How to Install Dendrite on NetBSD

Dendrite is a new, experimental homeserver implementation in Go for the Matrix protocol. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Dendrite on NetBSD.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure that:

• You have a machine running NetBSD (tested on NetBSD 9.1)
• You have root access (or equivalent privileges) on the machine
• You have a basic understanding of how to use the command line

Installation Steps

1. Install required dependencies

Dendrite requires the following dependencies to be installed on your system:

```
gcc
libidn2
libsodium
libolm
postgresql-client
```

You can install them using pkgin (NetBSD's package manager):

```
sudo pkgin -y install gcc libidn2 libsodium libolm postgresql-client
```

2. Clone and build the Dendrite source code

Clone the Dendrite repository to a suitable location:

```
git clone https://github.com/matrix-org/dendrite.git
cd dendrite
```

Build the Dendrite binary:

```
go build -tags "sqlite3 postgres" ./cmd/dendrite-monolith
```

This will create an executable file called dendrite-monolith in the current directory.

3. Set up a PostgreSQL database

Dendrite uses a PostgreSQL database to store its data.

Create a new database and user for Dendrite:

```
sudo -u pgsql createdb dendrite
sudo -u pgsql createuser -s dendrite
```

Set a password for the dendrite user:

```
sudo -u pgsql psql -c "ALTER USER dendrite PASSWORD 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';"
```

You can replace YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE with a password of your choice.

4. Configure Dendrite

Create a new configuration file for Dendrite:

```
cp example-configs/dendrite.yaml dendrite.yaml
```

Edit the configuration file using your preferred text editor:

```
nano dendrite.yaml
```

Replace the database section in the configuration file with the following:

```
database:
  engine: postgres
  dbname: dendrite
  user: dendrite
  password: YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE
  connect_string: "host=/var/run/postgresql dbname=dendrite user=dendrite password=YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE sslmode=disable"
```

Replace the YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE placeholders with the password you set earlier.

5. Start Dendrite

Start Dendrite:

```
./dendrite-monolith
```

Dendrite will start listening on port 8008 by default. You can change this in the configuration file if necessary.

6. Test Dendrite

Open a web browser and go to http://your-ip-address:8008/_matrix/client/versions. You should see a JSON response with the supported client-server API versions.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Dendrite on NetBSD!

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!