Mastodon

How to install Mastodon ActivityPub server on FreeBSD.

pkg install -y nginx acme.sh postgresql13-server mastodon

Add the following inside the http block of /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

include /usr/local/www/mastodon/dist/nginx.conf;

Update Nginx configuration:

Note: The mastodon/dist/nginx.conf was originally provided by the www/mastodon package. It will need to be created.

sed -i '' -e 's/example.com/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>/g' /usr/local/www/mastodon/dist/nginx.conf

Enable nginx on startup and start nginx:

sysrc nginx_enable="YES"
service nginx start

Configure SSL certificates with acme.sh

mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/ssl/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>
acme.sh --issue --webroot /usr/local/www/mastodon/public -d <YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>
acme.sh --install-cert -d <YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN> --cert-file /usr/local/etc/ssl/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>/cert.pem --key-file /usr/local/etc/ssl/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>/key.pem --ca-file /usr/local/etc/ssl/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>/ca.pem --fullchain-file /usr/local/etc/ssl/<YOUR DESIRED DOMAIN>/fullchain.pem --reloadcmd 'service nginx restart'

Configure PostgreSQL DB Server

Enable postgresql on startup, initial databases and start postgresql:

sysrc postgresql_enable="YES"
service postgresql initdb
service postgresql start

Create a new role for the mastodon database:

su -l postgres -c 'createuser -d mastodon'

Enable redis on startup and start redis:

sysrc redis_enable="YES"
service redis start

In case mastodon is run in a jail; protected-mode should be disabled in /usr/local/etc/redis.conf

File permissions is an important factor for a working copy of Mastodon so let's switch to the dedicated mastodon user and run the installations:

su -l mastodon
cd
yarn set version classic
bundle config deployment 'true'
bundle config without 'development test'
bundle install -j$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)
yarn install --pure-lockfile

On the next step let's install and configure the Mastodon system still as the mastodon user.

When asked for Postgresql instance it's better to use 127.0.0.1 rather than localhost or sockets.

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake mastodon:setup

Enable the services at startup and start the services:

sysrc mastodon_sidekiq_enable=YES
sysrc mastodon_streaming_enable=YES
sysrc mastodon_web_enable=YES
service mastodon_sidekiq start
service mastodon_streaming start
service mastodon_web start

service mastodon_sidekiq stop
service mastodon_streaming stop
service mastodon_web stop

pkg upgrade -y

su -l mastodon
cd
bundle install -j$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)
yarn install --pure-lockfile
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:migrate
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake tmp:cache:clear
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile
exit