootsuite/mastodon bundle exec rake secret
# generate VAPID keys
docker run --rm -it tootsuite/mastodon bundle exec rake mastodon:webpush:generate_vapid_key
# create a mastodon .env file
# copy the generated secrets and keys into the .env file
# make sure to set the LOCAL_DOMAIN as this cannot be changed later
nano ~/docker/mastodon/.env
02. Paste the following into the .env file, then edit the LOCAL_DOMAIN, WEB_DOMAIN, PostgreSQL, Secrets, Web Push and SMTP settings
NOTE: A full example .env file can be find at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/blob/main/.env.production.sample
# This is a sample configuration file. You can generate your configuration
....Full steps can be found on GitHub [link at the top]
### Connect with me and others ###
★ Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EzenvmSHW8
★ Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/i12bretro
★ Twitter: https://twitter.com/i12bretro