How to Install Mastodon on Void Linux

Mastodon is a free, open-source and decentralized social network platform. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Mastodon on your Void Linux server.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure that your Void Linux server meets the following requirements:

  • A non-root user with sudo privileges
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server
  • A domain name pointed to your server IP address

Step 1: Install Docker and Docker Compose

Run the following commands in your terminal to install Docker and Docker Compose:

sudo xbps-install -S docker docker-compose
sudo usermod -aG docker <your-user>

After installing Docker and Docker Compose, logout from your terminal and login back to activate the changes made for the user.

Step 2: Clone Mastodon Repository

Clone the Mastodon repository using git. 

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

Step 3: Configure Mastodon

Navigate to the cloned Mastodon directory and create a .env.production file with the following environment variables:

LOCAL_DOMAIN=<your-domain-name-here>
SMTP_SERVER=<your-smtp-server-here>
SMTP_LOGIN=<your-smtp-login-here>
SMTP_PASSWORD=<your-smtp-password-here>
SECRET_KEY_BASE=<your-secret-key-here>

Note: Replace <your-domain-name-here> with your domain name and <your-smtp-server-here>, <your-smtp-login-here>, <your-smtp-password-here>, and <your-secret-key-here> with your SMTP server, login credentials, and secret key respectively.

Step 4: Build and Start Mastodon

Build and start Mastodon using Docker Compose. Run the following commands in your terminal:

docker-compose build
docker-compose up -d

The -d flag runs the process in the background.

Step 5: Create An Admin Account

Create the Mastodon admin account by running the following command:

docker-compose run --rm web rails mastodon:make_admin USERNAME=<username>

Note: Replace <username> with the desired username for your admin account.

Step 6: Start Mastodon

Start Mastodon using Docker Compose by running the following command:

docker-compose up -d

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Mastodon on your Void Linux server. You can now access Mastodon by visiting your domain name in a web browser. We hope this tutorial was helpful. For more information on Mastodon, visit https://joinmastodon.org/.