82 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
82 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
# Fediverse VMs
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This repo is, for now, an attempt to familiarize myself with NixOS options for Fediverse applications, and build up a configuration layer that will set most of the relevant options for you (in a semi-opinionated way) given some high-level configuration. The goal is something in the same vein as [nixos-mailserver](https://gitlab.com/simple-nixos-mailserver/nixos-mailserver) but for fediversity.
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Eventually, this will be tailored to high-throughput multi-machine setups. For now, it's just a small configuration to run in VMs.
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## Running the VMs
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you can build a VM using
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```bash
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nixos-rebuild build-vm --flake .#<vm_name>
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```
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where `<vm_name>` is one of `mastodon`, `peertube`, `pixelfed`, or `all`
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and then run it with
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```bash
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./result/bin/run-nixos-vm
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```
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After the machine boots, you should be dropped into a root shell.
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Note that state will be persisted in the `nixos.cqow2` file. Delete that and restart the VM to reset the state.
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With the VM running, you can then access the apps on your local machine's web browser (using the magic of port forwarding) at the following addresses
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NOTE: it sometimes takes a while for the services to start up, and in the meantime you will get 502 Bad Gateway.
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- Mastodon: <http://mastodon.localhost:55001>
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- You can also create accounts on the machine itself by running `mastodon-tootctl accounts create test --email test@test.com --confirmed --approve`
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- PeerTube: <http://peertube.localhost:9000>
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- The root account can be accessed with username "root". The password can be obtained by running the following command on the VM:
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```bash
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journalctl -u peertube | perl -ne '/password: (.*)/ && print $1'
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```
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- Creating other accounts has to be enabled via the admin interface. `Administration > Configuration > Basic > Enable Signup` or just add an account directly from `Administration > Create user`. But functionality can also be tested from the root account.
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- Pixelfed: <http://pixelfed.localhost:8000>
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- Account creation via the web interface won't work until we figure out email
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- For now, they can be created on the VM command line
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```bash
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pixelfed-manage user:create --name=test --username=test --email=test@test.com --password=testtest --confirm_email=1
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```
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## debugging notes
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- it is sometimes useful to `cat result/bin/run-nixos-vm` to see what's really going on (e.g. which ports are getting forwarded)
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- relevant systemd services:
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- mastodon-web.service
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- peertube.service
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- the `garage` CLI command gives information about garage storage, but cannot be used to actually inspect the contents. use `mc` (minio) for that
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# questions
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- what is meant to be shared between instances?
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- this is relevant to the security model. If garage is being shared between instances, we have to be careful having configurations depend on each other.
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- they are to be shared, BUT the user will have no direct control over configuration.
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# resources
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- Tutorial for setting up better logging: https://krisztianfekete.org/self-hosting-mastodon-on-nixos-a-proof-of-concept/
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- Setting up mastodon development environment: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/dev/setup/
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- Tutorial for PeerTube that doesn't use `createLocally`: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/PeerTube
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- garage settings for specific apps: https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr/documentation/connect/apps/
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- pixelfed has terrible / mostly non-existent documentation)
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- for when we start worry about scaling up: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/scaling/
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# notes
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When mastodon is running in production mode, we have a few problems:
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- you have to click "accept the security risk"
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- it takes a while for the webpage to come online. Until then you see "502 Bad Gateway"
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- email sent from the mastodon instance (e.g. for account confirmation) should be accessible at <https://mastodon.localhost:55001/letter_opener>, but it's not working.
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