Install

Every release has prebuilt programs for Linux and macOS, on x86-64 and ARM64. The Linux ones are fully static: they need no libc or any other library, so they run on any distribution, from Debian to Alpine.

On a server: the install script

For a server you’ll keep running, use the install script. It installs one file and nothing else.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/niklas-heer/sideporch/main/install.sh | sh

The script:

picks the build for your system and processor,
downloads it from the GitHub release, and checks it against the release’s SHA256SUMS,
when minisign is installed, also checks that SHA256SUMS is signed with Sideporch’s release key (releases from 0.5.0 on),
installs sideporch into /usr/local/bin when it may write there, otherwise into ~/.local/bin.

Then run it on the server, usually as a systemd service.

To read the script before running it:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/niklas-heer/sideporch/main/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh

Environment variables change what it does:

Variable	Default	Meaning
`SIDEPORCH_VERSION`	the latest release	A version to install, such as `0.4.0`.
`SIDEPORCH_INSTALL_DIR`	`/usr/local/bin` or `~/.local/bin`	Where to put the program.
`SIDEPORCH_DOWNLOAD_URL`	GitHub	Where the release files are, for a mirror.

For example, to install into /opt/sideporch/bin: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/niklas-heer/sideporch/main/install.sh | SIDEPORCH_INSTALL_DIR=/opt/sideporch/bin sh.

Check a download yourself

Every release from 0.5.0 on signs its SHA256SUMS with Sideporch’s release key, sideporch.pub:

minisign -Vm SHA256SUMS -P RWRtn2cj2SpGnZDtKTNsgnc8mv68NfwlwFgA+hcmOD+cWH8dSQxGkuoo
sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

The same key is built into Sideporch, which checks it before updating itself.

Docker

The image holds nothing but the program. It listens on port 8080, keeps its data in /data, and runs as user 10001.

docker run -d --name sideporch --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 -v sideporch:/data ghcr.io/niklas-heer/sideporch

Or with Docker Compose:

services:
  sideporch:
    image: ghcr.io/niklas-heer/sideporch
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - sideporch:/data
    environment:
      SIDEPORCH_PUBLIC_URL: https://chat.example.com
volumes:
  sideporch:

Images are tagged latest, each version (0.4.0) and each minor version (0.4), and main for the newest development build. Both x86-64 and ARM64 are published. The image has no shell; run commands with docker exec sideporch /sideporch ….

Homebrew

On macOS and Linux:

brew install niklas-heer/tap/sideporch
brew services start sideporch   # keep it running, with data in $(brew --prefix)/var/sideporch

Nix and NixOS

nix run github:niklas-heer/sideporch

On NixOS, import the flake’s module and turn it on. It runs Sideporch as a systemd service with its data in /var/lib/sideporch:

{
  inputs.sideporch.url = "github:niklas-heer/sideporch";

  outputs = { nixpkgs, sideporch, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.chat = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [
        sideporch.nixosModules.default
        {
          services.sideporch = {
            enable = true;
            listen = "127.0.0.1:8080";
            publicUrl = "https://chat.example.com";
          };
        }
      ];
    };
  };
}

From source

With a Rust toolchain (see rust-toolchain.toml for the version):

git clone https://github.com/niklas-heer/sideporch
cd sideporch
cargo build --release
./target/release/sideporch

No Node.js or other build tools are needed.