I have a recent version of Ubuntu

[DaveDibble]

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites/

Preparation to install Mastodon includes:

systemctl restart ssh.service

I get:

Failed to restart ssh.service: Unit ssh.service not found.

[DaveDibble]

Also next step

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Running w/o sudo gets permission denied. Running w/ sudo gets:

146 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them. E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (13: Permission denied) E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), are you root?

[aaaaalbert]

Hi @DaveDibble,

Two quick fixes for you

Re: failed to start ssh.service --> installing the openssh-server package should fix that.

Re: permission denied when upgrading --> you will need to run both commands with sudo: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

A fix for the docs?

Well, what can we assume that a sysadmin knows? Should we explain "the command line" and (what I'd consider) usual patterns here?

Two immediate to-dos emerge AFAICS:

• [ ] Check whether recent versions of Ubuntu include sshd per default or not. (There are multiple issues of type "doesn't work on recent Ubuntu"!)
• [ ] The cited docs page doesn't mention that a sudo-able account should be used or similar, so that sure needs work.

[DaveDibble]

To say 'thank you' to your patience and quick response seems inadequate. I do not claim to be a savvy UBUNTU admin - just someone who uses linux instead of Windows or Apple. I applaud efforts like Mastodon trying new things. I think I am starting to understand that to use it I can 1) install a node in the federation or 2) download and use software to join thru another's node. Is this correct? The notion of choosing another place to connect to the federation seems confusing - how does one do it? Is this even the proper way to look at what is going on? That said:

sudo apt install openssh-server

was successful. as was

systemctl restart ssh.service

Then I ran

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

and it was successful as well.

Again, thanks for making the effort to respond to what may seem to you to be obvious. It is late for me and I can proceed tomorrow

On Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 3:16 PM aaaaalbert @.***> wrote:

Hi @DaveDibble https://github.com/DaveDibble, Two quick fixes for you

Re: failed to start ssh.service --> installing the openssh-server package should fix that.

Re: permission denied when upgrading --> you will need to run both commands with sudo: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y A fix for the docs?

Well, what can we assume that a sysadmin knows? Should we explain "the command line" and (what I'd consider) usual patterns here?

Two immediate to-dos emerge AFAICS:

• Check whether recent versions of Ubuntu include sshd per default or not. (There are multiple issues of type "doesn't work on recent Ubuntu"!)
• The cited docs page doesn't mention that a sudo-able account should be used or similar, so that sure needs work.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/mastodon/documentation/issues/1590#issuecomment-2622982971, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAOK4OT7ZL7OTDRMIZZVFD2NFHMRAVCNFSM6AAAAABWD3OAF2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMMRSHE4DEOJXGE . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[aaaaalbert]

Sure, happy to help, and I appreciate you took the time to report this issue in the first place – it's not self-evident whether the documentation is as clear as it should be, for admins of different levels of prior knowledge, etc.

Re your points 1) and 2): Yes, you may run your own server and create an account there, or create an account on an existing server – or even both! Check https://fedi.tips, it has lots of useful info, e.g. for choosing an existing server, using multiple accounts, and moving them between servers.

(The person running the site also replies to direct questions via Fediverse posts, see https://social.growyourown.services/@FediTips )

[mjankowski]

I'm going to close this on the assumption that there's not actually a docs change to extract here (I share the sentiment above of not being totally sure how much to assume on basic sysadmin knowledge vs spelling out in docs).

That said ... doing some sort of regular "update this page to use latest ubuntu and verify the steps all work on stock install" might make sense. Perhaps that could be automated somehow and trigger a docs review if anything fails.

Please reopen this if I'm missing something here and there is an obvious change to make!