123 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
123 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Spacebar and a Translation Service"
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date = 2025-06-09
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+++
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### Since Yesterday
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- [ ] Polish up [the blog](https://blog.mtgmonkey.net) a little bit
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- [X] Get a [translation api](https://translate.mtgmonkey.net) set up
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- [X] Get a [chat client](https://chat.mtgmonkey.net) set up
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### Spacebar Server
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The Spacebar server is super easy to run on Nix - its flake just works! Below I write the relevant portions of my Nix config.
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> ```nix
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> # flake.nix
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> {
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> # import server from the flake.nix on gh
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> inputs.spacebar-server.url = "github:spacebarchat/server";
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> outputs = {
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> spacebar-server,
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> ...
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> }: {
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> nixosConfigurations."server" = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
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> system = "x86_64-linux";
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> specialArgs = {
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> # pass spacebar-server to any module that wants it
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> inherit spacebar-server;
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> };
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> modules = [
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> # add spacebar to configuration
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> ./services/spacebar.nix
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> ];
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> };
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> };
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> }
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> ```
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>
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> ```nix
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> # services/spacebar.nix
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> {
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> spacebar-server,
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> lib,
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> pkgs,
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> ...
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> }: {
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> systemd.services.spacebar-server = {
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> serviceConfig = {
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> Type = "simple";
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> ExecStart = "${lib.getExe
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> spacebar-server.packages.x86_64-linux.default}";
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> # Ensure the server is run by a non-priveleged user for security
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> RemainAfterExit = true;
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> User = "spacebar";
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> Group = "spacebar";
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> };
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> environment = {
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> # Specify location of uploaded files and the db
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> DATABASE = "/var/lib/spacebar-server/database.db";
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> STORAGE_LOCATION = "/var/lib/spacebar-server/files/";
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> };
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> };
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> # Create user that runs the server
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> users.users.spacebar = {
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> isSystemUser = true;
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> group = "spacebar";
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> # Create home, where database.db and files/ are located
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> home = "/var/lib/spacebar-server";
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> createHome = true;
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> # utility packages while SSHing into the user
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> packages = [
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> pkgs.git
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> # package to test drive the server with the unpriveleged user
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> spacebar-server.packages.x86_64-linux.default
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> # edit the database
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> pkgs.sqlite
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> ];
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> # I have noshell in my flake, so there won't be a login shell unless it's specified
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> shell = pkgs.bash;
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> };
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> # Groups need to be 'initialized' on nixos
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> users.groups.spacebar = {};
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> }
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> ```
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This configuration runs great! Well, given that you configure the database correctly - sqlite is going to be the death of me! `api_endpointPublic`, `cdn_endpointPublic`, and `gateway_endpointPublic` *all need to be set* before the server's connected up properly to take new users. That means running the below series of commands from the `sqlite3` repl - an interface without backspace~
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> ```bash
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> # as spacebar user
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> sqlite3 ~/database.db
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> ```
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>> ```sql
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>> update config
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>> set value='"https://spacebar-api.mtgmonkey.net/api/v9"'
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>> where key='api_endpointPublic';
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>> update config
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>> set value='"https://spacebar-api.mtgmonkey.net"'
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>> where key='cdn_endpointPublic';
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>> update config
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>> set value='"wss://spacebar-api.mtgmonkey.net"'
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>> where key='gateway_endpointPublic';
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>> .exit
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>> ```
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Beleive it or not, the server was only the *easy* part! I next had to configure the client.
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There are generally 3 web clients to choose from when it comes to Spacebar.
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- [The official client](https://github.com/spacebarchat/client), written in React, is the most beautiful. It's not fully featured, however, missing the home page, friends, DMs, and more.
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- [The legacy client](https://github.com/spacebarchat/client/tree/legacy-v2), written in Typescript, is known to work. Unfortunately, it is quite outdated and, no matter how much I tried, I could not get it to build on Nix.
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- [JankClient](https://github.com/MathMan05/JankClient), an unofficial client written in TypeScript, is, as its name suggests, quite janky. It requires frequent browser refreshes to fix visual glitches and is poorly optimised on mobile.
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JankClient, despite its glitchiness, is the one I finally decided on. Though the official client has a flake, it's currently non-functional, and has been for a while. Neither of the other two have flakes, unfortunately, but it's easy enough to run JankClient with Docker. I first ran `nix-shell -p compose2nix` before renaming `compose.yaml` to `docker-compose.yaml` (as compose2nix requires). I then ran compose2nix and used the output as the basis for [services/spacebar.nix](https://git.mtgmonkey.net/server-configuration.git/tree/services/spacebar.nix). I made a couple of major modifications: Firstly, I bound it to a different port as a matter of personal preference. I also changed all instances of `podman` with `docker`, as my rgit instance runs on docker and nix can only have 1 declaration of `virtualisation.oci-containers.backend`. Secondly, the generated `docker-build-spaceclient-jank.service` wouldn't run properly, so I had to build the image manually. Finally, I added an [anubis](https://github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis) PoW captcha and a reverse client entry in my [ferron](https://www.ferronweb.org) webserver, as appropriate.
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All code above is, clearly, just simplified snippets; the actual file are linked below
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- [flake.nix](https://git.mtgmonkey.net/server-configuration.git/tree/flake.nix).
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- [services/spacebar.nix](https://git.mtgmonkey.net/server-configuration.git/tree/services/spacebar.nix).
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- [services/ferron.nix](https://git.mtgmonkey.net/server-configuration.git/tree/services/ferron.nix).
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- [services/translate.nix](https://git.mtgmonkey.net/server-configuration.git/tree/services/ferron.nix).
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### For Tomorrow
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- [ ] Polish up [the blog](https://blog.mtgmonkey.net) a little bit
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