Mastodon is free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services. It offers microblogging features that allow you to follow other users and post messages and images with Mastodon. It is written in Ruby and JavaScript and supports audio, video and picture posts, accessibility descriptions, polls, content warnings, animated avatars, custom emojis, and more. Mastodon offers an application for various platforms like Android and iOS.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Mastodon on Ubuntu 22.04.
Requirements
- A server running Ubuntu 22.04.
- A root password is configured on your server.
- A valid domain name is pointed to your server IP address.
Getting Started
First, it is recommended to update all your system packages with the latest version. You can do it by running the following command:
apt-get update -y
apt-get upgrade -y
After updating your system, you will need to install some dependencies required by Mastodon. You can install all of them with the following command:
apt-get install software-properties-common dirmngr apt-transport-https ca-certificates redis-server curl gcc g make imagemagick ffmpeg libpq-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev file git-core libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler pkg-config autoconf bison build-essential libssl-dev libyaml-dev libreadline-dev libidn11-dev libicu-dev libjemalloc-dev zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libffi-dev libgdbm-dev -y
Once all the dependencies are installed, you can proceed to the next step.
Install Node.js
Mastodon requires Node.js to be installed on your system. To install Node.js, add the Node.js repository to your server using the following command:
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | bash -
Once the repository has been added, install Node.js version 16 with the following command:
apt-get install nodejs -y
Next, download and add Yarn’s GPG key and enable the repository with the following command:
curl -sL https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | apt-key add -
echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list
Once added, update the repository and install Yarn with the following commands:
apt-get update -y
apt-get install yarn -y
Once you have finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Install and Configure PostgreSQL
Mastodon uses PostgreSQL as a database backend. You can install the latest version of PostgreSQL with the following command:
apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y
Once installed, log in to PostgreSQL with the following command:
su - postgres
[email protected]:~$ psql
Next, create a user for Mastodon with the following command:
postgres=# CREATE USER mastodon CREATEDB;
Next, exit from the PostgreSQL shell with the following command:
postgres=#exit
Install Ruby
Mastodon uses Ruby on Rails for the back-end purpose. First, you will need to create a new system user to run the Mastodon server.
You can create it with the following command:
adduser --disabled-login --gecos 'Mastodon Server' mastodon
Once created, log in to mastodon user with the following command:
su - mastodon
Next, clone the rbenv repository with the following command:
git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git ~/.rbenv
Next, set up rbenv and ruby-build with the following commands:
cd ~/.rbenv && src/configure && make -C src
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec bash
git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ~/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build
Once you have finished, install the latest version of Ruby with the following command:
RUBY_CONFIGURE_OPTS=--with-jemalloc rbenv install 3.0.3
Once installed, you should get the following output:
Downloading ruby-3.0.3.tar.gz... -> https://cache.ruby-lang.org/pub/ruby/3.0/ruby-3.0.3.tar.gz Installing ruby-3.0.3...
Next, set the Ruby available globally with the following command:
rbenv global 3.0.3
Next, update the gem and install bundler with the following command:
gem update --system
gem install bundler --no-document
Once you have finished, you can check the Ruby with the following command:
ruby --version
ruby 3.0.3p157 (2021-11-24 revision 3fb7d2cadc) [x86_64-linux]
Configure Mastodon
First, log in to mastodon user and download the mastodon git repository with the following command:
su - mastodon
git clone https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon.git ~/live
cd ~/live
Next, check out the latest branch with the following command:
git checkout $(git tag -l | grep -v 'rc[0-9]*$' | sort -V | tail -n 1)
You should get the following output:
Note: switching to 'v3.5.3'. You are in 'detached HEAD' state. You can look around, make experimental changes and commit them, and you can discard any commits you make in this state without impacting any branches by switching back to a branch. If you want to create a new branch to retain commits you create, you may do so (now or later) by using -c with the switch command. Example: git switch -c Or undo this operation with: git switch - Turn off this advice by setting config variable advice.detachedHead to false HEAD is now at fbcbf7898 Bump version to 3.5.3 (#18530)
Next, install all the dependencies with the following command:
bundle config deployment 'true'
bundle config without 'development test'
bundle install -j$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)
yarn install --pure-lockfile
Now, setup the Mastodon with the following command:
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake mastodon:setup
During the setup process, you will be asked several questions. Answer all the questions as shown below:
Your instance is identified by its domain name. Changing it afterward will break things. Domain name: mastodon.example.com Single user mode disables registrations and redirects the landing page to your public profile. Do you want to enable single user mode? No Are you using Docker to run Mastodon? no PostgreSQL host: /var/run/postgresql PostgreSQL port: 5432 Name of PostgreSQL database: mastodon_production Name of PostgreSQL user: mastodon Password of PostgreSQL user: Database configuration works! ???? Redis host: localhost Redis port: 6379 Redis password: Redis configuration works! ???? Do you want to store uploaded files on the cloud? No Do you want to send e-mails from localhost? yes E-mail address to send e-mails "from": Mastodon <[email protected]> Send a test e-mail with this configuration right now? no This configuration will be written to .env.production Save configuration? Yes Now that configuration is saved, the database schema must be loaded. If the database already exists, this will erase its contents. Prepare the database now? Yes All done! You can now power on the Mastodon server ???? Do you want to create an admin user straight away? Yes Username: admin E-mail: [email protected] You can login with the password: 159e473bbfe846eac169eafac880b3f0 You can change your password once you login.
