MixLab 0.0.20

Running your own sync server

MixLab encrypts everything on your machine before it syncs, so the default server at https://sync-0.lab.mixnz.com holds your data without being able to read it. Running your own server keeps even that encrypted copy with you. The server is open source and lives in the server/ folder of MixLab's repository, and there are two ways to run it.

On Cloudflare Workers

This is what the default server runs on, and Cloudflare's free plan is enough for a few people.

  1. Fork mixnz/mixlab.
  2. In the Cloudflare dashboard, create a Worker from your fork with server/worker/ as its root directory.
  3. Under the Worker's Settings → Variables and Secrets, set PEPPER (32 random bytes in base64) and EMAIL_API_KEY as secrets, and EMAIL_FROM and EMAIL_PROVIDER as variables.
  4. Put your Worker's address into MixLab, as below.

Every setting, and what the free plan allows, is in the Worker's README.

In a Docker container

The image ghcr.io/mixnz/mixlab-sync-server holds the server as one binary and keeps its data in one SQLite file. Any machine that runs Docker will do.

  1. Create a .env file with a pepper and your email provider:

    umask 077
cat > .env <<EOF
MIXLAB_SYNC_PEPPER=$(openssl rand -base64 32)
MIXLAB_SYNC_EMAIL_FROM=noreply@example.com
MIXLAB_SYNC_EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
MIXLAB_SYNC_EMAIL_API_KEY=
EOF

  2. Save the compose file from the README as compose.yaml beside it, and run docker compose up -d.

  3. Put a reverse proxy with TLS in front of it, and put its address into MixLab, as below.

Generate the pepper once and back it up with the database. If it changes, every account on the server is locked out. The README has the full configuration, backups, and how to check your server with the conformance suite.

Pointing MixLab at it

In Settings → Sync, press Add a server beside the Server list, type your server's address and press Add. It has to start with https://; plain http:// works only for a server on the same machine. Then create an account on it, the same way as on the default server.

If you already sync with another server, use Move to another server instead. It copies your account and everything in it, still encrypted, and signs you in on the new one.

This page as Markdown: https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/en/self-hosting.md