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+date = 2023-06-08T21:48:00Z
+title = "Self-Hosting Baïkal Server (CalDAV & CardDAV)"
+description = "A quick guide on install Baïkal with docker-compose."
++++
+
+## What is Baïkal?
+
+[Baïkal](https://sabre.io/baikal/) is a lightweight CalDAV + CardDAV server 
+that you can self-host on your own machine.
+While I have tried (& failed) to get this CalDAV + CardDAV server running 
+before, it was quite easy this time.
+Not really sure what I did differently this time, but I'm documenting my 
+process here to ensure I don't forget.
+
+## Installation
+
+First, create a folder on your server and open a `docker-compose.yml` file for 
+editing:
+
+```bash
+mkdir baikal && cd baikal
+nano docker-compose.yml
+```
+
+Within this file, you'll need to paste the information below. You can customize 
+the `ports` section to use any port on your server to pass through to port 80 in 
+the container. You can also edit the `volumes` section to use docker volumes 
+instead of local folders.
+
+```conf
+version: "2"
+services:
+  baikal:
+    image: ckulka/baikal:nginx
+    restart: always
+    ports:
+      - "8567:80" 
+    volumes:
+      - ./config:/var/www/baikal/config
+      - ./data:/var/www/baikal/Specific
+```
+
+Once finished with editing, save and close the file. Then, launch the docker 
+container:
+
+```bash
+sudo docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+## Intial Setup
+
+As long as no issues came up when starting the container, you should be able 
+to visit the server's set-up page at `http://<server_ip>:<port>`.
+The application will ask you to create an administrator account and choose 
+the database type for your storage.
+Personally, I opted to use SQLite.
+
+Make sure the administrator credentials are adequate to protect against 
+common attacks.
+
+## Creating Users
+
+Once you've set up the application, you will be greeted by the Dashboard page, 
+which will show the version of the app, status of the admin/CalDAV/CardDAV 
+services, and the number of users, calendars, events, address books, and 
+contacts.
+
+![Baïkal Dashboard](https://img.0x4b1d.org/blog/20230608-baikal/baikal-dashboard.png "Baïkal Dashboard")
+
+To create a new user, navigate to the `Users and resources` page. This process 
+is as simple as entering a username, password, and email.
+
+Once a user has been created, you can create any number of calendars and address 
+books for user, as well as inspect their information.
+
+## Setting Up a Public URL
+
+Once your application is working locally, you can open access remotely via a URL 
+by using a reverse-proxy like Nginx.
+
+As a prerequisite, you must own a domain name and set up DNS records 
+to point a domain name to the server hosting Baïkal.
+
+Start by navigating to your web server's configuration directory and create a 
+new file for this application.
+
+```bash
+cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
+nano dav
+```
+
+Within this file, paste in the configuration from below and change 
+`dav.example.com` to match the URL you'll be using.
+
+```conf
+server {
+        if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
+                return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
+        }
+
+        listen [::]:80;
+        listen 80;
+        server_name dav.example.com;
+        return 404;
+}
+
+server {
+        listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
+        listen 443 ssl http2;
+        server_name dav.example.com;
+        access_log  /var/log/nginx/dav.access.log;
+        error_log   /var/log/nginx/dav.error.log;
+
+        location / {
+                proxy_http_version 1.1;
+                proxy_pass http://localhost:8567;
+                proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        }
+
+        ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
+        ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
+        include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
+        ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
+}
+```
+
+For Nginx on Ubuntu, you'll need to symlink the configuration file to the 
+`sites-enabled` directory and then restart Nginx.
+
+```bash
+sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/dav /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/dav
+sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
+```
+
+At this point, the Baïkal server should be available over the internet at the 
+URL configured above!
+
+## Configuring Clients
+
+Lastly, configuring clients and applications is essential to making sure the DAV 
+server is being fully utilized.
+
+You can also use the `Users and resources` page to inspect a user's personal 
+link to their calendars and address books by clicking the info (i) button. It 
+will show a URI like 
+`/dav.php/calendars/your-user/default/`.
+
+However, I found that the following URL works for most applications: 
+`/dav.php/principals/your-user/`.
+
+I used the `principals` URL above for Thunderbird (calendar, tasks, and 
+contacts), as well as iOS (calendar, tasks, and contacts) and everything works 
+flawlessly so far.
+
+Syncing is quick between the server and clients, and I haven't seen any 
+disruptions in the service or data integrity.