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This article provides a guide for self-hosting a Bluesky Personal Data Server on Ubuntu VPS. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a decentralized social networking protocol designed to create a more open and user-controlled internet. It was initially funded by Twitter in 2019 but later became an independent organization. Bluesky aims to move away from centralized control of social media platforms, allowing users to own their data, choose their algorithms, and self-host their identities. Bluesky vs. Other Social Media Feature Bluesky (AT Protocol) Twitter (X) Mastodon (ActivityPub) Decentralized ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes User-Controlled Algorithms ✅ Yes ❌ No ❌ No Data Ownership ✅ User-Owned ❌ Platform-Owned ✅ User-Owned Federation ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes Self-Hosting Possible ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes Step-by-Step Guide: Self-Hosting a Bluesky Personal Data Server on Ubuntu VPS Bluesky’s decentralized social networking protocol (AT Protocol) allows users to self-host their own personal data servers (PDS). This guide provides a step-by-step process for self-hosting a Bluesky personal data server on Ubuntu VPS. Prerequisites Before starting, ensure you have: A VPS running Ubuntu (20.04 or later) A domain name (for federation and HTTPS setup) If necessary, register a new domain from Rad Web Hosting (Domain Pricing) Basic knowledge of Linux command-line usage Root-equivalent SSH access to the VPS (Guide) Public IPv4 Address Public DNS (Fully-Qualified Domain Name) Verify using DNS Checker: Ports 80, 443 (TCP) open (Guide: How to Open Ports on Linux Server) Set Up Your Ubuntu VPS Update and Upgrade Ubuntu First, update your system to ensure you have the latest packages: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y Install Required Dependencies Ensure basic tools are installed: sudo apt install -y curl git unzip wget build-essential Set Up a User for Bluesky PDS It's good practice to create a non-root user to manage the server: sudo adduser bluesky sudo usermod -aG sudo bluesky Switch to the new user: su - bluesky Install Docker and Docker Compose Bluesky’s PDS (Personal Data Server) can run inside a Docker container. Install Docker curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo bash sudo usermod -aG docker $(whoami) Log out and log back in for changes to take effect. Install Docker Compose sudo apt install -y docker-compose Verify installation: docker --version docker-compose --version Clone the Bluesky PDS Repository Navigate to your home directory and clone the official Bluesky PDS repository: git clone https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds.git cd pds Configure Environment Variables Copy the sample environment file: cp .env.example .env Edit the .env file using nano or vim: nano .env Modify key variables: ADMIN_PASSWORD (Set a strong admin password) PDS_HOSTNAME (Set your domain, e.g., pds.yourdomain.com) DBHOST, DBUSER, DB_PASSWORD (for PostgreSQL database) EMAIL_SERVER (for user email verification) Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y, then Enter). Set Up PostgreSQL Database Bluesky PDS requires PostgreSQL. Install PostgreSQL sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib Create a Database and User Access PostgreSQL: sudo -u postgres psql Run the following commands: CREATE DATABASE bluesky_pds; CREATE USER bluesky_user WITH PASSWORD 'strongpassword'; ALTER DATABASE bluesky_pds OWNER TO bluesky_user; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE bluesky_pds TO bluesky_user; Exit with: \q Update Database Configuration Edit the .env file again to match: nano .env Set: DB_HOSTlocalhost DB_PORT5432 DB_USERbluesky_user DB_PASSWORDstrongpassword DB_NAMEbluesky_pds Set Up Reverse Proxy with Nginx To expose your PDS with a proper domain and HTTPS, set up Nginx. Install Nginx sudo apt install -y nginx Configure Nginx for Bluesky PDS Create a new configuration file: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/bluesky Paste the following: server { listen 80; server_name pds.yourdomain.