Chat
Install Element or FluffyChat. Server: scharni.org, then "Continue with Authentik". Your account appears in the house rooms by itself.
Getting started, step by step
One house account for the chat, the cloud, the photos and the passwords. Set it up once on your phone; it takes about fifteen minutes.
You need
- The invitation link from the house admins (it works once, for a limited time).
- Your phone, with a screen lock (fingerprint, face or PIN).
- A sheet of paper and a pen: two things get written down and stay at home.
Your house account (on the phone)
- Open the invitation link on your phone.
- Choose a username: lowercase, no spaces. It becomes your chat name
@name:scharni.organd cannot be changed later. If you already have a cloud account, use exactly that name. - Enter your name and your e-mail address (needed if you ever lose access).
- Choose a password of at least 12 characters and write it on the paper. You will rarely need it: it is the fallback when the passkey is not at hand.
- "Set up a passkey": the phone asks for your fingerprint or face. If it asks where to save the passkey, choose Google, iCloud or "this device", not a password-manager app.
- You land on "My apps". That is it: from now on you log in everywhere with your face or finger.
The apps on the phone
Every app works the same way: install it, enter the house server, log in with the house account (a browser window opens, confirm with your face or finger, back in the app).
Cloud
Install the Nextcloud app. Server: cloud.scharni.org, then "Log in": the browser opens, tap "Log in with Authentik", confirm, "Grant access". Files, calendar and contacts are there.
Photos
Install Immich. Server: https://photos.scharni.org, then "Log in with the house account". In the app: Backup → choose the albums (Camera) → turn it on. New photos then go to the house server by themselves, also at night on Wi-Fi. Everyone has 100 GB; albums can be shared with people in the house.
Passwords
- Install Bitwarden. Before logging in, tap "Region" or "Self-hosted" and enter
https://vault.scharni.org. - Enter your e-mail address, then "Log in with SSO" (if it asks for an organisation identifier: house). The house login opens, confirm it.
- Choose a vault passphrase: four random words, at least 12 characters. Write it on the paper. Nobody in the house can reset it.
- In the app: Settings → Account security → unlock with biometrics; Settings → Autofill → on. From now on the vault opens with your face or finger; the passphrase is only asked on a new device.
- Emergency access (only in the browser: open the vault address → Settings → Emergency access): name a person you trust. If you forget the passphrase, that person can open your vault after a waiting time. It is the only way back in.
On the computer
- Open scharni.org and tap "Log in". The browser asks for a passkey: choose "Use a phone" and scan the code with your phone (the phone next to the computer, Bluetooth on at both). Or "Log in with password", then the passkey on the phone as the second step.
- Then give the computer its own passkey, so the phone is not needed next time: "My apps" → Settings → MFA devices → Passkey (Windows Hello, Touch ID, or the browser's own). On Linux: Bluetooth on for the phone, or an authenticator app (Aegis, FreeOTP) as the second step, set up under MFA devices too.
- Bitwarden in the browser: install the extension, "Self-hosted" with the same server address, "Log in with SSO", then Settings → Account security → unlock with PIN. Chat and cloud work in the browser without anything else.
Your sheet of paper
Write down: your username, the house password, the vault passphrase and today's date. Keep it at home, not on the phone and not in the vault. It is what gets you back in when a phone is lost.
If something goes wrong
- Phone lost or new phone
- With iCloud or Google the passkey is on the new phone by itself. Otherwise: "Log in with password" on the start page; if you have no second step left, "Forgot password?" sends a link by e-mail, and the admins remove the old phone from your account. The vault needs the passphrase from the paper on the new phone.
- Vault passphrase forgotten
- Only your emergency contact can open the vault. Set one up while everything works (step 2).
- Something else
- Ask the house admins in the chat. They can see your account, reset the password and remove devices; they can never see your passwords or your photos.