Databag

A federated messenger for self-hosting

-> Design Overview

_{Mobile and Browser App Screens}

Databag is designed for efficiency, consuming minimal hosting resources. Notable features include:

• Decentralized (direct communication between app and server node)
• Federated (accounts on different nodes can communicate)
• Public-Private key based identity (not bound to any blockchain or hosting domain)
• End-to-End encryption (the hosting admin cannot view topics if sealed)
• Audio and Video Calls (nat traversal requires separate relay server)
• Topic based threads (messages organized by topic not contacts)
• Unlimited participants (no limit on group thread members)
• Lightweight (server can run on a raspberry pi zero v1.3)
• Low latency (use of websockets for push events to avoid polling)
• Unlimited accounts per node (host for your whole family)
• Mobile alerts for new contacts, messages, and calls (supports UnifiedPush, FCM, APN)
• Multi-Factor Authentication (integrates with TOTP apps)

The app is available on fdroid as well as the google and apple stores. You can test out the project here, but don't post anything important as this server is regularly wiped.

Design

Read the Design Guidelines. Link to Figma File. Feel free to duplicate the Figma file to edit. Feedback on the UI/UX, bugs or features is greatly appreciated.

Installation

To use databag, you will need a DNS name pointing to your node with a certificate. You can deploy a node manually, but you will have a much easier time using a container service. Containers for arm64 and amd64 are available here.

Docker Compose

Launch with dockerhub container using docker compose:

Standard launch

# From the net/container sub directory:
docker-compose -f compose.yaml -p databag up

Launch with certbot https certificate

# FIRST: create a DNS entry in your DNS to point your desired subdomain to your host
# SECOND: edit the net/container/docker-compose-swag.yml to include your domain name
# THIRD: From the root of the project directory:
mkdir -p ~/appdata
docker-compose -f net/container/docker-compose-swag.yml -p databag up

Example with Portainer and Nginx Proxy Manager

From Portainer:

• In the volume view, click add volume:
  • Enter a name, then click 'Create the volume'
• In the container view, click add container:
  • In the 'Image' field enter 'balzack/databag:latest'
  • Click 'publish a new network port', and select port 7000 for both host and container
  • Under 'Advanced container settings', select 'Env', and click 'Add Environment Variable'
    • Enter 'Name' as 'ADMIN' and your admin password [password]
  • Under 'Advanced container settings', select 'Volumes', then 'map additional volume'
    • Enter '/var/lib/databag' for 'container' and the created volume for 'volume'
  • Click 'Deploy the Container'

From Nginx Proxy Manager:

• Add a host and specify:
  • Hostname [hostname.domain]
  • Portainer IP address [address]
  • Port '7000'
  • Request new SSL certificate

server {
server_name your.site.tld;

location / {
  proxy_http_version 1.1;
  proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
  proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
  proxy_set_header Host $host;
  proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:7000;
  client_max_body_size 0;
  proxy_max_temp_file_size 0;

}

  listen 443 ssl http2;
  ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your.site.tld/fullchain.pem;
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your.site.tld/privkey.pem;
  include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
  ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
  add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=0";

}

server {
  if ($host = your.site.tld) {
      return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
  }
listen 80;
server_name your.site.tld;
  return 404;
}

From Your Browser:

• Enter your server address in the address bar [hostname.domain]
  • Click the cog icon in the top right
  • Enter your admin password: [password]
  • Click the cog icon in the dashboard
    • Enter Federated Host as [hostname.domain]
    • Click 'Save'
  • Click the user icon to generate a new account link
    • Follow the link to create an account

Example with nginx-proxy

If you are using nginx-proxy for automatic certification renewall, see the example provided in /examples/docker-nginx-proxy/ directory.

Other installation options

Install without a container on a Raspberry Pi Zero here.

Install without a container in AWS here.

Integrate Databag in an OpenWrt firmware here.

1-click installs in CapRover, CasaOS, Unraid, Runtipi, Kubero, Umbrel

Audio and Video Calls

Databag provides audio and video calling and relies on a STUN/TURN relay server for NAT traversal. Testing was done with both coturn and cloudflare and should work with any implementation. Instructions for installing a coturn server are provided here.

If you want to enable audio and video calls, you should setup your own relay server or use the cloudflare turn service. For testing purposes you can however use the demo relay server configuration. In the admin configuration modal, set:

• Enable WebRTC Calls: -switch on-
• WebRTC Server URL: turn:34.210.172.114:3478?transport=udp
• WebRTC Username: user
• WebRTC Password: pass

Roadmap

Please add any missing features; here is the current backlog. Features are prioritized based on interest from the community.