How to Install and Run Mastodon Server on AlmaLinux VPS

This article provides a guide demonstrating how to install and run Mastodon server on AlmaLinux VPS.

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is a social networking platform similar to X/Twitter, but with one major difference: no single company controls the entire network.

Instead, Mastodon is made up of independently operated servers called instances. Each instance can have its own rules, moderators, and community focus, while users on different instances can generally follow and interact with one another.

A few key ideas:

• Decentralized: There isn’t one central Mastodon website controlling everyone. You choose a server when creating an account.
• Federated: Those independent servers communicate using the ActivityPub protocol. Together they form part of the broader Fediverse.
• Twitter-like experience: You can post short messages, images, videos, polls, follow people, reply, favorite, and boost other people’s posts.
• Usernames include the server: An account might look like @radwebhosting@mastodon.social, somewhat like an email address.
• Different moderation policies: Each server operator decides what is permitted on their server and which other servers it will communicate with.
• Open source: Mastodon’s server software is open source, so organizations and individuals can operate their own Mastodon servers.

One useful way to picture it is email combined with Twitter. Gmail and Outlook are separate services, but a Gmail user can email an Outlook user. Similarly, someone on one Mastodon server can usually follow someone on another Mastodon server.

This is also why Mastodon can be interesting for a company: you can run something like social.example.com, control your own community and moderation policies, and still participate in the larger Mastodon/Fediverse network.

This guide installs Mastodon directly from source on an AlmaLinux VPS, using PostgreSQL, Redis, Nginx, systemd, and Let’s Encrypt SSL.

It is written for Mastodon 4.6.x. As of August 2026, the latest stable release is Mastodon 4.6.4. Mastodon 4.6 requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 14+, Redis 7+, Node.js 22+, libvips 8.13+, and FFmpeg 5.1+.

Mastodon’s official source-installation documentation currently targets Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 13, so the operating-system commands below have been adapted for AlmaLinux while preserving Mastodon’s standard deployment layout.

Recommended VPS specifications

For a small personal or community Mastodon instance, start with approximately:

• CPU: 2-4 vCPU
• RAM: 4 GB minimum; 8 GB recommended
• Storage: 40-80 GB SSD/NVMe minimum
• OS: AlmaLinux 9 x86_64
• IPv4: Public static IPv4 recommended
• Domain: social.example.com

Storage consumption can grow rapidly because Mastodon caches media from remote instances. For a public instance, object storage such as S3-compatible storage is eventually preferable to keeping all media on the VPS.

See Also: Install and Configure SOCKS Proxy Server on Rocky Linux VPS

You will also need an SMTP provider. Mastodon uses email for account confirmation, password resets, notifications, and administrative messages. The official installation prerequisites explicitly include an SMTP/email-delivery service.

SEE ALSO: Configure Postfix MTA for Use with Mastodon

Throughout this guide, replace social.example.com with your actual Mastodon hostname.

Before proceeding, create an A DNS record such as:

social.example.com -> YOUR_VPS_IPV4

Verify it:

dig +short social.example.com

How to Install and Run Mastodon Server on AlmaLinux VPS

To install and run Mastodon server on AlmaLinux VPS, follow the steps provided below:

1. Connect to the VPS and Update AlmaLinux

   SSH into the server:

   ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
   

   Update all installed packages:

   dnf update -y
   

   Reboot if a new kernel was installed:

   reboot
   

   Reconnect afterward.

   Check the operating system:

   cat /etc/almalinux-release
   

2. Enable EPEL and CRB

   A number of Mastodon dependencies are supplied through EPEL and CRB.

   Install EPEL:

   dnf install -y epel-release
   

   Enable CRB:

   See Also: 🚀 Deploy Virtualmin on AlmaLinux VPS (5 Minute Quick-Start Guide)

   dnf config-manager --set-enabled crb
   

   AlmaLinux documentation recommends EPEL and CRB for software and development dependencies outside the base repositories.

