3.9 KiB
Docker Installation
Installation with Docker
This installation method required
Docker and Docker
Compose. 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
dockerdocker-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
, 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.