Machine Setup

This page walks you through setting up your first machine: creating a context, registering a server, provisioning it, and optionally configuring infrastructure for public access.

Step 1: Create a Local Context

A context is a named configuration that stores your SSH credentials, machine definitions, and repository mappings. Think of it as a project workspace.

rdc context create-local my-infra --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Option	Required	Description
--ssh-key <path>	Yes	Path to your SSH private key. Tilde (~) is expanded automatically.
--renet-path <path>	No	Custom path to the renet binary on remote machines. Defaults to the standard install location.

This creates a local context named my-infra and stores it in ~/.rediacc/config.json.

You can have multiple contexts (e.g., production, staging, dev). Switch between them with the --context flag on any command.

Step 2: Add a Machine

Register your remote server as a machine in the context:

rdc context add-machine server-1 --ip 203.0.113.50 --user deploy

Option	Required	Default	Description
--ip <address>	Yes	-	IP address or hostname of the remote server
--user <username>	Yes	-	SSH username on the remote server
--port <port>	No	22	SSH port
--datastore <path>	No	/mnt/rediacc	Path on the server where Rediacc stores encrypted repositories

After adding the machine, rdc automatically runs ssh-keyscan to fetch the server’s host keys. You can also run this manually:

rdc context scan-keys server-1

To view all registered machines:

rdc context machines

Step 3: Set Up the Machine

Provision the remote server with all required dependencies:

rdc context setup-machine server-1

This command:

1. Uploads the renet binary to the server via SFTP
2. Installs Docker, containerd, and cryptsetup (if not present)
3. Creates the rediacc system user (UID 7111)
4. Creates the datastore directory and prepares it for encrypted repositories

Option	Required	Default	Description
--datastore <path>	No	/mnt/rediacc	Datastore directory on the server
--datastore-size <size>	No	95%	How much of the available disk to allocate for the datastore
--debug	No	false	Enable verbose output for troubleshooting

Setup only needs to be run once per machine. It is safe to re-run if needed.

Host Key Management

If a server’s SSH host key changes (e.g., after reinstallation), refresh the stored keys:

rdc context scan-keys server-1

This updates the knownHosts field in your config for that machine.

Test SSH Connectivity

Verify your machine is reachable before proceeding:

rdc machine test-connection --ip 203.0.113.50 --user deploy

This tests the SSH connection and reports:

• Connection status
• Authentication method used
• SSH key configuration
• Known hosts entry

You can save the verified host key to your machine config with --save -m server-1.

Infrastructure Configuration

For machines that need to serve traffic publicly, configure infrastructure settings:

Set Infrastructure

rdc context set-infra server-1 \
  --public-ipv4 203.0.113.50 \
  --base-domain example.com \
  --cert-email admin@example.com \
  --cf-dns-token your-cloudflare-api-token

Option	Description
--public-ipv4 <ip>	Public IPv4 address for external access
--public-ipv6 <ip>	Public IPv6 address for external access
--base-domain <domain>	Base domain for applications (e.g., example.com)
--cert-email <email>	Email for Let’s Encrypt TLS certificates
--cf-dns-token <token>	Cloudflare DNS API token for ACME DNS-01 challenges
--tcp-ports <ports>	Comma-separated additional TCP ports to forward (e.g., 25,143,465,587,993)
--udp-ports <ports>	Comma-separated additional UDP ports to forward (e.g., 53)

View Infrastructure

rdc context show-infra server-1

Push to Server

Generate and deploy the Traefik reverse proxy configuration to the server:

rdc context push-infra server-1

This pushes the proxy configuration based on your infra settings. Traefik handles TLS termination, routing, and port forwarding.

Setting Defaults

Set default values so you don’t need to specify them on every command:

rdc context set machine server-1    # Default machine
rdc context set team my-team        # Default team (cloud mode, experimental)

After setting a default machine, you can omit -m server-1 from commands:

rdc repo create my-app --size 10G   # Uses default machine

Multiple Contexts

Manage multiple environments with named contexts:

# Create separate contexts
rdc context create-local production --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_prod
rdc context create-local staging --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_staging

# Use a specific context
rdc repo list -m server-1 --context production
rdc repo list -m staging-1 --context staging

View all contexts:

rdc context list

Show current context details:

rdc context show