   Refresh the metadata:

   dnf makecache
   

3. Install development packages

   Install basic build tools:

   dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"
   

   Install the libraries Mastodon and Ruby commonly require:

   dnf install -y \
     git \
     curl \
     nano \
     wget \
     tar \
     file \
     gcc \
     gcc-c++ \
     make \
     autoconf \
     bison \
     pkgconf-pkg-config \
     openssl-devel \
     libyaml-devel \
     readline-devel \
     zlib-devel \
     libffi-devel \
     gdbm-devel \
     libicu-devel \
     libidn2-devel \
     libxslt-devel \
     jemalloc \
     jemalloc-devel \
     protobuf-compiler \
     nginx \
     certbot \
     firewalld \
     libidn \ 
     libidn-devel \
     python3-certbot-nginx \
     policycoreutils-python-utils
   

4. Install libvips

   Mastodon 4.6 uses libvips for image processing; ImageMagick is no longer supported as the Mastodon 4.6 image-processing backend.

   Install it:

   dnf install -y https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-9.noarch.rpm
   dnf install -y http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-9.rpm
   dnf --enablerepo=remi install -y vips vips-devel vips-tools
   

   Verify:

   vips --version
   

   You need at least libvips 8.13 for Mastodon 4.6.

5. Install FFmpeg

   Mastodon needs FFmpeg for video and audio processing.

   If ffmpeg is already available from your enabled repositories:

   dnf install -y ffmpeg
   

   Verify:

   ffmpeg -version
   

   Mastodon 4.6 requires FFmpeg 5.1 or newer. Also keep FFmpeg fully patched: Mastodon specifically advised non-Docker installations to use a fixed FFmpeg release after a critical 2026 FFmpeg vulnerability.

   If AlmaLinux cannot find ffmpeg, enable RPM Fusion Free and then install it:

   dnf install -y https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
   dnf update --refresh
   dnf install -y ffmpeg

6. Install Node.js 22

   AlmaLinux 9’s current AppStream includes Node.js 22 packages, which satisfies Mastodon 4.6’s Node 22+ requirement.

   Check available streams/packages first:

   dnf module list nodejs
   

   If Node.js 22 appears as a module:

   dnf module reset nodejs -y
   dnf module enable nodejs:22 -y
   dnf install -y nodejs npm
   

   Otherwise, on newer AlmaLinux 9 releases where it is available directly:

   dnf install -y nodejs npm
   

   Verify:

   node --version
   npm install -g corepack
   

   You should see Node 22 or newer:

   v22.x.x
   

   Enable Corepack, which Mastodon uses to select the appropriate Yarn release:

   corepack enable
   

   Mastodon’s official installation process likewise uses Corepack for Yarn.

   Check:

   yarn --version
   

7. Install PostgreSQL 16

   Mastodon 4.6 requires PostgreSQL 14 or newer. PostgreSQL 16 is a good choice for a new installation.

   Current RHEL-family documentation lists PostgreSQL 16 as available for AlmaLinux 9.

   Check available PostgreSQL modules:

   dnf module list postgresql
   

   Reset any previously selected stream:

   dnf module reset postgresql -y
   

   Enable PostgreSQL 16:

   See Also: How to Run Self-Hosted Link-in-Bio Tool with LinkStack on AlmaLinux VPS

   dnf module enable postgresql:16 -y
   

   Install it:

   dnf install -y \
     postgresql \
     postgresql-server \
     postgresql-contrib \
     postgresql-devel
   

   Initialize the database:

   postgresql-setup --initdb
   

   Enable and start PostgreSQL:

   systemctl enable --now postgresql
   

   Check:

   systemctl status postgresql
   

   And:

   psql --version
   

8. Create the Mastodon PostgreSQL user

   The simplest local setup uses PostgreSQL peer authentication, where the Linux mastodon account corresponds to a PostgreSQL role named mastodon. This is also the approach recommended in Mastodon’s standard source-install documentation.

   Open PostgreSQL:

   sudo -u postgres psql
   

   Create the role:

   CREATE USER mastodon CREATEDB;
   

   Exit:

   \q
   

   You do not need to create the Mastodon database manually because the Mastodon setup task can do that.

9. Install Redis 7+

   Redis stores caches and queues used by Sidekiq and other Mastodon components.

   Mastodon 4.6 requires Redis 7.0 or newer.

   Redis publishes an RPM repository specifically compatible with AlmaLinux 9.

