FreshRSS¶

FreshRSS is a multiuser self-hosted RSS feed aggregator.

Note

For this guide you should be familiar with the basic concepts of

License¶

FreshRSS is free and open source software licensed under the GNU AGPLv3.

Prerequisites¶

We’re using PHP in the stable version 8.1:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ uberspace tools version show php
Using 'PHP' version: '8.1'
[isabell@stardust ~]$

You’ll need your MySQL credentials. Get them with my_print_defaults:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ my_print_defaults client
--default-character-set=utf8mb4
--user=isabell
--password=MySuperSecretPassword
[isabell@stardust ~]$

If you want to use FreshRSS with your own domain, it needs to be set up.

[isabell@stardust ~]$ uberspace web domain list
isabell.uber.space
[isabell@stardust ~]$

Create a new MySQL database:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ mysql --verbose --execute="CREATE DATABASE ${USER}_freshrss"
--------------
CREATE DATABASE isabell_freshrss
--------------

[isabell@stardust ~]$

Installation¶

cd to your DocumentRoot and download the latest release from GitHub, then unzip it:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ wget https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS/archive/latest.zip
--2018-09-24 14:30:37--  https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS/archive/latest.zip
Resolving github.com (github.com)... 192.30.253.112, 192.30.253.113
[…]
Saving to: ‘latest.zip’

    [   <=>                    ] 2,694,638   4.37MB/s   in 0.6s

2018-09-24 14:30:38 (4.37 MB/s) - ‘latest.zip’ saved [2694638]
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ unzip latest.zip
[…]
  creating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/lib/PHPMailer/
 inflating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/lib/PHPMailer/PHPMailerTest.php
 inflating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/shellchecks.sh

Configuration¶

You can setup your FreshRSS installation using FreshRSS’s command line interface (CLI):

[isabell@stardust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ cd FreshRSS-latest
[isabell@stardust FreshRSS-latest]$ ./cli/do-install.php --default_user <yourfreshrssusername>  --base_url https://isabell.uber.space --title FreshRSS --api_enabled --db-type mysql --db-host localhost:3306 --db-user ${USER} --db-password '<yourmysqlpassword>' --db-base  ${USER}_freshrss
FreshRSS install…
ℹ️ Remember to create the default user: isabell     ./cli/create-user.php --user isabell --password 'password' --more-options
ℹ️ Remember to re-apply the appropriate access rights, such as:  sudo chown -R :www-data . && sudo chmod -R g+r . && sudo chmod -R g+w ./data/
[isabell@stardust FreshRSS-latest]$ ./cli/create-user.php --user <yourfrehrssusername> --password <yourfreshrsspassword>
FreshRSS creating user “isabell”…
ℹ️ Remember to refresh the feeds of the user: isabell       ./cli/actualize-user.php --user isabell
ℹ️ Remember to re-apply the appropriate access rights, such as:  sudo chown -R :www-data . && sudo chmod -R g+r . && sudo chmod -R g+w ./data/
[isabell@stardust FreshRSS-latest]$

Make sure to replace the usernames, passwords, and base URL, so instead of <yourfreshrssusername> use the user name of your choice, etc.

Cron job¶

To automatically update your feeds every ten minutes, set up a cron job like this using the crontab -e command.

*/10 * * * * php /var/www/virtual/$USER/FreshRSS-latest/app/actualize_script.php > $HOME/logs/FreshRSS.log 2>&1

Web Access¶

Remove your html directory and create a symbolic link html -> FreshRSS-latest/p/:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ rm -f html/nocontent.html; rmdir html
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ ln -s FreshRSS-latest/p/ html
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ ls -l
total 2636
drwxrwxr-x. 11 isabell isabell    4096 Sep  9 11:03 FreshRSS-latest
lrwxrwxrwx.  1 isabell isabell      18 Sep 24 14:43 html -> FreshRSS-latest/p/
-rw-rw-r--.  1 isabell isabell 2694638 Sep 24 14:30 latest.zip

Updates¶

Keep an eye on the FreshRSS releases feed, which has automatically been added as your first subscription in FreshRSS. When a new version is released, remove the previously downloaded ZIP archive and download the current release, then unzip it:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ rm latest.zip
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ wget https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS/archive/latest.zip
--2018-09-24 14:30:37--  https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS/archive/latest.zip
Resolving github.com (github.com)... 192.30.253.112, 192.30.253.113
[…]
Saving to: ‘latest.zip’

    [   <=>                                  ] 2,694,638   4.37MB/s   in 0.6s

2018-09-24 14:30:38 (4.37 MB/s) - ‘latest.zip’ saved [2694638]
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ unzip -o latest.zip -x FreshRSS-latest/data/do-install.txt
[…]
 inflating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/app/Models/UserQueryTest.php
 inflating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/bootstrap.php
 inflating: FreshRSS-latest/tests/phpunit.xml
[isabell@stardust isabell]$

This will overwrite any changed files while keeping your current configuration.

Tested with FreshRSS 1.20.0, Uberspace 7.13.0, and PHP 8.1

Written by: Nico Graf <hallo@uberspace.de>