Title: How to deploy Vger gemini server on OpenBSD

	Title: How to deploy Vger gemini server on OpenBSD
	Author: Solène
	Date: 30 November 2020
	Tags: gemini openbsd
	Description:

	# Introduction

	In this article I will explain how to install and configure Vger, a
	gemini server.

	What is the gemini protocol

	Short introduction about Gemini: it's a very recent protocol that is
	being simplistic and limited. Keys features are: pages are written in
	markdown like, mandatory TLS, no header, UTF-8 encoding only.

	# Vger program

	Vger source code

	I wrote Vger to discover the protocol and the Gemini space. I had a lot
	of fun with it, it was the opportunity for me to rediscover the C
	language with a better approach. The sources include a full test suite.
	This test suite was unvaluable for the development process.

	Vger was really built with security in mind from the first lines of
	code, now it offers the following features:

	* chroot and privilege dropping, and on OpenBSD it uses unveil/pledge
	all the time
	* virtualhost support
	* language selection
	* MIME detection
	* handcrafted man page, OpenBSD quality!

	The name Vger is a reference to the 1979 first Star Trek movie.
	Star Trek: The Motion Picture


	# Install Vger

	Compile vger.c using clang or gcc

	```shell command, dollar sign for regular user and pound sign for root
	$ make
	# install -o root -g bin -m 755 vger /usr/local/bin/vger
	```

	Vger receives requests on stdin and gives the result on stdout. It
	doesn't take account of the hostname given but a request MUST start
	with `gemini://`.

	vger official homepage


	# Setup on OpenBSD

	Create directory /var/gemini/, files will be served from there.

	Create the `_gemini` user:

	```shell command as root
	useradd -s /sbin/nologin _gemini
	```

	Configure vger in /etc/inetd.conf

	```configuration line for /etc/inetd.conf
	11965 stream tcp nowait _gemini /usr/local/bin/vger vger
	```

	Inetd will run vger` with the _gemini user. You need to take care that
	/var/gemini/ is readable by this user.
	inetd is a wonderful daemon listening on ports and running commands
	upon connections. This mean when someone connects on the port 11965,
	inetd will run vger as _gemini and pass the network data to its
	standard input, vger will send the result to the standard output
	captured by inetd that will transmit it back to the TCP client.

	Tell relayd to forward connections in relayd.conf

	```configuration sample for /etc/relayd.conf
	log connection
	relay "gemini" {
	listen on 163.172.223.238 port 1965 tls
	forward to 127.0.0.1 port 11965
	}
	```

	Make links to the certificates and key files according to relayd.conf
	documentation. You can use acme / certbot / dehydrate or any "Let's
	Encrypt" client to get certificates. You can also generate your own
	certificates but it's beyond the scope of this article.

	```shell commands as root
	# ln -s /etc/ssl/acme/cert.pem /etc/ssl/163.172.223.238\:1965.crt
	# ln -s /etc/ssl/acme/private/privkey.pem /etc/ssl/private/163.172.223.238\:196…
	```

	Enable inetd and relayd at boot and start them

	```shell commands as root
	# rcctl enable relayd inetd
	# rcctl start relayd inetd
	```

	From here, what's left is populating /var/gemini/ with the files you
	want to publish, the `index.md` file is special because it will be the
	default file if no file are requests.