   Create:

   sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/redis.repo << 'EOF'
   [Redis]
   name=Redis
   baseurl=http://packages.redis.io/rpm/rockylinux9
   enabled=1
   gpgcheck=1
   EOF
   

   with the Redis repository configuration documented for AlmaLinux 9, import its official signing key, and then install:

   dnf install -y redis
   

   Enable Redis:

   systemctl enable --now redis
   

   Check:

   redis-server --version
   

   and:

   redis-cli ping
   

   Expected result:

   PONG
   

   Do not expose Redis port 6379 publicly. Mastodon only needs to connect to it locally.

10. Create the Mastodon system user

    Create an unprivileged account:

    useradd -m -s /bin/bash mastodon
    

    Check it:

    id mastodon
    

    You should now have:

    /home/mastodon
    

    Mastodon itself should never run as root.

11. Download Mastodon

    Switch users:

    su - mastodon
    

    Clone Mastodon:

    git clone https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon.git live && cd live
    

    The official installation procedure selects the newest stable version tag rather than running directly from the development branch.

    Select the newest stable tag:

    git checkout "$(git tag -l | grep '^v[0-9.]*$' | sort -V | tail -n 1)"
    

    Check the version:

    git describe --tags
    

    At the time this guide was written, the latest stable release is v4.6.4 released July 27, 2026.

12. Install Ruby with rbenv

    Do this while logged in as mastodon.

    Mastodon’s official installation procedure recommends rbenv, because the repository specifies its required Ruby version and rbenv simplifies future upgrades.

    Install rbenv:

    git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git ~/.rbenv
    

    Add it to the shell:

    echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
    echo 'eval "$(rbenv init - bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc
    source ~/.bashrc
    

    Install ruby-build:

    git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ~/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build
    

    Return to Mastodon:

    See Also: 🚀 How to Deploy MongoDB on Ubuntu VPS (5 Minute Quick-Start Guide)

    cd ~/live
    

    The repository contains a .ruby-version file, so rbenv can install the exact required Ruby release automatically.

    Install it with jemalloc support:

    RUBY_CONFIGURE_OPTS=--with-jemalloc rbenv install
    

    Set the repository’s Ruby version:

    rbenv local "$(cat .ruby-version)"
    

    Verify:

    ruby --version
    

    Mastodon 4.6 requires Ruby 3.3 or newer.

13. Install Ruby and JavaScript dependencies

    Install Bundler if required:

    gem install bundler --no-document
    rbenv rehash
    

    Configure Bundler for production:

    bundle config set deployment true
    bundle config set without development test
    

    Install Ruby dependencies:

    bundle install
    

    Enable Corepack for this account as well if necessary:

    corepack enable
    

    Install JavaScript packages:

    yarn install --immutable
    

    If the installed Mastodon version does not accept --immutable, use the exact Yarn command indicated by that release’s documentation or lockfile. Current 4.6 update instructions use immutable Yarn installs.

14. Run the Mastodon setup wizard

    Remain logged in as mastodon:

    cd ~/live
    RAILS_ENV=production bin/rails mastodon:setup
    

    This is Mastodon’s official interactive installer. It creates .env.production, initializes the database schema, and builds the application assets.

    The exact questions can change slightly between Mastodon versions. A typical configuration looks like:

    Domain name:
    social.example.com
    
    Do you want to enable single user mode?
    No
    
    Are you using Docker to run Mastodon?
    No
    
    PostgreSQL host:
    /var/run/postgresql
    
    PostgreSQL port:
    5432
    
    PostgreSQL database:
    mastodon_production
    
    PostgreSQL user:
    mastodon
    
    PostgreSQL password:
    [leave blank when using peer authentication]
    
    Redis host:
    localhost
    
    Redis port:
    6379
    
    Redis password:
    [leave blank unless you configured one]
    

    The wizard will also generate application secrets.

    SMTP configuration

    Enter your SMTP provider information. For example:

    SMTP server:
    smtp.example.net
    
    SMTP port:
    587
    
    SMTP username:
    YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME
    
    SMTP password:
    YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD
    
    SMTP authentication:
    plain
    
    SMTP OpenSSL verify mode:
    peer
    
    E-mail address to send e-mails "from":
    Mastodon <notifications@example.com>
    

    Use the exact host, port, authentication method, TLS settings, username, and password supplied by your mail provider.

