
Installing GNU social
=====================

Prerequisites
-------------

Selecting a branch
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GNU social has three different branches of development offering a range of
choices between stability and the latest features.

1.2.x
  This is the current stable release. The code has been tested for a while.

master
  ``master`` receives more frequent updates and is usually working well.

nightly
  ``nightly`` gets updated the most but is not always working.

When you download the source code in :ref:`getting-it-up-and-running` you will
need to know which branch you want to install. You can always move to a more
unstable branch but going backwards is not guaranteed to work.

If you want to use `Qvitter`_ — that's the plugin that makes GNU social look
like Twitter — be aware that it is tested against GNU social nightly. If you
are using a different branch and having problems with that plugin try upgrading
to nightly.

Web server configuration
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You should use HTTPS to encrypt all communications with your GNU social
instance. Until recently it cost money to get a trusted certificate but now the
Let's Encrypt project enables you to `obtain a trusted certificate at no
cost`_.

If you are thinking about starting with HTTP and setting up encryption later,
don't do that. You may have problems if you start with HTTP and later move to
HTTPS.

If you want to use Qvitter be aware that it only supports installations that
are installed directly on the domain. That is, the URL to access GNU social
needs to be ``https://www.some.domain/`` and not
``https://www.some.domain/gnusocial/``. It also requires you to have Fancy URLs
enabled. If you're using apache that means you need mod_rewrite and the ability
to use ``.htaccess`` files.

PHP modules
^^^^^^^^^^^
The following software packages are *required* for this software to run
correctly.

PHP 5.5+
  For newer versions, some functions that are used may be disabled by default,
  such as the ``pcntl_*`` family. See the section on
  :doc:`using_queue_daemons`.

MariaDB 5+
  GNU Social uses, by default, a MariaDB server for data storage. Versions 5.x
  and 10.x have both reportedly worked well. It is also possible to run MySQL
  5.5+.

Web server
  Apache, lighttpd and nginx will all work. CGI mode is recommended and also
  some variant of 'suexec' (or a proper setup php-fpm pool)
  NOTE: mod_rewrite or its equivalent is extremely useful.

Your PHP installation must include the following PHP extensions for a
functional setup of GNU social:

openssl
  (compiled in for Debian, enabled manually in Arch Linux)

php5-curl
  Fetching files by HTTP.

php5-gd
  Image manipulation (scaling).

php5-gmp
  For Salmon signatures (part of OStatus).

php5-intl
  Internationalization support (transliteration et al).

php5-json
  For WebFinger lookups and more.

php5-mysqlnd
  The native driver for PHP5 MariaDB connections. If you use MySQL,
  ``php5-mysql`` or ``php5-mysqli`` may be enough.

The above package names are for Debian based systems. In the case of Arch
Linux, PHP is compiled with support for most extensions but they require manual
enabling in the relevant ``php.ini`` file (mostly ``php5-gmp``).

Better performance
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For some functionality, you will also need the following extensions:

opcache
  Improves performance a lot. Included in PHP, must be enabled manually in
  ``php.ini`` for most distributions. Find and set at least:
  ``opcache.enable=1``

mailparse
  Efficient parsing of email requires this extension. Submission by email or
  SMS-over-email uses this.

sphinx
  A client for the sphinx server, an alternative to MySQL or Postgresql
  fulltext search. You will also need a Sphinx server to serve the search
  queries.

gettext
  For multiple languages. Default on many PHP installs; will be emulated if not
  present.

exif
  For thumbnails to be properly oriented.

You may also experience better performance from your site if you configure a
PHP cache/accelerator. Most distributions come with "opcache" support. Enable
it in your ``php.ini`` where it is documented together with its settings.


Installation
------------
.. _getting-it-up-and-running:
.. _ponerlo-en-marcha:

Getting it up and running
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Installing the basic GNU Social web component is relatively easy, especially if
you've previously installed PHP/MariaDB packages.

1. The source code is distributed using a git repository `on GNU's Gitlab
   server`_. There are two ways to download it:

  * Use `git`_ on your own computer to clone the repository. Once it is
    on your computer it is easy to download incremental updates.

  * Download a zip or tarball from Gitlab's web interface. This way you won't
    need git but you will need to download the whole thing every time you
    update.

  If you want to use git, run the following command. It will download the
  whole repository and place it in a folder called gnusocial.

    ``git clone https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social.git gnusocial``

  Then select the branch you wish to use::

    cd gnusocial
    git checkout master  # or '1.2.x' or 'nightly'

  If you would like to download it directly instead, go to the `1.2.x`_,
  `master`_ or `nightly`_ branch on the Gitlab web page. In the top-right
  corner there is a button to download a zip file containing that branch. If
  you press the drop-down arrow on the right you can access different types of
  archive.

