Bluesky PDS Setup Notes - Unraid
Getting Bluesky PDS set up took a bit more work then I would have liked. The software is still under development and getting an account setup with a bare domain is something they plan on making easier in the future.
👇👇👇 keep reading 👇👇👇
Resources referenced:
- https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds
- https://rafaeleyng.github.io/self-hosting-a-bluesky-pds-and-using-your-domain-as-your-handle
- https://cprimozic.net/notes/posts/notes-on-self-hosting-bluesky-pds-alongside-other-services/
There were a number of other sites discussing some of the same issues so apparently I'm not the only one who ran into issues.
Tailored docker-compose.yml
I took the docker-compose.yml from the source repo and modified it to work on my Unraid setup and not use caddy or watchtower.
services:
pds:
container_name: pds
image: ghcr.io/bluesky-social/pds:0.4
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- /mnt/user/appdata/pds:/pds
ports:
- "${COMPOSE_PORT_HTTP:-3002}:3000"
env_file:
- /mnt/user/appdata/pds/pds.env
networks:
default:
external: true
name: proxynet
SWAG
Setting it up to use SWAG (NGINX Proxy Manager alternative)
Note I also added an additional domain testuser1.markfalk.com which is required to enable additional PDS accounts if you are not using a wildcard DNS entry for the base domain. I serve other services on this domain as well and don't want to use a wildcard.
server {
...
server_name testuser1.markfalk.com markfalk.com;
location /xrpc {
proxy_pass http://pds:3000;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade;
}
location /.well-known/atproto-did {
proxy_pass http://pds:3000/.well-known/atproto-did;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
}
}
Generating the pds.env file
Starting from Peter's Gist which is based on the actual PDS install script (https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds/blob/main/installer.sh), I derived the following Unraid compatible script.
Example run:
root@Rocinante:/mnt/user/appdata/pds# ./create-bluesky-env.sh /mnt/user/appdata/pds
---------------------------------------
Add DNS Record for Public IP
---------------------------------------
From your DNS provider's control panel, create the required
DNS record with the value of your server's public IP address.
+ Any DNS name that can be resolved on the public internet will work.
+ Replace example.com below with any valid domain name you control.
+ A TTL of 600 seconds (10 minutes) is recommended.
Example DNS record:
NAME TYPE VALUE
---- ---- -----
example.com A Server's IP
*.example.com A Server's IP
**IMPORTANT**
It's recommended to wait 3-5 minutes after creating a new DNS record
before attempting to use it. This will allow time for the DNS record
to be fully updated.
Enter your public DNS address (e.g. example.com): markfalk.com
Enter an admin email address (e.g. you@example.com): mark@markfalk.com
Which generates a pds.env file. I modified the PDS_BLOBSTORE_DISK_LOCATION to point under /pds so that it
will be written to the docker container's /pds mapped volume.:
PDS_HOSTNAME=markfalk.com
PDS_JWT_SECRET=<secret>
PDS_ADMIN_PASSWORD=<password>
PDS_PLC_ROTATION_KEY_K256_PRIVATE_KEY_HEX=<private key>
PDS_DATA_DIRECTORY=/pds
PDS_BLOBSTORE_DISK_LOCATION=/pds/blocks
PDS_BLOB_UPLOAD_LIMIT=52428800
PDS_DID_PLC_URL=https://plc.directory
PDS_BSKY_APP_VIEW_URL=https://api.bsky.app
PDS_BSKY_APP_VIEW_DID=did:web:api.bsky.app
PDS_REPORT_SERVICE_URL=https://mod.bsky.app
PDS_REPORT_SERVICE_DID=did:plc:ar7c4by46qjdydhdevvrndac
PDS_CRAWLERS=https://bsky.network
LOG_ENABLED=true
PDS_SERVICE_HANDLE_DOMAINS=.markfalk.com
Adding SMTP settings to the file:
PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL=smtps://<generated stalwart mail account user>:<password>@mail-oak.markfalk.com:465
PDS_EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=no-reply@markfalk.com
Running the containers
Added the aforementioned docker-compose.yml to a new Unraid Docker Compose Manager stack and launched it.
Create the PDS account
cd /mnt/user/appdata/pds
ln -s /mnt/user/appdata/pds /pds
curl \
--silent \
--show-error \
--fail \
--output ./pdsadmin \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bluesky-social/pds/main/pdsadmin.sh
chmod 755 pdsadmin
./pdsadmin account create
My run:
root@Rocinante:/mnt/user/appdata/pds# ./pdsadmin account create
Enter an email address (e.g. alice@markfalk.com): mark@markfalk.com
Enter a handle (e.g. alice.markfalk.com): alice.markfalk.com
Account created successfully!
-----------------------------
Handle : alice.markfalk.com
DID : did:plc:eweahknmmsa7rvtxwkucqarm
Password : <password>
-----------------------------
Save this password, it will not be displayed again.
One of the annoyances is that you can't create the handle as the base domain initially. I had to create it as a subdomain and then move it to the base domain later. This is well-known limitation as of this writing.
I used this trick to get the DID public via the SWAG proxy config:
location /.well-known/atproto-did {
default_type text/plain;
return 200 "did:plc:eweahknmmsa7rvtxwkucqarm";
}
I added the required DNS records as well:
server ns1.markfalk.com
zone markfalk.com
update delete _atproto.markfalk.com TXT
update add _atproto.markfalk.com 300 TXT "did=did:plc:eweahknmmsa7rvtxwkucqarm"
send
Fixing the handle to be the base domain
I used goat to modify the handle to be the base domain.
On my laptop:
go install github.com/bluesky-social/indigo/cmd/goat@latest
~/go/bin/goat account login -u did:plc:eweahknmmsa7rvtxwkucqarm -p PASSWORD
~/go/bin/goat account update-handle markfalk.com
Outtakes AKA issues I ran into
Modifying the pds.env file had no effect with only restarting the container, I had to
do a Docker Compose Manager update stack to make it take effect.
I thought the application would read in the pds.env file on startup but it doesn't.
The pds.env file only sets the environment variables when you run docker-compose up. The application only uses the as
environment variables and doesn't read them in from the file.