    When prompted, allow the installer to:

    prepare the database
    compile assets
    

    You can also let the wizard create your initial administrator account.

    The resulting configuration is stored at:

    /home/mastodon/live/.env.production
    

    Protect it:

    chmod 600 ~/.env.production
    

    Exit back to root:

    exit
    

15. Review the Mastodon configuration

    As root:

    sudo -u mastodon nano /home/mastodon/live/.env.production
    

    Important settings will resemble:

    LOCAL_DOMAIN=social.example.com
    
    DB_HOST=/var/run/postgresql
    DB_USER=mastodon
    DB_NAME=mastodon_production
    
    REDIS_HOST=localhost
    REDIS_PORT=6379
    
    SMTP_SERVER=smtp.example.net
    SMTP_PORT=587
    SMTP_LOGIN=YOUR_SMTP_USERNAME
    SMTP_PASSWORD=YOUR_SMTP_PASSWORD
    SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS=notifications@example.com
    

    Never publish this file. It contains secrets that can compromise your Mastodon installation.

16. Configure Nginx

    Mastodon includes an Nginx configuration template. The official installation documentation recommends copying this template and modifying it for your hostname.

    See Also: 🚀 Deploy Docmost on Ubuntu VPS

    On AlmaLinux, use /etc/nginx/conf.d instead of Debian’s sites-available layout:

    cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/mastodon.conf
    

    Edit it:

    nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/mastodon.conf
    

    Replace every occurrence of:

    example.com
    

    with:

    social.example.com
    

    Confirm that the document root is:

    root /home/mastodon/live/public;
    

    Temporarily leave the SSL certificate directives disabled until Certbot has obtained the certificate.

    Test Nginx:

    nginx -t
    

    If successful:

    syntax is ok
    test is successful
    

    Enable Nginx:

    systemctl enable --now nginx
    

17. Configure SELinux

    Do not disable SELinux simply to make Mastodon work.

    First allow Nginx to traverse the Mastodon home directory:

    chmod o+x /home/mastodon
    

    Give the Mastodon public directory the appropriate web-server SELinux context:

    semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/home/mastodon/live/public(/.*)?"
    restorecon -Rv /home/mastodon/live/public
    

    Mastodon’s Nginx frontend also needs permission to connect to the Mastodon application processes on localhost:

    setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1
    

    Confirm SELinux remains enforcing:

    getenforce
    

    Expected:

    Enforcing
    

18. Configure firewalld

    Check whether firewalld is running:

    systemctl status firewalld
    

    If you use it, allow HTTP and HTTPS:

    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
    firewall-cmd --reload
    

    Verify:

    firewall-cmd --list-services
    

    You should see at least:

    http https ssh
    

    Do not open PostgreSQL 5432, Redis 6379, Mastodon Puma 3000, or streaming 4000 to the Internet for this single-server configuration.

19. Obtain a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate

    Make sure:

    social.example.com
    

    already resolves publicly to the VPS.

    Then obtain the certificate:

    certbot certonly --nginx -d social.example.com
    

    Mastodon’s official setup also uses Certbot/Let’s Encrypt before enabling the final HTTPS configuration.

    Your certificate should be stored under:

    /etc/letsencrypt/live/social.example.com/
    

    Edit:

    nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/mastodon.conf
    

    Enable or set:

    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/social.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/social.example.com/privkey.pem;
    

    Test:

    nginx -t
    

    Restart:

    systemctl restart nginx
    

    Test certificate renewal:

    certbot renew --dry-run
    

20. Install the Mastodon systemd services

    Mastodon provides service definitions for its three principal application components:

    See Also: How to Restore Your Website Using JetBackup in cPanel (Fast 5 Step Guide)

    mastodon-web
    mastodon-sidekiq
    mastodon-streaming
    

    Copy them:

    cp /home/mastodon/live/dist/mastodon-*.service /etc/systemd/system/
    

    This is also Mastodon’s official deployment method.

    Inspect them:

    grep -E 'User=|WorkingDirectory|ExecStart' /etc/systemd/system/mastodon-*.service
    

    Make sure they reference:

    User=mastodon
    /home/mastodon/live
    

    Reload systemd:

    systemctl daemon-reload
    

    Enable and start all Mastodon processes:

    systemctl enable --now \
      mastodon-web \
      mastodon-sidekiq \
      mastodon-streaming
    

    The official Mastodon installation instructions use the same three units.

