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Comment by 3np | Hacker News Reader

Note that this setup still relies on Mozilla infrastructure for several surrounding services for auth, email, account metadata, etc.

https://github.com/dan-r/syncstorage-rs-docker/blob/main/app...

It's a good start though and as long as you're OK migrating your account you can plug those in later. Fully self-hosting all the components is just as doable but a little bit more involved. Compared to when I last set it up they seem to have been improving on docs and devex.

https://github.com/mozilla/fxa

https://mozilla.github.io/ecosystem-platform/tutorials/devel...

https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run...

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It looks like you used to be able to configure Firefox iOS to use a different FxA/Sync server, but I tried to find the setting and it's gone.

> For Firefox for iOS version 9.0 or later:

> - Go to Settings.

> - Tap on the Version number 5 times.

> - Tap on “Advance Account Settings”

> - Enter your content-server URL

> - Toggle “Use Custom Account Service” to on.

https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run...

Is the different names options under “Advanced Sync Settings” the same thing just with different name? “Use Custom FxA Content Server”?

Maybe eventually the whole stack can make its way into a docker container with a shell script for config.

Maybe it's just me but having dedicated employee's to manage security is a prerequisite for me; atleast I could point my finger at someone if things happen.

Of course it's not just you. That seems somewhat obvious. Also plenty of people that do like tinkering on their homelab or self host. It's definitely the more interesting choice!

I personally don't see the value in that. I'd rather spend time fixing something than getting people to fix it for me, and having someone just to point fingers at them after a failure feels cowardly. But maybe I'm just not a managerial type.

That's a time vs. outsourcing trade-off. When everything is working, it's invisible and great, but if something breaks, and if you're in the middle of the something, you either have to postpone it, or stop everything and fix the problem to be able to continue your life unaffected.

I'm into self-hosting, and host some of my services myself, but get some services too, because I have limited time and don't want to stop drop and roll when something breaks.

I completely understand the feeling, but when's the last time pointing fingers actually got you anywhere? :)

Sounds like a recipe for getting people with knowledge of security best practices and people with knowledge of the systems being developed, but not both at the same time.

It's enough different components to not be a good fit for an all-in-one image at all. That road lies madness.

docker-compose is a much better fit. That already exists. What we need is more people actually deploying and engaging (;

> this setup still relies on Mozilla infrastructure for several surrounding services for auth, email,

Why does email rely on mozilla infra?

Mozilla's email-related service is https://relay.firefox.com/ which obviously needs to rely on quite a bit of Mozilla infrastructure in its default incarnation, and is probably a fair bit harder to self-host than Firefox Sync.

Is Mozilla Relay (email) really needed for Sync?

Never used Sync, so maybe I don't understand something. But does not sound safe to put all eggs into this busket at once.

Relay is unrelated to that conversation.

That is also unrelated. Firefox Sync itself requires Mozilla Accounts to function at all, which requires email for verification and password reset. To properly self-host Firefox Sync you need those parts too, which includes an SMTP server (or substitute).

The other way around. Server-side email verification for accounts and password-reset is an integrated part of the flow and also needs to be hosted and wired up, unless you want to dig into the code and patch those parts out.

Just cut out the middleman and use Google directly.

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