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| Updated 31.01.2023 | Languages: EN, FR, CZ |

Hosting your own SMP Server

Overview

SMP server is the relay server used to pass messages in SimpleX network. SimpleX Chat apps have preset servers (for mobile apps these are smp8, smp9 and smp10.simplex.im), but you can easily change app configuration to use other servers.

SimpleX clients only determine which server is used to receive the messages, separately for each contact (or group connection with a group member), and these servers are only temporary, as the delivery address can change.

Please note: when you change the servers in the app configuration, it only affects which server will be used for the new contacts, the existing contacts will not automatically move to the new servers, but you can move them manually using "Change receiving address" button in contact/member information pages – it will be automated soon.

Installation

  1. First, install smp-server:

Manual installation requires some preliminary actions:

  1. Create user and group for smp-server:

    sudo useradd -m smp

  2. Create necessary directories and assign permissions:

    sudo mkdir -p /var/opt/simplex /etc/opt/simplex
sudo chown smp:smp /var/opt/simplex /etc/opt/simplex

  3. Allow smp-server port in firewall:

    # For Ubuntu
ufw allow 5223

  4. Optional — If you're using distribution with systemd, create /etc/systemd/system/smp-server.service file with the following content:

    [Unit]
Description=SMP server
[Service]
User=smp
Group=smp
Type=simple
ExecStart=smp-server start
ExecStopPost=/usr/bin/env sh -c '[ -e "/var/opt/simplex/smp-server-store.log" ] && cp "/var/opt/simplex/smp-server-store.log" "/var/opt/simplex/smp-server-store.log.bak"'
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=infinity
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
LimitNOFILE=65535
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

    And execute sudo systemctl daemon-reload.

Configuration

To see which options are available, execute smp-server without flags:

sudo su smp -c smp-server

...
Available commands:
  init                     Initialize server - creates /etc/opt/simplex and
                           /var/opt/simplex directories and configuration files
  start                    Start server (configuration:
                           /etc/opt/simplex/smp-server.ini)
  delete                   Delete configuration and log files

You can get further help by executing sudo su smp -c "smp-server <command> -h"

After that, we need to configure smp-server:

Interactively

Execute the following command:

sudo su smp -c "smp-server init"

There are several options to consider:

  • Enable store log to restore queues and messages on server restart (Yn):

    Enter y to enable saving and restoring connections and messages when the server is restarted.

    Please note: it is important to use SIGINT to restart the server, as otherwise the undelivered messages will not be restored. The connections will be restored irrespective of how the server is restarted, as unlike messages they are added to append-only log on every change.

  • Enable logging daily statistics (yN):

    Enter y to enable logging statistics in CSV format, e.g. they can be used to show aggregate usage charts in Grafana.

These statistics include daily counts of created, secured and deleted queues, sent and received messages, and also daily, weekly, and monthly counts of active queues (that is, the queues that were used for any messages). We believe that this information does not include anything that would allow correlating different queues as belonging to the same users, but please let us know, confidentially, if you believe that this can be exploited in any way.

  • Require a password to create new messaging queues?

    Enter r or your arbitrary password to password-protect smp-server, or n to disable password protection.

  • Enter server FQDN or IP address for certificate (127.0.0.1):

    Enter your domain or ip address that your smp-server is running on - it will be included in server certificates and also printed as part of server address.

Via command line options

Execute the following command:

sudo su smp -c "smp-server init -h"

...
Available options:
  -l,--store-log           Enable store log for persistence
  -s,--daily-stats         Enable logging daily server statistics
  -a,--sign-algorithm ALG  Signature algorithm used for TLS certificates:
                           ED25519, ED448 (default: ED448)
  --ip IP                  Server IP address, used as Common Name for TLS online
                           certificate if FQDN is not supplied
                           (default: "127.0.0.1")
  -n,--fqdn FQDN           Server FQDN used as Common Name for TLS online
                           certificate
  --no-password            Allow creating new queues without password
  --password PASSWORD      Set password to create new messaging queues
  -y,--yes                 Non-interactive initialization using command-line
                           options
  -h,--help                Show this help text

You should determine which flags are needed for your use-case and then execute smp-server init with -y flag for non-interactive initialization:

sudo su smp -c "smp-server init -y -<your flag> <your option>"

For example, run:

sudo su smp -c "smp-server init -y -l --ip 192.168.1.5 --password test"

to initialize your smp-server configuration with:

  • restoring connections and messages when the server is restarted (-l flag),
  • IP address 192.168.1.5,
  • protect smp-server with a password test.