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } } Save and exit. Enable the Configuration sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/bluesky /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx Obtain an SSL Certificate To secure your instance with HTTPS, install Certbot for Let's Encrypt: sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx sudo certbot --nginx -d pds.yourdomain.com Follow the prompts and ensure HTTPS works. Start the Bluesky PDS Now, launch the server using Docker: docker-compose up -d This will download and start the Bluesky PDS. Check if the container is running: docker ps Check logs for errors: docker-compose logs -f Verify the PDS Check if Bluesky PDS is Running Test if the server is accessible: curl -X GET https://pds.yourdomain.com/xrpc/com.atproto.server.describeServer It should return server details. Register and Configure Your Server Visit https://pds.yourdomain.com/admin Log in with the admin password set in .env Configure federation settings Maintain Your Server Restarting and Stopping PDS To restart: docker-compose restart To stop: docker-compose down Updating Bluesky PDS To update: cd pds git pull origin main docker-compose up --build -d Set Up Automatic SSL Renewal Let's Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days. Set up auto-renewal: sudo crontab -e Add: 0 3 * * * certbot renew --quiet Join Bluesky Federation To federate your instance: Register your PDS on Bluesky’s AT Protocol network. Ensure DNS records are correct for your domain. Monitor logs for federation activity. Setup Custom Scripts for Personal Data Server Monitoring To ensure your Bluesky Personal Data Server (PDS) is running smoothly, we can set up custom monitoring scripts using systemd, cron, and a simple health-check script that alerts via email or logs issues. Follow the steps below to setup custom monitoring and alerting scripts: Create a Health Check Script We will write a script that: Checks if the Bluesky PDS container is running. Pings the PDS endpoint for a valid response. Logs issues and sends an alert if the server is down. Create the Monitoring Script sudo nano /opt/bluesky_pds_monitor.sh Paste the following script: #!/bin/bash # Variables PDS_URL"https://pds.yourdomain.com/xrpc/com.atproto.server.describeServer" LOG_FILE"/var/log/bluesky_pds_monitor.log" EMAIL"your-email@example.com" # Check if the Docker container is running CONTAINER_NAME"pds" if ! docker ps | grep -q "$CONTAINER_NAME"; then echo "$(date): PDS container is DOWN!" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" echo "PDS container is DOWN on $(hostname)" | mail -s "Bluesky PDS Alert" $EMAIL docker-compose -f /home/bluesky/pds/docker-compose.yml restart exit 1 fi # Check if the PDS server responds RESPONSE$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" $PDS_URL) if ; then echo "$(date): PDS server is NOT RESPONDING ($RESPONSE)" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" echo "Bluesky PDS is NOT RESPONDING ($RESPONSE) on $(hostname)" | mail -s "Bluesky PDS Alert" $EMAIL docker-compose -f /home/bluesky/pds/docker-compose.yml restart else echo "$(date): PDS is running fine." >> "$LOG_FILE" fi Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y, then Enter). Make the Script Executable sudo chmod +x /opt/bluesky_pds_monitor.sh Automate Monitoring Using Cron To run the script every 5 minutes, add it to cron: sudo crontab -e Add the following line: */5 * * * * /opt/bluesky_pds_monitor.sh Save and exit. Systemd Service for Persistent Monitoring Instead of relying only on cron, we can create a systemd service that ensures the PDS stays active. Create a Systemd Service File sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/bluesky_pds.service Paste the following: DescriptionBluesky Personal Data Server Afternetwork.target Userbluesky WorkingDirectory/home/bluesky/pds ExecStart/usr/bin/docker-compose up Restartalways RestartSec10 KillModemixed StandardOutputsyslog StandardErrorsyslog SyslogIdentifierbluesky_pds WantedBymulti-user.target Save and exit. Enable and Start the Service sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable bluesky_pds sudo systemctl start bluesky_pds To check its status: sudo systemctl status bluesky_pds To restart it manually: sudo systemctl restart bluesky_pds Log Rotation for Monitoring Logs Since logs can grow large over time, we set up log rotation. Create a logrotate configuration file: sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/bluesky_pds_monitor Add: /var/log/bluesky_pds_monitor.log { weekly rotate 4 compress missingok notifempty } Save and exit. Test the Monitoring Setup Run the