Documentation Overview

  1. Operation documentation
    1. UBOS Linux installation
      1. Run UBOS on a PC (64bit)
      2. Run UBOS from a boot stick on a PC (64bit)
      3. Run UBOS in a VirtualBox virtual machine (64bit)
      4. Run UBOS with Docker
      5. Run UBOS on an Amazon Web Services EC2 virtual server
      6. Run UBOS on Raspberry Pi 5
      7. Run UBOS on ESPRESSObin
      8. Run UBOS in a Linux container on a PC (64bit)
      9. Run UBOS in an AArch64 Linux container
    2. Setting up your first Site and App
    3. Setting up networking and DNS
    4. How to create a website secured by SSL/TLS
    5. How to set up a website as a Tor hidden service
    6. Managing Sites and Apps
    7. Backup and restore
    8. Upgrading and keeping your Device current
    9. The UBOS Staff
    10. App-specific notes
      1. Reliably send e-mail via Amazon Web Services’ Simple E-mail Service: amazonses
      2. Static website hosting with rsync-based upload: docroot
      3. Notes on Mastodon
      4. Notes on Nextcloud
      5. Notes on Redirect
      6. Notes on Wordpress
    11. Device-specific Notes
      1. ESPRESSObin
      2. Raspberry Pi
    12. Advanced management
      1. Enabling non-standard package repositories
      2. Migrating from one App to another
      3. Pinning resources
    13. FAQ, HOWTOs and Troubleshooting
      1. “Package not found error” when installing a new App or Accessory
      2. A UBOS container comes up degraded
      3. Booting UBOS on a PC starts out fine, but then the screen goes blank
      4. Can I use UBOS without purchasing a domain name?
      5. Cannot access MySQL database. File missing: /etc/mysql/root-defaults-ubos.cnf
      6. Cannot boot UBOS from boot stick on a PC
      7. Cannot connect to the public internet from a UBOS container
      8. Cannot create a temporary backup; the backup directory is not empty
      9. Failed to create file /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/reload
      10. How are the various UBOS images different from each other?
      11. How can I install more than one web App on the same Device?
      12. How do I report a bug?
      13. How do I set up WiFi?
      14. How to enable non-standard Package Repositories
      15. How to get help
      16. How to log into your UBOS Device
      17. How to modify the configuration of your Site
      18. How to report a bug or issue
      19. How to use Pagekite to reach your UBOS Device behind a firewall
      20. How to use SSH
      21. I need a Package that isn’t in UBOS
      22. I need root
      23. I own a domain name, and I’d like to use it for my UBOS Device. How do I do that?
      24. I want to move from one device to another, or from/to the cloud to/from a device
      25. I want to run ssh on a non-standard port
      26. I’m running out of disk space, what now?
      27. Installing a new Package or updating fails with a message about “invalid or corrupted package” or “key is disabled”
      28. Installing a new Package or upgrading fails with a message about “unknown trust”
      29. Is it safe to have my Site accessible from the public web?
      30. My non-English keyboard layout is all screwed up
      31. My SD card is much larger than the UBOS image. How do I use the rest of the space?
      32. Nothing happens when UBOS is supposed to be booting
      33. Problems with “IPv6 Packet Filtering Framework”
      34. UBOS is in a “degraded” state
      35. ubos-admin status reports “Systemd unit … has failed”
      36. Verify your downloaded UBOS image
      37. What is the default “root” password?
      38. What text editor can I use on UBOS?
      39. Why did you derive UBOS Linux from Arch Linux, and what is the relationship between UBOS Linux and Arch?
      40. Why does UBOS ask for a domain name when installing a new Site?
      41. Why is it called UBOS?
      42. Writing a disk image to a USB stick or SD card
        1. Writing an image to a USB stick or SD card on Linux
        2. Writing an image to a USB stick or SD card on macOS
        3. Writing an image to a USB stick or SD card on Windows
    14. Command reference
  2. Developer documentation
    1. Developer setup
      1. Developing using Docker (all Intel platforms)
      2. Developing using a systemd-nspawn container (Linux host only)
      3. Developing using Arch Linux on VirtualBox x86_64 with a systemd-nspawn container
      4. Developing using Arch Linux using UTM on Apple Silicon with a systemd-nspawn container
      5. Developing using Arch Linux using Parallels on Apple Silicon with a systemd-nspawn container
    2. Developer tutorials for standalone UBOS Gears apps (not UBOS Mesh)
      1. Build and run your first UBOS Gears App
      2. How to package UBOS Standalone Apps built with a variety of languages
        1. Hello World
        2. Glad-I-Was-Here (PHP, MySQL)
        3. An Accessory for Glad-I-Was-Here (PHP, MySQL)
        4. Glad-I-Was-Here (PHP, Postgresql)
        5. Glad-I-Was-Here (Java, MySQL)
        6. Glad-I-Was-Here (Python, MySQL)
    3. UBOS Gears Reference
      1. UBOS Manifest
        1. Structure of the UBOS Manifest
        2. Info section
        3. Roles section
        4. Customization points section
        5. Appinfo section
        6. Accessoryinfo section
        7. Variables available at deploy or undeploy
        8. Functions that may be applied to variables
        9. Creating random values
        10. Scripts in UBOS Manifests
      2. Site JSON
      3. A complex deployment example
      4. UBOS Networking
      5. Allocating and opening up non-default ports
      6. Logging
      7. UBOS state
      8. UBOS Backup format
      9. Format of the App Status JSON
      10. Testing standalone Apps with “webapptest”
      11. Understanding ubos-admin
        1. Command: ubos-admin backup
        2. Command: ubos-admin backupinfo
        3. Command: ubos-admin createsite
        4. Command: ubos-admin deploy
        5. Command: ubos-admin hostid
        6. Command: ubos-admin init-staff
        7. Command: ubos-admin list-data-transfer-protocols
        8. Command: ubos-admin listnetconfigs
        9. Command: ubos-admin listsites
        10. Command: ubos-admin read-configuration-from-staff
        11. Command: ubos-admin restore
        12. Command: ubos-admin setnetconfig
        13. Command: ubos-admin setup-shepherd
        14. Command: ubos-admin showappconfig
        15. Command: ubos-admin shownetconfig
        16. Command: ubos-admin showsite
        17. Command: ubos-admin status
        18. Command: ubos-admin undeploy
        19. Command: ubos-admin update
        20. Command: ubos-admin write-configuration-to-staff
    4. Release channels and UBOS release process
    5. Miscellaneous
      1. Potentially useful infrastructure for standalone Apps
        1. The UBOS rsync server
      2. Middleware-specific notes
        1. Node.js notes
        2. SMTP notes
      3. Setting up an Arch Linux system
        1. Prepare a PC for installing Arch Linux
        2. Prepare a VirtualBox virtual machine to develop for UBOS using Arch Linux
        3. Continuing the Arch Linux installation on a PC or virtual machine
        4. Finishing the Arch development installation by adding UBOS tools
    6. Developer FAQ
      1. Doesn’t apt / dpkg / yum / pacman etc. does what UBOS Gears does already?
      2. Doesn’t puppet / chef / ansible etc. does what UBOS Gears does already?
      3. Doesn’t Docker do what UBOS Gears does already?
      4. How to profile the UBOS Personal Data Mesh web application
      5. Is it possible to run the other UBOS components on an operating system other than UBOS Linux?
      6. How to create a UBOS development VM for VirtualBox
      7. How to create a UBOS development VM for UTM on Apple computers
      8. How to create a UBOS development VM for Parallels Desktop on Apple Silicon

