# Rudo*lfs*
[](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/jasonwhite/rudolfs) [](https://crates.io/crates/rudolfs)
A high-performance, caching Git LFS server with an AWS S3 back-end.
## Features
- AWS S3 permanent storage back-end.
- A configurable local disk cache to speed up downloads (and reduce your
S3 bill).
- Corruption-resilient local disk cache. Even if the disk is getting
blasted by cosmic rays, it'll find corrupted LFS objects and purge them from
the cache transparently. The client should never notice this happening.
- Encryption of LFS objects in both the cache and in permanent storage.
- Separation of GitHub organizations and projects. Just specify the org and
project names in the URL and they are automatically created. If two projects
share many LFS objects, have them use the same URL to save on storage space.
- A tiny (<10MB) Docker image ([jasonwhite0/rudolfs][]).
[jasonwhite0/rudolfs]: https://hub.docker.com/r/jasonwhite0/rudolfs
The back-end storage code is very modular and composable. PRs for implementing
other storage back-ends are welcome. If you begin working on this, please let us
know by submitting an issue.
## Non-Features
- There is no client authentication. This is meant to be run in an internal
network with clients you trust, not on the internet with malicious actors.
## Running It
### Generate an encryption key
All LFS objects are encrypted with the xchacha20 symmetric stream cipher. You
must generate a 32-byte encryption key before starting the server.
Generating a random key is easy:
openssl rand -hex 32
Keep this secret and save it in a password manager so you don't lose it. We will
pass this to the server below.
**Note**:
- If the key ever changes, all existing LFS objects will become garbage.
When the Git LFS client attempts to download them, the SHA256 verification
step will fail.
- LFS objects in both the cache and in permanent storage are encrypted.
However, objects are decrypted before being sent to the LFS client, so take
any necessary precautions to keep your intellectual property safe.
### Development
For testing during development, it is easiest to run it with Cargo. Create
a file called `test.sh` (this path is already ignored by `.gitignore`):
```bash
# Your AWS credentials.
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-west-1
# Change this to the output of `openssl rand -hex 32`.
KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cargo run -- \
--cache-dir cache \
--host localhost:8080 \
--s3-bucket foobar \
--max-cache-size 10GiB \
--key $KEY
```
**Note**: Always use a different S3 bucket, cache directory, and encryption key
than what you use in your production environment.
### Production
To run in a production environment, it is easiest to use `docker-compose`:
1. Create a `.env` file next to `docker-compose.yml` with the configuration
variables:
```
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXQ
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-west-1
LFS_ENCRYPTION_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
LFS_S3_BUCKET=my-bucket
LFS_MAX_CACHE_SIZE=10GB
```
2. Use the provided `docker-compose.yml` file to run a production environment:
```bash
docker-compose up -d
```
3. **[Optional]**: It is best to use nginx as a reverse proxy for this server.
Use it to enable TLS. How to configure this is better covered by other
tutorials on the internet.
**Note**:
- A bigger cache is (almost) always better. Try to use ~85% of the available
disk space.
- The cache data is stored in a Docker volume named `rudolfs_data`. If you
want to delete it, run `docker volume rm rudolfs_data`.
## AWS Credentials
AWS credentials must be provided to the server so that it can make requests to
the S3 bucket specified on the command line (with `--s3-bucket`).
Your AWS credentials will be searched for in the following order:
1. Environment variables: `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` and `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`
2. AWS credentials file. Usually located at `~/.aws/credentials`.
3. IAM instance profile. Will only work if running on an EC2 instance with an
instance profile/role.
The AWS region is read from the `AWS_DEFAULT_REGION` or `AWS_REGION` environment
variable. If it is malformed, it will fall back to `us-east-1`. If it is not
present it will fall back on the value associated with the current profile in
`~/.aws/config` or the file specified by the `AWS_CONFIG_FILE` environment
variable. If that is malformed or absent it will fall back to `us-east-1`.
## Client Configuration
Add `.lfsconfig` to the root of your Git repository:
```
[lfs]
url = "http://gitlfs.example.com:8080/api/my-org/my-project"
```
Optionally, I also recommend changing these global settings to speed things up:
``` bash
# Increase the number of worker threads
git config --global lfs.concurrenttransfers 64
# Use a global LFS cache to make re-cloning faster
git config --global lfs.storage ~/.cache/lfs
```
## License
[MIT License](/LICENSE)
## Thanks
This was developed at [Environmental Systems Research
Institute](http://www.esri.com/) (Esri) who have graciously allowed me to retain
the copyright and publish it as open source software.