[obsolete] Gab Social on CentOS 8 via Docker Compose

This post is not relevant anymore. Gab has permanently removed (and will not be re-enabling) Federation in any capacity, so there's no point to even considering running your own Gab Social-based site.

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These instructions cover the complete process, “all batteries included”, as I executed this on a VPS.

First, install Docker+Compose.

Then, grab the Gab source code and build it:

• git clone -b develop https://code.gab.com/gab/social/gab-social.git
  (No; they do not have a stable branch…or versioned tags…)
• pushd gab-social
• cp -v .env.production.sample .env.production
• Edit docker-compose.yml
  • add the following to the end of the db section:

        environment:
          - POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD=trust

• time docker-compose build

This last step took a little under an hour on the 2-core VPS I'm renting, so (unless you're not cheaping out) you'll want to take a break.

Also, mine died in Step 10/37; I ended up having to reboot the system before it'd work again and complete. (I'm not sure whether this was a problem with Docker, the Dockerfile, or just my hosting provider's images.)

You can punch the holes in your firewall while you're waiting:

• systemctl start firewalld && systemctl enable firewalld
• firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http --add-service=https

Then, set it up:

Install nginx:

• dnf config-manager --add-repo http://nginx.org/packages/centos/8/$(arch)
• echo 'gpgkey=https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key' >> /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx*.repo
• dnf install nginx && systemctl enable nginx

Configure a proxying site:

• mkdir -v /etc/nginx/sites-{enabled,available}
• echo 'include sites-enabled/*;' >> /etc/nginx/conf.d/sites.conf
• pushd /etc/nginx/sites-available
• Edit (create) text file gabsocial
• Paste this monster into it
• Find-and-replace "example.com" and put in your web domain
  (in Nano, that's Ctrl_W, Ctrl_R)
• Change the root values to something like /var/www/null (don't remove the semicolon at the end!)
• Save-and-quit
• ln -vs ../sites-available/gabsocial ../sites-enabled/
• popd

Set up a TLS certificate (if you know what you're doing, obviously you can replace this part with what you're doing):

• dnf install epel-release && dnf install letsencrypt
• letsencrypt certonly -d example.com --standalone

Set the whole mess up:

• sed -i s_/mnt/md0/assets_/var/gabsocial/assets_ docker-compose.yml
• mkdir -vp /var/gabsocial/assets && chmod -Rv 991:991 /var/gabsocial/assets
• sed 's/^\(SECRET_KEY_BASE=\).*$/\1'$(docker-compose run --rm web bundle exec rake secret)/ -i .env.production
• sed 's/^\(OTP_SECRET=\).*$/\1'$(docker-compose run --rm web bundle exec rake secret)/ -i .env.production
• /var/gabsocial/assets
• docker-compose run --rm web bundle exec rails gabsocial:setup
• Accept the defaults for everything except the domain and mail settings
  • I don't know what to tell you about the mail settings other than the fact that "send mail from localhost" and "don't send a test e-mail" are your best bet if you don't have an e-mail server
• Replace ${local_domain} with your actual local domain, and run:
  sed 's/^\(LOCAL_DOMAIN=\).*$/\1'${local_domain}/ -i .env.production
  • If and only if you are running a separate WEB_DOMAIN, likewise run:
    sed 's/^#? ?\(WEB_DOMAIN=\).*$/\1'${web_domain}/ -i .env.production

And, finally, start it:

• systemctl start nginx
• docker-compose up -d