Addons¶

Addons are a way to extend the functionality of the core system. They are currently implemented as a way to add new service-components to the system.

Hint

text Whenever [NAME] is be mentioned in the article below, it should be replaced with the name of the addon in only lowercase letters.

Addon Structure¶

Addons are stored in a single .zip file.

The .zip file should contain the following structure: The .zip file should be named [NAME].zip, where [NAME] is the name of the addon in only lowercase letters.

- [NAME]/
    - [NAME].conf
    - setup_[NAME].sh
    - update_[NAME].sh
    - remove_[NAME].sh
    - update_env.sh (optional)
    - [NAME].png / [NAME].svg / [NAME].jpg / [NAME].webp
    - LICENSE
    - any other files needed for the installation of the addon (optional)

If you want to distribute your config add a LICENSE file. Apache 2.0 is highly recommended: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html#apply )

An example of the structure of the addon nocodb would be:

- nocodb/
    - nocodb.conf
    - setup_nocodb.sh
    - update_nocodb.sh
    - remove_nocodb.sh
    - nocodb.png
    - LICENSE

[NAME].conf¶

This file contains the configuration for the addon. It is a simple text file with the following format:

id="[NAME]"
name="[Nice Name]"
description="[DESCRIPTION]"
author="[AUTHOR]"
email="[EMAIL]"
url="[URL]"

An example of nocodb.conf would be:

id="nocodb"
name="NocoDB"
description="Database Management Tool"
author="NocoDB Developers"
email="db@example.com"
url="db"

the url should be only the third level domain name, without the protocol or the path. The shorter the better. Make sure it doesn’t conflict with any other addon you want to install.

setup_[NAME].sh¶

This file is a simple shell script which is executed when the administrator installs the service (or module) in the system configuration. It is automatically executed as root. Three variables are passed to the script:

$DOMAIN: The domain name of the service example: int.de
$ADMIN_PASSWORD: The password of the administrator which is used for the ldap instance or the system user “systemv” which has also admin rights with sudo
$IP: The IP address of the server
$LDAP_DC: The domain component of the ldap instance

It is a good practice to store the config of the service in the /root/[NAME] directory, for example the docker-compose.yml file. The addon detection is based on the existence of this folder. Also it will be easier for system administrators to find the config of the service in the future. Also you have to mind adding an entry to the /etc/caddy/Caddyfile to make the service accessible.

The current working directory is the root directory of the addon. It may be at /usr/share/linux-arbeitsplatz/unix/unix_scripts/addons/[NAME]. Please do not use cd in all your scripts, because it could lead to unexpected behavior. At least if you are using them, make sure to run cd - at the end.

An example of setup_nocodb.sh would be:

#!/bin/bash
# This script gets three variables passed: $DOMAIN, $ADMIN_PASSWORD, $IP, $LDAP_DC
mkdir -p /root/nocodb
# Dont forget to escape " with a backslash:
echo "version: \"2.1\"
services:
  nocodb:
    depends_on:
      root_db:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      NC_DB: \"mysql2://root_db:3306?u=noco&p=faiTh8ra&d=root_db\"
    image: \"nocodb/nocodb:latest\"
    ports:
      - \"23260:8080\"
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - \"./nc_data:/usr/app/data\"
  root_db:
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: root_db
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: faiTh8ra
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: faiTh8ra
      MYSQL_USER: noco
    healthcheck:
      retries: 10
      test:
        - CMD
        - mysqladmin
        - ping
        - \"-h\"
        - localhost
      timeout: 20s
    image: \"mysql:8.0.32\"
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - \"./db_data:/var/lib/mysql\"
" > /root/nocodb/docker-compose.yml

docker-compose -f /root/nocodb/docker-compose.yml up -d

echo "db.$DOMAIN {
    #tls internal
    reverse_proxy localhost:23260
}

" >> /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# If domain is "int.de" uncomment the tls internal line for internal https
if [ "$DOMAIN" = "int.de" ]; then
  sed -i 's/#tls internal/tls internal/g' /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
fi

systemctl restart caddy

You can get inspiration of more complicated setups here: https://github.com/Jean28518/libre-workspace/tree/main/src/lac/unix/unix_scripts (Don’t mind the addons folder there. Have a look to the other folders like matrix, nextcloud, … . They have almost the same structure as the addons)

update_[NAME].sh¶

This file is a simple shell script which is executed when the administrator updates the service (or module) in the system configuration. It is normally executed as root every day, if the admin has enabled the automatic updates of this service. If you don’t want to update the service, just leave the file empty. But its important to have the file.

An example of update_nocodb.sh would be:

#!/bin/bash
docker-compose -f /root/nocodb/docker-compose.yml pull
docker-compose -f /root/nocodb/docker-compose.yml up -d

remove_[NAME].sh¶

This file is a simple shell script which is executed when the administrator removes the service (or module) from the system configuration. It is automatically executed as root. It is a good practice to remove the complete folder /root/[NAME] directory, because the addon detection is based on the existence of this folder. It is also good practice to remove all correponding data. For example, if you have a database, you should remove the database and the database user.

An example of remove_nocodb.sh would be:

#!/bin/bash
# This script gets three variables passed: $DOMAIN, $ADMIN_PASSWORD, $IP, $LDAP_DC
docker-compose -f /root/nocodb/docker-compose.yml down --volumes
rm -rf /root/nocodb


# Remove the entry from the Caddyfile
sed -i "/db.$DOMAIN {/,/}/d" /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
# On more complicated entries you can also use:
# python3 /usr/share/linux-arbeitsplatz/unix/unix_scripts/remove_caddy_service.py db.$DOMAIN

systemctl restart caddy

update_env.sh¶

This file is a simple shell script which is executed when the administrator updates the environment of the system configuration, which could be the master password (also changes the LDAP administrator password) or the IP address of the server, under which it is accessible. If your addon doesn’t rely on the IP address or the master password, you can ignore this file. It is then not necessary to have it.

In our example of nocodb we don’t need this file, because we don’t rely on the IP address or the master password. So we don’t even have to create this file.

General Tips¶

Make sure to use the correct shebang in your shell scripts. It should be #!/bin/bash.
Never experiment on production systems. Always test your scripts on a test system first.
It is a good practice by running the commands line by line manually on a test system to see if everything works as expected.
The addon installation in Libre Workspace Portal simply extracts and copies the files to the correct location. It does no checks of the .zip itself You can simply install a new version by installing the addon again. The old files will be overwritten.