Subreddit-to-Subreddit Archive

This is a reddit bot designed to backup posts from one subreddit to another on a set schedule.

• Post-ids are logged to verify posts aren't duplicated.
• Post flairs are copied to match the original post.
• Comments are left in the body of the duplicated post tagging the original post, the original author, and direct links to media if applicable.
• A separate script is included to modify the flair of posts that are removed from the original subreddit.

Setup

Setup a Linux Host

I'm using Ubuntu LTS on an Oracle Cloud VM. There are free-tiers available as of today. Google Compute and Amazon AWS are similar products. You can also roll your own host with an old PC or a Raspberry Pi. You'll need to know a bit of Linux CLI or you'll need to be ready to learn!

Install necessary software prerequisites:

1. Install Python3

   sudo apt install python3
   

2. Create a python virtual environment in a directory

   /usr/bin/python3 -m venv /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive
   

3. Use the virtual python3 environment

   source /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/bin/activate
   

4. Install PIP Prereqs

   pip3 install requests praw ffmpeg
   

Create a dedicated Reddit account for your bot.

A bot account needs to be created and Reddit API credentials need to be entered into config.py. You can use different accounts for the source and destination subreddits or you can use one account for both. Make note of your username and password. Open this page to 'create an app' https://ssl.reddit.com/prefs/apps/ make a note of the generated Client ID and Client Secret.

If you'd like your logs forwarded to a Discord channel, a Discord webhook needs to be created and entered into forward_cron_log.sh and into forward_error_log.sh - you can setup two channels or use the same webhook for both. Right clicking the channel in Discord --> Edit Channel --> Integrations --> Create Webhook. Make a note of your Webhook URL.

Setup Git

1. Create a Github account.

2. Go here and install Git if you don’t have it already.

3. Assuming you're reading this on the repo page, select ‘fork’ to create a copy of it to your Github account.

4. From your new repo, select Code and then under Clone copy the HTTPS URL (e.g. https://github.com/SaltySOMAdmin/Reddit-UFOs_Archive.git) to download a local copy

5. Navigate to a folder you want a local copy of the repo to live, and clone the Github repo to your host:

   1. It's up to you where to put the repo - recommended in a folder like /home/YourUserAcct/Github/ or /home/YourUserAcct/. Once you clone the directory it will create a subfolder with the name of your fork.
   2. git clone <url>
      1. e.g. git clone https://github.com/SaltySOMAdmin/Reddit-UFOs_Archive.git

Configure the script.

There are several sections you need to customize in the main script (CopyPosts-UFOs_Archives.py). You'll need to enter your source and destination subs.

source_subreddit = source_reddit.subreddit('ufos')

destination_subreddit = archives_reddit.subreddit('UFOs_Archive')

Edit the path for the two log files to the path you cloned this repository to.

logging.basicConfig(filename='/home/YourUserAcct/Github/YourFork/error_log.txt', level=logging.ERROR, 

and

PROCESSED_FILE = "/home/YourUserAcct/Github/YourFork/processed_posts.txt"

Enter your credentials into config.py. You can use different accounts for the source and destination subreddits or you can use one account for both. I'm using my Mod account to pull specific info from the original posts then the bot account to post to the archive. Specify in the main script under the section with "# Reddit API credentials"

source_client_id=""
source_client_secret=""
source_password=""
source_username=""

and

destination_client_id=""
destination_client_secret=""
destination_password=""
destination_username=""

DailyRemovedFlair.py will need quite a bit more customization and may not be necessary for your needs. If it's a feature you need you'll need to edit the script to include a list of 'removal flairs' if the home subreddit supports them. You'll also need to update the script with your subreddit name and the path to your log file. This can be implemented at a later point as well as the main script does not hinge on it.

Crontab Settings

This is where you will set your schedule to run. You need to pass the timedelta credential with your call to the script. My script runs every 14 minutes (Example: 10:00, 10:14, 10:28, 10:42, 10:56) and it checks posts from the past 28 minutes. This gives the script two tries to copy posts. The script logs actions to cron_log.txt; Errors are logged within the script to error_log.txt as they happen. To open your cron settings type this into your terminal: crontab -e

• Run main script

    */14 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/CopyPosts-UFOs_Archives.py 28m >> /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/cron_log.txt 2>&1
  

• Update flair for removed posts script, if incorporated.

    2 */8 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/DailyRemovedFlair.py >> /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/removed_posts_log.txt 2>&1
  

• Upload logs to Discord Webhook then wipe the log

    */15 * * * * /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/forward_error_log.sh
    */15 * * * * /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/forward_cron_log.sh
    10 */8 * * * /home/ubuntu/Reddit-UFOs_Archive/forward_removed_posts_log.sh
  

Setup Continuous Deployment with Github Actions

Allows you to deploy your code via Github vs logging into the VPS and updating the code/uploading a new file. Allows for easier collaboration as well. I followed a guide similar to this one: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/deploying/deploying-with-github-actions