#+date: <2023-06-08 Thu 00:00:00>
#+title: How to Self-Host Baikal: A Lightweight CalDAV & CardDAV Server
#+description: Step-by-step guide to setting up and running your own Baikal server for CalDAV and CardDAV services. Secure, customizable, and easy to deploy with Docker and Nginx.
#+slug: self-hosting-baikal
#+filetags: :caldav:self-hosting:docker:

* 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.