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[DOCUMENTATION] Add documentation on installing with Docker

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GNU social
=====
GNU social is a federated social network.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
* Installation with docker
+ Prerequisites
+ With TLS/SSL
+ Without TLS/SSL
+ Configuration
+ Installing/running
* Installation without docker
+ Prerequisites
- PHP modules
- Better performance
+ Installation
- Getting it up and running
- Fancy URLs
- Themes
- Private
+ Extra features
- Sphinx
- SMS
- Translation
- Queues and daemons
+ After installation
- Backups
- Upgrading
+ Additional configuration
Installation with docker
================
Installation can be done in multiple ways, but the simplest is using
`docker` and `docker-compose`. The compose file currently includes all
the necessary services for running the app. Running the database and
webserver outside of `docker` containers is currently not supported,
unless the app is installed without `docker`.
Prerequisites
-----
In order to host your GNU social instance, you'll need a domain, a
server with a constant IP and both `docker` and `docker-compose`
installed on your system.
Alternatively, for local hosting or development, behind a NAT, use a
dynamic DNS solutions. I recommend you go to
https://gnudip.datasystems24.net or another GnuDIP host and register.
Then clone https://notabug.org/someonewithpc/gnudip.git, inspect and
run the `./install.sh` script. This allows you to have a domain that
dynamically points to your IP address.
With TLS/SSL
----
Next, if you want to setup SSL (which you should in most cases,
exceptions being wanting to use the Tor network), you'll need a
certificate. There are multiple approaches to achieve this, among
which are using a proxy server capable of either proxying an HTTP
connection to HTTPS or an HTTPS connection to HTTPS, or creating a
certificate signed by Let's Encrypt. For the former, follow the
instructions of your proxy provider.
If you're not using a proxy, you can use the
`bin/bootstrap_certificates` script to generate and install
certificates signed by Let's Encrypt. To do this, you should add the
server's IP, if it's static, as an `A` DNS record with your DNS
provider (normally, your domain registrar); the `A` record doesn't
need to be at the root of your domain, meaning it's name can be a
subdomain. For dynamic IPs, create a `CNAME` record pointing to the
hostname you created with the GnuDIP host, above. A `CNAME` cannot be
created for a domain root, so you must use a subdomain. Then, run the
aforementioned script and fill in the details.
Without TLS/SSL
----
Edit the `docker-compose.yaml` file and comment the `certbot` service
to disable it. In the future, this will be handled by the
`bin/configure` script.
Configuration
----
Run the `bin/configure` script and enter the information as asked.
This will generate all the required `.env` files used by
`docker-compose` to configure the application.
Installation/Running
-----
Simply run `docker-compose up` from the root of the project (the
folder where the `.git` folder is). In this form, the application can
be stopped by pressing `C-c` (`CTRL` + `C`); pressing it again will
force the containers to stop immediately. However, this form will show
you all logs, but in most cases, you won't want to see those all the
time. For that, run `docker-compose up -d` from the same directory;
The application can then be stopped with `docker-compose down`.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installation without docker
================
Prerequisites
-----------
### PHP modules
The following software packages are *required* for this software to
run correctly.
- PHP 7.3+
- MariaDB 10.3+
- Web server Apache, lighttpd and nginx will all work. CGI mode is
recommended and also some variant of 'suexec' (or a
proper setup php-fpm pool)
NOTE: mod_rewrite or its equivalent is extremely useful.
Your PHP installation must include the following PHP extensions for a
functional setup of GNU social:
- openssl (compiled in for Debian, enabled manually in Arch Linux)
- php-curl Fetching files by HTTP.
- php-exif Exchangeable image information.
- php-gd Image manipulation (scaling).
- php-intl Internationalization support (transliteration et al).
- php-json For WebFinger lookups and more.
- php-mbstring String manipulation
- php-mysql The native driver for MariaDB connections.
- php-gmp For Salmon signatures (part of OStatus)
- php-bcmath Arbitrary Precision Mathematics
- php-opcache Improved PHP performance by precompilation
- php-readline For interactive scripts
- php-xml XML parser
NOTE: Some distros require manual enabling in the relevant php.ini for some modules.
### Better performance
For some functionality, you will also need the following extensions:
- opcache Improves performance a _lot_. Included in PHP, must be
enabled manually in php.ini for most distributions. Find
and set at least: opcache.enable=1
- mailparse Efficient parsing of email requires this extension.
