#!/linuxSucks/Install and Setup a Gemini Server
Apr 09, 2021If you are visiting Gemini Capsules in all the space, Why not you setup your own capsule and have all the articles, manuals, microlog what ever you want to write and have you own space with this simple protocol. The best part is that the capsules are just plain text, if you are here is because you like to read without distractions, right?
What you need
In order to setup the server, you need a live server and a domain. I recommend this sites are very cheap.
If you don’t like those sites, find another one that you know are better.
To setup a Gemini server isn’t complex at all. This is what you need to setup the server:
- TLS Certificates
- A Gemini Server
- Systemd Service
I chose to use Agate server because is very simple to setup. Let’s jump to the fun part:
Generate the TLS Certificate
First let’s create the TLS certificates that we need for our capsule, create a new directory in the user root directory (.cert) then switch to it
cd .certs
Now run this command
openssl req -new -subj "/CN=yourdomain.xxx" -x509 -newkey ec -pkeyopt ec_paramgen_curve:prime256v1 -days 1825 -nodes -out cert.pem -keyout key.pem
Change yourdamain.xxx for your domain. The certificates that were created will last 5 year, if that is way to much for just change the days you want
Install Agate Server
There are several server out there for a Gemini server, I choose Agate for its simplicity and lightweight
Download the binary file from
wget https://github.com/mbrubeck/agate/releases/download/v2.3.0/agate.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.gz
Unpack the file with
gzip -d agate.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.gz
For an easy way to work with that file rename it just to agate
mv agate.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu agate
Create a new directory in any place as you like and move the binary file to its directory and make the binary executable
mv agate .agate/
sudo chmod +x .agate/agate
Setup a Systemd Service
Now to work with Agate we need to create a systemd service, since I’m usegin a Debian server systemd is present in the system.
sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/agate.service
Copy and past this code in the new file
[Unit]
Description=Agate Gemini Server
After=network.target
[Service]
User=USER
Type=simple
ExecStart=/home/USER/.agate/agate -s --content /home/USER/gemini.capsule/ --key /home/USER/.certs/
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Change USER for your user name or the server user
## Start and Enable the Systemd Service
To start and enabled the new server just run
sudo systemctl start agate
sudo systemctl enable agate
That’s it! Now you need to craft your capsule.