.. todo:: code block the links

.. image:: ../../resources/admin/tree_download.png
    :alt: Download button on gitlab
    :align: center

.. _1.2.x: https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social/tree/1.2.x
.. _master: https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social/tree/master
.. _nightly: https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social/tree/nightly

  Unpack the tarball you downloaded on your Web server. Usually a command like
  this will work::

    tar zxf gnu-social-*.tar.gz

  ...which will make a subdirectory in your current directory. (If you don't
  have shell access on your Web server, you may have to unpack the tarball on
  your local computer and FTP the files to the server.)

2. Whichever way you downloaded GNU social, move the files to a directory of
   your choosing in your Web root directory. Usually something like this will
   work:

  For a git repository::

    cd gnusocial
    mkdir /var/www/gnusocial
    cp -rv * /var/www/gnusocial

  For a downloaded tarball::

    mv gnu-social-x.y.z /var/www/gnusocial

  This will often make your GNU Social instance available in the ``gnusocial``
  path of your server, like ``http://example.net/gnusocial``. "social" or
  "blog" might also be good path names. If you know how to configure virtual
  hosts on your web server, you can try setting up
  ``http://social.example.net/`` or the like.

  If you have "rewrite" support on your webserver, and you should, then please
  enable this in order to make full use of your site. This will enable
  :ref:`fancy-urls` support.

3. Make your target directory writeable by the Web server, please note however
   that will give all users write access and securing the webserver is not
   within the scope of this document. ::

    chmod a+w /var/www/gnusocial/

  On some systems, this will work as a more secure alternative::

     chgrp www-data /var/www/gnusocial/
     chmod g+w /var/www/gnusocial/

  If your Web server runs as another user besides ``www-data``, try that user's
  default group instead. As a last resort, you can create a new group like
  ``gnusocial`` and add the web server's user to the group.

4. You should also take this moment to make your ``avatar`` and ``file``
   sub-directories writeable by the Web server. The insecure way to do this
   is::

     chmod a+w /var/www/gnusocial/avatar
     chmod a+w /var/www/gnusocial/file

  You can also make the avatar, and file directories just writable by the web
  server group, as noted above.

5. Create a database to hold your site data. Something like this should work
   (you will be prompted for your database password)::

    mysqladmin -u "root" -p create socia

  Note that GNU social should have its own database; you should not share the
  database with another program. You can name it whatever you want, though.

  (If you don't have shell access to your server, you may need to use a tool
  like phpMyAdmin to create a database. Check your hosting service's
  documentation for how to create a new MariaDB database.)

6. Create a new database account that GNU social will use to access the
   database. If you have shell access, this will probably work from the MariaDB
   shell::

     GRANT ALL on social.*
     TO 'social'@'localhost'
     IDENTIFIED BY 'agoodpassword';

  You should change the user identifier ``social`` and ``agoodpassword`` to
  your preferred new database username and password. You may want to test
  logging in to MariaDB as this new user.

7. In a browser, navigate to the GNU Social install script; something like::

    https://social.example.net/install.php

  Enter the database connection information and your site name. The install
  program will configure your site and install the initial, almost-empty
  database.

8. You should now be able to navigate to your social site's main directory and
   see the "Public Timeline", which will probably be empty. You can now
   register new users, post some notices, edit your profile, etc.

.. _fancy-urls:

Fancy URLs
^^^^^^^^^^
By default, GNU Social will use URLs that include the main PHP program's name
in them. For example, a user's home profile might be found at either of these
URLS depending on the webserver's configuration and capabilities::

  https://social.example.net/index.php/fred
  https://social.example.net/index.php?p=fred

It's possible to configure the software to use fancy URLs so it looks like this
instead::

  https://social.example.net/fred

These "fancy URLs" are more readable and memorable for users. To use fancy
URLs, you must either have Apache 2.x with ``.htaccess`` enabled and
mod_rewrite enabled, OR know how to configure "url redirection" in your server
(like lighttpd or nginx).

1. See the instructions for each respective webserver software:

  * For Apache, inspect the ``htaccess.sample`` file and save it as
    ``.htaccess`` after making any necessary modifications. Our sample file is
    well commented.

  * For lighttpd, inspect the ``lighttpd.conf.example`` file and apply the
    appropriate changes in your virtualhost configuration for lighttpd.

  * For nginx, inspect the ``nginx.conf.sample`` file and apply the appropriate
    changes.

  * For other webservers, we gladly accept contributions of server
    configuration examples.

2. Assuming your webserver is properly configured and have its settings applied
   (remember to reload/restart it), you can add this to your GNU social's
   ``config.php`` file::

    $config['site']['fancy'] = true;

You should now be able to navigate to a "fancy" URL on your server, like::

  https://social.example.net/main/register

Themes
^^^^^^
As of right now, your ability change the theme is limited to CSS stylesheets
and some image files; you can't change the HTML output, like adding or removing
menu items, without the help of a plugin.