Submission by email or SMS-over-email uses this.
- sphinx A client for the sphinx server, an alternative to MySQL
or Postgresql fulltext search. You will also need a
Sphinx server to serve the search queries.
- gettext For multiple languages. Default on many PHP installs;
will be emulated if not present.
- exif For thumbnails to be properly oriented.
You may also experience better performance from your site if you configure
a PHP cache/accelerator. Most distributions come with "opcache" support.
Enable it in your php.ini where it is documented together with its settings.
Installation
--------------
### Getting it up and running
Installing the basic GNU Social web component is relatively easy,
especially if you've previously installed PHP/MariaDB packages.
1. Unpack the tarball you downloaded on your Web server. Usually a
command like this will work:
tar zxf gnusocial-*.tar.gz
...which will make a gnusocial-x.y.z subdirectory in your current
directory. (If you don't have shell access on your Web server, you
may have to unpack the tarball on your local computer and FTP the
files to the server.)
2. Move the tarball to a directory of your choosing in your Web root
directory. Usually something like this will work:
mv gnusocial-x.y.z /var/www/gnusocial
This will often make your GNU Social instance available in the gnusocial
path of your server, like "http://example.net/gnusocial". "social" or
"blog" might also be good path names. If you know how to configure
virtual hosts on your web server, you can try setting up
"http://social.example.net/" or the like.
If you have "rewrite" support on your webserver, and you should,
then please enable this in order to make full use of your site. This
will enable "Fancy URL" support, which you can read more about if you
scroll down a bit in this document.
3. Make your target directory writeable by the Web server, please note
however that 'a+w' will give _all_ users write access and securing the
webserver is not within the scope of this document.
chmod a+w /var/www/gnusocial/
On some systems, this will work as a more secure alternative:
chgrp www-data /var/www/gnusocial/
chmod g+w /var/www/gnusocial/
If your Web server runs as another user besides "www-data", try
that user's default group instead. As a last resort, you can create
a new group like "gnusocial" and add the Web server's user to the group.
4. Create a database to hold your site data. Something like this
should work (you will be prompted for your database password):
mysqladmin -u "root" -p create social
Note that GNU Social should have its own database; you should not share
the database with another program. You can name it whatever you want,
though.
(If you don't have shell access to your server, you may need to use
a tool like phpMyAdmin to create a database. Check your hosting
service's documentation for how to create a new MariaDB database.)
5. Create a new database account that GNU Social will use to access the
database. If you have shell access, this will probably work from the
MariaDB shell:
GRANT ALL on social.*
TO 'social'@'localhost'
IDENTIFIED BY 'agoodpassword';
You should change the user identifier 'social' and 'agoodpassword'
to your preferred new database username and password. You may want to
test logging in to MariaDB as this new user.
6. In a browser, navigate to the GNU Social install script; something like:
https://social.example.net/install.php
Enter the database connection information and your site name. The
install program will configure your site and install the initial,
almost-empty database.
7. You should now be able to navigate to your social site's main directory
and see the "Public Timeline", which will probably be empty. You can
now register new user, post some notices, edit your profile, etc.
### Fancy URLs
By default, GNU Social will use URLs that include the main PHP program's
name in them. For example, a user's home profile might be found at either
of these URLS depending on the webserver's configuration and capabilities:
https://social.example.net/index.php/fred
https://social.example.net/index.php?p=fred
It's possible to configure the software to use fancy URLs so it looks like
this instead:
https://social.example.net/fred
These "fancy URLs" are more readable and memorable for users. To use
fancy URLs, you must either have Apache 2.x with .htaccess enabled and
mod_rewrite enabled, -OR- know how to configure "url redirection" in
your server (like lighttpd or nginx).
1. See the instructions for each respective webserver software:
* For Apache, inspect the "htaccess.sample" file and save it as
".htaccess" after making any necessary modifications. Our sample
file is well commented.
* For lighttpd, inspect the lighttpd.conf.example file and apply the
appropriate changes in your virtualhost configuration for lighttpd.
* For nginx, inspect the nginx.conf.sample file and apply the appropriate
changes.
* For other webservers, we gladly accept contributions of
server configuration examples.
2. Assuming your webserver is properly configured and have its settings
applied (remember to reload/restart it), you can add this to your
GNU social's config.php file:
$config['site']['fancy'] = true;
You should now be able to navigate to a "fancy" URL on your server,
like:
https://social.example.net/main/register
### Themes
As of right now, your ability change the theme is limited to CSS
stylesheets and some image files; you can't change the HTML output,
like adding or removing menu items, without the help of a plugin.
