May 2021 server release

We’re pleased to introduce a new release of the Snikket server. The Snikket server is an easy-to-install server package that allows you to run your own private messaging service for family, friends and other small groups.

As well as some new features, this release has some important security fixes for the built-in Prosody component. We advise all administrators to update as soon as possible.

For information on how to upgrade, see the (very short) upgrade guide.

Web interface

User and role management

This release brings a new interface for viewing and editing user accounts on the server. Among the changes is the ability to select the “access level” of an account via the web interface. In particular this allows you to add/remove other administrators of your server.

In the future we will also be adding an additional ’limited’ access level that can be used to restrict access to features such as invites and federation for certain user accounts (such as guests and minors).

Invitations

Invitation pages now include a link to download the Snikket app from F-Droid, as well as Google Play. Although F-Droid doesn’t yet support the seamless registration flow, it’s important that we help people discover free (as in freedom) alternatives whenever possible!

Translations

Translation improvements have been made for Polish, German, Danish, Spanish (Mexican), Indonesian and Swedish.

Certificate renewal

A bug has been fixed that eventually caused Snikket to present an expired certificate for web links (the web interface and also shared files). Restarting the service is a temporary fix, but this release will prevent it happening again in the future.

Technical improvements

Here’s a bunch of lower-level changes for advanced users that are included in this release:

• You can now configure what address Snikket’s built-in HTTP server will listen for connections on (useful for certain advanced setups behind a reverse proxy)
• Add docker health checks, allowing docker to inform you about the health of the Snikket services
• Switch to a more robust DNS resolver (used for federation when connecting to other servers)
• Allow configuration of an external TURN server (replacing the built-in one)
• Fix support for BOSH and websockets (allowing third-party web clients)

If you have any questions or feedback about this release, let us know!