How to fix Homebox 0.26.2 not starting on FreeBSD

How to fix Homebox 0.26.2 not starting on FreeBSD

Problem

After upgrading my Homebox jail yesterday from 0.25.2 to 0.26.2, the homebox service would not start anymore. Taking a look into /var/log/homebox.log, I got presented with the following error message:

panic: auth.api_key_pepper must be set to at least 32 bytes; generate with `openssl rand -base64 48` and provide via HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER. Rotating it invalidates all issued API keys

goroutine 1 [running]:
main.main()
        github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox/backend/app/api/main.go:106 +0x99

Fix

To make homebox work again, it want’s a secret key. Let’s create it:

openssl rand -base64 48

Now, create a file to store the secret key inside of and restrict it’s permissions:

touch /etc/rc.conf.d/homebox

chmod 600 /etc/rc.conf.d/homebox

Next, imput the following into the file, replacing “YOUR_SECRET_KEY” with the output of the openssl command.:

ee /etc/rc.conf.d/homebox

homebox_env="HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER=YOUR_SECRET_KEY"

Example:

homebox_env="HBOX_AUTH_API_KEY_PEPPER=Jsnme5TGMNNso6X3FHEZFvinx7VO5/E4imS35RLyDF5Dx1Ily90WCDFarc2LxkE7"

This is only an example key, do not use it in production!

Now, after starting the homebox service, it should run again:

service homebox start
Starting homebox.

service homebox status
homebox is running as pid 65368.

Done. :)