monitoring script manually: sudo /opt/bluesky_pds_monitor.sh Check logs: cat /var/log/bluesky_pds_monitor.log Overview of Monitoring Behavior Now, your Bluesky PDS server is actively monitored. If the server crashes, it: Auto-restarts using docker-compose. Logs errors and keeps a history. Sends email alerts when issues occur. Integrating Grafana Monitoring and Telegram Notifications for Bluesky PDS To enhance monitoring for your Bluesky Personal Data Server (PDS), we will: Set up Prometheus for system and Docker metrics Use Grafana to visualize metrics Set up Telegram alerts for critical failures To get started, please follow the steps provided: Install and Configure Prometheus Install Prometheus sudo useradd --no-create-home --shell /bin/false prometheus sudo mkdir /etc/prometheus /var/lib/prometheus sudo chown prometheus:prometheus /etc/prometheus /var/lib/prometheus Download and install Prometheus: cd /tmp curl -LO "https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/latest/download/prometheus-$(uname -m)-linux-gnu.tar.gz" tar -xvzf prometheus-*-linux-gnu.tar.gz sudo mv prometheus-*/prometheus /usr/local/bin/ sudo mv prometheus-*/promtool /usr/local/bin/ sudo mv prometheus-*/consoles /etc/prometheus/ sudo mv prometheus-*/console_libraries /etc/prometheus/ Configure Prometheus sudo nano /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml Paste the following: global: scrape_interval: 15s scrape_configs: - job_name: 'prometheus' static_configs: - targets: - job_name: 'docker' static_configs: - targets: Save and exit. Create a Systemd Service for Prometheus sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/prometheus.service Paste: DescriptionPrometheus Monitoring Wantsnetwork-online.target Afternetwork-online.target Userprometheus ExecStart/usr/local/bin/prometheus --config.file/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml --storage.tsdb.path/var/lib/prometheus --web.listen-address"0.0.0.0:9090" Restartalways WantedBymulti-user.target Enable and start Prometheus: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable prometheus sudo systemctl start prometheus Install and Configure Grafana Install Grafana sudo apt install -y software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://packages.grafana.com/oss/deb stable main" sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y grafana Start Grafana: sudo systemctl enable --now grafana-server Access Grafana Visit http://your-server-ip:3000 and login with: Username: admin Password: admin Change the password after logging in. Add Prometheus Data Source to Grafana Go to Grafana → Settings → Data Sources Click Add Data Source Choose Prometheus Set URL: http://localhost:9090 Click Save & Test Install and Configure Node Exporter To monitor CPU, RAM, and disk usage: cd /tmp curl -LO "https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/latest/download/node_exporter-$(uname -m)-linux-gnu.tar.gz" tar -xvzf node_exporter-*-linux-gnu.tar.gz sudo mv node_exporter-*/node_exporter /usr/local/bin/ Create a service: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service Paste: DescriptionNode Exporter Afternetwork.target ExecStart/usr/local/bin/node_exporter Restartalways Userroot WantedBydefault.target Enable and start: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable node_exporter sudo systemctl start node_exporter Configure Telegram Alerts in Grafana Create a Telegram Bot Open Telegram and search for @BotFather Send /newbot Follow the instructions and get the Bot Token Add the bot to a Telegram group and get the Chat ID using: curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot/getUpdates" Save the Bot Token and Chat ID. Configure Telegram in Grafana Go to Grafana → Alerting → Notification Channels Click Add Channel Name: Telegram Type: Telegram Bot API Token: Chat ID: Click Save & Test Create Alerts for Bluesky PDS Add an Alert in Grafana Open Grafana and go to Dashboards. Create a new panel with: query: up{job"node"} Click Alert → Create Alert Rule Set: Condition: When value < 1 For: 1m Notification Channel: Telegram Click Save & Apply Verify Monitoring & Alerts Restart Bluesky PDS and check Prometheus metrics: systemctl restart bluesky_pds Simulate a failure: docker stop pds Check if Grafana triggers a Telegram alert. Summary of Grafana Monitors and Telegram Notifications 🎉 You now have Bluesky PDS monitoring with: ✅ Prometheus for metrics ✅ Grafana for dashboards ✅ Telegram alerts for failures Create Auto-Recovery Scripts for Bluesky PDS To ensure Bluesky Personal Data Server (PDS) recovers automatically from failures, we will: Monitor PDS health Restart the service if down Trigger Telegram alerts Set up systemd and cron for self-healing Create the Auto-Recovery Script The script will: ✅ Check if the Docker container is running ✅ Restart the container if needed ✅ Log failures ✅ Send Telegram alerts Create the Script sudo nano /opt/bluesky_auto_recovery.sh Paste the following: #!