(2021) Tutorial for Self-Hosting RSS Reader Tiny Tiny RSS, Docker Installation of Awesome TTRSS

Tiny Tiny RSSis a free, open-source RSS aggregator reader based on PHP. It is currently one of the more popular choices for self-hosting an RSS subscription service. Naibabiji previously shared a method to install Tiny Tiny RSS via source code. Recently, it was discovered that the official version only supports installing TTRSS via docker, sothis tutorial has been updatedon how to install Awesome TTRSS using docker.

Awesome TTRSS aims to provide an 「all-in-one containerized」solution for Tiny Tiny RSS, offering an easy deployment method and some additional plugins to enhance the user experience. (Naiba hasn't figured out how to install the official Tiny Tiny RSS version, ( ╯□╰ ))

Preparation Before Self-hosting Tiny Tiny RSS

To successfully self-host a Tiny Tiny RSS service, we need to prepare the following:

1. A VPS server. If you want to subscribe to foreign sources, it is recommended to choose a foreign VPS;
2. A domain name. If you plan to access it directly via the server IP, this is optional.

The server can be domestic or foreign. If you have many subscription sources from foreign websites, it is recommended to use a foreign server for better network connectivity. As for the domain, registering one can cost anywhere from a few yuan to tens of yuan per year. If you already have a domain, you can also use a subdomain directly. Refer toDomain Name Guide。

Steps to Self-host Tiny Tiny RSS

Create a VPS Server

For the server, it is recommended to choose aforeign VPS. Naiba here choosesVultr, where you can purchase a server starting at $2.5 per month, but it is recommended to start with the $5 plan for better performance, which also allows you to host websites.Vultr Server Purchase Tutorial For the operating system, choose the CentOS 7 version. It is recommended to select at least the $5 configuration for better performance, and you can alsobuild a website。

install Baota Panel

on this server. After the server is created, we will install Baota Panel on it.

Baota Panel is a server operation and maintenance panel that can help us visualize many operations that require entering Linux command lines, a boon for beginners.

Naibabiji previously published a dedicated tutorial on installing Baota Panel, please refer to:2021 Baota Panel Installation Tutorial (Updated with Installation Video Tutorial)

Install docker and docker-compose

After Baota Panel installation is complete, select Software Store on the left, then search for docker to install.If you want to manually install docker using the terminal, the command is as follows:

curl -sSL https://get.docker.com/ | sh
systemctl enable --now docker

After the Docker Manager installation is complete, we also need to manually install docker-compose.You can use the terminal in Baota Panel, or enter the following command in xShell to install docker-compose (the latest version at the time of this tutorial's release is 1.29.2).

curl -L https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-`uname -s`-`uname -m` -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

After installation, enter the following command to check if the installation was successful.

docker -v
docker-compose -v

Install Awesome TTRSS

Awesome TTRSS can be installed via docker or docker-compose. Here we will use the docker-compose method for installation. 1、Downloaddocker-compose.ymlthis file to any folder on the server. Open Baota Panel, click Files on the left, which will default to navigating to /www/wwwroot. The tutorial saves it to this folder.Click Remote Download, enter the URL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HenryQW/Awesome-TTRSS/main/docker-compose.yml, then confirm. Next, in Baota Panel's File Manager, click to edit this docker-compose.yml file and modify the following 3 parameters.

SELF_URL_PATH=http://localhost:181/ # 把localhost修改为你自己服务器的IP，便于待会儿通过IP访问查看是否正常工作。
DB_PASS=ttrss # 把ttrss改成和下面参数一样的值。 
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=ttrss # 把ttrss改成和上面一样的值，就是说这两个参数用同一个密码。

After making the modifications, save the file, then click Terminal.Enter docker-compose up -d, and when prompted with 'done', it means the service deployment and startup were successful.

Modify Tiny Tiny RSS Configuration

After starting TTRSS with the above command, we can access the Tiny Tiny RSS login interface by opening your VPS's IP address plus port 181 in a browser.If you find that entering VPSIP:181 does not open TTRSS, first check if port 181 is not opened in the firewall. Search for 'firewall' in Baota Panel's App Store, then go to the firewall and add a TCP rule for port 181.Enter the default usernameadminand passwordpasswordto log in.In the top right corner of the screen, click the three bars, select Preferences to enter settings. Under the Language item, select Simplified Chinese and save, and the interface will change to Simplified Chinese.You can configure the remaining settings according to your actual situation.

Bind a Domain to Tiny Tiny RSS

Accessing Tiny Tiny RSS via IP+port is ultimately not very convenient. Next, let's bind a domain name to Tiny Tiny RSS.In the Websites section of Baota Panel, add a website. There is no need to create FTP or a database, just fill in the domain name and confirm.Then click the Settings button next to the website, and on the left side of the settings interface, select Reverse Proxy. Fill in any proxy name, target URL as http://127.0.0.1:181, and submit. Then go back to the File Manager, edit the docker-compose.yml file, change the URL after SELF_URL_PATH= to your bound domain name URL, and save. Open the terminal, enter docker-compose up -d to deploy again. Then you can open Tiny Tiny RSS by accessing the domain name.

Acknowledgments

At this point, the Tiny Tiny RSS installation tutorial is complete. Thanks toimhu和Big Bird Blogfor sharing. Naiba also learned and figured out this tutorial by searching for their articles. Also, thanks toAwesome TTRSSThe project author's efforts have brought us a Tiny Tiny RSS reader project with a better user experience for novices like us.