How to Install GoToSocial on Windows 11

GoToSocial is an open-source social network platform that can be used for creating social network websites. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing GoToSocial on Windows 11.

Prerequisites

Before we start with the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

Windows 11 installed on your computer
Git installed on your computer
Node.js installed on your computer
MySQL installed on your computer

If you don't have these prerequisites installed, you can download and install them from the following links:

Git: https://git-scm.com/download/win
Node.js: https://nodejs.org/en/download/
MySQL: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/

Installation Steps

Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to download the source files of GoToSocial using the cd command.
```
cd C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\
```

Clone GoToSocial’s GitHub repository using the git clone command:

git clone https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial.git

After downloading the repository, navigate to the GoToSocial directory:
```
cd gotosocial
```
Next, install the necessary dependencies using the following command:
```
npm install
```
Once the dependencies are installed, rename the .env-example file to .env.
```
mv .env-example .env
```
Open the .env file in a text editor.
In the .env file, configure the database settings according to your MySQL database settings.
Create a new database with the name specified in the .env file.
Run the following command to create the database tables:
```
sequelize db:migrate
```
Finally, start the development server with the following command:
```
npm start
```
Once the server is started, go to your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080 to see the GoToSocial home page.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed GoToSocial on your Windows 11 computer. You can now start creating your own social network websites.