21. Verify all Mastodon services

    Check:

    systemctl status mastodon-web
    

    systemctl status mastodon-sidekiq
    

    systemctl status mastodon-streaming
    

    All three should report:

    active (running)
    

    Check the backend ports:

    ss -lntp | grep -E '3000|4000'
    

    Typically:

    127.0.0.1:3000
    127.0.0.1:4000
    

    The services should remain bound locally and be accessed externally only through Nginx.

22. Check the website

    Open:

    https://social.example.com
    

    You should see the Mastodon interface.

    You can also test locally:

    curl -I https://social.example.com
    

    A normal response should include an HTTP success or redirect status rather than a 502 Bad Gateway.

23. Create or promote the administrator account

    If you did not create an administrator during mastodon:setup, create one from the command line:

    su - mastodon
    cd ~/live
    RAILS_ENV=production bin/tootctl accounts create admin \
      --email admin@example.com \
      --confirmed \
      --role Owner
    

    Mastodon will output a generated password.

    Sign in immediately and change it to a strong password.

    If the user already exists, assign the appropriate administrative role using the tootctl accounts commands supported by your installed Mastodon release.

    Exit:

    exit
    

24. Verify email delivery

    Email is one of the most common sources of problems on a new Mastodon server.

    Watch Sidekiq:

    journalctl -u mastodon-sidekiq -f
    

    Then generate an email from Mastodon—for example, a password reset or account confirmation.

    If messages fail, verify:

    SMTP hostname
    SMTP port
    SMTP username
    SMTP password
    TLS mode
    sender/domain verification
    SPF
    DKIM
    DMARC
    

    For production use, an external transactional email provider is generally more reliable than trying to deliver mail directly from the VPS.

25. Useful log commands

    Follow Mastodon’s web-service logs:

    journalctl -u mastodon-web -f
    

    Sidekiq:

    journalctl -u mastodon-sidekiq -f
    

    Streaming:

    journalctl -u mastodon-streaming -f
    

    Nginx:

    tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
    

    PostgreSQL:

    journalctl -u postgresql -f
    

    Redis:

    journalctl -u redis -f
    

    View recent errors from all Mastodon units:

    journalctl \
      -u mastodon-web \
      -u mastodon-sidekiq \
      -u mastodon-streaming \
      --since "30 minutes ago"
    

26. Common 502 Bad Gateway troubleshooting

    First check the Mastodon web process:

    See Also: How to Install Prometheus on Debian VPS

    systemctl status mastodon-web
    

    Then:

    journalctl -u mastodon-web -n 100 --no-pager
    

    Check whether port 3000 is listening:

    ss -lntp | grep 3000
    

    Test the application directly:

    curl -I http://127.0.0.1:3000
    

    If that works but Nginx returns 502, check:

    nginx -t
    tail -100 /var/log/nginx/error.log
    

    On AlmaLinux, an SELinux denial is also a common cause. Check:

    ausearch -m AVC -ts recent
    

    Make sure:

    setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1
    

    has been applied.

27. Test PostgreSQL and Redis

    As the mastodon Linux user:

    sudo -u mastodon psql mastodon_production
    

    If PostgreSQL peer authentication is configured correctly, this should connect without requesting a password.

    Exit:

    \q
    

    Redis:

    redis-cli ping
    

    Expected:

    PONG
    

28. Check Mastodon from Rails

    Run:

    su - mastodon
    cd ~/live
    RAILS_ENV=production bin/rails runner 'puts Mastodon::Version.to_s'
    

    This should print your installed Mastodon version.

    Exit:

    exit
    

29. Back up Mastodon

    At minimum, back up three things:

    PostgreSQL database
    .env.production
    uploaded/local media
    

    For PostgreSQL:

    sudo -u postgres pg_dump -Fc mastodon_production > /root/mastodon-$(date +%F).dump
    

    Back up configuration:

    cp /home/mastodon/live/.env.production \
       /root/mastodon-env-$(date +%F)
    

    If using local file storage, back up:

    /home/mastodon/live/public/system
    

    A proper production deployment should copy backups to a different server or object-storage provider rather than leaving them on the Mastodon VPS.

