# 📦 Installation

Siren supports any operating system that supports containers and/or NodeJS 18, this includes Linux, macOS, and Windows. The recommended way of running Siren is by launching the [docker container](https://hub.docker.com/r/sigp/siren) , but running the application directly is also possible.

## Version Requirement

To ensure proper functionality, the Siren app requires Lighthouse v4.3.0 or higher. You can find these versions on the [releases](https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/releases) page of the Lighthouse repository.

## Running the Docker container (Recommended)

The most convenient way to run Siren is to use the Docker images built and published by Sigma Prime.

 They can be found on [Docker hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/sigp/siren/tags), or pulled directly with `docker pull sigp/siren`

Configuration is done through environment variables, the easiest way to get started is by copying `.env.example` to `.env` and editing the relevant sections (typically, this would at least include adding `BEACON_URL`, `VALIDATOR_URL`, `API_TOKEN` and `SESSION_PASSWORD`)

Then to run the image:

`docker compose up`
or
`docker run --rm -ti --name siren -p 4443:443 --env-file $PWD/.env sigp/siren`

This command will open port 4443, allowing your browser to connect.

To start Siren, visit `https://localhost:4443` in your web browser.

Advanced users can mount their own certificates, see the `SSL Certificates` section below

## Building From Source

### Docker

The docker image can be built with the following command:
`docker build -f Dockerfile -t siren .`

### Building locally

To build from source, ensure that your system has `Node v18.18` and `yarn` installed.

#### Build and run the backend

Navigate to the backend directory `cd backend`. Install all required Node packages by running `yarn`. Once the installation is complete, compile the backend with `yarn build`. Deploy the backend in a production environment, `yarn start:production`. This ensures optimal performance.

#### Build and run the frontend

After initializing the backend, return to the root directory. Install all frontend dependencies by executing `yarn`. Build the frontend using `yarn build`. Start the frontend production server with `yarn start`.

This will allow you to access siren at `http://localhost:3000` by default.

## Advanced configuration

### About self-signed SSL certificates

By default, Siren will generate and use a self-signed certificate on startup.
This will generate a security warning when you try to access the interface.
We recommend to only disable SSL if you would access Siren over a local LAN or otherwise highly trusted or encrypted network (i.e. VPN).

#### Generating persistent SSL certificates and installing them to your system

[mkcert](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert) is a tool that makes it super easy to generate a self-signed certificate that is trusted by your browser.

To use it for `siren`, install it following the instructions. Then, run `mkdir certs; mkcert -cert-file certs/cert.pem -key-file certs/key.pem 127.0.0.1 localhost` (add or replace any IP or hostname that you would use to access it at the end of this command)

The nginx SSL config inside Siren's container expects 3 files: `/certs/cert.pem` `/certs/key.pem` `/certs/key.pass`. If `/certs/cert.pem` does not exist, it will generate a self-signed certificate as mentioned above. If `/certs/cert.pem` does exist, it will attempt to use your provided or persisted certificates.

### Configuration through environment variables

For those who prefer to use environment variables to configure Siren instead of using an `.env` file, this is fully supported. In some cases this may even be preferred.

#### Docker installed through `snap`

If you installed Docker through a snap (i.e. on Ubuntu), Docker will have trouble accessing the `.env` file. In this case it is highly recommended to pass the config to the container with environment variables.
Note that the defaults in `.env.example` will be used as fallback, if no other value is provided.