User:CSammy/Installation/Debian/Jessie

Note:

You may also use diaspora-installer package, which is easier, but this method is not recommended yet.

Introduction

Note:

You don't need to have your own pod to use diaspora*.
Running your own diaspora* server allows more control over your data, but it requires technical skills and time. Instead, you can register on one of the installations open to everyone that allow you to use diaspora* in a few clicks without any requirements

This guide will outline the procedure to get you set up with a -ready installation of diaspora*.

Things to know

The install is a bit complex, but we're here to help.
It's extremely helpful to have some experience in Linux/Unix server administration or Rails app deployment already. But don't worry, if you run into problems and need help, just visit us in our IRC channels on Freenode.
Running a common setup will get you the most help, if you need it.
Most people in the community will have some experience running diaspora* with Unicorn as the app server using Nginx as outward-facing web server. Of course, you're free to run any other app server (Thin, Passenger...) or web server (Apache), but you might find it harder to get help if you run into unexpected troubles.
diaspora* is developed utilizing latest web standards
Therefore UX is best with recent browsers, so please update your Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari to the newest version. We do not currently support any version of Internet Explorer, though we won't reject any contributions attempting to change that circumstance.
diaspora* strongly recommends HTTPS
as we encrypt communication amongst servers and to the client browsers. You can get a free TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt.
Unfortunately, self-signed certificates or certificates issued by CACert won't work.
We need your feedback
to constantly improve and update this guide. Have a look at How we communicate
Do not run any of the commands you find in this guide as root (except if requested).
Just use your normal user - or even better - create a separate user for diaspora* (rationale).

User:CSammy/Installation/GuideVersion

Requirements

Hardware

Minimum recommended:

Memory: 1.5 GB
Swap: 1 GB
CPU: decent multicore
Storage: The amount of hard disk space required largely depends on how many images you expect your users to upload.

It is possible to run a pod on a Raspberry Pi >= 2. However, this will be very slow and is not recommended for multi-user pods.

Software

Over the course of this manual, you will install the following software if not already installed.

Build tools - for compiling source packages
Ruby - the Ruby programming language
RubyGems - package manager for Ruby code libraries (like CPAN for Perl or PEAR for PHP)
Bundler - gem management tool for Ruby projects
MySQL or MariaDB or PostgreSQL - backend storage engine
OpenSSL - encryption library.
libcurl - multiprotocol file transfer library WARNING: Due to sidekiq longjmp error, you need at least curl 7.32
ImageMagick - image processing library
Git - version control system
Redis - persistent key-value store
one of the JavaScript runtimes on execjs' supported list.

Please note that running diaspora* together with other applications that use Redis on the same machine can be dangerous. Only do that if you absolutely know what you are doing, and if you know how to change the Redis database for all of the applications.

User:CSammy/Installation/Debian/Dependencies

Get the source

It's time to download diaspora*! As your diaspora user run:

cd ~
git clone  https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora.git
cd diaspora

Don't miss the cd diaspora, all coming commands expect to be run from that directory!

Configuration

Copy files

cp config/database.yml.example config/database.yml
cp config/diaspora.toml.example config/diaspora.toml

Bundle

It's time to install the Ruby libraries required by diaspora*:

script/configure_bundler
bin/bundle install --full-index

This takes quite a while. When it's finished, you should see a message similar to: Bundle complete! 137 Gemfile dependencies, 259 gems now installed. If that's not the case, you should seek for help on the mailing list or the IRC channel.

Running the manual gem install command shown in the error message can sometimes show a clearer error message if the bundle command fails.

Database setup

Double check your config/database.yml looks right and run:

bin/rake db:create db:migrate

Start diaspora*

It's time to start diaspora*:

./script/server

Your diaspora server is now running, either on a unix socket (current default) or on http port 3000. The listening method can be configured in diaspora.toml, search for '3000' or 'listen' to find the correct line.

Backup

Warning:

You have to do backups of your pod data. If you lose your data, you won't be able to use the combination of your old username and old domain ever again. Make sure to store the backups on a different server, or at least on a different hard drive.
For details on how to do backups, see Pod data backup.