No one likes to think about it, but there are lots of different reasons why a server on a network might close down. If you are a Fediverse server admin and want to close down your server, it is important that you do the closure gracefully.
Gracefully on the Fediverse means giving plenty of warning to the server’s members, so that they have enough time to find another server and to move their accounts elsewhere. It also means trying to make sure all your members are aware of the closure long before it happens. See the example plan at the bottom of this guide for more details.
How much warning should I give my server’s members about closing down?
The standard closure warning time on the Fediverse is three months.
Three months is enough time for your members to find another server, become familiar with the transfer process, do the transfer and potentially re-run the transfer if necessary. It also gives admins enough time to try to warn every active member, as some may be more difficult to reach than others.
When should I start planning for closing down my server?
Make a plan for closing down gracefully before you first open your server to the public. Having a graceful closure plan from the very beginning means people can have confidence in joining your server, because they know you won’t suddenly switch it off without warning.
Committing to three months warning is also required for listing on some server directories such as fedi.garden ⧉ and joinmastodon.org ⧉. Planning for graceful closure can actually help your server grow by making it eligible to be listed.
What if I run out of money? How do I keep my server going three months?
As part of setting up the server you should put money aside for three months of running costs, so that no matter what happens there will be three months to close down. The amount put aside may need to be increased if the running costs go up.
How do I close my server down gracefully? What order should I do things in?
It’s up to you how you close your server, but here is a typical plan:
- Make sure you are absolutely certain about closing your server. Once you announce it people will start leaving, so it’s best to be sure before you announce it. Decide on a specific date when the closure will actually happen.
- Decide on a public closure date that is at least a couple of days earlier than the actual closure date. This public closure date will be what you tell your members. The difference in dates is to allow wiggle room for members in different time zones, who may see different dates on their interface. It also covers you in case of last minute technical hitches in the closure.
- When you’ve decided to close, first of all switch off sign-ups. No one wants to sign up on a server that is closing. You can do this in Preferences > Administration > Server Settings > Registrations > Who Can Sign Up, choose Nobody Can Sign Up, then click Save Changes.
- Deactivate existing invitation links in Preferences > Moderation > Invites > Deactivate All. After that, switch off the members’ invitation option completely in Preferences > Administration > Roles > Default Permissions, then UN-tick the box marked Invite Users, then click Save Changes.
- Post about the closure on your admin account, give the public closure date, and tell your members they need to move their account to another server. The date is really important in motivating people to transfer their accounts in time. You might want to provide a link to the Fedi.Tips account transfer guide so that people know how to move their accounts elsewhere, links to the fedi.garden ⧉ and joinmastodon.org ⧉ server directories so they can pick somewhere reliable to move to, and a link to the Fedi.Tips archive download guide so they can download their post archives. Also remind them that account transfers can sometimes take days to complete, and it’s safest if they do the transfer as soon as possible.
- Post a similar announcement on your Mastodon server’s announcement system. You can optionally also send these server announcement to members directly by email. You may want to use this email feature to make sure members realise the server is closing down.
- Edit your server’s text descriptions so that it makes clear the server is closing down and when it is closing down. This is yet another way that members may see the closure announcement, as they see the server description when logging into the server website. Servers have two text descriptions so you should edit both, the shorter one at Preferences > Administration > Server Settings > Branding > Server Description and the longer one at Preferences > Administration > Server Settings > About > Extended Description.
- Repeat the announcements two months before closure, one month before closure, three weeks before closure, two weeks before closure, then every day in the final week before the public closure date. If you see members continuing to post in the final few weeks, you might want to reply to them directly to remind them about the closure date and that they need to transfer their account as soon as possible.
- Do the actual closure at least a couple of days after the announced closure date. This is to make sure members in different time zones don’t get caught out, as the date on their interface may be different to yours.
How do I do the closure gracefully at a technical level?
At a technical level, there are two ways of closing a Mastodon server:
- Just deleting the server from its hosting
- Running Mastodon’s “self-destruct” command, giving it time to work, and then deleting the server from its hosting
There are pros and cons to both methods, which are explained in an excellent guide by the managed hosting provider masto.host ⧉. Which one you use depends on your plans for the server, its posts and its domain name or subdomains.
If you’re running your Mastodon server manually you can find out more about the self-destruct command in the official documentation ⧉.
If you’re running your Mastodon server through managed hosting, you cannot run self-destruct directly but your managed hosting provider should be able to. Ask your managed hosting provider for more info about the option of running self-destruct before closure.