From 82d2544d7d777c82db0c9e5949a1b34b96a433d8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tobi Smethurst <31960611+tsmethurst@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2021 13:06:27 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] qad getting started guide (#63)

---
 GETTINGSTARTED.md | 115 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 README.md         |   6 +++
 2 files changed, 121 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 GETTINGSTARTED.md

diff --git a/GETTINGSTARTED.md b/GETTINGSTARTED.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..758c0e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/GETTINGSTARTED.md
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Getting Started
+
+## Quick and Dirty
+
+### 1: Domain Name
+
+Get a domain name -- [Namecheap](https://www.namecheap.com/) is a good place to do this, but you can use any domain name registrar that lets you manage your own DNS.
+
+### 2: VPS
+
+Spin yourself up a cheap VPS with Linux running on it, or get a homeserver ready with Ubuntu Server or something similar.
+
+[Hostwinds](https://www.hostwinds.com/) is a good option here: it's cheap and they throw in a static IP address for free.
+
+This guide won't go into running [UFW](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-a-firewall-with-ufw-on-ubuntu-18-04) and [Fail2Ban](https://linuxize.com/post/install-configure-fail2ban-on-ubuntu-20-04/) but you absolutely should do that. Leave ports `443` and `80` open.
+
+### 3: DNS
+
+Point your domain name towards the server you just spun up.
+
+### 4: Postgres
+
+Install [Postgres](https://www.postgresql.org/download/) on your server and run it.
+
+If you have [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/) installed on your server, this is as easy as running:
+
+```bash
+docker run -d --network host --user postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=some_password postgres 
+```
+
+### 5: Build the Binary
+
+On your local machine (not your server), with Go installed, clone the GoToSocial repository, and build the binary with `go build ./cmd/gotosocial`.
+
+### 6: Prepare VPS
+
+On the VPS or your homeserver, make the directory that GoToSocial will run from, and the directory it will use as storage:
+
+```bash
+mkdir /gotosocial && mkdir /gotosocial/storage
+```
+
+### 7: Copy Binary
+
+Copy your binary from your local machine onto the VPS, using something like the following command (where `example.org` is the domain you set up in step 1):
+
+```bash
+scp ./gotosocial root@example.org:/gotosocial/gotosocial
+```
+
+Replace `root` with whatever user you're actually running on your remote server.
+
+### 8: Copy Web Dir
+
+GoToSocial uses some web templates and static assets, so you need to copy these over to your VPS as well (where `example.org` is the domain you set up in step 1):
+
+```bash
+scp -r ./web root@example.org:/gotosocial/
+```
+
+### 9: Run the Binary
+
+Everything is in place now.
+
+First cd into the directory you created on your remote machine in step 6:
+
+```bash
+cd /gotosocial
+```
+
+Then start the GoToSocial server with the following command (where `example.org` is the domain you set up in step 1, and `some_password` is the password you set for Postgres in step 4):
+
+```bash
+./gotosocial --host example.org --storage-serve-host example.org --letsencrypt-enabled=true server start
+```
+
+The server should now start up and you should be able to access the splash page by navigating to your domain in the browser. Note that it might take up to a minute or so for your LetsEncrypt certificates to be created for the first time, so refresh a few times if necessary.
+
+### 10: Create and confirm your user
+
+You can use the GoToSocial binary to also create, confirm, and promote your user account.
+
+#### Create
+
+Run the following command to create a new account:
+
+```bash
+./gotosocial --host example.org admin account create --username some_username --email some_email@whatever.org --password SOME_PASSWORD
+```
+
+In the above command, replace `example.org` with your domain, `some_username` with your desired username, `some_email@whatever.org` with the email address you want to associate with your account, and `SOME_PASSWORD` with a secure password.
+
+#### Confirm
+
+Run the following command to confirm the account you just created:
+
+```bash
+./gotosocial --host example.org admin account confirm --username some_username
+```
+
+Replace `example.org` with your domain and `some_username` with the username of the account you just created.
+
+#### Promote
+
+If you want your user to have admin rights, you can promote them using a similar command:
+
+```bash
+./gotosocial --host example.org admin account promote --username some_username
+```
+
+Replace `example.org` with your domain and `some_username` with the username of the account you just created.
+
+### 11. Login!
+
+You should now be able to log in to your instance using the email address and password of the account you just created. We recommend using [Pinafore](https://pinafore.social) or Tusky for this.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4f607de..fe67a8d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ In other words, a deployed GoToSocial instance is already pretty useable!
 
 For a detailed view on progress made towards a v0.1.0 (beta) release, see [here](./PROGRESS.md).
 
+## Getting Started
+
+Proper documentation for running and maintaining GoToSocial will be forthcoming in the first prerelease.
+
+For now (if you want to run it pre-alpha, like a beast), check out the [quick and dirty getting started guide](./GETTINGSTARTED.md).
+
 ## Contact
 
 For questions and comments, you can reach out to tobi on the Fediverse [here](https://ondergrond.org/@dumpsterqueer) or mail admin@gotosocial.org.