Running Your Own Instance

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Why Run Your Own Bonfire Instance?

Running your own Bonfire instance gives you full control over your digital space and how you connect to the fediverse. It is the best way to shape your online experience and contribute to a healthier, more diverse fediverse!

Benefits

  • Autonomy: Set your own rules, moderation policies, and community guidelines.
  • Privacy: Decide how data is stored, who can join, and what features are enabled.
  • Customization: Enable or disable Bonfire extensions, adjust boundaries, and tailor the experience for your community’s needs.
  • Resilience: Your instance is independent—no single company or admin can take it away.
  • Community Building: Create a space for your friends, organization, or interest group, with unique culture and governance.

Who is it for?

  • Individuals who want a personal, independent presence.
  • Groups, collectives, or organizations who want to host their own community.
  • Projects that need custom features or integrations.
  • Anyone who wants to experiment with new social models or moderation approaches.

What does it involve?

  • Choosing what flavour to install.
  • Renting a server or using a hosting provider.
  • Setting up a domain, mail, and DNS (see the Setup Tutorial).
  • Installing and maintaining Bonfire (see the Hosting Guide).
  • Optionally, inviting others and managing your community.

You need some technical savvy but don't need to be an expert — Bonfire aims to make self-hosting as accessible as possible, and you can always start small and grow as you learn.

Getting Started

  • See the Setup Tutorial for preparing your server, domain, mail, and DNS.
  • Follow the Hosting Guide for installation instructions (Co-op Cloud, Docker, bare-metal, etc).

Instance Settings

  • Configure your instance’s flavour, extensions, privacy defaults, and moderation policies.
  • Manage invites, user accounts, and community guidelines.

Maintenance

  • Keep your instance updated for security and new features.
  • Back up your data regularly.
  • Monitor performance and logs via the admin dashboard.

Tips

  • Start small and grow your community as you learn.
  • Use extensions and flavours to customize your instance.
  • Join the Bonfire community for support and ideas.

For technical details, see Hosting Guide. For setup steps, see Setup Tutorial.