I am Interested in Becoming a Pod Provider – want Tips or Advice?

Sakura · April 24, 2025, 5:08pm

Hey everyone,

I have been diving into the idea of becoming a pod provider but I am not entirely sure where to start.

I understand the basics of how pods work but I want to hear from anyone who’s already running a pod. What are some of the most important things to know before diving in? Are there any common pitfalls to avoid or resources you found particularly helpful?

I completed a selenium course & I am keen on expanding my knowledge in other tech fields. If anyone has advice on how pod management might intersect with automation or testing frameworks, feel free to share!

Also i have check this Become a Solid-Pod-Provider still need adviceAlso, if there is anything about infrastructure or security that I should be focusing on, I would appreciate any tips!

Thank you.

jeffz · April 24, 2025, 5:20pm

@ewingson might be able to help.

ewingson · April 24, 2025, 9:25pm

from the merely technical point of view this might be helpful :

gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/ewingson/2f92858f97e8043ded41cc87bc82b4d1

Becoming a Solid IDP.md

# Becoming a Solid IDP

- deploying CSS on a remote machine means you are a public accessible Pod Provider
- the pure installation of CSS is relatively simple (a couple of npm commands) but there is more needed, e.g. the certificates, the underlying web server (if wanted) or the configuration of the server, the service and the setup of the webroot
- detailed steps can be seen here `https://gist.github.com/ewingson/dbfee4d329c803aed0b0bd87e7a2fa00` but this may vary depending on the hosting service provider and the booked virtual server (this must be a root machine, means you need ssh-access as user root)
- I'm not really sure, if using the SSL-options of the provider can simplify the process, I doubt that
- I'll try to get into the details now

1. sign the domain name at a hosting service provider
2. sign the server package at a hosting service provider (here it is called "virtual server" and you get along with 10 bucks a month) (this may be a different provider as 1., but for simplicity I'll recommend booking both on the same service)

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gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/ewingson/c6e97a996aa51eac9f7fd1b7eaf14dc4

Documentation solidweb.org install.md

# Documentation solidweb.org install

* install environment (Debian 10, https://kis.hosteurope.de)
* change and note password (Kundenadmin)
* ssh into the machine as root
* apt-get update
* apt-get upgrade
* apt-get install curl nano nginx
* systemctl stop apache2
* systemctl start nginx

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gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/ewingson/dbfee4d329c803aed0b0bd87e7a2fa00

Documentation CSS config solidweb.me v0.3.md

# Documentation CSS config solidweb.me v0.3
- npm install -g npm@latest (assumes node installed)
- npm install -g @solid/community-server
- (actual nginx)
- install certbot via pip
- certbot certonly \ --manual \ --preferred-challenges=dns \ --email evemat@web.de \ --server https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory \ --agree-tos \ --manual-public-ip-logging-ok \ -d solidweb.me -d *.solidweb.me
- DNS-Challenge (DNS Text-Record)
- nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/solidweb.me.conf
```
# The local Solid server instance

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we have Node Solid Server since est. 2016 and Community Solid Server - hmm - since 2020 (?) estimated, but understand ourselves still as incubation space.

I am running https://solidweb.org https://solidweb.me and https://teamid.live but am not a security expert.

as I understand it, a legal aspect to consider is the location of the physical hardware, cause that defines the jurisdiction your org is falling under.
any current linux OS should do for the host system (in every case ubuntu or debian, maybe arch or alpine linux ?).
also check https://matrix.to/#/#solid_pods:matrix.org

happy to help, but honestly it is still early days.

mrkvon · April 27, 2025, 12:03pm

Some time ago I wrote a detailed, opinionated tutorial for setting up Community Solid Server in production, maybe it helps: GitHub - mrkvon/css-setup: Set up Community Solid Server with Debian, nginx, pm2 and letsencrypt
It’s based on my personal setup. Unlike @ewingson, I don’t have experience providing pods for other people.
Also you may try to reach out to people who have been managing solidcommunity.net and who recently migrated it from NSS to CSS/Pivot. They have a dedicated matrix room and might be able to answer some of your questions: https://matrix.to/#/#solid_solidcommunity.net:gitter.im

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I am Interested in Becoming a Pod Provider – want Tips or Advice?

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