SMS desktop app

[timconsidine]

@robi understood
I got a message that they will incorporate my HOW-TO in their official docs.

There are couple screenshots on one of their pages.
I can make some others.
But maybe you need more.

It's definitely still beta, but it's working without frills like decent address book, group lists etc. But I think they are coming.

I also noticed that someone has posted a message requesting Dockerfile for Cloudron install !

[subtlecourage]

@timconsidine
Little by little!

I am so stoked!

Would you consider your version prod ready?

[timconsidine]

@subtlecourage hmmm, good question
Depends on how consider production ready.

Yes, it's working ! To send out SMS and receive inbound.

But no, because the app is still officially beta, and there are features not yet implemented (voice but I don't need that) and contacts management, export of SMS

Overall I think it's worth trying out, with the understanding that it is still evolving.

EDIT : if you follow the LXC installation route, it's easy to try it out. Just remove the container if you feel it's not ready yet. Telnyx numbers are month-by-month subscription so no long-term commitment.

[privsec]

Wow, what an awesome concept, though looks a bit complicated setup. Do you run into any errors while using?

[timconsidine]

@privsec : it's not complicated, just multiple steps

If you want to actually understand, I put the references to tutorials with explanation.
but i abstracted the steps into a 'monkey see, monkey do' process
btw, I am the monkey referred to !

sorry for one hand typing

if you follow the steps you should be ok, but ler me know if anything needs clarifying

no, i don't get any errors using it

[privsec]

@timconsidine Hahaha, you are hilarious!

For LXC, can that be ran simultaneously on a cloudron server?

[timconsidine]

@privsec

For LXC, can that be ran simultaneously on a cloudron server?

well in theory I guess it could as LXC containers are separate from what else is going on in the VPS

But I have a personal rule not to touch the Cloudron server other than through the Cloudron dashboard and the Cloudron CLI for custom apps. I don't log in to the VPS and don't do any maintenance on it. I just leave it all to Cloudron.

I use another VPS from SSDNODES for 'experiments' and 'self-self-hosted' apps.

[subtlecourage]

sorry to revive this conversation, @privsec and @timconsidine, but how powerful of a server do you need?

[timconsidine]

@subtlecourage I don't think the project states minimum requirements.
it's not a doing a lot, just a small mongodb and some api polling
so I would guess a modest one
nor more than 8gb ram and probably 4gb ram would be enough
although that depends on what else is running on that VPS (remembering this app is in a container)

[subtlecourage]

@timconsidine thanks for the fast reply.

Ok! Not a beefy one. I’m considering setting up these up for customers on an individual basis, and it seems a simple low tier server would be all that’s needed to run these.

Probably a server with 20gb ram for multi number/family use cases would be appropriate.

[privsec]

@subtlecourage that’s a neat idea, how would you offer support for that?

[timconsidine]

@subtlecourage here is the htop from the container

Not much going on

[scooke]

@timconsidine said in SMS desktop app:

virtual number service (Hushed) but it's not cheap

Hushed is one sale at:
https://www.groupon.com/deals/hushed-com-nat-2
https://stacksocial.com/sales/hushed-private-phone-1-line-plan-1000-mins-6000-sms (I bought a Lifetime plan from StackSocial 5+ years ago)

This last one is Hushed bundled with Keep Solid VPN Unlimited (I've been using both for 5+ years with good success):
https://stacksocial.com/sales/the-lifetime-mobile-privacy-security-subscription-bundle-hushed

I guess since it's been 5+ years you can count on the service to last, and not bait-and-switch after a year.

[LoudLemur]

@timconsidine There is an SMS module in Odoo / Flectra, which might have some functionality you need. Odoo and Flectra are in the wishlist:

https://www.odoo.com/app/sms-marketing

[timconsidine]

@loudlemur thanks, but I don't need oodo / flectra

[privsec]

@scooke
The issue with apps like these is their privacy priactices

) Usage Information
i. like most website and app operators, we collect information about your interactions with the Services, such as which screens or pages you visit, what you click on, when you perform those actions, language preferences, and so on);
ii. message content contained within SMS/MMS segments as well as the source and destination numbers are stored until you delete your message history, associated phone number, or your account;
iii. CDR (Call Detail Records) are stored until you delete the call log, associated phone number, or your account (CDRs contains various attributes of the call, such as time, duration, completion status, source number, and destination number);
iv. voicemail recordings and voicemail greetings are stored until you delete voicemail recordings, voicemail greetings, the associated phone number, or your account; and
v. You are entirely and solely responsible for any information that you disclose or share with other users through our Services. We strongly recommend that you use extreme caution in sharing any personal information with other parties through our Services – AffinityClick is not responsible for any information that you disclose to other parties through our Services.

