Podman

The quickest way to see it running:

podman run \
  -p 127.0.0.1:4991:4991/tcp \
  -p 40000:40000/tcp \
  -p 40000:40000/udp \
  -v sharkord:/home/bun/.config/sharkord \
  --name sharkord \
  --rm \
  docker.io/sharkord/sharkord:latest

Port 4991 is bound to loopback, so it is reachable through a reverse proxy on the same machine and not from the internet. Port 40000 carries voice and video on both TCP and UDP and does need to be open in your firewall.

This page assumes rootful Podman, which is what the system-wide Quadlets below use.

Quadlets (Recommended)

The best way to set up Podman containers is using Quadlets. This way, your containers are defined as systemd Unit files, and can be managed as services.

Start by pulling the Sharkord container image:

podman pull docker.io/sharkord/sharkord:latest

Now create a Quadlet file at /etc/containers/systemd/sharkord.container:

[Unit]
Description=Sharkord

[Container]
Image=docker.io/sharkord/sharkord:latest
ContainerName=sharkord
Volume=sharkord:/home/bun/.config/sharkord
PublishPort=127.0.0.1:4991:4991/tcp
PublishPort=40000:40000/tcp
PublishPort=40000:40000/udp

[Service]
Restart=always
TimeoutStartSec=60

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Run the following command after editing a Quadlet file:

systemctl daemon-reload

You can now start the Sharkord container as a service:

systemctl start sharkord

Sharkord should now be running. Point your reverse proxy to 127.0.0.1:4991.

The first time it starts, Sharkord prints an owner access token. It is shown once and cannot be recovered, so save it somewhere safe:

podman logs sharkord

See Gain Owner Permissions for what to do with it.

Configuration

Everything Sharkord owns, including config.ini, the database and uploaded files, lives in the sharkord volume. With rootful Podman that is /var/lib/containers/storage/volumes/sharkord/_data/; rootless puts it under ~/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/. See Data Directory for what is in there.

Restart the server after editing config.ini:

systemctl restart sharkord

The volume itself is managed with podman volume, which is also how you back it up:

podman volume --help

Updates

To update Sharkord, pull the latest image and start a new container from it. The in-app updater does nothing here: it refuses to run inside a container, so the image is the unit of update. See Updating.

First, stop the Sharkord server:

systemctl stop sharkord

Pull the latest image:

podman pull docker.io/sharkord/sharkord:latest

Start the server again:

systemctl start sharkord

Free storage by removing unused, dangling images:

podman image prune -f

Caddy

If you do not have a reverse proxy yet, run Caddy as a Podman container too. It gets you a domain with HTTPS, which browsers require before they will hand over a microphone, a camera or a screen. See Why HTTPS.

Pull the Caddy container image:

podman pull docker.io/library/caddy:alpine

Create a Quadlet file for Caddy at /etc/containers/systemd/caddy.container:

[Unit]
Description=Caddy

[Container]
Image=docker.io/library/caddy:alpine
ContainerName=caddy
Volume=caddy_conf:/etc/caddy
Volume=caddy_data:/data
Network=host

[Service]
Restart=always
TimeoutStartSec=60

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Run the following command after editing a Quadlet file:

systemctl daemon-reload

Ensure that you do not have any other programs listening on port 80 and 443. You can then start Caddy:

systemctl start caddy

Configuration

Your Caddyfile should be located at /var/lib/containers/storage/volumes/caddy_conf/_data/Caddyfile. Modify it to look like this, with your actual (sub)domain:

sharkord.example.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:4991
    encode gzip
}

Afterwards, just restart Caddy:

systemctl restart caddy

Caddy requests the certificate on the first visit, so the site is live at https://sharkord.example.com within seconds. Your domain has to point at this server already, and no domain of your own means you can claim a free subdomain.

Next Steps

• Voice and video bypass the proxy, so keep port 40000 open on TCP and UDP. See Behind a Proxy.
• Tune ports, limits and rate limiters in Configuration.
• Back up the sharkord volume before every update. See Updating.