How to Install Baïkal on OpenBSD

Baïkal is an open-source CalDAV and CardDAV server that allows users to sync their calendar and contacts data between various devices. This tutorial will explain how to install Baïkal on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we can start with the installation, ensure that you have the following:

  • OpenBSD installed on your system
  • Root access to your OpenBSD instance
  • Access to the internet

Install Required Packages

The first step in installing Baïkal is to install the required packages. To do this, run the following command:

# pkg_add php php-pdo_sqlite sqlite nginx

The above command installs the following packages:

  • php: PHP programming language
  • php-pdo_sqlite: SQLite3 database driver for PHP
  • sqlite: Database engine
  • nginx: Web server

After installing the packages, start the nginx service by running the following command:

# rcctl start nginx

Install Baïkal

Next, we need to download the Baïkal server files. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Visit the Baïkal website at https://sabre.io/baikal/
  2. Click on the "Download" button to download the latest Baïkal version.
  3. Extract the downloaded file using the following command:
# tar -xvf baikal-<version>.tar.gz

Replace <version> with the downloaded version.

  1. Move the extracted folder to the nginx web server root folder:
# mv baikal-<version> /htdocs/baikal
  1. Change ownership of the Baïkal folder to the www user:
# chown -R www /htdocs/baikal
  1. Copy the example configuration file to the nginx configuration folder:
# cp /htdocs/baikal/Specific/Example/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/httpd.conf

Configure Baïkal

Finally, we need to configure Baïkal. Open the nginx configuration file with your preferred text editor:

# vi /etc/nginx/httpd.conf

Find the server block and replace it with the following:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name localhost;
    root /htdocs/baikal/Specific;
    index index.php;

    rewrite ^/.well-known/carddav /dav.php redirect;
    rewrite ^/.well-known/caldav /dav.php redirect;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Make sure to replace localhost with your server name, if required.

Save and close the file.

Test Baïkal

To test the Baïkal installation, use the web browser to visit the following URL:

http://<server-name>/admin/

Replace <server-name> with the name of your server or the IP address of your server.

You should now see the Baïkal login page. Log in using the following credentials:

  • Username: admin
  • Password: admin

After logging in, you can create users, calendars, and contacts using the web interface.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install Baïkal on OpenBSD. Baïkal is a lightweight and open-source server that allows you to sync your calendar and contacts data between various devices.