README.md

   1 Mastodon
   2 ========
   3
   4 [![Build Status](http://img.shields.io/travis/tootsuite/mastodon.svg)][travis]
   5 [![Code Climate](https://img.shields.io/codeclimate/github/tootsuite/mastodon.svg)][code_climate]
   6
   7 [travis]: https://travis-ci.org/tootsuite/mastodon
   8 [code_climate]: https://codeclimate.com/github/tootsuite/mastodon
   9
  10 Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server. A decentralized alternative to commercial platforms, it avoids the risks of a single company monopolizing your communication. Anyone can run Mastodon and participate in the social network seamlessly.
  11
  12 An alternative implementation of the GNU social project. Based on ActivityStreams, Webfinger, PubsubHubbub and Salmon.
  13
  14 Click on the screenshot to watch a demo of the UI:
  15
  16 [![Screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/T2q5V65.png)][youtube_demo]
  17
  18 [youtube_demo]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO1jQ8_rAMU
  19
  20 Focus of the project on a clean REST API and a good user interface. Ruby on Rails is used for the back-end, while React.js and Redux are used for the dynamic front-end. A static front-end for public resources (profiles and statuses) is also provided.
  21
  22 If you would like, you can [support the development of this project on Patreon][patreon]. Alternatively, you can donate to this BTC address: `17j2g7vpgHhLuXhN4bueZFCvdxxieyRVWd`
  23
  24 [patreon]: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=619786
  25
  26 ## Resources
  27
  28 - [List of Mastodon instances](docs/Using-Mastodon/List-of-Mastodon-instances.md)
  29 - [Use this tool to find Twitter friends on Mastodon](https://mastodon-bridge.herokuapp.com)
  30 - [API overview](docs/Using-the-API/API.md)
  31 - [Frequently Asked Questions](docs/Using-Mastodon/FAQ.md)
  32 - [List of apps](docs/Using-Mastodon/Apps.md)
  33
  34 ## Features
  35
  36 - **Fully interoperable with GNU social and any OStatus platform**
  37   Whatever implements Atom feeds, ActivityStreams, Salmon, PubSubHubbub and Webfinger is part of the network
  38 - **Real-time timeline updates**
  39   See the updates of people you're following appear in real-time in the UI via WebSockets
  40 - **Federated thread resolving**
  41   If someone you follow replies to a user unknown to the server, the server fetches the full thread so you can view it without leaving the UI
  42 - **Media attachments like images and WebM**
  43   Upload and view images and WebM videos attached to the updates
  44 - **OAuth2 and a straightforward REST API**
  45   Mastodon acts as an OAuth2 provider so 3rd party apps can use the API, which is RESTful and simple
  46 - **Background processing for long-running tasks**
  47   Mastodon tries to be as fast and responsive as possible, so all long-running tasks that can be delegated to background processing, are
  48 - **Deployable via Docker**
  49   You don't need to mess with dependencies and configuration if you want to try Mastodon, if you have Docker and Docker Compose the deployment is extremely easy
  50
  51 ## Configuration
  52
  53 - `LOCAL_DOMAIN` should be the domain/hostname of your instance. This is **absolutely required** as it is used for generating unique IDs for everything federation-related
  54 - `LOCAL_HTTPS` set it to `true` if HTTPS works on your website. This is used to generate canonical URLs, which is also important when generating and parsing federation-related IDs
  55
  56 Consult the example configuration file, `.env.production.sample` for the full list. Among other things you need to set details for the SMTP server you are going to use.
  57
  58 ## Requirements
  59
  60 - Ruby
  61 - Node.js
  62 - PostgreSQL
  63 - Redis
  64 - Nginx
  65
  66 ## Running with Docker and Docker-Compose
  67
  68 The project now includes a `Dockerfile` and a `docker-compose.yml`. You need to turn `.env.production.sample` into `.env.production` with all the variables set before you can:
  69
  70     docker-compose build
  71
  72 And finally
  73
  74     docker-compose up -d
  75
  76 As usual, the first thing you would need to do would be to run migrations:
  77
  78     docker-compose run --rm web rails db:migrate
  79
  80 And since the instance running in the container will be running in production mode, you need to pre-compile assets:
  81
  82     docker-compose run --rm web rails assets:precompile
  83
  84 The container has two volumes, for the assets and for user uploads. The default docker-compose.yml maps them to the repository's `public/assets` and `public/system` directories, you may wish to put them somewhere else. Likewise, the PostgreSQL and Redis images have data containers that you may wish to map somewhere where you know how to find them and back them up.
  85
  86 **Note**: The `--rm` option for docker-compose will remove the container that is created to run a one-off command after it completes. As data is stored in volumes it is not affected by that container clean-up.
