glance-openbsd

An rc.d(8) service definition and install script for running Glance on OpenBSD.

Glance is a self-hosted dashboard built and maintained by the glanceapp project, licensed under AGPL-3.0. All credit for Glance itself goes there — this repository doesn't include or modify its source. It just adds the OpenBSD-native service integration upstream doesn't ship: a system user, an rc.d script, and a config skeleton.

Upstream already publishes a working openbsd/amd64 binary with every release. There's no OpenBSD port or package for it yet, and no rc.d script anywhere — that's the gap this fills.

What this installs

• /usr/local/bin/glance — the official release binary, unmodified.
• _glance — a dedicated, unprivileged system user (/var/empty, /sbin/nologin), same pattern OpenBSD base uses for other daemons.
• /etc/glance/glance.yml — config file, owned by _glance, mode 600.
• /etc/rc.d/glance — standard rc.d script, so rcctl start|stop|status glance and rcctl enable glance work like any base service.

Install

git clone <this repo>
cd glance-openbsd
doas ./install.sh          # installs the latest version this repo was tested against
doas ./install.sh v0.8.6   # or pin a specific release tag

The script downloads glance-openbsd-amd64.tar.gz straight from the GitHub release, installs the binary, creates the _glance user if it doesn't exist, drops a starter config at /etc/glance/glance.yml (only if one isn't already there), installs the rc.d script, and enables the service. It doesn't start it — edit the config first.

Configure and start

Edit /etc/glance/glance.yml (start from glance.yml.example in this repo, or the full config reference). By default it binds to 127.0.0.1:8070 — loopback only.

doas rcctl start glance
doas rcctl status glance

Exposing it

The config binds to loopback on purpose. How you reach it from outside the box is deliberately left to you: relayd/httpd with a TLS cert, a WireGuard or Tailscale tunnel, or an SSH port-forward for a quick look. None of that is OpenBSD- or Glance-specific, so it isn't baked into this repo.

Updating

This repo tracks upstream releases by version tag, nothing more — there's no build step to keep in sync. To pick up a new Glance release:

1. Check glanceapp/glance releases for the latest tag (or watch that repo's Releases via GitHub's "Watch" button, or subscribe to its releases.atom feed).
2. Re-run doas ./install.sh <new-version-tag>. It overwrites the binary in place and leaves your /etc/glance/glance.yml untouched.
3. Skim that release's changelog for new widget types or config options — glance.yml.example and the config reference link above aren't auto-updated, so add anything new yourself if you want it.

Uninstall

doas rcctl stop glance
doas rcctl disable glance
doas rm /etc/rc.d/glance /usr/local/bin/glance
doas rm -r /etc/glance          # only if you want the config gone too
doas userdel _glance

License

This repo (the rc.d script, install script, and example config) is MIT-licensed — see LICENSE. Glance itself is AGPL-3.0, owned by glanceapp.

Notes

Some of this code was written with Claude.