Create your gemlog with ergol
Ergol is a simple gemini server that only need a php environment. If you use a GNU/Linux machine, it's very easy to install it. No need to install Apache, MySQL or whatever else. Only php and more precisely php-cli (the command line interface).
On Archlinux, you should do :
pacman -S php
On debian :
sudo apt install php-cli
Then, create a folder "ergol" where you think it's a good idea (in your home directory if you want) and put ergol.php and ergol.json in it.
Open a terminal go to the ergol folder to create your gemlog. In this example, I suppose you have a domain name with a defined host in your DNS pointing to your machine. Search dyndns with the name of your registrar to find how to attribute an IP if yours is changing.
$ cd ~/ergol/ $ mkdir capsules $ nano ergol.json in this file, change the name example.tld with your hostname (as it is accessible from the internet) save file $ php ergol.php if it doesn't work $ php-cli ergol.php
Then, it should give to you instructions to create your certificate.
A folder for your capsule is now created in ~/ergol/capsules/....
After you have created your certificate, relaunch ergol.php the same way.
$ php ergol.php if it doesn't work $ php-cli ergol.php
Now ergol listens on port 1965, the default gemini tcp port.
You may need to redirect this port 1965 to your machine in your router NAT configuration.
Put your articles in your capsule ( ~/ergol/capsules/YOUR_HOSTNAME/ )
You can name them with a date prefix (with this format YYYY-MM-DD) and separate words with an undersore _ instead of space. Gemini protocol does not like spaces in file name. Ending with .gmi extension.
Examples :
- 2021-02-18_I_start_my_gemlog.gmi
- 2021-02-19_How_was_my_day.gmi
Ergol will automatically replace underscores by spaces to make beautiful links. If you do not respect date prefix format, ergol will prepend it automatically with the date of modification of the file. This way, gemini subscription will work :
Specs of subscription the gemini aggregators
Of course, if you prefer, you can create an index.gmi to present your capsule and create a subfolder "gemlog" to put your posts. just add a line "=> gemlog/ My gemlog" in this index.gmi to link your gemlog folder.
Enjoy !
🖼️