Once you have finished, exit from the mastodon user with the following command:
exit
Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy for Mastodon
Next, you will need to install Nginx and Certbot to your system. By default, the latest version of Certbot is not available in the Ubuntu 22.04 default repository. So, you will need to add the Certbot repository to your system.
You can add it with the following command:
add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
Next, update the repository and install Certbot with Nginx by running the following command:
apt-get update -y
apt-get install nginx python-certbot-nginx -y
Once both packages are installed, copy the Nginx configuration file from the Mastodon directory to Nginx with the following command:
cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/mastodon.conf
Next, enable the Mastodon virtual host configuration file with the following command:
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mastodon.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
By default, Mastodon virtual host configuration file is configured with domain example.com. So you will need to replace the example.com domain with your domain name in the file mastodon.conf. You can replace it with the following command:
sed -i 's/example.com/mastodon.example.com/g' /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/mastodon.conf
Next, restart the Nginx service to apply the configuration:
systemctl restart nginx
Next, download the Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificate and configure Nginx to use this certificate by running the certbot command:
certbot --nginx -d mastodon.example.com
This will download a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate and configure the Nginx for your domain mastodon.example.com.
Create Systemd Service for Mastodon
Nginx is now installed and configured to serve Mastodon. Next, you will need to configure systemd service file for Mastodon. To do so, copy the systemd service templates from the Mastodon directory:
cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/mastodon-web.service /etc/systemd/system/
cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/mastodon-sidekiq.service /etc/systemd/system/
cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/mastodon-streaming.service /etc/systemd/system/
Next, start all services and enable them to start after reboot with the following command:
systemctl start mastodon-web
systemctl start mastodon-sidekiq
systemctl start mastodon-streaming
systemctl enable mastodon-web
systemctl enable mastodon-sidekiq
systemctl enable mastodon-streaming
Next, check the status of the Mastodon service using the following command:
systemctl status mastodon-web mastodon-sidekiq mastodon-streaming
You will get the following output:
? mastodon-web.service - mastodon-web
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/mastodon-web.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-10-18 15:47:13 UTC; 56s ago
Main PID: 78185 (bundle)
Tasks: 29 (limit: 2242)
Memory: 296.7M
CPU: 10.554s
CGroup: /system.slice/mastodon-web.service
??78185 "puma 5.6.4 (tcp://127.0.0.1:3000) [live]" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "">
??78224 "puma: cluster worker 0: 78185 [live]" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" >
??78228 "puma: cluster worker 1: 78185 [live]" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" >
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Max threads: 5
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Environment: production
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Master PID: 78185
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Workers: 2
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Restarts: (?) hot (?) phased
Oct 18 15:47:14 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Preloading application
Oct 18 15:47:27 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] * Listening on http://127.0.0.1:3000
Oct 18 15:47:27 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] Use Ctrl-C to stop
Oct 18 15:47:27 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] - Worker 0 (PID: 78224) booted in 0.04s, phase: 0
Oct 18 15:47:27 ubuntu2204 bundle[78185]: [78185] - Worker 1 (PID: 78228) booted in 0.02s, phase: 0
? mastodon-sidekiq.service - mastodon-sidekiq
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/mastodon-sidekiq.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-10-18 15:47:20 UTC; 48s ago
Main PID: 78206 (bundle)
Tasks: 32 (limit: 2242)
Memory: 242.5M
CPU: 10.113s
CGroup: /system.slice/mastodon-sidekiq.service
??78206 "sidekiq 6.4.2 live [0 of 25 busy]" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" >
Oct 18 15:47:35 ubuntu2204 bundle[78206]: 2022-10-18T15:47:35.747Z pid=78206 tid=1mle INFO: Scheduling accounts_statuses_cleanup_scheduler {">
Oct 18 15:47:35 ubuntu2204 bundle[78206]: 2022-10-18T15:47:35.748Z pid=78206 tid=1mle INFO: Schedules Loaded
Access Mastodon Web Interface
Now, open your web browser and type the URL https://mastodon.example.com. You will be redirected to the following page:
Now, provide your admin email and password which you created earlier, and click on the Log in button. You should see the following page:
Now, click on the LET’S GO! button. You should see the following page:
Now, click on the Next button. You should see the following page:
Now, click on the FINISH TUTORIAL! button. You should see the Mastodon dashboard on the following page:
Conclusion
Congratulations! you have successfully installed and configured Mastodon on Ubuntu 22.04 server. You can now easily create your own social media network using Mastodon. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.
