orama/docs/DEV_DEPLOY.md

Development Guide

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21+
• Node.js 18+ (for anyone-client in dev mode)
• macOS or Linux

Building

# Build all binaries
make build

# Outputs:
#   bin/orama-node   — the node binary
#   bin/orama        — the CLI
#   bin/gateway      — standalone gateway (optional)
#   bin/identity     — identity tool
#   bin/rqlite-mcp   — RQLite MCP server

Running Tests

make test

Running Locally (macOS)

The node runs in "direct mode" on macOS — processes are managed directly instead of via systemd.

# Start a single node
make run-node

# Start multiple nodes for cluster testing
make run-node2
make run-node3

Deploying to VPS

There are two deployment workflows: development (fast iteration, no git required) and production (via git).

Development Deployment (Fast Iteration)

Use this when iterating quickly — no need to commit or push to git.

# 1. Build the CLI for Linux
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o orama-cli-linux ./cmd/cli

# 2. Generate a source archive (excludes .git, node_modules, bin/, etc.)
./scripts/generate-source-archive.sh
# Creates: /tmp/network-source.tar.gz

# 3. Copy CLI and source to the VPS
sshpass -p '<password>' scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no orama-cli-linux ubuntu@<ip>:/tmp/orama
sshpass -p '<password>' scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no /tmp/network-source.tar.gz ubuntu@<ip>:/tmp/

# 4. On the VPS: extract source and install the CLI
ssh ubuntu@<ip>
sudo rm -rf /home/debros/src && sudo mkdir -p /home/debros/src
sudo tar xzf /tmp/network-source.tar.gz -C /home/debros/src
sudo chown -R debros:debros /home/debros/src
sudo mv /tmp/orama /usr/local/bin/orama && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/orama

# 5. Upgrade using local source (skips git pull)
sudo orama upgrade --no-pull --restart

Development Deployment with Pre-Built Binaries (Fastest)

Cross-compile everything locally and skip all Go compilation on the VPS. This is significantly faster because your local machine compiles much faster than the VPS.

# 1. Cross-compile all binaries for Linux (DeBros + Olric + CoreDNS + Caddy)
make build-linux-all
# Outputs everything to bin-linux/

# 2. Generate a single deploy archive (source + pre-built binaries)
./scripts/generate-source-archive.sh
# Creates: /tmp/network-source.tar.gz (includes bin-linux/ if present)

# 3. Copy the single archive to the VPS
sshpass -p '<password>' scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no /tmp/network-source.tar.gz ubuntu@<ip>:/tmp/

# 4. Extract and install everything on the VPS
sshpass -p '<password>' ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no ubuntu@<ip> \
    'sudo bash -s' < scripts/extract-deploy.sh

# 5. Install/upgrade with --pre-built (skips ALL Go compilation on VPS)
sudo orama install --no-pull --pre-built --vps-ip <ip> ...
# or
sudo orama upgrade --no-pull --pre-built --restart

What --pre-built skips: Go installation, make build, Olric go install, CoreDNS build, Caddy/xcaddy build.

What --pre-built still runs: apt dependencies, RQLite/IPFS/IPFS Cluster downloads (pre-built binary downloads, fast), Anyone relay setup, config generation, systemd service creation.

Production Deployment (Via Git)

For production releases — pulls source from GitHub on the VPS.

# 1. Commit and push your changes
git push origin <branch>

# 2. Build the CLI for Linux
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o orama-cli-linux ./cmd/cli

# 3. Deploy the CLI to the VPS
sshpass -p '<password>' scp orama-cli-linux ubuntu@<ip>:/tmp/orama
ssh ubuntu@<ip> "sudo mv /tmp/orama /usr/local/bin/orama && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/orama"

# 4. Run upgrade (downloads source from GitHub)
ssh ubuntu@<ip> "sudo orama upgrade --branch <branch> --restart"

Deploying to All 3 Nodes

To deploy to all nodes, repeat steps 3-5 (dev) or 3-4 (production) for each VPS IP.

