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+#+date: <2023-06-08>
+#+title: Self-Hosting Baikal Server (CalDAV & CardDAV)
+#+description: 
+
+
+* What is Baikal?
+
+[[https://sabre.io/baikal/][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:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+mkdir baikal && cd baikal
+nano docker-compose.yml
+#+end_src
+
+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.
+
+#+begin_src 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
+#+end_src
+
+Once finished with editing, save and close the file. Then, launch the
+docker container:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo docker-compose up -d
+#+end_src
+
+* 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.
+
+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 Baikal.
+
+Start by navigating to your web server's configuration directory and
+create a new file for this application.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
+nano dav
+#+end_src
+
+Within this file, paste in the configuration from below and change
+=dav.example.com= to match the URL you'll be using.
+
+#+begin_src 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;
+}
+#+end_src
+
+For Nginx on Ubuntu, you'll need to symlink the configuration file to
+the =sites-enabled= directory and then restart Nginx.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/dav /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/dav
+sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
+#+end_src
+
+At this point, the Baikal 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.