1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
|
+++
date = 2023-11-08T21:37:00.307616604+00:00
title = "Installing scli on Alpine Linux (musl)"
description = ""
+++
[scli](https://github.com/isamert/scli) is a command-line tool that allows you
to connect to your Signal messenger account. This program utilizes a two-pane
display that shows you chats on the left and the focused conversation on the
right.
This guide will show you how to install `scli` and its dependencies on Alpine
Linux, which requires some extra work due to musl.
If you're using a non-musl system, you can likely following the `scli` README
and download the packaged binaries for an easier installation process.
## Dependencies
In order to use `scli`, you need a few dependencies:
- `openjdk17-jre` - Used as a dependency for the `signal-cli` tool. Version may
vary.
- `signal-cli` - Used as the backbone of the `scli` tool.
- `findutils` - Replaces the standard Busybox version of `xargs`.
- `urwid` - A console user interface library for Python.
- `urwid-readline` - For GNU emacs-like keybinds on the input line.
- `qrencode` - Displays a QR code in the terminal to link the device using your
phone. Not necessary if you're only linking on desktop and can copy/paste the
connection URL.
Let's start by installing the packages available via Alpine's repositories. Be
sure to install the latest version of `openjdk`. If you run into Java-related
issues, uninstall `openjdk` and install an older version.
```sh
doas apk add openjdk17-jre findutils qrencode
```
Next, let's install `signal-cli`. Be sure to export the version of `signal-cli`
that you want. I use version `0.12.4` below, but that may be outdated by the
time you're reading this.
```sh
export VERSION="0.12.4"
wget https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v"${VERSION}"/signal-cli-"${VERSION}".tar.gz
doas tar xf signal-cli-"${VERSION}".tar.gz -C /opt
doas ln -sf /opt/signal-cli-${VERSION}"/bin/signal/cli /usr/local/bin
```
Finally, install the `urwid` packages using the Python packaging utility.
```sh
pip3 install urwid urwid-readline
```
## Installation
Now that we have all of the dependencies we need, we can install `scli`. Start
by simply cloning the repository.
```sh
git clone https://github.com/isamert/scli
```
When I cloned this repository on 2023-11-08, I found a bug in the logic that
required a fix. You must edit the `scli` file and replace the one instance of
`RLIMIT_OFILE` with `RLIMIT_NOFILE`.
```sh
cd scli
nano scli
```
Once complete, you can move this program to anywhere on your `$PATH`. I chose
the following directory.
```sh
doas mv scli /usr/local/bin/scli
```
## Initial Setup
Now that everything is installed, we can login and configure the client. Start
by generating a connection link.
```sh
signal-cli link -n "YOUR-DEVICE-NICKNAME" | tee >(xargs -L 1 qrencode -t utf8)
```
This will generate a connection link and related QR code for you to use to link
the devices together. Once complete, **wait patiently** for the connection
process to finish.
Once it completes, it will exit and return you to the prompt. From here, you
need to perform an initial `receive` command to start things off. The `USERNAME`
variable should be your phone number, such as `+15551237890`.
```sh
signal-cli -u USERNAME receive
```
Also be sure to test the daemon to ensure it works properly. If no errors occur,
it's working. If you run into errors because you're not running a DBUS session,
see my notes below.
```sh
signal-cli -u USERNAME daemon
```
Once the initial reception is complete, you are ready to use `scli`.
This process will differ depending on your desktop environment (DE). If you are
running a DE, you likely have a DBUS session running already and can simply
launch the program.
However, if you're like me and running your computer straight on the TTY without
a DE, you'll need to start a DBUS session for this program.
```sh
# If you're not running a DBUS session yet, you need to start one for scli
dbus-run-session -- scli
# OR - If you're already running a DBUS session, simply run scli
scli
```
## Configuration
Lastly, there are a number of configuration options that you can pass via the
command or in the `~/.config/sclirc` file. See the Github README for more
information on configuration options.
```sh
nano ~/.config/sclirc
```
```conf
# ~/.config/sclirc
wrap-at = 80
enable-notifications = true
```
That's it! Following this guide, I have a functional `scli` program that
successfully sends messages to my contacts and myself!
|
