Installing on Arch Linux¶

OTP releases vs from-source installations¶

There are two ways to install Akkoma. You can use OTP releases or do a from-source installation. OTP releases are as close as you can get to binary releases with Erlang/Elixir. The release is self-contained, and provides everything needed to boot it, it is easily administered via the provided shell script to open up a remote console, start/stop/restart the release, start in the background, send remote commands, and more. With from source installations you install Akkoma from source, meaning you have to install certain dependencies like Erlang+Elixir and compile Akkoma yourself.

This guide covers a from-source installation. To install using OTP releases, please check out the OTP guide.

Installation¶

This guide will assume that you have administrative rights, either as root or a user with sudo permissions. If you want to run this guide with root, ignore the sudo at the beginning of the lines, unless it calls a user like sudo -Hu akkoma; in this case, use su <username> -s $SHELL -c 'command' instead.

Required packages¶

postgresql
elixir
git
base-devel
cmake
file

Optional packages used in this guide¶

nginx (preferred, example configs for other reverse proxies can be found in the repo)
certbot (or any other ACME client for Let’s Encrypt certificates)
ImageMagick
ffmpeg
exiftool

Prepare the system¶

First update the system, if not already done:

sudo pacman -Syu

Install some of the above mentioned programs:

sudo pacman -S git base-devel elixir cmake file

Install PostgreSQL¶

Arch Wiki article

Install the postgresql package:

sudo pacman -S postgresql

Initialize the database cluster:

sudo -iu postgres initdb -D /var/lib/postgres/data

Start and enable the postgresql.service

sudo systemctl enable --now postgresql.service

Install media / graphics packages (optional, see `docs/installation/optional/media_graphics_packages.md`)¶

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg imagemagick perl-image-exiftool

Install AkkomaBE¶

Add a new system user for the Akkoma service:

sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false -m -d /var/lib/akkoma -U akkoma

Note: To execute a single command as the Akkoma system user, use sudo -Hu akkoma command. You can also switch to a shell by using sudo -Hu akkoma $SHELL. If you don’t have and want sudo on your system, you can use su as root user (UID 0) for a single command by using su -l akkoma -s $SHELL -c 'command' and su -l akkoma -s $SHELL for starting a shell.

Git clone the AkkomaBE repository from stable-branch and make the Akkoma user the owner of the directory:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/akkoma
sudo chown -R akkoma:akkoma /opt/akkoma
sudo -Hu akkoma git clone https://akkoma.dev/AkkomaGang/akkoma.git -b stable /opt/akkoma

Change to the new directory:

cd /opt/akkoma

Install the dependencies for Akkoma and answer with yes if it asks you to install Hex:

sudo -Hu akkoma mix deps.get

Generate the configuration: sudo -Hu akkoma MIX_ENV=prod mix pleroma.instance gen
Answer with yes if it asks you to install rebar3.
This may take some time, because parts of akkoma get compiled first.
After that it will ask you a few questions about your instance and generates a configuration file in config/generated_config.exs.
Check the configuration and if all looks right, rename it, so Akkoma will load it (prod.secret.exs for productive instances):

sudo -Hu akkoma mv config/{generated_config.exs,prod.secret.exs}

The previous command creates also the file config/setup_db.psql, with which you can create the database:

sudo -Hu postgres psql -f config/setup_db.psql

Now run the database migration:

sudo -Hu akkoma MIX_ENV=prod mix ecto.migrate

Now you can start Akkoma already

sudo -Hu akkoma MIX_ENV=prod mix phx.server

Finalize installation¶

If you want to open your newly installed instance to the world, you should run nginx or some other webserver/proxy in front of Akkoma and you should consider to create a systemd service file for Akkoma.

Nginx¶

Install nginx, if not already done:

sudo pacman -S nginx

Create directories for available and enabled sites:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/nginx/sites-{available,enabled}

Append the following line at the end of the http block in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:

include sites-enabled/*;

Setup your SSL cert, using your method of choice or certbot. If using certbot, first install it:

sudo pacman -S certbot certbot-nginx

and then set it up:

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/letsencrypt/
sudo certbot certonly --email <your@emailaddress> -d <yourdomain> --standalone

If that doesn’t work, make sure, that nginx is not already running. If it still doesn’t work, try setting up nginx first (change ssl “on” to “off” and try again).

Copy the example nginx configuration and activate it:

sudo cp /opt/akkoma/installation/nginx/akkoma.nginx /etc/nginx/sites-available/akkoma.nginx
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/akkoma.nginx /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/akkoma.nginx

Before starting nginx edit the configuration and change it to your needs (e.g. change servername, change cert paths)
Enable and start nginx:

sudo systemctl enable --now nginx.service

If you need to renew the certificate in the future, uncomment the relevant location block in the nginx config and run:

sudo certbot certonly --email <your@emailaddress> -d <yourdomain> --webroot -w /var/lib/letsencrypt/

Other webserver/proxies¶

You can find example configurations for them in /opt/akkoma/installation/.

Systemd service¶

Copy example service file

sudo cp /opt/akkoma/installation/akkoma.service /etc/systemd/system/akkoma.service

Edit the service file and make sure that all paths fit your installation
Enable and start akkoma.service:

sudo systemctl enable --now akkoma.service

Create your first user¶

If your instance is up and running, you can create your first user with administrative rights with the following task:

sudo -Hu akkoma MIX_ENV=prod mix pleroma.user new <username> <your@emailaddress> --admin

Installing Frontends¶

Once your backend server is functional, you'll also want to probably install frontends.

These are no longer bundled with the distribution and need an extra command to install.

For most installations, the following will suffice:

OTPFrom SourceDocker

./bin/pleroma_ctl frontend install pleroma-fe --ref stable
# and also, if desired
./bin/pleroma_ctl frontend install admin-fe --ref stable

mix pleroma.frontend install pleroma-fe --ref stable
mix pleroma.frontend install admin-fe --ref stable

./docker-resources/manage.sh mix pleroma.frontend install pleroma-fe --ref stable
./docker-resources/manage.sh mix pleroma.frontend install admin-fe --ref stable

For more customised installations, refer to Frontend Management

Support¶

If you encounter any issues or have questions regarding the install process, feel free to ask at meta.akkoma.dev.

Or message via IRC on #akkoma at irc.akkoma.dev (port 6697, SSL)