cmc/cleberg.net

  1#+date:        [2023-06-23 Fri 00:00:00]
  2#+title:       Self-Hosting Guide: Convos
  3#+description: How to self-host Convos, a web-based IRC client.
  4#+slug:        self-hosting-convos
  5#+filetags:    :linux:self-hosting:
  6
  7* Convos
  8
  9[[https://convos.chat/][Convos]] is an always-online web client for IRC.
 10It has a few features that made it attractive to me as a self-hosted
 11option:
 12
 13- Extremely simple Docker Compose installation method.
 14- Runs in the background and monitors chats even while you're not logged
 15  in.
 16- Neatly organized sidebar for conversation and client settings.
 17- Ability to connect to different hosts and create profiles for hosts.
 18- By default, registration is closed to the public. You can enable
 19  public registration on the Settings page or generate invitation links
 20  on the Users page.
 21- Customization of the client theme, organization name and URL, admin
 22  email, and video service.
 23
 24* Docker Installation
 25
 26To install Convos, simply create a directory and a =docker-compose.yml=
 27file:
 28
 29#+begin_src sh
 30mkdir ~/convos && cd ~/convos
 31nano docker-compose.yml
 32#+end_src
 33
 34With the =docker-compose.yml= file open, paste the configuration below
 35into the file. You can customize the host port to be something unique,
 36such as =21897:3000=. You can also change the =data= folder to be a
 37docker volume instead, if you prefer.
 38
 39#+begin_src config
 40version: '3'
 41
 42services:
 43  convos:
 44    image: 'convos/convos:stable'
 45    ports:
 46      - '3000:3000'
 47    volumes:
 48      - './data:/data'
 49    environment:
 50      - CONVOS_REVERSE_PROXY=1
 51    restart: always
 52#+end_src
 53
 54Save the =docker-compose.yml= file and bring the container up:
 55
 56#+begin_src sh
 57sudo docker-compose up -d
 58#+end_src
 59
 60At this point, Convos is available at =<server_ip>:3000= but not
 61available to the public.
 62
 63* Nginx Reverse Proxy
 64
 65If you're using Nginx, you can create a configuration file for the
 66convos application. Start by opening the file:
 67
 68#+begin_src sh
 69nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/convos
 70#+end_src
 71
 72Within the nginx configuration file, paste the following content and be
 73sure to update =convos.example.com= to match your domain and
 74=127.0.0.1:3000= to match the port you opened in the
 75=docker-compose.yml= file.
 76
 77#+begin_src config
 78# Host and port where convos is running
 79upstream convos_upstream { server 127.0.0.1:3000; }
 80
 81server {
 82    if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
 83        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
 84    }
 85
 86    listen [::]:80;
 87    listen 80;
 88    server_name convos.example.com;
 89    return 404;
 90}
 91
 92server {
 93    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
 94    listen 443 ssl http2;
 95    server_name convos.example.com;
 96    access_log  /var/log/nginx/convos.access.log;
 97    error_log   /var/log/nginx/convos.error.log;
 98
 99    location / {
100        proxy_pass http://convos_upstream;
101        proxy_http_version 1.1;
102        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
103        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
104        client_max_body_size 0;
105        proxy_set_header Host $host;
106        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
107        proxy_set_header X-Request-Base "$scheme://$host/";
108    }
109
110    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
111    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
112    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
113    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
114}
115#+end_src
116
117Once the file is saved, link it to the =sites-enabled= directory and
118restart Nginx.
119
120#+begin_src sh
121sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/convos /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/convos
122sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
123#+end_src
124
125* Screenshots
126
127See the screenshots below for an example of the Convos homepage and an
128excerpt of the chat screen.
129
130There are numerous themes to choose from; the theme shown in the images
131below is Dracula.
132
133#+caption: Convos Home
134#+attr_html: :alt The Convos login page, requiring an email and password.
135[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20230623-convos/convos_home.webp]]
136
137#+caption: Convos Chat
138#+attr_html: :alt An example of the #org-mode channel on Libera.Chat.
139[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20230623-convos/convos_chat.webp]]
140
141* Registering a Nickname
142
143Hop into the server channel so that you can message NickServ. In the
144case of Convos, the default sever is libera.chat. Simply click the
145=libera= conversation at the top of the sidebar to open it. Once the
146chat is open, you can claim a nickname by typing:
147
148#+begin_src txt
149/nick <nick>
150#+end_src
151
152If the nickname is available, and you'd like to register the nickname to
153yourself, you'll need to type another command:
154
155#+begin_src txt
156/msg NickServ REGISTER
157<password> <email>
158#+end_src
159
160On libera.chat, the server will send a confirmation email with a command
161that you must message in IRC to verify registration of the nickname:
162
163#+begin_src txt
164/msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER <nick> <verification_code>
165#+end_src
166
167Once entered, the server should confirm registration of the nickname to
168the supplied email with the password specified.