ESPRESSObin

/docs/operation/devices/espressobin/

Use of a SATA disk

To use a SATA disk with the ESPRESSObin, please refer to Run UBOS on ESPRESSObin.

Note that more recent (2019) kernels require an upgraded boot loader, otherwise your disk may not be detected. For how to upgrade your boot loader, please refer to Run UBOS on ESPRESSObin.

Networking

Unlike most ARM boards, the ESPRESSObin features three Ethernet ports. This opens possibilities!

For more background on networking on UBOS, see Setting up networking and DNS

  • By default, UBOS on the ESPRESSObin runs the espressobin Network Configuration. This configuration only exists on the ESPRESSObin. It is very similar to the gateway network configuration: it configures the ESPRESSObin’s wan port to connect to an upstream network (such as from an ISP) and the two lan ports to manage two local LANs. Any additional network interfaces, such as a WiFi USB dongle, will be treated like the LAN ports.

  • There is also the public-espressobin network configuration, which relates to the espressobin configuration the same way the public-gateway network configuration relates to the gateway one: it’s the same, but Apps installed on the Device can also be accessed from the public internet.

  • Alternatively, you can run the client network configuration, which makes all of the ESPRESSObin’s interfaces equivalent, expecting to plug into a network that has a DHCP server (such as your typical home network).

NOTE ON SECURITY: if you use your ESPRESSObin as a router (you use one port to connect “upstream” towards the internet and another to connect to other “downstream” devices that route through your ESPRESSObin), DO NOT BOOT OR REBOOT while the ESPRESSObin is connected to an upstream network. In other words: before booting or rebooting, disconnect the upstream Ethernet cable, and only reconnect once the ESPRESSObin has fully booted.

Explanation: it turns out that when the ESPRESSObin board starts, in the minute or two before UBOS (or any other OS) had a chance to configure networking, the ESPRESSObin’s on-board switch is on, and does what an unconfigured switch does: it forwards traffic. This has major unfortunate consequences:

  • Any downstream device (i.e. a device that is connected to one of the “other” two ports of the ESPRESSObin) will obtain, or attempt to obtain, an IP address from the upstream provider, not the ESPRESSObin, as the ESPRESSObin’s switch passes all data on directly. Such an upstream provider may not hand out multiple IP addresses, so this may or may not work. But if it works, it will conflict with the networking setup as soon as the ESPRESSObin is done booting, preventing the downstream device from networking right thereafter.

  • During this time, any attack from the public internet will be forwarded, without change, to the devices on the local area network. There is no firewall or any kind of protection until the operating system is done booting.

This is a problem with the way the ESPRESSObin board has been created, and not something we can fix in software – after all, UBOS does not run yet when the problem occurs! We have reported the problem to Globalscale, ESPRESSObin’s vendor, and hope they come up with a solution.