After that, your installation is complete and you should see in your teminal output something like this:

Certificate request self-signature ok
subject=CN = 127.0.0.1
Server initialized, you can modify configuration in /etc/opt/simplex/smp-server.ini.
Run `smp-server start` to start server.
----------
You should store CA private key securely and delete it from the server.
If server TLS credential is compromised this key can be used to sign a new one, keeping the same server identity and established connections.
CA private key location: /etc/opt/simplex/ca.key
----------
SMP server v3.4.0
Fingerprint: d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=
Server address: smp://d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=:V8ONoJ6ICwnrZnTC_QuSHfCEYq53uLaJKQ_oIC6-ve8=@<hostnames>

The server address above should be used in your client configuration and if you added server password it should only be shared with the other people when you want to allow them to use your server to receive the messages (all your contacts will be able to send messages, as it does not require a password). If you passed IP address or hostnames during the initialisation, they will be printed as part of server address, otherwise replace <hostnames> with the actual server addresses.

Documentation

All necessary files for smp-server are located in /etc/opt/simplex/ folder.

Stored messages, connections, statistics and server log are located in /var/opt/simplex/ folder.

SMP server address

SMP server address has the following format:

smp://<fingerprint>[:<password>]@<public_hostname>[,<onion_hostname>]

  • <fingerprint>

    Your smp-server fingerprint of certificate. You can check your certificate fingerprint in /etc/opt/simplex/fingerprint.

  • optional <password>

    Your configured password of smp-server. You can check your configured pasword in /etc/opt/simplex/smp-server.ini, under [AUTH] section in create_password: field.

  • <public_hostname>, optional <onion_hostname>

    Your configured hostname(s) of smp-server. You can check your configured hosts in /etc/opt/simplex/smp-server.ini, under [TRANSPORT] section in host: field.

Systemd commands

To start smp-server on host boot, run:

sudo systemctl enable smp-server.service

Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/smp-server.service → /etc/systemd/system/smp-server.service.

To start smp-server, run:

sudo systemctl start smp-server.service

To check status of smp-server, run:

sudo systemctl status smp-server.service

● smp-server.service - SMP server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/smp-server.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-11-23 19:23:21 UTC; 1min 48s ago
   Main PID: 30878 (smp-server)
     CGroup: /docker/5588ab759e80546b4296a7c50ffebbb1fb7b55b8401300e9201313b720989aa8/system.slice/smp-server.service
             └─30878 smp-server start

Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 systemd[1]: Started SMP server.
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: SMP server v3.4.0
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Fingerprint: d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Server address: smp://d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=:V8ONoJ6ICwnrZnTC_QuSHfCEYq53uLaJKQ_oIC6-ve8=@<hostnames>
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Store log: /var/opt/simplex/smp-server-store.log
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Listening on port 5223 (TLS)...
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: not expiring inactive clients
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: creating new queues requires password

To stop smp-server, run:

sudo systemctl stop smp-server.service

To check tail of smp-server log, run:

sudo journalctl -fu smp-server.service

Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 systemd[1]: Started SMP server.
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: SMP server v3.4.0
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Fingerprint: d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Server address: smp://d5fcsc7hhtPpexYUbI2XPxDbyU2d3WsVmROimcL90ss=:V8ONoJ6ICwnrZnTC_QuSHfCEYq53uLaJKQ_oIC6-ve8=@<hostnames>
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Store log: /var/opt/simplex/smp-server-store.log
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: Listening on port 5223 (TLS)...
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: not expiring inactive clients
Nov 23 19:23:21 5588ab759e80 smp-server[30878]: creating new queues requires password

Monitoring

You can enable smp-server statistics for Grafana dashboard by setting value on in /etc/opt/simplex/smp-server.ini, under [STORE_LOG] section in log_stats: field.

Logs will be stored as csv file in /var/opt/simplex/smp-server-stats.daily.log. Fields for the csv file are:

fromTime,qCreated,qSecured,qDeleted,msgSent,msgRecv,dayMsgQueues,weekMsgQueues,monthMsgQueues

  • fromTime - timestamp; date and time of event

  • qCreated - int; created queues

  • qSecured - int; established queues

  • qDeleted - int; deleted queues

  • msgSent - int; sent messages

  • msgRecv - int; received messages

  • dayMsgQueues - int; active queues in a day

  • weekMsgQueues - int; active queues in a week

  • monthMsgQueues - int; active queues in a month

To import csv to Grafana one should:

  1. Install Grafana plugin: Grafana - CSV datasource

  2. Allow local mode by appending following:

    [plugin.marcusolsson-csv-datasource]
allow_local_mode = true

    ... to /etc/grafana/grafana.ini

  3. Add a CSV data source:

    • In the side menu, click the Configuration tab (cog icon)
    • Click Add data source in the top-right corner of the Data Sources tab
    • Enter "CSV" in the search box to find the CSV data source
    • Click the search result that says "CSV"
    • In URL, enter a file that points to CSV content

  4. You're done! You should be able to create your own dashboard with statistics.

For further documentation, see: CSV Data Source for Grafana - Documentation

Configuring the app to use the server

To configure the app to use your messaging server copy it's full address, including password, and add it to the app. You have an option to use your server together with preset servers or without them - you can remove or disable them.

It is also possible to share the address of your server with your friends by letting them scan QR code from server settings - it will include server password, so they will be able to receive messages via your server as well.

Please note: you need SMP server version 4.0 to have password support. If you already have a deployed server, you can add password by adding it to server INI file.

     

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