How to Install Lemmy on Clear Linux Latest

Lemmy is a link aggregation and discussion platform that is similar to Reddit. It is a self-hosted alternative that allows users to create their own communities without fear of being censored or controlled by a larger corporation. In this tutorial, we will walk through the steps to install Lemmy on Clear Linux Latest using the command line.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure that you have:

A Clear Linux Latest instance with sudo access
A domain name or subdomain that points to your server's IP address
A valid SSL certificate
A registered Google OAuth client ID and secret (required for user authentication)

Step 1: Install Dependencies

Lemmy requires the following dependencies:

PostgreSQL
Redis
Rust
Nginx
OpenSSL

Clear Linux makes this process easy with the swupd command. To install all necessary dependencies, enter the following command:

sudo swupd bundle-add devpkg-rust devpkg-redis devpkg-postgresql devpkg-openssl nginx-basic

Step 2: Build and Install Lemmy

Lemmy is open-source software, meaning that you can download the installation files from the existing repositories.

Clone the repository using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy.git

Build the project to create the Lemmy binary. To do so, enter the following command:
```
cargo build --release
```

Install the binary by entering the following command:

sudo install -Dm755 ./target/release/lemmy /usr/local/bin/lemmy

Step 3: Configure PostgreSQL

Create a new user by entering the following command:
```
sudo -u postgres createuser --pwprompt lemmyuser
```
When prompted, create a password for the new user.
Create a new database by entering the following command:
```
sudo -u postgres createdb lemmydb -O lemmyuser
```
Set the password for the newly created database user. Open the PostgreSQL shell:
```
sudo -u postgres psql
```
Then enter the following commands to set the password:
```
ALTER USER lemmyuser WITH PASSWORD 'your_password';
```
Exit out of the PostgreSQL shell by typing:
```
\q
```

Step 4: Configure Lemmy

Lemmy uses a configuration file named Rocket.toml. You can create the file like this:

sudo nano /etc/lemmy/Rocket.toml

Configure the file with the following code snippet. Replace your_domain.tld with your actual domain name or subdomain.

[global]
secret_key = "your_secret_generated_by_lemmy"
db_url = "postgresql://lemmyuser:your_password@localhost/lemmydb"
allowed_origins = ["https://your_domain.tld"]
google_client_id = "your_google_client_id.apps.googleusercontent.com"
google_client_secret = "your_google_client_secret"

[development]
log = "debug"

[testing]
log = "warn"

[release]
log = "info"

Step 5: Configure Nginx

Lemmy is a web application, and it needs a web server to function properly. In this tutorial, we will be using Nginx.

Create a configuration file for your domain or subdomain. Replace your_domain.tld with your actual domain name or subdomain.
```
sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/your_domain.tld.conf
```

Configure the file with the following code snippet. Replace your_domain.tld with your actual domain name or subdomain.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name your_domain.tld;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    server_name your_domain.tld;
    ssl_certificate /path/to/your/ssl/certificate;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/your/ssl/private/key;
    location / {
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
    }
}

Save and close the file.

Test that your Nginx configuration file is valid:
```
sudo nginx -t
```
Reload the Nginx service for changes to take effect:
```
sudo systemctl reload nginx
```

Step 6: Run Lemmy

Run Lemmy in the background with the following command:
```
nohup /usr/local/bin/lemmy &
```
This command launches Lemmy in the background and creates a log file in your home directory called nohup.out.

Verify that Lemmy is running:

sudo lsof -i :8000

Output should include something like this:

COMMAND  PID      USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
lemmy  23431 clearuser   22u  IPv4 583126      0t0  TCP *:8000 (LISTEN)

Visit your domain or subdomain in a web browser. If everything is set up correctly, Lemmy should be running!

If you experience issues, review and verify that all previous steps have been completed successfully.

Congratulations, you have installed Lemmy on Clear Linux Latest!