I would like to host my own instance, where do I start?

To host your own Lemmy instance, you can follow these steps:

1. Install Lemmy Backend: Lemmy is built from source, so the installation may take a while. You can follow the instructions on Rustup to install Rust[1]. For a faster installation, you can use prebuilt binaries with Docker.

2. Install lemmy-ui (web frontend): Clone the git repo and compile it[1].

3. Configure Lemmy: The configuration is based on the file config.hjson, which is located by default at config/config.hjson. You can set the environment variable LEMMY_CONFIG_LOCATION to change the default location[2]. You'll need to set the site name, admin email, hostname, and other necessary configurations[2].

4. Create a systemd unit file: Add a systemd unit file to manage the Lemmy service[1].

5. Set up a reverse proxy: You can use any reverse proxy to serve your Lemmy instance. An example Caddy configuration can be found in the Lemmy documentation[3].

6. Open your Lemmy domain in the browser: After completing the installation and configuration, open your Lemmy domain in the browser. It should show you a configuration screen. Use it to create the first admin user and the default community[1].

7. Federate with other instances: To communicate with other instances, make sure your instance has TLS enabled and federate with at least one instance from the list[4].

8. Customize your instance: Go to your admin panel and define a description for your site, add an icon and a banner, and explore other customization options[4].

For a more detailed guide and video tutorial, you can refer to the YouTube video "How to set up a Lemmy instance in a cloud server"[5] and the Lemmy installation tutorial video[6].

Once your instance is up and running, you can invite your friends to join and communicate with other instances. Remember to keep your instance updated and secure to ensure a smooth experience for your users.

Citations:

[1] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/from_scratch.html

[2] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/configuration.html

[3] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/administration.html

[4] https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/first_steps.html

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fzCUEpFnDg

[6] https://lemmy.eus/post/75881?scrollToComments=true

If you are not so experienced with self-hosting maybe try Yunohost: https://yunohost.org/

The version of Lemmy it has is a bit outdated right now, but they will probably update it soon.