CLI Flags Reference

orama install

Flag	Description
--vps-ip <ip>	VPS public IP address (required)
--domain <domain>	Domain for HTTPS certificates. Nameserver nodes use the base domain (e.g., example.com); non-nameserver nodes use a subdomain (e.g., node-4.example.com)
--base-domain <domain>	Base domain for deployment routing (e.g., example.com)
--nameserver	Configure this node as a nameserver (CoreDNS + Caddy)
--join <url>	Join existing cluster via HTTPS URL (e.g., https://node1.example.com)
--token <token>	Invite token for joining (from orama invite on existing node)
--branch <branch>	Git branch to use (default: main)
--no-pull	Skip git clone/pull, use existing /home/debros/src
--pre-built	Skip all Go compilation, use pre-built binaries already on disk (see above)
--force	Force reconfiguration even if already installed
--skip-firewall	Skip UFW firewall setup
--skip-checks	Skip minimum resource checks (RAM/CPU)
--anyone-relay	Install and configure an Anyone relay on this node
--anyone-migrate	Migrate existing Anyone relay installation (preserves keys/fingerprint)
--anyone-nickname <name>	Relay nickname (required for relay mode)
--anyone-wallet <addr>	Ethereum wallet for relay rewards (required for relay mode)
--anyone-contact <info>	Contact info for relay (required for relay mode)
--anyone-family <fps>	Comma-separated fingerprints of related relays (MyFamily)
--anyone-orport <port>	ORPort for relay (default: 9001)
--anyone-exit	Configure as an exit relay (default: non-exit)

orama invite

Flag	Description
--expiry <duration>	Token expiry duration (default: 1h, e.g. --expiry 24h)

Important notes about invite tokens:

• Tokens are single-use. Once a node consumes a token during the join handshake, it cannot be reused. Generate a separate token for each node you want to join.
• Expiry is checked in UTC. RQLite uses datetime('now') which is always UTC. If your local timezone differs, account for the offset when choosing expiry durations.
• Use longer expiry for multi-node deployments. When deploying multiple nodes, use --expiry 24h to avoid tokens expiring mid-deployment.

orama upgrade

Flag	Description
--branch <branch>	Git branch to pull from
--no-pull	Skip git pull, use existing source
--pre-built	Skip all Go compilation, use pre-built binaries already on disk
--restart	Restart all services after upgrade

Node Join Flow

# 1. Genesis node (first node, creates cluster)
# Nameserver nodes use the base domain as --domain
sudo orama install --vps-ip 1.2.3.4 --domain example.com \
    --base-domain example.com --nameserver

# 2. On genesis node, generate an invite
orama invite
# Output: sudo orama install --join https://example.com --token <TOKEN> --vps-ip <IP>

# 3. On the new node, run the printed command
# Nameserver nodes use the base domain; non-nameserver nodes use subdomains (e.g., node-4.example.com)
sudo orama install --join https://example.com --token abc123... \
    --vps-ip 5.6.7.8 --domain example.com --base-domain example.com --nameserver

The join flow establishes a WireGuard VPN tunnel before starting cluster services. All inter-node communication (RQLite, IPFS, Olric) uses WireGuard IPs (10.0.0.x). No cluster ports are ever exposed publicly.

DNS Prerequisite

The --join URL should use the HTTPS domain of the genesis node (e.g., https://node1.example.com). For this to work, the domain registrar for example.com must have NS records pointing to the genesis node's IP so that node1.example.com resolves publicly.

If DNS is not yet configured, you can use the genesis node's public IP with HTTP as a fallback:

sudo orama install --join http://1.2.3.4 --vps-ip 5.6.7.8 --token abc123... --nameserver

This works because Caddy's :80 block proxies all HTTP traffic to the gateway. However, once DNS is properly configured, always use the HTTPS domain URL.

Important: Never use http://<ip>:6001 — port 6001 is the internal gateway and is blocked by UFW from external access. The join request goes through Caddy on port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS), which proxies to the gateway internally.

