letschat

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Module Description - What the module does and why it is useful
3. Setup - The basics of getting started with letschat
   • What letschat affects
   • Setup requirements
   • Beginning with letschat
4. Usage - Configuration options and additional functionality
   • Class: letschat
   • Class: letschat::app
   • Class: letschat::db
5. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
6. Development - Guide for contributing to the module
7. Additional Information

Overview

This module deploys a self-hosted chat app for small teams, Let's Chat.

This module has only been tested on Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04

Module Description

The letschat module simplifies the configuration and deployment process of Let's Chat, by managing configuration for both the web application and the backend. This chat service is ideal for users who would like to host their own chat application that is hosted internally or hosted externally, or can be used simply in a scorched earth scenario, where one's normal hosted chat application is not accessible.

This module helps simplify the configuration of MongoDB, allowing the user to create a new database, the user account for the web application to access the database, and configure the Node.js web application to suit the users needs by exposing most of the available configuration found in the Let's Chat Configuration Reference.

Setup

What letschat affects

• Creates letschat service: /etc/init.d/letschat
• MongoDB (2.6+) server and client packages and services
• The Let's Chat Node.js Application and associated configuration
• The installation of Node.js (0.10+) and npm packages and dependencies

Beginning with letschat

To install letschat with default parameters

class letschat { }

Please note that this install the web application and the database on the same host

To install and configure MongoDB backend with default parameters on a node:

class letschat::db {}

To install and configure just the letschat Node.js application with default parameters on a node:

class letschat::app {}

Configuring MongoDB

To configure MongoDB and create a new database:

class { 'letschat::db':
  user          => 'lcadmin',
  pass          => 'unsafepassword',
  bind_ip       => '0.0.0.0',
  database_name => 'letschat',
  database_port => '27017',
}

Configuring letschat

To configure Let's Chat and specify database settings:

class { 'letschat::app':
    dbuser          => 'lcadmin',
    dbpass          => 'unsafepassword',
    dbname          => 'letschat',
    dbhost          => 'dbserver0',
    dbport          => '27017',
    cookie          => 'thistest',
    deploy_dir      => '/etc/letschat',
    http_enabled    => true,
    lc_bind_address => '0.0.0.0',
    http_port       => '5000',
    ssl_enabled     => false,
    cookie          => 'secret',
    authproviders   => 'local',
    registration    => true,
}

Usage

Classes

This module contains 4 classes. The letschat class configures both MongoDB and the web application with the values set in the letschat::params class. The letschat::db class configures MongoDB in very limited scope by wrapping the MongoDB module. The letschat::app class is used for configuring the Node.js application, specifying which features to enable, their settings, and specifying configuration so the web application can reach the MongoDB backend.

Class:letschat

The letschat class configures both MongoDB and the web application. This class is a basic include of the letschat:app and letschat::db class with the all parameters sourced from the letschat::params class.

Class:letschat::app

The letschat::app class is used for configuring the Node.js application, specifying which features to enable, their settings, and specifying configuration so the web application can reach the MongoDB backend.

Parameters within letschat::app:

####deploy_dir The directory to deploy the Let's Chat application to. Defaults to '/etc/letschat' ####http_enabled Boolean to specify whether http is enabled. Defaults to 'true' ####http_port Port for Let's Chat to serve http traffic on. Defaults to '5000' ####lc_bind_address Configured Let's Chat process to bind to and listen for connections from users on this address. Defaults to '0.0.0.0' ####ssl_enabled Boolean to specify whether ssl is enabled. Defaults to 'false' ####ssl_port Port for Let's Chat to serve https traffic on. Defaults to '5001' ####ssl_key Path to SSL key. Defaults to 'key.pem' ####ssl_cert Path to SSL certificate. Defaults to 'certificate.pem' ####xmpp_enabled Boolean to specify whether xmpp is enabled. Defaults to 'false' ####xmpp_port Port for Let's Chat to serve xmpp traffic on. Defaults to '5222' ####xmpp_domain Domain for xmpp connections. Defaults to 'example.com' ####dbuser Database username for accessing MongoDB Let's Chat Database. Defaults to 'lcadmin' ####dbpass Database password (plain-text) for accessing MongoDB Let's Chat Database. Defaults to 'changeme' ####dbhost Hostname of MongoDB server. Defaults to 'localhost' ####dbname Database name of the Let's Chat Database. Defaults to 'letschat' ####dbport Port number that MongoDB is listening on. Defaults to '27017' ####cookie Cookie. Defaults to 'secretsauce' ####authproviders Array of authentication providers for authenticating with Let's Chat. Accepts the following values: local, kerberos, and ldap. Defaults to 'local' ####registration Boolean to determine if new users can signup to Let's Chat. Defaults to 'true'

Class:letschat::db

The letschat::db class configures MongoDB in very limited scope by wrapping the MongoDB module.

Parameters within letschat::app:

####user Name of the user for database. Defaults to 'lcadmin' ####pass Plain-text user password (will be hashed). Defaults to 'changeme' ####bind_ip This setting can be used to configure MonogDB process to bind to and listen for connections from applications on this address. Defaults to '0.0.0.0'. ####database_name This setting is used to configure the name of the MongoDB database. Defaults to 'letschat' ####database_port Specifies a TCP port for the server instance to listen for client connections. Defaults to '27017'

Limitations

This module has only been tested on Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04. At this point in time only a limited number of parameters are exposed with regards to both the Node.js application and MongoDB. It is also worth noting that the database password is stored as a parameter in plain text. Users should likely be storing this value as eyaml in hiera. This will be fixed in the future as the MongoDB module accepts a hex encoded md5 hash of "user1:mongo:pass1".

Development

Pull requests welcome. Please create a new feature branch for any additions.

Additional Information

Any additional information and configuration regarding Let's Chat can be found on their Wiki Page