Running Gone from a package

Each release has a gone-server package for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and RHEL, for amd64 and arm64. It installs goned with a hardened systemd service. Use it to run Gone directly on a machine, a VM or a Proxmox container instead of in Docker. The CLI is the separate gone package (see The gone CLI).

Important

Gone needs HTTPS. Browsers only allow the encryption Gone uses on secure pages, so the service listens on 127.0.0.1:8080 and expects a TLS proxy in front of it, such as Caddy, nginx or a Cloudflare Tunnel. See Behind a reverse proxy.

Install

Download the package for your system from the release page, check it, and install it:

Terminal
TAG=v3.13.0
PKG=gone-server_${TAG#v}_amd64.deb             # or gone-server-${TAG#v}-1.x86_64.rpm, or arm64 / aarch64
curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/haukened/gone/releases/download/${TAG}/${PKG}"
gh attestation verify "$PKG" --repo haukened/gone

sudo apt install "./$PKG"                       # Debian, Ubuntu
sudo dnf install "./$PKG"                       # Fedora, RHEL

The package doesn’t start Gone. It needs its settings and a TLS proxy first, so installing only prints the next step.

Configure and start

Settings live in /etc/default/gone as GONE_* variables, the same ones listed in Configuration. The file starts with Gone listening on localhost and the common settings commented out. If your proxy runs on the same machine, set:

Terminal
GONE_TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1

so rate limits apply to each visitor rather than to the proxy. Then start Gone, and have it start at boot:

Terminal
sudo systemctl enable --now gone
systemctl status gone
journalctl -u gone        # logs

After editing /etc/default/gone, run sudo systemctl restart gone. GONE_DATA_DIR is set by the service, so leave it out of the file.

Data and backups

Gone keeps its database and stored secrets in /var/lib/gone, which only the service (and root) can read. Everything in it is ciphertext and expires on its own. Don’t back it up: restoring a copy makes secrets opened since then openable again until they expire. Back up /etc/default/gone instead; see Backups.

Upgrades and removal

Upgrading: install the newer release’s package the same way. The packages aren’t in an apt or dnf repository yet, so apt upgrade and dnf upgrade won’t find new versions. An upgrade keeps your /etc/default/gone, and restarts Gone if it’s enabled.
Removing the package stops and disables the service. It keeps /var/lib/gone, like other services’ data. Delete that directory yourself if you no longer need it.

How the service is locked down

The service file is /usr/lib/systemd/system/gone.service.

No user to manage: it uses systemd’s DynamicUser. systemd gives the service an unprivileged user of its own when it starts, and keeps /var/lib/gone owned by it. So the package creates no user, and Gone never runs as root.
Hardened: it can’t gain privileges or capabilities, and sees the filesystem read-only apart from its data directory and a private /tmp. Home directories, devices and other processes are hidden from it, kernel settings are read-only, and it can only open IP and local sockets. Its system calls are limited to systemd’s @system-service set.
Checked: systemd-analyze security gone shows the details.

If you need to change the service, use sudo systemctl edit gone rather than editing the file, so upgrades keep your changes.