Installing Mastodon on FreeBSD Latest

In this tutorial, we will be going through the steps to install Mastodon on FreeBSD Latest using the official Mastodon website's https://joinmastodon.org/ installation guide.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into installing Mastodon, make sure your FreeBSD system is up-to-date by running the following command:

sudo pkg update && sudo pkg upgrade

Installing Necessary Dependencies

To get Mastodon up and running on your FreeBSD system, you will need to install the following dependencies:

Git
Ruby
Node.js
PostgreSQL
Yarn
Redis

We will install them one-by-one.

Installing Git

To get started, install Git by running the following command:

sudo pkg install git

Installing Ruby

Install the required version of Ruby by running the following command:

sudo pkg install ruby27

Installing Node.js

Next, install Node.js and npm by running the following commands:

sudo pkg install node npm

Installing PostgreSQL

Install PostgreSQL by running the following command:

sudo pkg install postgresql13-server postgresql13-contrib

After installation is complete, initialize the database with the following command:

sudo service postgresql initdb

Installing Yarn

Install Yarn by running the following command:

sudo pkg install yarn

Installing Redis

Finally, install Redis by running the following command:

sudo pkg install redis

Next, start the Redis server by running the following command:

sudo service redis start

Downloading and Configuring Mastodon

Now that all prerequisites are installed, let's download Mastodon and configure it. Run the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon.git
cd mastodon

Next, copy the sample environment configuration file and set the environment variables required for Mastodon to work:

cp .env.production.sample .env.production

Edit the .env.production file and make sure to edit the following settings:

LOCAL_DOMAIN
SMTP_SERVER
SMTP_LOGIN
SMTP_PASSWORD

After editing the .env.production file, install Mastodon's dependencies by running the following command:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle install

Next, build the Mastodon assets by running the following command:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile

Setting up PostgreSQL

Next, we need to create a PostgreSQL user and database for Mastodon. Follow these steps:

Log in as the postgres user:
```
sudo su - postgres
```
Create a new PostgreSQL user:
```
createuser -P mastodon
```

Create a new PostgreSQL database:

createdb -O mastodon mastodon_production

Exit the postgres user shell:
```
exit
```

Running the Mastodon installation

Now that all prerequisites are installed and we have created a PostgreSQL user and database for Mastodon, we can run the Mastodon installation.

Run the following commands:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:migrate
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:seed

The first command migrates the database schema and the second command seeds the database with initial data.

Finally, start the Mastodon web and streaming servers by running the following commands:

RAILS_ENV=production bin/rails server
RAILS_ENV=production bin/rails streaming

Accessing Mastodon

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mastodon on your FreeBSD system. You can now access Mastodon by opening your web browser and entering the URL:

http://<your-mastodon-domain>

Note: Replace <your-mastodon-domain> with the actual domain name you have set in the .env.production file.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have walked through the steps to install Mastodon on FreeBSD Latest. Mastodon is an open-source federated social network platform that enables users to communicate with a wide audience. We hope you find this tutorial useful for your Mastodon installation.