Installing custom Apps on Cloudron

[Lanhild]

@necrevistonnezr

Often, there are also app-specific questions that are not related to the app itself but directly to the upstream. That's not exclusive to Cloudron, it also happens all the time in IT.

[Lanhild]

@girish

I got an idea today:

• Add a field to the CloudronManifest.json schema; something in the likes of appstoreHost (and potentially appstoreToken for auth)
• Have an installable App Store application, where one can push their manifests for custom applications

Applications would then be installable on the Cloudron by using a new button in the "App Store" tab, that points to the configured custom App Store.

[Lanhild]

@Lanhild

@girish I am bumping this to know if, with the current Cloudron architecture, this would be feasible?

If so, I think it would be the easiest, least maintenance way to do it, while also keeping the flexibility of custom apps.

[girish]

@Lanhild it's possible to have multiple appstores, but the problem here is not technical though. With external appstore, a user has to be educated about the implications of installing from external sources. The user has to figure out who is packaging the app, whether it is safe to install, whether the app will continue to be maintained etc. Currently, for advanced users, they can already build and install apps themselves (in fact, if an app packager published the docker image, then they don't need to build it. It's a simple cloudron install --image xx ) . Does it really need to be made any simpler given that we incorporate apps into our app store already as and when possible.

[taowang]

@girish This command can install prebuilt docker images?

cloudron install --image xx

If so, a lot of apps can be installed, for example flowise.

[girish]

@taowang no, it cannot install arbitrary docker images. Only images built for Cloudron.

[crazybrad]

As a relatively new member of the Cloudron community (especially compared to @scooke) I can see both points of view. The current collection of apps is very eclectic, spanning both personal and business. And to a certain extent that reflects the wide range of our community - a strength.

I do not envy @girish and team trying to please all of us. It is both thankless and impossible. But one person's "must have" app is another person's "who cares". The danger is losing members if their needs are not met with the applications they need or want.

Perhaps having a simplified installation process would allow more people to customize their Cloudrons as desired. And yes, despite the warnings that you are on your own, I am sure that support questions will arise. And the spirit of the Cloudron team and the community to help will always prevail. As long as these questions are within reasonable limits, perhaps this will allow the platform to grow more valuable without being overwhelmed. I would suggest that custom-installed apps have its own topic area, especially if the results could be hidden from search engines to prevent prospective members getting the wrong impression about Cloudron's reliability per @scooke 's valid concerns.

Finally, I am personally interested in a business-oriented, custom-app platform where Dockerized applications can be hosted in a well-thought out and architected environment like Cloudron. We are exploring several ideas along these lines, including adding some private applications we have created, others we have paid to license, and some that are open source. And these systems would require incremental Cloudrons - helping to grow the revenue stream. In the end, that's the idea, isn't it...