Weirdly enough, it works correctly after a reinstall. Here's what I did, if it helps anyone:
- Delete the virtual server at Hetzner
- Create a new virtual server
- Ensure SSH still works
- Run the Ansible playlist
- Open the site and configure the new Lemmy instance
- Do not disable federation
- Create a new community and initial comment, run the curl commands noted above (I can't see this being valuable except as a confirmation that everything is working)
- Block lemmygrad.ml and enable federation debugging
- Search for a community on another server (I used !fountainpens@sopuli.xyz), open it up, then subscribe
I'm hesitant about a solution that involves reinstalling, but I'm new enough at managing virtual environments that I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Thank you!