Linux Services in Grackle
The core functionality of Grackle is provided by the services that it configures. Important ones include:
bash & ssh
The only administrative interface a Linux system really needs, and one that has been standardized for so long that there is no shortage of documentation or modifications for it.
Scared of the command line? Don't be. Read this tutorial to get started.
For more information on how to use SSH, check this cheat sheet for a rundown on the most important parts.
byobu
Bash over SSH is great, until your connection drops, or until you need to have multiple terminal panes open. To solve this, we bundle the modern terminal multiplexer Byobu. Byobu not only keeps your session alive, but streamlines the use of multiple concurrent Bash terminals.
Every user & application account can be configured to launch Byobu upon login. Just uncomment line 18 in ~/.profile to vastly improve your terminal experience!
docker
It's not in the production build yet, but we have a proper Rootless Docker component in the works.
While we aren't huge fans of the Docker ecosystem, many modern servers need a way to safely run isolated Docker containers. We've got you.
fingered
Our finger:// and fingers:// services are powered by Fingered.
geomyidae
Our gopher:// services are powered by Geomyidae.
git
If it wasn't for Git, you would not be able to so conveniently install & update Grackle in the first place!
Our application environments were also designed in a way to enable easy integration of Git workflows.
homebrew
We didn't want to burden this down with too many extra package managers, but Homebrew was too good to pass up.
We provision a dedicated user to hold Homebrew packages, so you can grant your users & applications safe read-only access to the binaries as need be.
molly brown
Our gemini:// services are powered by The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
nginx & certbot
Our http:// and https:// services are powered by Nginx.
Certbot provides the free SSL certificates, because you should never have to pay for an SSL certificate.
php & composer
Many moons ago, this stack began as a makeshift PHP development platform for supporting a pair of gaming blogs that had upwards of a million visitors a month. While the sites no longer exist, the technology that powered them has become the server management suite you see before you today.
PHP is why we are here, and the ecosystem has only gotten infinitely better in the years since.
Composer is bundled for rapid application scaffolding.
postfix & dovecot
Our mailserver stack is powered by Postfix and Dovecot, with validation services performed by OpenDKIM and OpenDMARC.
OpenSMTPD support in the pipeline! Working on a test machine already.
rsyslog & logrotate
We're traditionalists around here. That's why our installer goes out of it's way to neuter journald, and sets you up with the simpler & more flexible rsyslog.
Log pruning is powered by logrotate. (Though it is currently not configured to prune very well. Working on it!)
sass
We aren't big fans of Javascript. That's why our installer pulls a copy of Dart Sass right into /opt/ so all system users have access to blazing-fast stylesheet compiling.
Because all other versions are inferior.
sql
Our current database offerings are PostgreSQL and SQLite, with MySQL/MariaDB and a few others on the way.
Holland is also on the way for automated database backup services.
ufw & fail2ban
All Grackle servers are secured with UFW and fail2ban to keep out riff-raff. These are in fact the first two services the installer configures before anything else, so you can build with peace of mind.