Introduction

Mastodon is a decentralized social network that allows users to create their own communities. It's a powerful platform for fostering engagement and discussions without the restrictions of traditional social media. This guide will walk you through the installation of Mastodon on Debian 11, which can be effectively hosted on a Windows VPS UK for optimal performance.

Prerequisites

• A Debian 11 server with root access
• Basic knowledge of Linux commands
• PostgreSQL and Redis installed
• Node.js and Yarn installed
• Domain name pointed to your server

Step 1: Update Your System

Begin by updating your package index and upgrading existing packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Install the required dependencies for Mastodon:

sudo apt install -y git curl gnupg2 build-essential libssl-dev libreadline-dev libyaml-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libffi-dev zlib1g-dev libpq-dev libgdbm-dev

Step 3: Install PostgreSQL

Install PostgreSQL server:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

Create a PostgreSQL user and database for Mastodon:

sudo -u postgres createuser --superuser mastodon
sudo -u postgres createdb -O mastodon mastodon_production

Step 4: Install Redis

Install Redis for caching:

sudo apt install redis-server -y

Start Redis and enable it to run on boot:

sudo systemctl start redis-server
sudo systemctl enable redis-server

Step 5: Install Node.js and Yarn

Install Node.js and Yarn using the following commands:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install nodejs -y
sudo npm install --global yarn

Step 6: Clone Mastodon Repository

Clone the Mastodon repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon.git ~/mastodon

Navigate to the Mastodon directory:

cd ~/mastodon

Step 7: Install Ruby and Bundler

Install Ruby using rbenv and the required gems:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv-installer/raw/main/bin/rbenv-installer | bash
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
rbenv install 3.0.0
rbenv global 3.0.0

Now install Bundler:

gem install bundler

Step 8: Install Mastodon Dependencies

Install the required gems and npm packages:

bundle install
yarn install

Step 9: Configure Mastodon

Copy the example configuration file and edit it:

cp .env.production.sample .env.production
nano .env.production

Update the configuration file with your domain name and other necessary settings.

Step 10: Precompile Assets

Precompile assets for production:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile

Step 11: Start Mastodon

Finally, start Mastodon services:

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:migrate
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails server

Step 12: Conclusion

You have successfully installed Mastodon on Debian 11, allowing you to run your own social network. This setup can greatly benefit from being hosted on a Windows VPS. For additional options, explore various VPS UK Windows solutions, including Windows Virtual Private Server Hosting and Windows VPS Hosting UK for optimal performance and reliability.