Pre-Install Checklist

Before running orama install on a VPS, ensure:

1. Stop Docker if running. Docker commonly binds ports 4001 and 8080 which conflict with IPFS. The installer checks for port conflicts and shows which process is using each port, but it's easier to stop Docker first:

   sudo systemctl stop docker docker.socket
   sudo systemctl disable docker docker.socket
   

2. Stop any existing IPFS instance.

   sudo systemctl stop ipfs
   

3. Ensure make is installed. Required for building CoreDNS and Caddy from source:

   sudo apt-get install -y make
   

4. Stop any service on port 53 (for nameserver nodes). The installer handles systemd-resolved automatically, but other DNS services (like bind9 or dnsmasq) must be stopped manually.

Recovering from Failed Joins

If a node partially joins the cluster (registers in RQLite's Raft but then fails or gets cleaned), the remaining cluster can lose quorum permanently. This happens because RQLite thinks there are N voters but only N-1 are reachable.

Symptoms: RQLite stuck in "Candidate" state, no leader elected, all writes fail.

Solution: Do a full clean reinstall of all affected nodes. Use CLEAN_NODE.md to reset each node, then reinstall starting from the genesis node.

Prevention: Always ensure a joining node can complete the full installation before it joins. The installer validates port availability upfront to catch conflicts early.

Debugging Production Issues

Always follow the local-first approach:

1. Reproduce locally — set up the same conditions on your machine
2. Find the root cause — understand why it's happening
3. Fix in the codebase — make changes to the source code
4. Test locally — run make test and verify
5. Deploy — only then deploy the fix to production

Never fix issues directly on the server — those fixes are lost on next deployment.

Trusting the Self-Signed TLS Certificate

When Let's Encrypt is rate-limited, Caddy falls back to its internal CA (self-signed certificates). Browsers will show security warnings unless you install the root CA certificate.

Downloading the Root CA Certificate

From VPS 1 (or any node), copy the certificate:

# Copy the cert to an accessible location on the VPS
ssh ubuntu@<VPS_IP> "sudo cp /var/lib/caddy/.local/share/caddy/pki/authorities/local/root.crt /tmp/caddy-root-ca.crt && sudo chmod 644 /tmp/caddy-root-ca.crt"

# Download to your local machine
scp ubuntu@<VPS_IP>:/tmp/caddy-root-ca.crt ~/Downloads/caddy-root-ca.crt

macOS

sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain ~/Downloads/caddy-root-ca.crt

This adds the cert system-wide. All browsers (Safari, Chrome, Arc, etc.) will trust it immediately. Firefox uses its own certificate store — go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Certificates > View Certificates > Import and import the .crt file there.

To remove it later:

sudo security remove-trusted-cert -d ~/Downloads/caddy-root-ca.crt

iOS (iPhone/iPad)

1. Transfer caddy-root-ca.crt to your device (AirDrop, email attachment, or host it on a URL)
2. Open the file — iOS will show "Profile Downloaded"
3. Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management (or "Profiles" on older iOS)
4. Tap the "Caddy Local Authority" profile and tap Install
5. Go to Settings > General > About > Certificate Trust Settings
6. Enable full trust for "Caddy Local Authority - 2026 ECC Root"

Android

1. Transfer caddy-root-ca.crt to your device
2. Go to Settings > Security > Encryption & Credentials > Install a certificate > CA certificate
3. Select the caddy-root-ca.crt file
4. Confirm the installation

Note: On Android 7+, user-installed CA certificates are only trusted by apps that explicitly opt in. Chrome will trust it, but some apps may not.

Windows

certutil -addstore -f "ROOT" caddy-root-ca.crt

Or double-click the .crt file > Install Certificate > Local Machine > Place in "Trusted Root Certification Authorities".

Linux

sudo cp caddy-root-ca.crt /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/caddy-root-ca.crt
sudo update-ca-certificates

Project Structure

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full architecture overview.

Key directories:

cmd/
  cli/          — CLI entry point (orama command)
  node/         — Node entry point (orama-node)
  gateway/      — Standalone gateway entry point
pkg/
  cli/          — CLI command implementations
  gateway/      — HTTP gateway, routes, middleware
  deployments/  — Deployment types, service, storage
  environments/ — Production (systemd) and development (direct) modes
  rqlite/       — Distributed SQLite via RQLite