Overview and Install of Incus Commander

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for deploying Incus-Commander using Docker, connecting your Incus infrastructure, and completing the essential administrative configurations (OIDC, SMTP, and Multi-tenancy).

Repository is available here: https://forge.routemehome.org/brian/incus-commander

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Phase 1: Deployment (Docker)

1. Prepare the Environment

Ensure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed. Create a directory for your deployment and prepare your environment file.

bash

mkdir -p docker/incus-commander && cd docker/incus-commander

nano .env

2. Configure Environment Variables

Edit the .env file by copying the code block below, and pasting it into the file we just created.

POSTGRES_USER=incus_commander
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=< a-L0n6_S7ronG-P4ssw0RD-needs-to-G0-here >
POSTGRES_DB=incus_commander
FERRETDB_DB=incus_logs
SECRET_KEY=< use the command -> openssl rand --base64 32 >
FRONTEND_URL=http://incus.mygreatdomain.org # <- Where you intend to reach your incus-commander
SERVER_URL=https://incus.mygreatdomain.org # <- same as above in most cases
VITE_API_URL=/api
#ALLOWED_ORIGINS=incus.mygreatdomain.org # <- comma separated list of ways a user may access your server

Replace the values listed inside of the less than “<“ and greater than “>” signs with your actual values.

For the SECRET_KEY, you can run the command in a terminal window as follows:

openssl rand -base64 32

This will give you a strong value for the SECRET_KEY. Copy and paste the output value into the .env file.

Once you’ve replaced all the values as needed, save with CTRL + O, then press Enter to confirm, and exit the editor with CTRL + X.

3. Setup Docker Compose Configuration File

Now we’ll create the docker compose yaml file that tells the system how to run Incus Commander:

---
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
    volumes:
      - ./postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  incus-commander:
    image: bmcgonag/incus-commander:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
      - POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - POSTGRES_DB=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - SECRET_KEY=${SECRET_KEY}
      - FRONTEND_URL=${FRONTEND_URL}
      - SERVER_URL=${SERVER_URL}
      - ALLOWED_ORIGINS
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./app/certs:/app/certs
    cap_add:
      - CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE

There should be no modifications needed for this file. Simply save with CTRL + O, then press Enter to confirm, and exit the editor with CTRL + X.

4. Pull Images and Launch Services

Pull the images with

docker compose pull

Next, start the stack in detached mode:

bash

docker compose up -d

Note: The first user to register via the web interface will be automatically promoted to System Administrator.

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Phase 2: Connecting Incus Hosts

To allow Incus-Commander to manage your servers, you must establish a secure connection using client certificates.

1. Generate Certificates via UI

1. Log in to Incus-Commander as an Admin.

2. Navigate to the Systems view and click Add System.

3. Enter a name and the Incus endpoint (e.g., https://10.0.0.5:8443). NOTE: Port 8443 is the default port for the Incus API. If you haven’t changed it, it should be 8443. You must access the API over https.

4. Click Generate Client Certificate.

5. Important: Copy the displayed PEM certificate and Private Key and save them to a secure file on your local machine or server.

2. Trust the Certificate on the Incus Host

First, copy the certificate generated by Incus Commander to your Incus Server, and save it to a file in an path you have write access to.

Save the file with a name like ‘incus-cmdr.crt’ or ‘cert.crt’. You’ll need this path and filename in the next step, which will be run on your server, not the incus-commander host.

On the actual Incus server you are trying to add, run the following command to allow the certificate to communicate with the Incus API:

bash

# Assuming you saved the cert as incus-commander.crt
incus config trust add-certificate /path/to/incus-commander.crt

3. Finalize Connection

1. Go back to the Edit System form in Incus-Commander.

2. Provide the paths to the certificate and key files you generated in Step 1.

3. Save. If successful, the system status will change to Connected and show live resource usage.

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Phase 3: Admin Level Setup

Once the systems are connected, perform these three critical setup steps to make the platform production-ready.

1. SMTP Configuration (Email)

Email is required for sending invitation tokens to new users and alerting admins of backup failures.

1. Navigate to System Settings.

2. Find the Email Setup section.

3. Enter your SMTP details:

   • SMTP Host, Port, Username, and Password.

   • From Email (the address users will see).

   • Set Use TLS if required by your provider.

4. Test it: Use the Send Test Email button to ensure your credentials are correct.

2. OIDC / SSO Configuration

To allow users to log in via providers like Authentik, Keycloak, or Google:

1. Navigate to System Settings > OIDC Providers.

2. Click Add Provider.

3. Enter the Issuer URL, Client ID, and Client Secret provided by your OIDC service.

4. Configure the Redirect URI: In your OIDC provider's admin panel, you must whitelist the following callback URL:
   https://<your-server-url>/api/auth/callback/<provider_name>
   (Example: https://commander.example.com/api/auth/callback/Authentik)

5. Save and test the login button on the main login page.

3. Multi-Tenancy & Project Isolation

If you are running this for different departments or clients, set up Tenants to ensure resource isolation.

1. Create a Tenant:

   • Go to System Settings > Tenants and click Add Tenant.

   • Enter a name and, crucially, the Incus Project name. This ensures that all instances created by this tenant are isolated within that Incus project.

2. Assign Users:

   • Go to System Settings > Users.

   • Edit a user and assign them to the newly created Tenant.

3. Tenant Admin (Optional):

   • If you want a user to manage their own templates and users, promote them to tenant_admin in the Users menu.

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Summary Checklist for Production

• SECRET_KEY is long and random.

• Reverse proxy (Nginx/Caddy) is configured with TLS.

• WebSocket support is enabled in your proxy (required for the Root Console).

• SMTP test email was successful.

• OIDC callback URL is correctly white-listed in your provider.

• Incus hosts are "Connected" and showing live data.

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