Tiny Tiny RSS Ubuntu PPA (Google Reader Alternative)

A while back we wrote about installing and configuring Tiny Tiny RSS in Ubuntu, a Google Reader (which will be closing in July) alternative that you can host on your computer / server, but the version available in the Ubuntu repositories is pretty old, so I've uploaded the latest Tiny Tiny RSS version to a PPA, which should make it a lot easier to install in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04.

At the time I'm writing this article, our PPA has Tiny Tiny RSS version 1.7.9, while Ubuntu 13.04 has version 1.6.2. 

Since version 1.6.2, there have been many changes, like interface and typography improvements, error logging, new plugin system that includes plugins such as importing starred/shared.json files from Google Reader takeout or emulate Google Reader keyboard shortcuts and others, improved feed update speed, implemented basic password recovery and many other new features, tweaks and bug fixes.

Plugins available in Tiny Tiny RSS 1.7.9

Install (and configure) the latest Tiny Tiny RSS in Ubuntu via PPA

The PPA packages are the work of Sebastian Reichel, who is maintaining Tiny Tiny RSS for Debian. I've just tweaked the package to work with the latest Tiny Tiny RSS 1.7.9 (Debian has 1.7.8 for now) and uploaded it to the PPA.

Update: the PPA now provides Tiny Tiny RSS 1.9.

1. Before proceeding with the Tiny Tiny RSS installation, let's install MySQL and Apache:

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

2. To add our Tiny Tiny RSS PPA and install the latest TT-RSS in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04, use the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/tt-rss
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tt-rss

If you're upgrading from an older Tiny Tiny RSS version (I've tested it with Tiny Tiny RSS 1.6.2 from the Ubuntu repositories and then upgraded to the latest 1.7.9), you'll be prompted to select some options:

• you'll need enter the full URL of you tt-rss installation (for instance "http://localhost/tt-rss/" for a local install);
• replace the configuration file: select to replace the original configuration file or else you'll get some errors (when you reach see "config.php (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N]" in the terminal, type "Y" (without the quotes), then press Enter);
• perform upgrade on database for tt-rss : select "yes".

If this is a fresh installation, you'll be prompted to:

• choose the database type: select MySQL;
• choose the web server - select Apache2;
• you'll need enter the full URL of you tt-rss installation (for instance "http://localhost/tt-rss/" for a local install).

If later on you want to reconfigure tt-rss, you can run the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tt-rss

3. This shouldn't be required anymore since TT-RSS should do this automatically but just in case, run the following commands:

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

(if the first one fails, don't worry, it just means the symbolic link was already created by Tiny Tiny RSS).

4. The next step is to enter your server address under /etc/tt-rss/config.php so open that file with a text editor as root - I'll use nano for the command below:

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

and in this file, scroll down to "define('SELF_URL_PATH', 'http://example.org/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 (to save and exit in Nano text editor, press: CTRL + o, ENTER then CTRL + x).

Update: this step doesn't seem to be required any more since the initial config now writes the correct address in this file, but I'll leave it here just in case.

5. To get Tiny Tiny RSS to update the feeds, you need to edit the /etc/default/tt-rss file as root with a text editor - I'll use nano command line text editor in the command below:

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.

6. Now navigate to your server address (which you've set up under step 3 - e.g.: http://localhost/tt-rss/) and use the following to log in:

• username: admin
• password: password

Then, change the password (!) and start importing your Google Reader feeds or add some feeds manually.