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Installing on FreeBSD

This document was written for FreeBSD 12.1, but should be work on future releases.

Required dependencies

  • PostgreSQL 12+
  • Elixir 1.14+ (currently tested up to 1.16)
  • Erlang OTP 25+ (currently tested up to OTP26)
  • git
  • file / libmagic
  • gcc (clang might also work)
  • GNU make
  • CMake

Optional dependencies

  • ImageMagick
  • FFmpeg
  • exiftool

Installing software used in this guide

This assumes the target system has pkg(8).

# pkg install elixir postgresql12-server postgresql12-client postgresql12-contrib git-lite sudo nginx gmake acme.sh cmake

Copy the rc.d scripts to the right directory:

Setup the required services to automatically start at boot, using sysrc(8).

# sysrc nginx_enable=YES
# sysrc postgresql_enable=YES

Initialize postgres

# service postgresql initdb
# service postgresql start

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

# pkg install imagemagick ffmpeg p5-Image-ExifTool

Configuring Akkoma

Create a user for Akkoma:

# pw add user akkoma -m
# echo 'export LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"' >> /home/akkoma/.profile
# su -l akkoma

Clone the repository:

$ cd $HOME # Should be the same as /home/akkoma
$ git clone https://akkoma.dev/AkkomaGang/akkoma.git

Configure Akkoma. Note that you need a domain name at this point:

$ cd /home/akkoma/akkoma
$ mix deps.get # Enter "y" when asked to install Hex
$ MIX_ENV=prod mix pleroma.instance gen # You will be asked a few questions here.
$ cp config/generated_config.exs config/prod.secret.exs

Since Postgres is configured, we can now initialize the database. There should now be a file in config/setup_db.psql that makes this easier. Edit it, and change the password to a password of your choice. Make sure it is secure, since it'll be protecting your database. As root, you can now initialize the database:

# cd /home/akkoma/akkoma
# sudo -Hu postgres -g postgres psql -f config/setup_db.psql

Postgres allows connections from all users without a password by default. To fix this, edit /var/db/postgres/data12/pg_hba.conf. Change every trust to password.

Once this is done, restart Postgres with: 

# service postgresql restart

Run the database migrations.

Back as the akkoma user, run the following to implement any database migrations.

# su -l akkoma
$ cd /home/akkoma/akkoma
$ MIX_ENV=prod mix ecto.migrate

You will need to do this whenever you update with git pull:

Configuring acme.sh

We'll be using acme.sh in Stateless Mode for TLS certificate renewal.

First, as root, allow the user acme to have access to the acme log file, as follows:

# touch /var/log/acme.sh.log
# chown acme:acme /var/log/acme.sh.log
# chmod 600 /var/log/acme.sh.log

Next, obtain your account fingerprint:

# sudo -Hu acme -g acme acme.sh --register-account

You need to add the following to your nginx configuration for the server running on port 80:

  location ~ ^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/([-_a-zA-Z0-9]+)$ {
    default_type text/plain;
    return 200 "$1.6fXAG9VyG0IahirPEU2ZerUtItW2DHzDzD9wZaEKpqd";
  }

Replace the string after after $1. with your fingerprint.

Start nginx:

# service nginx start

It should now be possible to issue a cert (replace example.com with your domain name):

# sudo -Hu acme -g acme acme.sh --issue -d example.com --stateless

Let's add auto-renewal to /etc/crontab (replace example.com with your domain):

/usr/local/bin/sudo -Hu acme -g acme /usr/local/sbin/acme.sh -r -d example.com --stateless

Configuring nginx

FreeBSD's default nginx configuration does not contain an include directive, which is typically used for multiple sites. Therefore, you will need to first create the required directory as follows:

# mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-available

Next, add an include directive to /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf, within the http {} block, as follows:

http {
...
    include /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-available/*;
}

As root, copy /home/akkoma/akkoma/installation/nginx/akkoma.nginx to /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-available/akkoma.nginx.

Edit the defaults of /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-available/akkoma.nginx:

  • Change ssl_trusted_certificate to /var/db/acme/certs/example.tld/example.tld.cer.
  • Change ssl_certificate to /var/db/acme/certs/example.tld/fullchain.cer.
  • Change ssl_certificate_key to /var/db/acme/certs/example.tld/example.tld.key.
  • Change all references of example.tld to your instance's domain name.

Creating a startup script for Akkoma

Akkoma will need to compile when it initially starts, which typically takes a longer period of time. Therefore, it is good practice to initially run akkoma from the command-line before utilizing the rc.d script. That is done as follows:

# su -l akkoma
$ cd $HOME/akkoma
$ MIX_ENV=prod mix phx.server

Copy the startup script to the correct location and make sure it's executable:

# cp /home/akkoma/akkoma/installation/freebsd/rc.d/akkoma /usr/local/etc/rc.d/akkoma
# chmod +x /usr/local/etc/rc.d/akkoma

Update the /etc/rc.conf and start akkoma with the following commands:

# sysrc akkoma_enable=YES
# service akkoma start

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:

./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

Conclusion

Restart nginx with # service nginx restart and you should be up and running.

Make sure your time is in sync, or other instances will receive your posts with incorrect timestamps. You should have ntpd running.

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)