Newbie hubMaster questions

Servicios Informáticos IAO - Web y gnu/linux

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 04:08:39 +0000

Dear,

First of all ... SUPER THANKS FOR THIS GREAT PIECE OF SOFTWARE AND INITIATIVE YOU HAD CREATED.  Thanks!!

Secondly I have some doubts about functionality that I would like to do but I'm not sure if they are already implemented or how to configure my hub to achieve it.

-> I want to built a private grid. So I start with my hub and I would like to allow other people from my specific community to add more hubs and connect them to mine so we create the private grid for our community. But I didn't find the way of understanding how can I manage to make the directory (and the sync and what imply to connect hubs) connect only  to the hubs that will become our private grid but not the global. Is there a way to do it?

->Is there a way of automatic clone/duplication/backup amongst a "brotherhood of hubs"(same grid/not the global)? So the channels (accounts perhaps too) are saved without the need of human direct intervention?

-> Is there a way of receiving notifications that someone has connected to a channel? I didn't get any notification or advice when testing. Is that possible? If so probably I missed it.

->Because I've high skill on software development I can give a hand to implement something for the project. Probably my community will need some features and I already have some ideas  of an addon that can give extra power to this great software. But as all ... let's start step by step.

Is this the channel for this questions?... where to follow the development roadmap and so? Can I publish this questions directly here !Hubzilla Development ?
(I did it ... :-S  )

Cheers !!

Kind regards!!

clonning private grids channel's notifications

show all 11 Comments

Waitman Gobble

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 05:50:34 +0000 last edited: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 05:51:58 +0000

I can think of a few solutions.

#1 build your own ISP company. Your users have to connect to the internet through your company.

#2 set up a vpn service. People with the hubs have to be on your vpn.

#3 make your users sign contracts swearing that they will only interact with your hub for the rest of their lives.

#4 alter the source code and encrypt it, and force your users to only use your modded code.

The good news is, since you are requiring your users to use your services you can easily charge tens of thousands of dollars or whatever the currency you got over there

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 07:40:09 +0000

I think you're looking for a directory 'realm'. See https://zotlabs.org/help/directories

Servicios Informáticos IAO - Web y gnu/linux

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:55:16 +0000

Thanks, so much @Mike Macgirvin Macgirvin.
It's obvious that I didn't get the meaning and potential of that section the first time I red it. Probably now I can implement what I need. Much appreciated your quick and helpful answer.

@Waitman Gobble Gobble: I didn't came here to be mistreated. Quiet unfriendly comment. As far as I understand this is the place to ask about this subjects: doubts and knowledge about the hubzilla platform in a respectful way.

Cheers!

hEARt PhoniX

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:50:37 +0000

@Servicios Informáticos IAO - Web y gnu/linux I excuse for @Waitman Gobble , I assume this post was meant humorous but backfired. And even though many of us have been using Zotlabs|Hubzilla for years there still is functionality to discover. Literally.
Anyway, I say welcome and as I have not yet used a different realm (though I had considered it repearedly for a family hub) I would be grateful if you could report back. This might be a good opportunity to validate the doco and improve upon.
Any feedback is welcome!

Waitman Gobble

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 16:27:27 +0000

Luckily there's an easier option. I'll try it.

Servicios Informáticos IAO - Web y gnu/linux

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 17:50:11 +0000

Is the extension "Send ZID" a way of sending the identity (channel? or Account? or both) to other hubs of the Network Realm? It's not automatic but if it does so it is the answer for my need of a mechanism of easy replication.

I envision the use of homeservers, like mine, that can be offline occasionally (change of dynamic address, power supply, maintenance, etc) but wanting to keep the service up for all the participants. We are a world wide community so if people have the resources we can build the grid without asking everyone migrate all their contents to the new online hubs manually. My hub will be the first and probably hundreds of channels will be hosted at the beginning. So it's evident that my concern about this details matter, people won't be tech savvy neither I don't feel to ask that they become concerned about this infrastructural subjects, the main goal is use transparently the tool.

Waitman Gobble

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 19:07:20 +0000 last edited: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 19:10:17 +0000

I set up a new hub, followed the directions re directory/realm.

Typo in doc 'gird'

Posting code in hubzilla is always dorked up for me, for some reason. There are not supposed to be h1's here. They appear magically.

App::$config['system']['directory_mode'] = DIRECTORY_MODE_PRIMARY;

[h1]util/config system directory_server [zrl=https://hz.bien.viajes]https://hz.bien.viajes[/zrl][/h1]

config[system][directory_server] = [zrl=https://hz.bien.viajes]https://hz.bien.viajes[/zrl]

[h1]util/config system directory_realm BIENVIAJES[/h1]

config[system][directory_realm] = BIENVIAJES

[h1]util/config system realm_token topsecret[/h1]

config[system][realm_token] = topsecret

Not sure what I am gaining here, except that directory searches show only local accounts in my realm.

I can still login in 'remotely' from my other hubzilla install and connect to profiles on the new, and post on the new install, despite the directory setup.

It kinda sounded like we could create a private grid? But maybe there is more to the setup than just the directory realm.

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 19:41:38 +0000

"Send ZID" merely performs automatic authentication against every link your members publish - not just links to servers that are known to support openwebauth. It does not do what you require, which (if I read correctly) is to automatically create nomadic clones on alternate servers. I'm not sure of the best way to pull this off with the given architecture so it will need some custom development.

The basic problem is that only channels are replicated currently. An account represents your relationship with your hub provider and these have never been replicated since having an account on a server represents a trust issue. To pull this off would probably require a small number of primary functions:

- Create a list of "cooperating servers", which can be obtained from the directory server.
- When an account is created, mirror it to a single chosen "cooperating server".
- When a channel is created, mirror it to that chosen server.
- Notify the member that this happened via email and/or the Account Settings pages.

The hardest thing I see in all of this is a way for the software to "boot" into this environment but not affect other Hubzilla installations. A plugin would be a clean solution to many of the above problems, but and administrator account+channel would be required to configure the directory and install the plugin, and this account wouldn't have been replicated since the pieces weren't in place yet. So this might require a "virtual fork" to avoid the booting issues spiraling out of control. I've managed virtual forks before - the zap/osada project is an example. It allows completely different applications to share (much of) a common code base. Alternatively, as a plugin, you would also need a way to clone the existing admin account+channel once the site was setup.

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 19:46:52 +0000

@Waitman Gobble Yeah there are a few other setup things needed to create a private grid. It mostly just requires some setup to whitelist any allowed domains and possibly allowed email domains for registration.

Servicios Informáticos IAO - Web y gnu/linux

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 22:29:59 +0000

Thanks to both for your feedback, It's been helpful.

Waitman Gobble

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:18:34 +0000

I have an application with a large number of users. I have not hooked into hubzilla yet, but it's an idea i've been kicking around. Maybe the directory realm is a good idea. Slamfck-ing the network with a bunch of traffic is not ideal. I don't have to be isolated but baby steps would be good.