66

Hi everyone

I posted before here. I'll try once more but don't want to get over bearing.

I'm trying to self host all my contacts and my calendar.

I've managed to install radicale but there very little ui and I'm not actually sure how to import my contacts and calendar, or how to start using it with a client.

This is all I see

I've set up the calendar and contacts server but I can't find any security settings to password protect it

Any guidance would be awesome, thank you

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Ooops@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The options to password protect it are in the (usually /etc/radicale/)config file under [auth].

For proper security you could use

type = htpasswd

htpasswd_filename = /etc/radicale/users

htpasswd_encryption = bcrypt

then create a users file with apache tools (htpasswd -c -B users User1) or one of the million online htpasswd file creators.

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 3 points 1 month ago

Don't generate password files online,...

[-] Cyber@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago

... because? ... or, instead, do...?

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 2 points 1 month ago

Because if I wanted to harvest a bunch of passwords I would offer a online password generator.

Do use apache utils locally.

[-] Ooops@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

While you are right in general, you are just creating a file with a : line without any identifying context. So have fun searching the world for where I might have actually used it. Sounds like a really bad use of ressources to create list of passwords.

PS: Yes, as an Arch user I am still pissed that this tool is not available in the repos beside installing the complete Apache server...

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 1 points 1 month ago

Your browser also sends all kinds of fingerprintable information.

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 1 points 1 month ago

The password is also hashed....

[-] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 1 points 1 month ago

Please note that to use "bcrypt" for htpasswd_encryption you need the bcrypt python module installed. Some distributions of radicale (eg. some docker images) don't have it.

It's fairly safe to set it to "md5" instead. It does not mean plain MD5 (one iteration), it does several hundred rounds of MD5 plus a salt.

For the curious, the advantage of bcrypt over a single-iteration, fast hash like MD5 is that bcrypt lets you set the hashing effort, while MD5's goal is to do it as fast as possible.

This becomes relevant when someone steals your password file and tries to brute force it by hashing a bunch of dictionary words and random strings (plus a bunch of salts) until something matches. A fast single-iteration hash like MD5 will let them do that much faster than a bcrypt hash set to a higher effort; it can mean the difference between finding a password in one week vs finding one in 100 years. That's what the hundreds-of-iterations MD5 is trying to achieve, it's a "poor man's bcrypt".

this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
66 points (98.5% liked)

Selfhosted

60910 readers
1050 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

Detailed Rules Post

  1. Be civil.

  2. No spam.

  3. Posts are to be related to self-hosting.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or readme if you're providing a link.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title.

  6. No trolling.

  7. Promotion posts require active participation, with an account that is at least 30 days old. F/LOSS without a paywall has exceptions, with requirements. See the rules link for details. Tags [CBH] or [AIP] are required, see the links in Rule 8 for details.

  8. AI-related discussions and AI-involved promotional posts have additional requirements for tagging, as noted in Rule 7 and the AI & Promotional Post Expanded Rules post, and find example disclosures here.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS