MszPro

Category: Self Hosting

  • Modify Increase post max characters count limit for self-hosted Mastodon server

    In the newest Mastodon V4.3.0, you only need to modify one file in order for the maximum character count to be changed.

    If you search for the max_characters keyword in the Mastodon Github repository, you will see that it all points to the value within the StatusLengthValidator and a variable called MAX_CHARS

    To modify it, first, ssh into your Mastodon server, and switch to the root shell:

    sudo -s

    Then, switch to the Mastodon user

    su - mastodon

    Now, modify the validator file:

    nano -w live/app/validators/status_length_validator.rb

    At the very top of the file, you will see the MAX_CHARS variable, which was by default 500, you can modify it to another integer, for example 3000 to allow a maximum of 3000 characters within each post.

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class StatusLengthValidator < ActiveModel::Validator
  MAX_CHARS = 3000
  URL_PLACEHOLDER_CHARS = 23
  URL_PLACEHOLDER = 'x' * 23

    That’s how you do it! Now, exit to root shell and restart the Mastodon processes, or simply reboot.

    mastodon@Mastodon:~$ exit
logout
root@Mastodon:/home/ubuntu# systemctl restart mastodon*
root@Mastodon:/home/ubuntu#

    Bonus: Reading maximum character count

    You can read the custom character count from the /api/v1/instance endpoint, and find the character count in the Root/configuration/statuses/max_chatacters as an integer.

  • Set up sliding sync for Matrix self-hosted instances

    As I am working on a brand new Discord-styled modern Matrix client, I went into an issue: because I use the newest Matrix Rust SDK, it requires Sliding Sync (as does the new Element X app). So my self-hosted test Matrix server no longer works.

    I could not find any guides on how to set this up. So I am writing it here on how I did it by referencing the official documentation:

    Docker compose file

    For just running the sliding sync server

    Remember to modify `SYNCV3_SERVER` to be your own instance’s hostname

    Generate a secret code:

    Start docker:

    For running Matrix server with sliding sync server:

    Setup Nginx

    If you use Nginx for forwarding requests, you should add the below in your existing Nginx configuration file:

    By the way, here is an example Nginx file for a Matrix instance:

    Modify your Matrix .well-known file

    It should look like this, but with all hostname replaced:

    If your sliding sync proxy `org.matrix.msc3575.proxy` runs on the same server, set it to be the same as your `m.homeserver`

    If you’re hosting your website on CloudFlare, you should use a CloudFlare worker to respond the well known file:

    If you’re using Nginx, you should provide a custom well known file, and write the rule to read all well known requests from your given path.

    Here is the example content of the client file located at `/var/www/html/.well-known/matrix/client`

    Here is the example content of the server file located at `/var/www/html/.well-known/matrix/server`

    Don’t forget to apply the updated configuration file:

    Cheers!