/bin/bash # Configuration PDS_CONTAINER"pds" PDS_URL"https://pds.yourdomain.com/xrpc/com.atproto.server.describeServer" LOG_FILE"/var/log/bluesky_auto_recovery.log" TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"your_bot_token" TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID"your_chat_id" # Function to send Telegram alerts send_telegram_alert() { MESSAGE"$1" curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \ -d chat_id"$TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID" \ -d text"$MESSAGE" } # Check if Docker is running if ! systemctl is-active --quiet docker; then echo "$(date): Docker is DOWN. Restarting..." | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" send_telegram_alert "🚨 ALERT: Docker is DOWN on $(hostname). Restarting..." sudo systemctl restart docker fi # Check if the PDS container is running if ! docker ps | grep -q "$PDS_CONTAINER"; then echo "$(date): PDS container is DOWN! Restarting..." | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" send_telegram_alert "⚠️ WARNING: Bluesky PDS is DOWN! Restarting now..." docker-compose -f /home/bluesky/pds/docker-compose.yml up -d fi # Check if PDS is responding HTTP_STATUS$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$PDS_URL") if ; then echo "$(date): PDS is NOT RESPONDING ($HTTP_STATUS). Restarting..." | tee -a "$LOG_FILE" send_telegram_alert "❌ Bluesky PDS is NOT RESPONDING ($HTTP_STATUS). Restarting..." docker-compose -f /home/bluesky/pds/docker-compose.yml restart else echo "$(date): PDS is running fine." >> "$LOG_FILE" fi Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y, then Enter). Make the Script Executable sudo chmod +x /opt/bluesky_auto_recovery.sh Automate Recovery Using Cron To check every 5 minutes, add it to cron: sudo crontab -e Add: */5 * * * * /opt/bluesky_auto_recovery.sh Save and exit. Set Up Systemd for Automatic Restart Instead of relying only on cron, we use systemd to ensure PDS restarts if it crashes. Create a Systemd Service File sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/bluesky_auto_recovery.service Paste: DescriptionBluesky PDS Auto-Recovery Service Afternetwork.target docker.service ExecStart/opt/bluesky_auto_recovery.sh Restartalways RestartSec30 Userroot WantedBymulti-user.target Save and exit. Enable and Start the Service sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable bluesky_auto_recovery sudo systemctl start bluesky_auto_recovery To check its status: sudo systemctl status bluesky_auto_recovery To restart manually: sudo systemctl restart bluesky_auto_recovery Test the Auto-Recovery System Simulate a Failure Stop the PDS container manually: docker stop pds Check logs: tail -f /var/log/bluesky_auto_recovery.log It should detect the failure, restart PDS, and send a Telegram alert. Simulate an Unresponsive PDS Block PDS temporarily: iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 3000 -j DROP Wait 5 minutes and check logs & Telegram alerts. To unblock: iptables -D INPUT -p tcp --dport 3000 -j DROP Self-Healing Sequence Summary ✅ Auto-recovery script to restart PDS ✅ Telegram alerts for failures ✅ Systemd service for persistent monitoring ✅ Cron job for regular health checks Now, your Bluesky PDS is self-healing! 🎉 Conclusion Congratulations! 🎉 You’ve successfully self-hosted a Bluesky Personal Data Server on an Ubuntu VPS. Your server is now part of the decentralized Bluesky network. Additionally, you've enabled: Automated Service monitors via custom scripting Grafana Dashboard monitoring and Telegram notifications Self-healing: Automatic service recovery in case of failure. Resources Further resources for managing your Bluesky personal data server: Bluesky PDS GitHub Issues: https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds Logs (docker-compose logs -f) to debug errors.

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