30. Updating Mastodon

    Always read the release notes for every version you are crossing before upgrading. Mastodon frequently includes release-specific database migrations or asset-build instructions. The project explicitly warns administrators to read skipped-release upgrade notes.

    First back up the database.

    Then:

    su - mastodon
    cd ~/live
    

    Fetch releases:

    git fetch --tags
    

    Determine the stable release you want to install and check it out, for example:

    git checkout v4.6.4
    

    Update Ruby if .ruby-version changed:

    RUBY_CONFIGURE_OPTS=--with-jemalloc rbenv install
    

    Install updated Ruby dependencies:

    bundle install
    

    Install frontend dependencies:

    yarn install --immutable
    

    Run database migrations:

    RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails db:migrate
    

    Precompile assets when required:

    RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails assets:precompile
    

    Exit:

    exit
    

    Restart Mastodon:

    systemctl restart \
      mastodon-web \
      mastodon-sidekiq \
      mastodon-streaming
    

    Current Mastodon 4.6 non-Docker upgrade notes explicitly call for dependency installation, asset compilation when required, and restarting Mastodon processes.

31. Basic production security checklist

    Keep AlmaLinux updated:

    dnf update -y
    

    Keep SELinux enabled:

    getenforce
    

    Keep PostgreSQL and Redis restricted to localhost.

    Only expose externally:

    22/tcp    SSH
    80/tcp    HTTP
    443/tcp   HTTPS
    

    For SSH, consider:

    SSH keys instead of passwords
    PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
    Fail2ban or equivalent protection
    a non-default administrative account
    

    Also make sure you have:

    See Also: How to Install GoToSocial on Rocky Linux VPS (10 Minute Launch Guide 🚀)

    automated off-server database backups
    media backups/object storage
    working SSL renewal
    working SMTP delivery
    SPF
    DKIM
    DMARC
    filesystem monitoring
    adequate disk-space alerts
    

32. Optional: use object storage

    For anything beyond a tiny instance, moving Mastodon media to S3-compatible object storage is worth considering.

    It prevents cached federated media from consuming your VPS system disk and makes future server migrations easier.

    Typical .env.production options include settings for:

    S3_ENABLED
    S3_BUCKET
    S3_REGION
    S3_HOSTNAME
    AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
    

    Consult the Mastodon configuration documentation for the exact variables appropriate to your object-storage provider and Mastodon release.

    Restart the Mastodon services after changing .env.production.

33. Optional: full-text search

    Mastodon can operate without Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, but installing a compatible search backend provides substantially better full-text search capabilities.

    Mastodon 4.6 lists Elasticsearch 7.x as recommended, with OpenSearch also supported.

    For a small VPS, consider leaving search disabled initially because Elasticsearch/OpenSearch can consume significant additional RAM.

34. Final service check

    Run:

    systemctl is-active nginx
    systemctl is-active postgresql
    systemctl is-active redis
    systemctl is-active mastodon-web
    systemctl is-active mastodon-sidekiq
    systemctl is-active mastodon-streaming
    

    Each should return:

    active
    

    Check certificates:

    certbot certificates
    

    Check disk space:

    df -h
    

    Check memory:

    free -h
    

    Check Mastodon:

    curl -I https://social.example.com
    

    At this point your AlmaLinux VPS should be running a production-style Mastodon stack:

    Internet
       |
       v
    Nginx :443
       |
       +----> Mastodon Web / Puma :3000
       |
       +----> Mastodon Streaming :4000
    
    Mastodon
       |
       +----> PostgreSQL
       |
       +----> Redis
       |
       +----> Sidekiq
       |
       +----> SMTP provider
    

    Nginx handles the public HTTP/HTTPS connections, Mastodon’s Rails/Puma process serves the application, the streaming service handles real-time connections, Sidekiq processes background jobs, PostgreSQL stores persistent application data, and Redis handles queues and transient/cache data.

    This follows Mastodon’s standard three-service systemd architecture while adapting the package management, Nginx layout, firewall, PostgreSQL initialization, and SELinux configuration for AlmaLinux.

Conclusion

You now know how to install and run Mastodon server on AlmaLinux VPS.