How to Install Sovereign on Arch Linux

Sovereign is a set of Ansible playbooks and supporting documentation to deploy a personal or small scale infrastructure for privacy enhancing services. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install sovereign on an Arch Linux system.

Prerequisites

Before installing Sovereign on your Arch Linux system, make sure that you have the following requirements.

1. A server or virtual machine with Arch Linux installed.
2. SSH access to the server with sudo privileges.
3. A domain name with DNS records configured for your server IP.

Step 1: Update System

Ensure that your system is up-to-date with the latest packages by running the following command:

sudo pacman -Syu

Enter your password when prompted, and wait for the update process to complete.

Step 2: Install Git

Sovereign is an open-source project hosted on GitHub, so you will need to install Git to clone the repository. Run the following command:

sudo pacman -S git

Wait for the Git installation to complete.

Step 3: Clone Sovereign Repository

Now, clone the Sovereign repository using the Git command below:

git clone https://github.com/sovereign/sovereign.git

Wait for the repository to download.

Step 4: Install Ansible

Sovereign uses Ansible playbooks to automate the installation process of privacy-enhancing services. To install Ansible on Arch Linux, run the following command:

sudo pacman -S ansible

Wait for the Ansible installation to complete.

Step 5: Configure Inventory File

Sovereign uses an inventory file to define the hosts and services to deploy. Rename the sample-inventory file to inventory, open the file, and add your server IP and domain name as shown below:

nano sovereign/inventory

[sovereign]
your-server-ip ansible_user=root ansible_host=your-domain-name

Step 6: Configure Variables

Sovereign configuration settings are stored in YAML files located in group_vars/all/ directory. Edit the all.yml file and modify the settings to suit your needs:

nano sovereign/group_vars/all/all.yml

# Your email address
email: your-email-address@example.com

# Your domain name for SSH and HTTP
domain: your-domain-name

# Enable/disable SSH access to the server, i.e., set the ssh_access value to true or false
ssh_access: true

# Enable/disable HTTPS secure communication, i.e., set the ssl value to true or false
ssl: true

# Deploy or disable the following privacy-enhancing services, i.e., set the value of each service to true or false
privacyidea: false
mailpile: false
openvpn: true
rt: false

Make sure to save the file changes.

Step 7: Run Ansible Playbook

Finally, run the Ansible playbook by running the following command in the sovereign directory:

cd sovereign
ansible-playbook -i inventory site.yml

The installation process may take a few minutes or more, depending on your system's performance and internet connection speed.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Sovereign on your Arch Linux system. You can now access the deployed privacy-enhancing services by navigating to their respective URLs.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!