cmc/cleberg.net

  1#+date:        [2023-11-08 Wed 00:00:00]
  2#+title:       Signal CLI (scli) on Alpine
  3#+description: Installing the Signal CLI client on Alpine Linux.
  4#+slug:        scli
  5#+filetags:    :linux:
  6
  7[[https://github.com/isamert/scli][scli]] is a command-line tool that
  8allows you to connect to your Signal messenger account. This program
  9utilizes a two-pane display that shows you chats on the left and the
 10focused conversation on the right.
 11
 12This guide will show you how to install =scli= and its dependencies on
 13Alpine Linux, which requires some extra work due to musl.
 14
 15If you're using a non-musl system, you can likely following the =scli=
 16README and download the packaged binaries for an easier installation
 17process.
 18
 19* Dependencies
 20
 21In order to use =scli=, you need a few dependencies:
 22
 23- =openjdk17-jre= - Used as a dependency for the =signal-cli= tool.
 24  Version may vary.
 25- =signal-cli= - Used as the backbone of the =scli= tool.
 26- =findutils= - Replaces the standard Busybox version of =xargs=.
 27- =urwid= - A console user interface library for Python.
 28- =urwid-readline= - For GNU emacs-like keybinds on the input line.
 29- =qrencode= - Displays a QR code in the terminal to link the device
 30  using your phone. Not necessary if you're only linking on desktop and
 31  can copy/paste the connection URL.
 32
 33Let's start by installing the packages available via Alpine's
 34repositories. Be sure to install the latest version of =openjdk=. If you
 35run into Java-related issues, uninstall =openjdk= and install an older
 36version.
 37
 38#+begin_src sh
 39doas apk add openjdk17-jre findutils qrencode
 40#+end_src
 41
 42Next, let's install =signal-cli=. Be sure to export the version of
 43=signal-cli= that you want. I use version =0.12.4= below, but that may
 44be outdated by the time you're reading this.
 45
 46#+begin_src sh
 47export VERSION="0.12.4"
 48wget https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v"${VERSION}"/signal-cli-"${VERSION}".tar.gz
 49doas tar xf signal-cli-"${VERSION}".tar.gz -C /opt
 50doas ln -sf /opt/signal-cli-${VERSION}"/bin/signal/cli /usr/local/bin
 51#+end_src
 52
 53Finally, install the =urwid= packages using the Python packaging
 54utility.
 55
 56#+begin_src sh
 57pip3 install urwid urwid-readline
 58#+end_src
 59
 60* Installation
 61
 62Now that we have all of the dependencies we need, we can install =scli=.
 63Start by simply cloning the repository.
 64
 65#+begin_src sh
 66git clone https://github.com/isamert/scli
 67#+end_src
 68
 69When I cloned this repository on 2023-11-08, I found a bug in the logic
 70that required a fix. You must edit the =scli= file and replace the one
 71instance of =RLIMIT_OFILE= with =RLIMIT_NOFILE=.
 72
 73#+begin_src sh
 74cd scli
 75nano scli
 76#+end_src
 77
 78Once complete, you can move this program to anywhere on your =$PATH=. I
 79chose the following directory.
 80
 81#+begin_src sh
 82doas mv scli /usr/local/bin/scli
 83#+end_src
 84
 85* Initial Setup
 86
 87Now that everything is installed, we can login and configure the client.
 88Start by generating a connection link.
 89
 90#+begin_src sh
 91signal-cli link -n "YOUR-DEVICE-NICKNAME" | tee >(xargs -L 1 qrencode -t utf8)
 92#+end_src
 93
 94This will generate a connection link and related QR code for you to use
 95to link the devices together. Once complete, *wait patiently* for the
 96connection process to finish.
 97
 98Once it completes, it will exit and return you to the prompt. From here,
 99you need to perform an initial =receive= command to start things off.
100The =USERNAME= variable should be your phone number, such as
101=+15551237890=.
102
103#+begin_src sh
104signal-cli -u USERNAME receive
105#+end_src
106
107Also be sure to test the daemon to ensure it works properly. If no
108errors occur, it's working. If you run into errors because you're not
109running a DBUS session, see my notes below.
110
111#+begin_src sh
112signal-cli -u USERNAME daemon
113#+end_src
114
115Once the initial reception is complete, you are ready to use =scli=.
116
117This process will differ depending on your desktop environment (DE). If
118you are running a DE, you likely have a DBUS session running already and
119can simply launch the program.
120
121However, if you're like me and running your computer straight on the TTY
122without a DE, you'll need to start a DBUS session for this program.
123
124#+begin_src sh
125# If you're not running a DBUS session yet, you need to start one for scli
126dbus-run-session -- scli
127
128# OR - If you're already running a DBUS session, simply run scli
129scli
130#+end_src
131
132* Configuration
133
134Lastly, there are a number of configuration options that you can pass
135via the command or in the =~/.config/sclirc= file. See the GitHub README
136for more information on configuration options.
137
138#+begin_src sh
139nano ~/.config/sclirc
140#+end_src
141
142#+begin_src conf
143# ~/.config/sclirc
144
145wrap-at = 80
146enable-notifications = true
147#+end_src
148
149That's it! Following this guide, I have a functional =scli= program that
150successfully sends messages to my contacts and myself!