Open Source Social Network emerges as a response to the many data security issues of the major companies behind the major social networks in the world. With a powerful but very intuitive web interface, it allows you to create your own social network.

So, let’s install it on Ubuntu Server 18.04.

1. Upgrade the system

Before starting the whole installation process, it is advisable to update the whole system. This ensures that you have the security patches installed on your computer.

:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

As I said before, with this you will have a more stable and safer system.

2. Install Apache web server

Open Source Social Network is a web-based solution. Therefore, it is necessary to install an HTTP web server to host it on a server. In this case, the chosen one will be apache for its simplicity of use.

:~$ sudo apt install apache2

Then, enable and start the service. Next, check the service status.

:~$ sudo systemctl enable apache2 
:~$ sudo systemctl start apache2
:~$ sudo systemctl status apache2

Finally, open a web browser and go to HTTP://IP_SERVER. If you see something like this, apache is correctly installed.

It Works!!

3. Install PHP 7.1

Here’s a little problem. Ubuntu 18.04 comes with PHP 7.2 in its official repositories, however, Open Source Social Network does not support PHP 7.2. So, you have to install PHP 7.1 from an external repository. It’s not complicated, you’ll see.

:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then, install PHP 7.1

sudo apt install php7.1 php7.1-mysql php7.1-curl php7.1-json php7.1-cgi libapache2-mod-php7.1 php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-gd php7.1-mbstring php7.1 php7.1-common php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-cli php7.1-ldap php7.1-zip php7.1-readline php7.1-imap php7.1-tidy php7.1-recode php7.1-sq php7.1-intl

Now you have to check that PHP is working properly with apache. Create a file named example.php in /var/www/html and add the following.

:~$ nano /var/www/html/example.php

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Now, open your web browser and open it. HTTP://IP_SERVER/example.php if you see the PHP info, then, everything is OK.

4. Install MariaDB

Now you have to install and configure MariaDB as a database manager. This is the default Open Source Social Network. Fortunately, MariaDB is very popular and is available in the main repositories.

:~$ sudo apt install mariadb-server

Next, you have to secure the installation with mysql_secure_installation script. With that script, you can set a root password and other things more.

:~$ sudo mysql_secure_installation

As you can see, I answered the question that way: Y, N, Y, Y.

Next, you have to create a database and an user for Open Source Social Netwok.

:~$ sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE ossndb;
USE ossndb;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ossndb.* TO 'ossnuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ossnpss';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit;

You can install Open Source Social Network.

5. Install Open Source Social Network

Finally, you can install it. First, download it.

:~$ cd /tmp/
:~$ wget https://www.opensource-socialnetwork.org/download_ossn/latest/build.zip

Then, decompress it.

:~$ unzip build.zip

The next step is to copy the folder to the Apache directory. Create a new folder for the application data and assign them writing permission.

:~$ sudo cp -r ossn /var/www/html/
:~$ sudo mkdir /var/www/html/ossn_data
:~$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/ossn/
:~$ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/ossn/
:~$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/ossn_data

Next, create a virtual host for Open Source Social Network.

:~$  sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/ossn.conf

And add the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin angelo@osradar.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/ossn
ServerName ossn.osradar.local

<Directory /var/www/html/ossn/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/ossn_error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/ossn_access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Then, enable it and enable the rewrite module. Finally, restart apache.

:~$ sudo a2ensite ossn.conf
:~$ sudo a2enmod rewrite
:~$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Next, edit your /etc/hosts.

:~$ sudo nano /etc/hosts

And add the configuration to access. In short, the IP address and the server name.

192.168.1.36 www.ossn.osradar.local ossn.osradar.local

And that’s it. You can finish the installation from the web interface.

6. Completing the installation

Now, access from the web browser. In my case, the direction is: HTTP://ossn.osradar.local. In the next screen, you will see all the installation prerequisites. If all of them are in green color, then you can continue.

Next, you have to set the site settings. Add the database information previously configured.

Next, create the admin account.

If everything went right, you’ll see a screen like this.

Now, you can log in with your credentials.

And you will see the dashboard.

And now you can use the program.

Conclusion

The OSSN installation is not duplicated in Ubuntu 18.04 and can help you to create your own social network using a web interface in an easy and dynamic way.

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