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Linux support for the CLI and daemon #48

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Linux support for the CLI and daemon#48
Feature
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lukas-frey
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os: linux
Milestone
v1.0.0

Description

@sineld
sineld
opened on Oct 20, 2026

What's missing

Flock runs on macOS and Windows only. On Linux the CLI builds, but flock install, the DNS setup, the CA trust and the background daemon have no Linux implementation, so a Linux machine can't serve *.test sites.

Approach

The daemon and the web server are already portable. What needs adding is the per-OS setup, in internal/cli/install_linux.go and internal/dns.

  • The CLI is named flock-php on Linux. util-linux ships flock(1) on every distribution, and scripts rely on it.
  • The daemon:
    • It runs as a systemd user unit, falling back to a detached process without a user manager.
    • setcap cap_net_bind_service lets it bind ports 80 and 443 without root.
  • DNS:
    • A small root unit, flock-dns.service, creates a dummy link flock0 and routes ~test to Flock's DNS server through systemd-resolved (resolvectl dns/domain). It doesn't use a global resolved.conf drop-in, which breaks when the user has DNS= servers.
    • A NetworkManager drop-in keeps NetworkManager off flock0.
    • The daemon reports when the link drifts.
  • Trust: the CA goes into the system store (update-ca-certificates / update-ca-trust) and into NSS databases (Chrome, Firefox).
  • Packages: the Linux builds of PHP and the services are in feat: Linux packages: PHP for x64 and arm64, and the mirrored services binaries#24–ci: let pull requests that change only docs/ through without an issue, and label them #28.

Status

The implementation is ready as #12. I opened it before the issue rule existed and will add Fixes #<this> to it once this is approved.

Activity

  1. Nejcc commented on Oct 21, 2026

    @Nejcc
    Nejcc
    on Oct 21, 2026

    Confirming: I ran the #22 harness against #12's current head on Arch, Ubuntu 24.04 and Fedora (real systemd + NetworkManager), with 0 failures. Once this is approved I'll add Refs #48 to #16 and #22, and re-run the harness after #12 is rebased onto develop.

  2. Nejcc commented on Oct 21, 2026

    @Nejcc
    Nejcc
    on Oct 21, 2026

    Here is my own run of the harness from #22, as promised.

    Result: 116 checks passed, 0 failed (arch 0 failed, ubuntu 0 failed, fedora 0 failed), exit 0.

    Full output 
    building the archives…
######## arch
PASS  install this tree
PASS  user unit active
PASS  flock-php installed, no bin/flock
PASS  util-linux flock first in a new shell
PASS  flock-php on PATH in a new shell
PASS  flock-dns.service active and enabled
PASS  flock0 routes ~test
PASS  no drop-in in the global scope
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in is zz-flock.conf (no 90-flock.conf)
PASS  setcap, listening on 80 and 443
PASS  CA in Chrome's NSS database
PASS  installed: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  installed: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  installed: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== drift
PASS  status clean
PASS  status reports a flushed flock0 within 70 s
      *.test while it's reported: fails
PASS  restarting flock-dns.service clears it within 70 s
PASS  repaired: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  repaired: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  repaired: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== resolved restart, reboot
PASS  resolved restarted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  resolved restarted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  resolved restarted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
PASS  after reboot: flock-dns.service and the user unit active
PASS  rebooted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  rebooted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  rebooted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== uninstall --purge
PASS  flock-dns.service and flock0 gone
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in gone
PASS  CA gone from the system and NSS
PASS  PATH line, user unit and ~/.config/Flock gone
PASS  hello.test gone, example.com resolves
== arch: 0 failed
######## ubuntu
PASS  install this tree
PASS  user unit active
PASS  flock-php installed, no bin/flock
PASS  util-linux flock first in a new shell
PASS  flock-php on PATH in a new shell
PASS  flock-dns.service active and enabled
PASS  flock0 routes ~test
PASS  no drop-in in the global scope
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in is zz-flock.conf (no 90-flock.conf)
PASS  setcap, listening on 80 and 443
PASS  CA in Chrome's NSS database
PASS  installed: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  installed: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  installed: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== NetworkManager
PASS  flock0 unmanaged
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: flock0 keeps its address
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
PASS  managed yes doesn't take flock0
PASS  a drop-in after Flock's: status reports NetworkManager managing flock0 within 70 s
PASS  drop-in removed: flock0 unmanaged again
PASS  status clean again
== drift
PASS  status clean
PASS  status reports a flushed flock0 within 70 s
      *.test while it's reported: still resolves
PASS  restarting flock-dns.service clears it within 70 s
PASS  repaired: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  repaired: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  repaired: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== resolved restart, reboot
PASS  resolved restarted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  resolved restarted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  resolved restarted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
PASS  after reboot: flock-dns.service and the user unit active
PASS  rebooted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  rebooted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  rebooted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== uninstall --purge
PASS  flock-dns.service and flock0 gone
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in gone
PASS  other NetworkManager drop-ins kept
PASS  CA gone from the system and NSS
PASS  PATH line, user unit and ~/.config/Flock gone
PASS  hello.test gone, example.com resolves
== ubuntu: 0 failed
######## fedora
PASS  install this tree
PASS  user unit active
PASS  flock-php installed, no bin/flock
PASS  util-linux flock first in a new shell
PASS  flock-php on PATH in a new shell
PASS  flock-dns.service active and enabled
PASS  flock0 routes ~test
PASS  no drop-in in the global scope
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in is zz-flock.conf (no 90-flock.conf)
PASS  setcap, listening on 80 and 443
PASS  CA in Chrome's NSS database
PASS  installed: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  installed: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  installed: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== NetworkManager
PASS  flock0 unmanaged
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: flock0 keeps its address
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  networking off/on + resolved restart: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
PASS  managed yes doesn't take flock0
PASS  a drop-in after Flock's: status reports NetworkManager managing flock0 within 70 s
PASS  drop-in removed: flock0 unmanaged again
PASS  status clean again
== drift
PASS  status clean
PASS  status reports a flushed flock0 within 70 s
      *.test while it's reported: still resolves
PASS  restarting flock-dns.service clears it within 70 s
PASS  repaired: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  repaired: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  repaired: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== resolved restart, reboot
PASS  resolved restarted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  resolved restarted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  resolved restarted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
PASS  after reboot: flock-dns.service and the user unit active
PASS  rebooted: hello.test (resolvectl, getent)
PASS  rebooted: example.com, then hello.test again
PASS  rebooted: HTTPS to hello.test (system trust)
== uninstall --purge
PASS  flock-dns.service and flock0 gone
PASS  NetworkManager drop-in gone
PASS  other NetworkManager drop-ins kept
PASS  CA gone from the system and NSS
PASS  PATH line, user unit and ~/.config/Flock gone
PASS  hello.test gone, example.com resolves
== fedora: 0 failed
== 0 failed in all
  3. onairmarc
    added
    enhancement
    on Oct 21, 2026
  4. onairmarc
    added the
    Feature
    issue type on Oct 21, 2026
  5. onairmarc
    assigned
    sineld
    on Oct 23, 2026
  6. onairmarc
    added
    os: linux
    and removed
    enhancement
    on Oct 23, 2026

  7. lukas-frey commented on Oct 26, 2026

    @lukas-frey
    lukas-frey
    on Oct 26, 2026
    Member

    I replied inside the PR.

  8. lukas-frey
    closed this as completedon Oct 26, 2026
  9. onairmarc
    added this to the v1.0.0 milestone on Nov 2, 2026
  10. onairmarc
    assigned
    lukas-frey
    and unassigned
    sineld
    on Nov 2, 2026
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