mxisd

Overview | Lookup process | Packages | From source | Network Discovery | Integration | Support

Overview

mxisd is an implementation of the Matrix Identity Service specification which provides an alternative to the vector.im and matrix.org Identity servers.

mxisd is federated and uses a cascading lookup model which performs lookup from a more authoritative to a less authoritative source, usually doing:

• Local identity stores: LDAP, etc.
• Federated identity stores: another Identity Server in charge of a specific domain, if applicable
• Configured identity stores: another Identiy Server specifically configured, if part of some sort of group trust
• Root identity store: vector.im/matrix.org central Identity Server

mxisd only aims to support workflow that does NOT break federation or basic lookup process of the Matrix ecosystem.

NOTE: mxisd is NOT an authenticator module for homeservers. Identity servers are opaque public directories for those who publish their data on it.
For more details, please read the Identity Service specification.

Lookup Process

Default Lookup strategy will use a priority order and a configurable recursive/local type of request.

E-mail

Given the 3PID john.doe@example.org, the following will be performed until a mapping is found:

• LDAP: lookup the Matrix ID (partial or complete) from a configurable attribute using a dedicated query.
• DNS: lookup another Identity Server using the domain part of an e-mail and:
  • Look for a SRV record under _matrix-identity._tcp.example.org
  • Lookup using the base domain name example.org
• Forwarder: Proxy the request to other configurable identity servers.

Phone number

Given the phone number +123456789, the following lookup logic will be performed:

• LDAP: lookup the Matrix ID (partial or complete) from a configurable attribute using a dedicated query.
• Forwarder: Proxy the request to other configurable identity servers.

Packages

See releases for native installers of supported systems.
If none is available, please use other packages or build from source.

Docker

docker pull kamax/mxisd

For more info, see the public repository

From source

Build mxisd then build the docker image:

docker build -t your-org/mxisd:$(git describe --tags --always --dirty) .

You can run a container of the given image and test it with the following command (adapt volumes host paths):

docker run -v /data/mxisd/etc:/etc/mxisd -v /data/mxisd/var:/var/mxisd -p 8090:8090 -t your-org/mxisd:$(git describe --tags --always --dirty)

Debian

Download

See the releases section.

From source

Requirements:

• fakeroot
• dpkg-deb

Run:

./gradlew buildDeb 

You will find the debian package in build/dist

From Source

Requirements

• JDK 1.8

Build

git clone https://github.com/kamax-io/mxisd.git
cd mxisd
./gradlew build

Configure

1. Create a new local config: cp application.example.yaml application.yaml
2. Set the server.name value to the domain value used in your Home Server configuration
3. Set an absolute location for the signing keys using key.path
4. Provide the LDAP attributes you want to use for lookup, if you want to use one
5. Edit an entity in your LDAP database and set the configure attribute with a Matrix ID (e.g. @john.doe:example.org)

Test build and configuration

Start the server in foreground to validate the build:

java -jar build/libs/mxisd.jar

Ensure the signing key is available:

curl http://localhost:8090/_matrix/identity/api/v1/pubkey/ed25519:0

Validate your LDAP config and binding info (replace the e-mail):

curl "http://localhost:8090/_matrix/identity/api/v1/lookup?medium=email&address=john.doe@example.org"

If you plan on testing the integration with a homeserver, you will need to run an HTTPS reverse proxy in front of it as the reference Home Server implementation synapse requires a HTTPS connection to an ID server.
See the Integration section for more details.

Install

After building the software, run all the following commands as root or using sudo

1. Prepare files and directories:

# Create a dedicated user
useradd -r mxisd

# Create bin directory
mkdir /opt/mxisd

# Create config directory and set ownership
mkdir /etc/mxisd
chown mxisd /etc/mxisd

# Create data directory and set ownership
mkdir /var/opt/mxisd
chown mxisd /var/opt/mxisd

# Copy <repo root>/build/libs/mxisd.jar to bin directory
cp ./build/libs/mxisd.jar /opt/mxisd/
chown mxisd /opt/mxisd/mxisd.jar
chmod a+x /opt/mxisd/mxisd.jar

# Create symlink for easy exec
ln -s /opt/mxisd/mxisd.jar /usr/bin/mxisd

2. Copy the config file created earlier ./application.yaml to /etc/mxisd/mxisd.yaml
3. Configure /etc/mxisd/mxisd.yaml with production value, key.path being the most important - /var/opt/mxisd/signing.key is recommended
4. Copy <repo root>/src/systemd/mxisd.service to /etc/systemd/system/ and edit if needed
5. Manage service for auto-startup

# Enable service
systemctl enable mxisd

# Start service
systemctl start mxisd

Network Discovery

To allow other federated Identity Server to reach yours, configure the following DNS SRV entry (adapt to your values):

_matrix-identity._tcp.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 10 0 443 matrix.example.com.

This would only apply for 3PID that are DNS-based, like e-mails. For anything else, like phone numbers, no federation is currently possible.

The port must be HTTPS capable. Typically, the port 8090 of mxisd should be behind a reverse proxy which does HTTPS. See the integration section for more details.

Integration

• HTTPS and Reverse proxy
• synapse

Support

Community

If you need help, want to report a bug or just say hi, you can reach us on Matrix at #mxisd:kamax.io
For more high-level discussion about the Identity Server architecture/API, go to #matrix-identity:matrix.org

Professional

If you would prefer professional support/custom development for mxisd and/or for Matrix in general, including other open source technologies/products, please visit our website to get in touch with us and get a quote.