Tried to search around it theres either stuff too vague or I wasn’t able to find it. Simply looking to host my own instance for myself and my friends to join and communicate with other instances.

  • Veritas@lemmy.ml
    101·
    1 year ago

    To host your own Lemmy instance, you can follow these steps:

    1. Install Lemmy Backend: Lemmy is built from source, so the installation may take a while. You can follow the instructions on Rustup to install Rust[1]. For a faster installation, you can use prebuilt binaries with Docker.

    2. Install lemmy-ui (web frontend): Clone the git repo and compile it[1].

    3. Configure Lemmy: The configuration is based on the file config.hjson, which is located by default at config/config.hjson. You can set the environment variable LEMMY_CONFIG_LOCATION to change the default location[2]. You’ll need to set the site name, admin email, hostname, and other necessary configurations[2].

    4. Create a systemd unit file: Add a systemd unit file to manage the Lemmy service[1].

    5. Set up a reverse proxy: You can use any reverse proxy to serve your Lemmy instance. An example Caddy configuration can be found in the Lemmy documentation[3].

    6. Open your Lemmy domain in the browser: After completing the installation and configuration, open your Lemmy domain in the browser. It should show you a configuration screen. Use it to create the first admin user and the default community[1].

    7. Federate with other instances: To communicate with other instances, make sure your instance has TLS enabled and federate with at least one instance from the list[4].

    8. Customize your instance: Go to your admin panel and define a description for your site, add an icon and a banner, and explore other customization options[4].

    For a more detailed guide and video tutorial, you can refer to the YouTube video “How to set up a Lemmy instance in a cloud server”[5] and the Lemmy installation tutorial video[6].

    Once your instance is up and running, you can invite your friends to join and communicate with other instances. Remember to keep your instance updated and secure to ensure a smooth experience for your users.

    Citations:

    [1] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/from_scratch.html

    [2] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/configuration.html

    [3] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/administration.html

    [4] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/first_steps.html

    [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzCUEpFnDg

    [6] https://lemmy.eus/post/75881?scrollToComments=true