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+#+title: Self-Hosting Convos IRC Web Client
+#+date: 2023-06-23
+#+description: A guide to self-hosting the Convos application on your own server.
+#+filetags: :selfhosting:
+
+* Convos
+[[https://convos.chat/][Convos]] is an always-online web client for IRC.
+It has a few features that made it attractive to me as a self-hosted
+option:
+
+- Extremely simple Docker Compose installation method.
+- Runs in the background and monitors chats even while you're not logged
+  in.
+- Neatly organized sidebar for conversation and client settings.
+- Ability to connect to different hosts and create profiles for hosts.
+- By default, registration is closed to the public. You can enable
+  public registration on the Settings page or generate invitation links
+  on the Users page.
+- Customization of the client theme, organization name and URL, admin
+  email, and video service.
+
+* Docker Installation
+To install Convos, simply create a directory and a =docker-compose.yml=
+file:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+mkdir ~/convos && cd ~/convos
+nano docker-compose.yml
+#+end_src
+
+With the =docker-compose.yml= file open, paste the configuration below
+into the file. You can customize the host port to be something unique,
+such as =21897:3000=. You can also change the =data= folder to be a
+docker volume instead, if you prefer.
+
+#+begin_src config
+version: '3'
+
+services:
+  convos:
+    image: 'convos/convos:stable'
+    ports:
+      - '3000:3000'
+    volumes:
+      - './data:/data'
+    environment:
+      - CONVOS_REVERSE_PROXY=1
+    restart: always
+#+end_src
+
+Save the =docker-compose.yml= file and bring the container up:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo docker-compose up -d
+#+end_src
+
+At this point, Convos is available at =<server_ip>:3000= but not
+available to the public.
+
+* Nginx Reverse Proxy
+If you're using Nginx, you can create a configuration file for the
+convos application. Start by opening the file:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/convos
+#+end_src
+
+Within the nginx configuration file, paste the following content and be
+sure to update =convos.example.com= to match your domain and
+=127.0.0.1:3000= to match the port you opened in the
+=docker-compose.yml= file.
+
+#+begin_src config
+# Host and port where convos is running
+upstream convos_upstream { server 127.0.0.1:3000; }
+
+server {
+    if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
+        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
+    }
+
+    listen [::]:80;
+    listen 80;
+    server_name convos.example.com;
+    return 404;
+}
+
+server {
+    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
+    listen 443 ssl http2;
+    server_name convos.example.com;
+    access_log  /var/log/nginx/convos.access.log;
+    error_log   /var/log/nginx/convos.error.log;
+
+    location / {
+        proxy_pass http://convos_upstream;
+        proxy_http_version 1.1;
+        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
+        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
+        client_max_body_size 0;
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Request-Base "$scheme://$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
+
+Once the file is saved, link it to the =sites-enabled= directory and
+restart Nginx.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/convos /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/convos
+sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
+#+end_src
+
+* Screenshots
+See the screenshots below for an example of the Convos homepage and an
+excerpt of the chat screen.
+
+There are numerous themes to choose from; the theme shown in the images
+below is Dracula.
+
+#+caption: Convos Home
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20230623-convos/convos_home.png]]
+
+#+caption: Convos Chat
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20230623-convos/convos_chat.png]]
+
+* Registering a Nickname
+Hop into the server channel so that you can message NickServ. In the
+case of Convos, the default sever is libera.chat. Simply click the
+=libera= conversation at the top of the sidebar to open it. Once the
+chat is open, you can claim a nickname by typing:
+
+#+begin_src txt
+/nick <nick>
+#+end_src
+
+If the nickname is available, and you'd like to register the nickname to
+yourself, you'll need to type another command:
+
+#+begin_src txt
+/msg NickServ REGISTER 
+<password> <email>
+#+end_src
+
+On libera.chat, the server will send a confirmation email with a command
+that you must message in IRC to verify registration of the nickname:
+
+#+begin_src txt
+/msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER <nick> <verification_code>
+#+end_src
+
+Once entered, the server should confirm registration of the nickname to
+the supplied email with the password specified.