You can choose a theme using the $config['site']['theme'] element in
the config.php file. See below for details.
You can add your own theme by making a sub-directory of the 'theme'
subdirectory with the name of your theme. Each theme can have the
following files:
display.css: a CSS2 file for "default" styling for all browsers.
logo.png: a logo image for the site.
default-avatar-profile.png: a 96x96 pixel image to use as the avatar for
users who don't upload their own.
default-avatar-stream.png: Ditto, but 48x48. For streams of notices.
default-avatar-mini.png: Ditto ditto, but 24x24. For subscriptions
listing on profile pages.
You may want to start by copying the files from the default theme to
your own directory.
### Private
A GNU social node can be configured as "private", which means it will not
federate with other nodes in the network. It is not a recommended method
of using GNU social and we cannot at the current state of development
guarantee that there are no leaks (what a public network sees as features,
private sites will likely see as bugs).
Private nodes are however an easy way to easily setup collaboration and
image sharing within a workgroup or a smaller community where federation
is not a desired feature. Also, it is possible to change this setting and
instantly gain full federation features.
Access to file attachments can also be restricted to logged-in users only:
1. Add a directory outside the web root where your file uploads will be
stored. Use this command as an initial guideline to create it:
mkdir /var/www/gnusocial-files
2. Make the file uploads directory writeable by the web server. An
insecure way to do this is (to do it properly, read up on UNIX file
permissions and configure your webserver accordingly):
chmod a+x /var/www/gnusocial-files
3. Tell GNU social to use this directory for file uploads. Add a line
like this to your config.php:
$config['attachments']['dir'] = '/var/www/gnusocial-files';
Extra features
---------
### Sphinx
To use a Sphinx server to search users and notices, you'll need to
enable the SphinxSearch plugin. Add to your config.php:
addPlugin('SphinxSearch');
$config['sphinx']['server'] = 'searchhost.local';
You also need to install, compile and enable the sphinx pecl extension for
php on the client side, which itself depends on the sphinx development files.
See plugins/SphinxSearch/README for more details and server setup.
### SMS
StatusNet supports a cheap-and-dirty system for sending update messages
to mobile phones and for receiving updates from the mobile. Instead of
sending through the SMS network itself, which is costly and requires
buy-in from the wireless carriers, it simply piggybacks on the email
gateways that many carriers provide to their customers. So, SMS
configuration is essentially email configuration.
Each user sends to a made-up email address, which they keep a secret.
Incoming email that is "From" the user's SMS email address, and "To"
the users' secret email address on the site's domain, will be
converted to a notice and stored in the DB.
For this to work, there *must* be a domain or sub-domain for which all
(or most) incoming email can pass through the incoming mail filter.
1. Run the SQL script carrier.sql in your StatusNet database. This will
usually work:
mysql -u "statusnetuser" --password="statusnetpassword" statusnet < db/carrier.sql
This will populate your database with a list of wireless carriers
that support email SMS gateways.
2. Make sure the maildaemon.php file is executable:
chmod +x scripts/maildaemon.php
Note that "daemon" is kind of a misnomer here; the script is more
of a filter than a daemon.
2. Edit /etc/aliases on your mail server and add the following line:
*: /path/to/statusnet/scripts/maildaemon.php
3. Run whatever code you need to to update your aliases database. For
many mail servers (Postfix, Exim, Sendmail), this should work:
newaliases
You may need to restart your mail server for the new database to
take effect.
4. Set the following in your config.php file:
$config['mail']['domain'] = 'yourdomain.example.net';
### Translations
For info on helping with translations, see the platform currently in use
for translations: https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/gnu-social/
Translations use the gettext system <http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/>.
If you for some reason do not wish to sign up to the Transifex service,
you can review the files in the "locale/" sub-directory of GNU social.
Each plugin also has its own translation files.
To get your own site to use all the translated languages, and you are
tracking the git repo, you will need to install at least 'gettext' on
your system and then run:
$ make translations
### Queues and daemons
Some activities that StatusNet needs to do, like broadcast OStatus, SMS,
XMPP messages and TwitterBridge operations, can be 'queued' and done by
off-line bots instead.
