How To Install Tiny Tiny RSS In Ubuntu (Google Reader Alternative You Can Use On Your Server)

Since Google will close Google Reader in July, many users are searching for alternatives and there are a ton of services out there, some really good, but I'm sure some of you prefer to use a feed reader you can install on your own server and Tiny Tiny RSS seems to be one of the best.

Tiny Tiny RSS is an open source web-based RSS reader that you can install on your server (ideally, but you can also install it on your desktop), that features an Ajax-powered interface, keyboard shortcuts, OPML import/export so you can easily import your Google Reader feeds, article sharing, supports mobile devices, can be extended through plugins and much more.

Tiny Tiny RSS

Tiny Tiny RSS preferences

Tiny Tiny RSS is available in the Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04 repositories (and you can use the 13.04 deb in Ubuntu 12.04 too - tested and working) so it's pretty easy to install, but it still requires some configuration to get it running. Read on!

Other Google Reader alternatives that you can without having to install then locally (though for Feedly, you need to install a Google Reader / Chrome extension), like Google Reader:

• Feedly
• NewsBlur
• TheOldReader
• Netvibes
• Pulse

How to install and set up Tiny Tiny RSS in Ubuntu

Update: to install the latest Tiny Tiny RSS in Ubuntu via PPA, see THIS article.

Note: the instructions below should also work in Debian since this article is heavily inspired by THESE instructions which are for Debian, but I've only tested them in Ubuntu!

1. Install Tiny Tiny RSS in Ubuntu.

Firstly, let's install Tiny Tiny RSS and MySQL (I've used MySQL but you can also use PostGreSql).

To install mysql-server and mysql-client, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client apache2 libapache2-mod-php5

For Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04, install Tiny Tiny RSS using the following command:

sudo apt-get install tt-rss

For Ubuntu 12.04, we'll need to download and install the Tiny Tiny RSS deb from Ubuntu 13.04:

cd && wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tt-rss/1.6.2+dfsg-2/+build/4195975/+files/tt-rss_1.6.2%2Bdfsg-2_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i tt-rss*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Then, follow the instructions. When prompted, select "mysql" and "apache2" for the web server.

If for some reason you want to run the initial configuration again, use the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tt-rss

2. Setting up Tiny Tiny RSS.

You need to edit /etc/tt-rss/config.php with a text editor as root, e.g.: nano:

sudo nano /etc/tt-rss/config.php

- in this file, scroll down to "define('SELF_URL_PATH', 'http://yourserver/tt-rss/');" and replace "yourserver" with your server address, or use "localhost" if you only plan on using it locally. Then save the file and exit (press: CTRL + o, ENTER then CTRL + x).

Next, let's link to the Apache rules and restart the Apache service (I believe that the Debian version of tt-rss - 1.7.8 -, that doesn't require this):

sudo ln -s ../conf-available/50-tt-rss.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d
sudo service apache2 restart

3. Getting Tiny Tiny RSS to update the feeds.

By default, Tiny Tiny RSS doesn't update the feeds. To get it to update the feeds automatically, we'll need to edit the /etc/default/tt-rss file as root with a text editor. Once again, we'll use nano:

sudo nano /etc/default/tt-rss

And in this file, change "DISABLED" from "1" to "0", then save the file and exit (to save an exit in Nano, press CTRL + o, ENTER then CTRL + x).

And finally, start the Tiny Tiny RSS service:

sudo service tt-rss start

You only need to run this command once, the tt-rss daemon should start automatically on each system startup.

4. Finishing up the Tiny Tiny RSS configuration.

Now navigate to http://localhost/tt-rss, use "admin" for the username and "password" for the password, log in, make sure you change the default password and make any other changes you want.

5. Optional: import your Google Reader feeds into Tiny Tiny RSS.

- a. Firstly export your Google Reader data from HERE. Once it finishes, download the archive and extract it.

- b. Now in the Tiny Tiny RSS Preferences, click on the "Feeds" tab:

... then click "Import and export" (this is how it shows up in the version available in the Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail repository but I believe it's a bit different for newer Tiny Tiny RSS versions), then click "Browse" under OPML, select the subscriptions.xml file you've extracted from the archive downloaded under step a, then click "Import my OPML" and you're done.

via 510x.se