How to Install IndieAuth on OpenBSD

IndieAuth is an open-source authorization protocol used for federated login across the web. With IndieAuth, you can use your website's URL to sign in to other sites that support IndieAuth. In this tutorial, we will be installing IndieAuth on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

  1. A server running OpenBSD
  2. A domain name pointing to your server's IP address
  3. An SSL/TLS certificate installed on your domain name

Step 1: Install Dependencies

Before we start, we need to install some dependencies. We can do this using the pkg_add command.

sudo pkg_add node
sudo pkg_add nginx

Step 2: Install IndieAuth

Next, we need to clone the IndieAuth repository to our server.

git clone https://github.com/aaronpk/IndieAuth.git

Now we need to install the required packages for IndieAuth.

cd IndieAuth
npm install

Step 3: Configure Nginx

We need to configure Nginx to serve IndieAuth. We will create a new Nginx server block for our domain name.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your-domain-name.com

In the file that opens, add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain-name.com;

    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name your-domain-name.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/your-domain-name.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/your-domain-name.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

    root /path/to/IndieAuth;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Make sure to replace your-domain-name.com with your domain name, and /path/to/IndieAuth with the path to where you cloned the IndieAuth repository.

Now enable the new server block in Nginx by creating a symbolic link.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your-domain-name.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

And restart Nginx.

sudo service nginx restart

Step 4: Configure IndieAuth

In the IndieAuth directory, create a new configuration file.

cp config.sample.json config.json

Open the file with your favorite text editor.

nano config.json

Configure your authorization endpoint by adding your domain name and the path to your authorization endpoint.

{
    "authorization_endpoint": "https://your-domain-name.com/auth"
}

Save and close the file.

Step 5: Start IndieAuth

In the IndieAuth directory, start IndieAuth using Node.

npm start

IndieAuth is now running on your server. You can test it by going to your authorization endpoint URL in your browser, e.g. https://your-domain-name.com/auth. You should see the IndieAuth authorization page.

Conclusion

You have now successfully installed IndieAuth on your OpenBSD server. You can now use your website's URL to sign in to other sites that support IndieAuth.

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