# Run Mastodon Server on Arch Linux VPS - Published: 2019-12-08 - [Markdown][raw] - [Simplified Chinese][zhs] [raw]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liolok/liolok.com/master/run-mastodon-server-on-archlinux-vps/index.md [zhs]: https://liolok.com/zhs/run-mastodon-server-on-archlinux-vps I'm using Docker to run Mastodon now, this article is reserved only for reference. ## Mastodon? Short story: open-source self-hosted Twitter. So why not Twitter? Well Mastodon should be more private and under my own control. ## VPS Requirement I'm using one-year free trial of AWS, there are [Arch Linux AMIs][archlinux_ami] according to [ArchWiki][arch_wiki], which people can directly launch EC2 instances. Basically a VPS that one can install Arch Linux on it is enough; Hardware resource requirement depends on user amount, in my case, a free trial VPS should be enough. [arch_wiki]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux_AMIs_for_Amazon_Web_Services "Arch Linux AMIs for Amazon Web Services - ArchWiki" [archlinux_ami]: https://www.uplinklabs.net/projects/arch-linux-on-ec2/ "Uplink Laboratories" ## Add DNS Record Go to my DNS service website then add an A record with public IP of VPS to my domain. ## Add Swap Space > [Swap - ArchWiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Swap#systemd-swap "Swap - ArchWiki") My VPS has only 1G memory, so a swapfile is considered necessery. ```console # pacman --sync systemd-swap # sed --in-place 's/swapfc_enabled=0/swapfc_enabled=1/' /etc/systemd/swap.conf # systemctl enable systemd-swap # reboot ``` ## Install Packages Needed ```console # pacman --sync nano sudo tmux yay nginx certbot-nginx ``` I don't know how to use `vi` so `nano` is needed. For package `yay`, one can install it after [adding Arch Linux CN repository][archlinuxcn]. [archlinuxcn]: https://github.com/archlinuxcn/repo#usage "archlinuxcn/repo: Arch Linux CN Repository" ## Create a Privileged User An AUR package is not allowed to install with root user, so I have to run `useradd -m -G wheel liolok && passwd liolok` to create a user of administration group, then run `nano /etc/sudoers` and uncomment the line `%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL`. ## Install AUR Package ```console # su - liolok $ tmux $ yay --sync mastodon ``` Nodejs stuff will take quite a long time even without output. After installation, press `Ctrl` + `D` twice to return to root user. ## PostgreSQL and Redis ```console # systemctl enable --now postgresql redis ``` I ran into a trouble that the service of PostgreSQL failed to start, so look into it:
root ~ systemctl status postgresql 1 ● postgresql.service - PostgreSQL database server Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled) Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2019-12-08 16:37:37 UTC; 20s ago Process: 150840 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/postgresql-check-db-dir ${PGROOT}/data (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE) Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 systemd[1]: Starting PostgreSQL database server... Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 postgres[150840]: "/var/lib/postgres/data" is missing or empty. Use a command like Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 postgres[150840]: su - postgres -c "initdb --locale en_US.UTF-8 -D '/var/lib/postgres/data'" Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 postgres[150840]: with relevant options, to initialize the database cluster. Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 systemd[1]: postgresql.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 systemd[1]: postgresql.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Dec 08 16:37:37 ip-172-31-21-37 systemd[1]: Failed to start PostgreSQL database server.It seems not a big deal, just follow the instruction to initialize the database cluster and then start service. ```console # su - postgres --command "initdb --locale en_US.UTF-8 -D '/var/lib/postgres/data'" # systemctl start postgres ``` Then create the Mastodon PostgreSQL user and grant it the ability to create databases: ```console # su - postgres --shell /bin/sh --command "createuser -d mastodon" ``` ## Nginx Copy Mastodon's default nginx configuration: ```console # cd /etc/nginx/ # mkdir sites-available sites-enabled # cp --verbose /var/lib/mastodon/dist/nginx.conf sites-available/mastodon # ln --symbolic --verbose sites-available/mastodon sites-enabled/mastodon ``` Replace `example.com` with my own domain, fix mastodon path: ```console # sed --in-place=".default" /etc/nginx/sites-available/mastodon \ --expression 's/example\.com/zone\.liolok\.com/' \ --expression 's/home\/mastodon\/live/var\/lib\/mastodon/' ``` Generate certificate: ```console # certbot --nginx --domains zone.liolok.com ``` This command reports that certificate and chain are saved, but haven't been installed to nginx configuration. It's ok, do the next steps: - edit `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf` and add line `include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;` to the end of `http` block; - edit `/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/mastodon` and uncomment the `ssl_certificate` and `ssl_certificate_key` lines. Then run `systemctl enable --now nginx`. ## Final Setup ```console # tmux # su - mastodon --shell /bin/sh --command "cd '/var/lib/mastodon'; RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails mastodon:setup" ``` In this step, there will be a command line interface that seems kind of user friendly. First content to input is my own domain `zone.liolok.com`; then comes stuff about postgresql and redis, leave them default; then comes E-mail part: this confused me for a lot of time, at last I used my previous configured Yandex domain mail: - host: `smtp.yandex.com` - port: `587` (not the common search result 465) - user: `i@liolok.com` - sender: `Mastodon