  87
  88 ### Tasks
  89
  90 - `rake mastodon:media:clear` removes uploads that have not been attached to any status after a while, you would want to run this from a periodic cronjob
  91 - `rake mastodon:push:clear` unsubscribes from PuSH notifications for remote users that have no local followers. You may not want to actually do that, to keep a fuller footprint of the fediverse or in case your users will soon re-follow
  92 - `rake mastodon:push:refresh` re-subscribes PuSH for expiring remote users, this should be run periodically from a cronjob and quite often as the expiration time depends on the particular hub of the remote user
  93 - `rake mastodon:feeds:clear_all` removes all timelines, which forces them to be re-built on the fly next time a user tries to fetch their home/mentions timeline. Only for troubleshooting
  94 - `rake mastodon:feeds:clear` removes timelines of users who haven't signed in lately, which allows to save RAM and improve message distribution. This is required to be run periodically so that when they login again the regeneration process will trigger
  95
  96 Running any of these tasks via docker-compose would look like this:
  97
  98     docker-compose run --rm web rake mastodon:media:clear
  99
 100 ### Updating
 101
 102 This approach makes updating to the latest version a real breeze.
 103
 104     git pull
 105
 106 To pull down the updates, re-run
 107
 108     docker-compose build
 109
 110 And finally,
 111
 112     docker-compose up -d
 113
 114 Which will re-create the updated containers, leaving databases and data as is. Depending on what files have been updated, you might need to re-run migrations and asset compilation.
 115
 116 ## Deployment without Docker
 117
 118 Docker is great for quickly trying out software, but it has its drawbacks too. If you prefer to run Mastodon without using Docker, refer to the [production guide](docs/Running-Mastodon/Production-guide.md) for examples, configuration and instructions.
 119
 120 ## Deployment on Heroku (experimental)
 121
 122 [![Deploy](https://www.herokucdn.com/deploy/button.svg)](https://heroku.com/deploy)
 123
 124 Mastodon can theoretically run indefinitely on a free [Heroku](https://heroku.com) app. It should be noted this has limited testing and could have unpredictable results.
 125
 126 1. Click the above button.
 127 2. Fill in the options requested.
 128   * You can use a .herokuapp.com domain, which will be simple to set up, or you can use a custom domain. If you want a custom domain and HTTPS, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan (to use Heroku's SSL features), or set up [CloudFlare](https://cloudflare.com) who offer free "Flexible SSL" (note: CloudFlare have some undefined limits on WebSockets. So far, no one has reported hitting concurrent connection limits).
 129   * You will want Amazon S3 for file storage. The only exception is for development purposes, where you may not care if files are not saaved. Follow a guide online for creating a free Amazon S3 bucket and Access Key, then enter the details.
 130   * If you want your Mastodon to be able to send emails, configure SMTP settings here (or later). Consider using [Mailgun](https://mailgun.com) or similar, who offer free plans that should suit your interests.
 131 3. Deploy! The app should be set up, with a working web interface and database. You can change settings and manage versions from the Heroku dashboard.
 132
 133 ## Development with Vagrant
 134
 135 A quick way to get a development environment up and running is with Vagrant. You will need recent versions of [Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com/) and [VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org/) installed.
 136
 137 Install the latest version for your operating systems, and then run:
 138
 139     vagrant plugin install vagrant-hostsupdater
 140
 141 This is optional, but will update your 'hosts' file when you start the virtual machine, allowing you to access the site at http://mastodon.dev (instead of http://localhost:3000).
 142
 143 To create and provision a new virtual machine for Mastodon development:
 144
 145     git clone git@github.com:tootsuite/mastodon.git
 146     cd mastodon
 147     vagrant up
 148
 149 Running `vagrant up` for the first time will run provisioning, which will:
 150
 151 - Download the Ubuntu 14.04 base image, if there isn't already a copy on your machine
 152 - Create a new VirtualBox virtual machine from that image
 153 - Run the provisioning script (located inside the Vagrantfile), which installs the system packages, Ruby gems, and JS modules required for Mastodon
 154
 155 Once this has completed, the virtual machine will start a rails process. You can then access your development site at http://mastodon.dev (or at http://localhost:3000 if you haven't installed vagrants-hostupdater). Any changes you make should be reflected on the server instantly. To set environment variables, copy `.env.production.sample` to `.env.vagrant` and make changes as required.
 156
 157 When you are finished with your session, run `vagrant halt` to stop the VM. Next time, running `vagrant up` should boot the VM, and skip provisioning.
 158
 159 If you no longer need your environment, or if things have gone terribly wrong, running `vagrant destroy` will delete the virtual machine (after which, running `vagrant up` will create a new one, and run provisioning).
 160
 161
 162 ## Contributing
 163
 164 You can open issues for bugs you've found or features you think are missing. You can also submit pull requests to this repository. This section may be updated with more details in the future.
 165
 166 **IRC channel**: #mastodon on irc.freenode.net
 167
 168 ## Extra credits
 169
 170 - The [Emoji One](https://github.com/Ranks/emojione) pack has been used for the emojis
 171 - The error page image courtesy of [Dopatwo](https://www.youtube.com/user/dopatwo)
 172
 173 ![Mastodon error image](https://mastodon.social/oops.png)