You can choose a theme using the ``$config['site']['theme']`` element in the
``config.php`` file. See below for details.

You can add your own theme by making a sub-directory of the 'theme'
subdirectory with the name of your theme. Each theme can have the following
files:

display.css
	a CSS2 file for "default" styling for all browsers.

logo.png
	a logo image for the site.

default-avatar-profile.png
	a 96x96 pixel image to use as the avatar for users who don't upload their
	own.

default-avatar-stream.png
	Ditto, but 48x48. For streams of notices.

default-avatar-mini.png
	Ditto ditto, but 24x24. For subscriptions listing on profile pages.

You may want to start by copying the files from the default theme to your own
directory.

Private
^^^^^^^
A GNU social node can be configured as "private", which means it will not
federate with other nodes in the network. It is not a recommended method of
using GNU social and we cannot at the current state of development guarantee
that there are no leaks (what a public network sees as features, private sites
will likely see as bugs).

Private nodes are however an easy way to easily setup collaboration and image
sharing within a workgroup or a smaller community where federation is not a
desired feature. Also, it is possible to change this setting and instantly gain
full federation features.

Access to file attachments can also be restricted to logged-in users only:

1. Add a directory outside the web root where your file uploads will be stored.
   Use this command as an initial guideline to create it::

    mkdir /var/www/gnusocial-files

2. Make the file uploads directory writeable by the web server. An insecure way
   to do this is (to do it properly, read up on UNIX file permissions and
   configure your webserver accordingly)::

    chmod a+x /var/www/gnusocial-files

3. Tell GNU social to use this directory for file uploads. Add a line like this
   to your ``config.php``::

    $config['attachments']['dir'] = '/var/www/gnusocial-files';

Extra features
--------------

Sphinx
^^^^^^
To use a Sphinx server to search users and notices, you'll need to enable the
SphinxSearch plugin. Add to your ``config.php``::

  addPlugin('SphinxSearch');
  $config['sphinx']['server'] = 'searchhost.local';

You also need to install, compile and enable the sphinx pecl extension for php
on the client side, which itself depends on the sphinx development files.

See ``plugins/SphinxSearch/README`` for more details and server setup.

SMS
^^^
StatusNet supports a cheap-and-dirty system for sending update messages to
mobile phones and for receiving updates from the mobile. Instead of sending
through the SMS network itself, which is costly and requires buy-in from the
wireless carriers, it simply piggybacks on the email gateways that many
carriers provide to their customers. So, SMS configuration is essentially email
configuration.

Each user sends to a made-up email address, which they keep a secret. Incoming
email that is "From" the user's SMS email address, and "To" the user's secret
email address on the site's domain, will be converted to a notice and stored in
the DB.

For this to work, there *must* be a domain or sub-domain for which all (or
most) incoming email can pass through the incoming mail filter.

1. Run the SQL script ``carrier.sql`` in your StatusNet database. This will
   usually work::

    mysql -u "statusnetuser" --password="statusnetpassword" statusnet < db/carrier.sql

  This will populate your database with a list of wireless carriers that
  support email SMS gateways.

2. Make sure the ``maildaemon.php`` file is executable::

    chmod +x scripts/maildaemon.php

  Note that "daemon" is kind of a misnomer here; the script is more of a filter
  than a daemon.

3. Edit ``/etc/aliases`` on your mail server and add the following line::

    *: /path/to/statusnet/scripts/maildaemon.php

4. Run whatever code you need to to update your aliases database. For many mail
   servers (Postfix, Exim, Sendmail), this should work::

    newaliases

  You may need to restart your mail server for the new database to take effect.

5. Set the following in your ``config.php`` file::

    $config['mail']['domain'] = 'yourdomain.example.net';



After installation
------------------

Run queue daemons
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
By default GNU social tries to do regular work such as communicating with
remote servers while it is handling HTTP requests for users. This is often
insufficient. If possible you should run the queue daemons. Please refer to
this section: :doc:`using_queue_daemons`.

Backups
^^^^^^^
There is no built-in system for doing backups in GNU social. You can make
backups of a working system by backing up the database and the Web directory.
To backup the database use `mysqldump`_ and to backup the Web directory, try
tar.

.. _mysqldump: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mysqldump/

Upgrading
^^^^^^^^^
Upgrading is strongly recommended to stay up to date with security fixes and
new features. For instructions on how to upgrade GNU social code, please refer
to this section: :doc:`upgrading_your_installation`.

.. _Qvitter: https://git.gnu.io/h2p/Qvitter
.. _obtain a trusted certificate at no cost: https://letsencrypt.org/howitworks/
.. _conseguir un certificado sin ningún coste: https://letsencrypt.org/howitworks/
.. _on GNU's Gitlab server: https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social
.. _en el servidor Gitlab de GNU: https://git.gnu.io/gnu/gnu-social
.. _git: https://git-scm.com/
