SimpleX Chat is a private messaging platform that uses temporary anonymous identifiers to eliminate the need for long-term user identification. This app deploys a self-hosted SMP relay server used to pass messages in the SimpleX network. It also installs the XFTP server to support XFTP file transfer protocol.
Deploying a Marketplace App
The Linode Marketplace allows you to easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using the Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.
- Log in to the Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.
- Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.
- Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.
- Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.
- To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.
To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.
Estimated Deployment Time: SimpleX Chat should be fully installed within 5-10 minutes after the Compute Instance has finished provisioning.
Configuration Options
- Supported distributions: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- Recommended plan: We recommend a 4GB Dedicated CPU or Shared CPU Compute Instance for SimpleX Chat.
SimpleX Options
| Configuration | Description |
|---|---|
| SMP server password (optional) | Sets the password for smp-server. |
| XFTP server quota (optional) | Sets the file server storage quota in GB. |
Linode Options
Limited User (Optional)
You can optionally fill out the following fields to automatically create a limited user for your new Compute Instance. This is recommended for most deployments as an additional security measure. This account will be assigned to the sudo group, which provides elevated permission when running commands with the sudo prefix.
- Limited sudo user: Enter your preferred username for the limited user.
- Password for the limited user: Enter a strong password for the new user.
- SSH public key for the limited user: If you wish to login as the limited user through public key authentication (without entering a password), enter your public key here. See Creating an SSH Key Pair and Configuring Public Key Authentication on a Server for instructions on generating a key pair.
- Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes (recommended). You can still switch to the root user once logged in and you can also log in as root through Lish.
Custom Domain (Optional)
If you wish to automatically configure a custom domain, you first need to configure your domain to use Linode’s name servers. This is typically accomplished directly through your registrar. See Use Linode’s Name Servers with Your Domain. Once that is finished, you can fill out the following fields for the Marketplace App:
- Linode API Token: If you wish to use the Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain, create a Linode API Personal Access Token on your account with Read/Write access to Domains. If this is provided along with the subdomain and domain fields (outlined below), the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. See Get an API Access Token. If you do not provide this field, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
- Subdomain: The subdomain you wish to use, such as www for
www.example.com. - Domain: The domain name you wish to use, such as example.com.
Getting Started After Deployment
Once the SimpleX Server is up and running you can display your SMP and XFTP connection strings with the following command while logged into the server:
docker-compose --project-directory /etc/docker/compose/simplex logs grep 'Server address' | uniqTo start using your server, you will need to configure it to work with your SimpleX app. Available apps can be downloaded here: Download SimpleX apps
For more information on configuration and linking the SimpleX app to your SMP server, please see the following documentation from SimpleX:
The SimpleX Chat Marketplace App was built for Linode by SimpleX. For support regarding app deployment, contact Linode Support. For support regarding the tool or software itself, use the information in the sidebar or browse SimpleX Chat’s documentation.
