Thanks Jonne, I did initially put it in the document root, but a .conf file is nor readable by a web browser except as text. Should I put it as a .htaccess file?
I will see if I can change the document root in the meantime
Thanks
It’s the configuration, it defines the document root. Nowhere I said to put the configuration itself into the document root, that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
No worries,
So if the server is already running, to connect with other nodes, what address is it using?
I have asked the hosting people about the root.
This is a trial setup to check this kind of thing and determine if it will be suitable, so not the end of the world.
Just surprised it is not covered in the setup. I did go through each step.
Thanks
The guide intentionally only covers setting up diaspora, configuring a whole server is beyond its scope.
diaspora* works much by email, the initial connections have to be made explicitly by the user, searching for diaspora* IDs which just look like email addresses too, so they encode the host. The federation protocol sits on top of HTTPS, so just uses the same address as you put under url in the diaspora configuration.
I was wondering, if we went on the cloud, how complicated is it to move from cloud to local in the future, for instance ones the 12 months free on AWS runs out? Our community would like to keep control and ownership of data.
The “cloud” is a fancy term for a platform that offers many hosted services, with usually at its core just yet another VPS hosting service. As long as you use “the cloud” just as that, a VPS hosting service, I cannot see any vendor lock-in.
Hi there,
Finally had some time to install on the AWS cloud.
http://54.75.5.150/
Now how do I assign or connect a domain name to it?
Thanks
https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/hands-on/get-a-domain/
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/routing-to-ec2-instance.html
Thanks,
Does it have to be on AWS nameservers or can I just add A records with that IP at my current Registrar?
Moved it to AWS nameserver and it works already: folkbook.org
Also, how do we customise the login screen for Diaspora?
Thanks
Don
Thanks Jonne, apologies if I ask stupid questions. I do not have the time available to study the entire Diaspora sphere in order to extract that what I need, which is why I am here on this help forum.
I have two communities on facebook totaling 140,000 followers and I want to try migrate as many as I can over.
For instance, what are the benefits of setting up separate pods?
Lets say I have two communities, is there a benefit (apart from branding), to having them on separate pods or can they just be on one pod? Different languages maybe?
On that note, I have setup my pod at folkbook.org, does it automatically link to other pods? I do not see any under the admin user network section?
Thanks
Don
Thanks Jonne, I have setuip the domains.
I have logged in with SSH but where are these files and where and how do I create them in order to customize the landing page?
I am also looking for a list of the apps and services that can be added to diaspora?
Thanks
Don
The questions are not stupid, they’re simple to research.
Hosting a diaspora* installation is frankly not the simplest job in the world. It certainly requires medium level system administration skills and experience, or at least a lot of will and time to learn. If you feel like you don’t have the time needed for this, you might be running into doing a disservice for your users 
There might be some performance benefits, as scaling bigger installations can get quite complex. But there’s no real benefit when both pods are hosted by the same entity, no.
There’s no DHT or sync up in diaspora*. Initial discovery of other users needs to happen via the full diaspora* ID (that email address like thingy). Read more: https://wiki.diasporafoundation.org/FAQ_for_pod_maintainers#Am_I_alone_here.3F_.28Establish_connections_with_other_pods.29
The very first sentence on https://wiki.diasporafoundation.org/Custom_splash_page is “All you have to do is to create a […]”. The verb create implies that the file does not already exist. As in all of our documentation, given relative paths are relative to the installation root.
Thanks for the detailed responses Jonne, I did ask in the beginning if it would be possible to find someone to help us with it, nevertheless I will work through it, one step at a time. In time the question will stop 
As regards the custom pages, the link you have to http://haml-lang.com/ is to a disabled website.
For future reference, when you say scaling for bigger installations, at what size should one consider calving to a second node?
Thanks
Don
Ah, looks like they moved to https://haml.info/
This is not a number, it’s a function between what’s easier to achieve for you, scaling the single installation or setting up a second one on separate infrastructure. So it’s highly personal.
On non-technical levels we also recommend smaller instances to promote the decentralized aspects of diaspora*. This is even the major reason for many bigger installations to disable sign-ups.
Hi Jonne, so we have an installation and as expected Amazon have snuck in all kinds of charges. You literally have to go on a course to work out how to use their so called free tier on AWS. Then you have to pay for support that is not billing related?
So the question is can I migrate or backup a Diaspora installation from within the software so that I can then migrate it?
Sure, I mean not from within, but just dump the database, import it on the new host and transfer the entire /home/diaspora/diaspora folder (the really relevant data is in config/ and public/uploads, but the entire folder should not hurt).
Ok, that sounds great. We still have that old install on our VPS that we could never get started although I am not sure how to resolve the issue of the server sending requests to the domain home directory but Diaspora requiring a different one.
Maybe it will be best to make a new install using a bitnami image onto the VPS?
Thanks
Don
Sorry, forgot to ask, is this domain independent. Do I have to import the DB and folders onto the same domain? So I download them, transfer the domain and then import?
Yes it needs to be the same hostname, that is you will need to update the DNS to point to the new machine.
Bitnami is not an officially supported installation method, so we cannot recommend it.
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