Two mechanisms are available to achieve offline operations:
* New embedded OpportunisticQM plugin, which is enabled by default
* Legacy queuedaemon script, which can be enabled via config file.
#### OpportunisticQM plugin
This plugin is enabled by default. It tries its best to do background
jobs during regular HTTP requests, like API or HTML pages calls.
Since queueing system is enabled by default, notices to be broadcasted
will be stored, by default, into DB (table queue_item).
Whenever it has time, OpportunisticQM will try to handle some of them.
This is a good solution whether you:
* have no access to command line (shared hosting)
* do not want to deal with long-running PHP processes
* run a low traffic GNU social instance
In other case, you really should consider enabling the queuedaemon for
performance reasons. Background daemons are necessary anyway if you wish
to use the Instant Messaging features such as communicating via XMPP.
#### queuedaemon
If you want to use legacy queuedaemon, you must be able to run
long-running offline processes, either on your main Web server or on
another server you control. (Your other server will still need all the
above prerequisites, with the exception of Apache.) Installing on a
separate server is probably a good idea for high-volume sites.
1. You'll need the "CLI" (command-line interface) version of PHP
installed on whatever server you use.
Modern PHP versions in some operating systems have disabled functions
related to forking, which is required for daemons to operate. To make
this work, make sure that your php-cli config (/etc/php5/cli/php.ini)
does NOT have these functions listed under 'disable_functions':
* pcntl_fork, pcntl_wait, pcntl_wifexited, pcntl_wexitstatus,
pcntl_wifsignaled, pcntl_wtermsig
Other recommended settings for optimal performance are:
* mysqli.allow_persistent = On
* mysqli.reconnect = On
2. If you're using a separate server for queues, install StatusNet
somewhere on the server. You don't need to worry about the
.htaccess file, but make sure that your config.php file is close
to, or identical to, your Web server's version.
3. In your config.php files (on the server where you run the queue
daemon), set the following variable:
$config['queue']['daemon'] = true;
You may also want to look at the 'Queues and Daemons' section in
this file for more background processing options.
4. On the queues server, run the command scripts/startdaemons.sh.
This will run the queue handlers:
* queuedaemon.php - polls for queued items for inbox processing and
pushing out to OStatus, SMS, XMPP, etc.
* imdaemon.php - if an IM plugin is enabled (like XMPP)
* other daemons, like TwitterBridge ones, that you may have enabled
These daemons will automatically restart in most cases of failure
including memory leaks (if a memory_limit is set), but may still die
or behave oddly if they lose connections to the XMPP or queue servers.
It may be a good idea to use a daemon-monitoring service, like 'monit',
to check their status and keep them running.
All the daemons write their process IDs (pids) to /var/run/ by
default. This can be useful for starting, stopping, and monitoring the
daemons. If you are running multiple sites on the same machine, it will
be necessary to avoid collisions of these PID files by setting a site-
specific directory in config.php:
$config['daemon']['piddir'] = __DIR__ . '/../run/';
It is also possible to use a STOMP server instead of our kind of hacky
home-grown DB-based queue solution. This is strongly recommended for
best response time, especially when using XMPP.
After installation
----------
### Backups
There is no built-in system for doing backups in GNU social. You can make
backups of a working StatusNet system by backing up the database and
the Web directory. To backup the database use mysqldump <https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mysqldump/>
and to backup the Web directory, try tar.
### Upgrading
Upgrading is strongly recommended to stay up to date with security fixes
and new features. For instructions on how to upgrade GNU social code,
please see the UPGRADE file.
### Additional configuration
Please refer to DOCUMENTATION/SYSTEM_ADMINISTRATORS/CONFIGURE for information.
----
GNU social is a federated social network. For documentation, visit
https://docs.gnusocial.rocks/ or view the files under docs/

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[book]
authors = ["Diogo Peralta Cordeiro"]
authors = ["Diogo Peralta Cordeiro", "Hugo Sales"]
language = "en"
multilingual = false
src = "src"

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# Summary
- [Chapter 1](./chapter_1.md)
- [Installation](./installation.md)
- [Instal with Docker with shell access](./install/docker_shell.md)
- [Instal without Docker with shell access](./install/no_docker_shell.md)
- [Instal with Docker with web access](./install/docker_web.md)
- [Instal without Docker with only web access](./install/no_docker_web.md)

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# Chapter 1

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# Docker Installation
## Installation with Docker
This installation method required
[Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/) and [Docker
Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/). Use
`bin/configure` and pick `docker`, which enables all needed services
as containers, or `mixed` which let's you pick which services you'd
like to create containers for. This way you can use services in the
host machine, which may be useful if your host already has a
webserver, for instance.
