README for sqrl native linux client

This is a native linux SQRL client that implements the SQRL protocol written by Steve Gibson. See his grc.com website for more details.

This version enables the GUI -- which is very basic, but is a starting point. This version also enables client/server mode by forking the process to run the GUI/server in the case where the GUI process is not already running.

Note: If the GUI exits unexpectedly (Ctrl-C, or similar), it will leave the FIFO at /tmp/sqrl.FIFO and prevent a subsequent startup. Simply remove this file to resume normal operations. I'll be adding an exit hook soon that will fix this issue. :-)

Prerequisites

SQRL depends on GTK-2.0, libsqrl, libsodium, and liburiparser.

You should be able to get GTK-2.0 and liburiparser from your linux repos. You will probably need to get the -dev version of the package if it is available on your distro.

Build libsqrl and libsodium:

git clone https://github.com/Novators/libsqrl.git
cd libsqrl
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

You may choose to install libsqrl with the command sudo make install, in which case the client will link to the installed dynamic library. If you'd rather not, you'll have some more options in the next section.

Building the client

If you did not install libsqrl, or want to statically link it, you'll need to set an environment variable. Otherwise, you can skip this step.

export LIBSQRL=/path/to/your/libsqrl/directory

This client is written in C and should be buildable on linux with a simple command:

cd src
make

The client includes a sample SQRL id and a configuration file that must be installed for it to work. You have a few options here:

# To install everything to your home directory:
make install
# Or, to install the binary in /usr/local/bin and data files to your home directory:
PREFIX=/usr/local make install
# Or, to install only the data files:
make installdata

The make install command will not overwrite existing data files (but will update the binary).

Using your own SQRL id

You can point the client to a different ID by editing the ~/.sqrl/sqrl.ini file.

Connecting your browser to SQRL

To log into a site that supports SQRL, you will need to set up your browser to direct the sqrl:// scheme to this executable. While this version of SQRL is originally command line, it will ultimately implement a GUI to accept user input to complete the login process, similar to Steve's windows client.

Running the client

After setting up your browser (in the previous section), this should be automatic when you click a sqrl:// link.

You can also run it from the command line: sqrl sqrl://...