e) Information from Third Parties and Integration Partners
i. we collect your information or data from third parties if you give permission to those third parties to share your information with us or where you have made that information publicly available online (e.g. if you enable service integrations with DropBox or Slack, they may send us your information which they have collected, all of which will be controlled by such third party); and
**ii. other sources (to the extent permitted by applicable law we may receive additional information about you, such as demographic data or fraud detection information and warnings, or other information about you from partner networks).**

And

f) Log Data
i. we collect log data each time a device accesses our servers, log data includes details about the nature of each access including originating IP addresses, access times, device type, operating system versions, internet service providers, pages you view before and after using the Services, links to third party applications, and hardware and software information.

The benefits of this self hosted service is you control pretty much everything.

[privsec]

@timconsidine said in SMS desktop app:

htop

WOW!! I think @subtlecourage has the right idea here about offering this as a potential service.

The load on this machine is minuscule.

So question, the RAM usage, it appears to be megabytes, does that correlate with the size of the DB?

Or will it pretty much stay below 250mbs?

Because based off of that, you really don't need even a modest machine. It looks like you could run this on a potato.

[privsec]

@timconsidine

I am running into an issue with issue a cert from certbot.

First, I have never manually issued a cert from certbot before nor have I have nginx before.

So this is all a learning curve.

Below is my code

sudo certbot certonly
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log

How would you like to authenticate with the ACME CA?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1: Spin up a temporary webserver (standalone)
2: Place files in webroot directory (webroot)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2
Plugins selected: Authenticator webroot, Installer None
Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to
cancel): letsencrypt@domain.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please read the Terms of Service at
https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must
agree in order to register with the ACME server at
https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(A)gree/(C)ancel: A

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit
organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work
encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Y)es/(N)o: N
Please enter in your domain name(s) (comma and/or space separated)  (Enter 'c'
to cancel): domain.com, 2.domain.com

Obtaining a new certificate
Performing the following challenges:
http-01 challenge for domain.com http-01 challenge for 2.domain.com

Input the webroot for domain.com
: (Enter 'c' to cancel): /var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
/var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/ does not exist or is not a
directory
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Input the webroot for domain.com: (Enter 'c' to cancel): sudo mkdir /var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
sudo mkdir /var/www/letsencrypt/.well-known/acme-challenge/ does not exist or is
not a directory
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Input the webroot for domain.com: (Enter 'c' to cancel): /var/www/

Select the webroot for 2.domain.com:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1: Enter a new webroot
2: /var/www
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2
Waiting for verification...
Challenge failed for domain domain.com
Challenge failed for domain 2.domain.com
http-01 challenge for domain.com
http-01 challenge for 2.domain.com
Cleaning up challenges
Some challenges have failed.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
 - The following errors were reported by the server:

   Domain: domain.com
   Type:   dns
   Detail: No valid IP addresses found for domain.com
 - The following errors were reported by the server:

   Domain: 2.domain.com
   Type:   unauthorized
   Detail: Invalid response from
   http://2.domain.com/.well-known/acme-challenge/I0MKBgfBDsVANUdgpJpNkwAttlex9oev_DXaWCveCbU
   [ip.add.re.ss]: "<html>\r\n<head><title>404 Not
   Found</title></head>\r\n<body>\r\n<center><h1>404 Not
   Found</h1></center>\r\n<hr><center>nginx/1.18.0 (Ub"

   To fix these errors, please make sure that your domain name was
   entered correctly and the DNS A/AAAA record(s) for that domain
   contain(s) the right IP address.
 - Your account credentials have been saved in your Certbot
   configuration directory at /etc/letsencrypt. You should make a
   secure backup of this folder now. This configuration directory will
   also contain certificates and private keys obtained by Certbot so
   making regular backups of this folder is ideal.
obfuscateduser:~/VoIP$ 2.domain.com

My domain settings are like so

My /etc/nginx/sites-available/<domain>.<tld> file looks like

Your help/guidance would be greatly appreciated

[privsec]

I have tried blindly following along the nginx steps in the guide as well as https://www.nginx.com/blog/using-free-ssltls-certificates-from-lets-encrypt-with-nginx/

And neither are working

[privsec]

Hooray! After blindly throwing things at the wall, the command sudo apt-get install python3-certbot-nginx moved me along.

Now my domain name is redirecting me to a bad gteway page. Progress.