## Prerequisites
In order to host your GNU social instance, you'll need a domain:
- DNS domain
- `docker`
- `docker-compose`
If you don't have a fixed public IP, for local hosting or development,
or if you're behind a NAT, use a dynamic DNS solutions. Search for
`GnuDIP host` or `dynamic dns`. To use GnuDIP, clone
[](https://notabug.org/someonewithpc/gnudip.git), then inspect and run
the `./install.sh` script. This allows you to have a domain that
dynamically points to your IP address.
## Configuring TLS/SSL
You should configure a valid certificate and use TLS/SSL in most cases,
one exception being wanting to use the Tor network.
The `bin/configure` script is capable of setting this up for you, with
the help of EFF's `certbot` and Let's Encrypt.
There are multiple approaches to achieve this, among which are using
your own (non-self) signed certificate, or using a proxy service
capable of either proxying an HTTP connection to HTTPS (not
recommended) or an HTTPS connection to HTTPS. For this approach,
follow the instructions of your proxy service provider, but generally
you'll use a self signed certificate, which the configuration script
can generate.
TODO Mail server configuration (links below)
GNU social can be configured to send emails for various reasons. See
[mail server configuration](). You'll need a certificate for your web
domain and your mail domain, which may or may not be the same (if you
use the same hostname for both, or a certificate valid for both).
If you prefer to not use Let's Encrypt, pick `mixed` and uncheck the
`certbot` service. Place your certificate in the folder
`docker/certbot/.files/live/$HOSTNAME/`, where `$HOSTNAME` is the name
where you want to host your node, such as `social.yourdomain`.
Remember you also need a certificate for your mail server.
TODO improve external certificate handling
### Configuring DNS
In order for your GNU social node to be accessible with your chosen
hostname, you can create an `A` or `AAAA` DNS record, with your
server's fixed IP v4 or v6 respectively in your DNS provider
(normally, your domain registrar); the `A` record doesn't need to be
at the root of your domain, meaning it's name can be a subdomain. For
dynamic IPs, create a `CNAME` record pointing to the hostname you
created with your chosen Dynamic DNS host. A `CNAME` cannot normally be created
for a domain root, so you must use a subdomain. Note that some DNS
providers provide 'CNAME flattening', in which case you can use your
root domain.
After this, run the `bin/configure` script (not as root).
## Without TLS/SSL
This is not recommended unless you know what you're doing. One
exception is if you want your node to be used with the Tor network.
Pick 'mixed' and uncheck the `certbot` service
to disable it.
## Configuration
TODO more detail
Run the `bin/configure` script and enter the information as asked.
This will generate all the required `.env` files and (optionally) a
`docker-compose.yaml` file.
## Running
If you elected to use all or some containers, run `docker-compose up`
from the root of the project (the folder where the `.git` folder is).
In this form, the application can be stopped by pressing `C-c` (`^C`,
`CTRL + C`); pressing it again will force the containers to stop
immediately. However, this form will show you all logs, but in most
cases, you won't want to see those all the time. For that, run
`docker-compose up -d` from the same directory; The application can
then be stopped with `docker-compose down`.

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# Installation
GNU social is intended to be easily installable in both a shared hosting environment or a private
host with shell access, or just with PHP execution.
If you need help, contact us on IRC on the `#social` room in freenode or XMPP at [xmpp:gnusocial@conference.bka.li](xmpp:gnusocial@conference.bka.li)
The recommended way of installing is to use [Docker](https://www.docker.com/), as this simplifies
configuration. GNU social is comprised of a variety of different services, such as a webserver, a
PHP execution environment, a database, etc. You may choose to use all, some, or none of these
services in Docker containers.
Pick one of the following installation methods:
- [Instal with Docker with shell access](./install/docker_shell.md)
- [Instal without Docker with shell access](./install/no_docker_shell.md)
- [Instal with Docker with web access](./install/docker_web.md) (requires access to PHP's `system()`, which may be disabled)
- [Instal without Docker with only web access](./install/no_docker_web.md)
Installation with Docker without shell access, such as in some shared hosting environments is
possible by configuring social locally and copying the files over, however this is not a supported
configuration.