Before you start

Relic can sync through a server you run instead of ours. This page is about pointing the apps at that server. Setting the server up is a separate job: the self-host guide covers the one Docker command that runs it and how to reach it from outside your home.

You need three things before you open the app:

The server running. Check it answers before you start, so a typo in the app is the only thing left to go wrong.
Its address, as a URL with the port. On a home network that looks like http://192.168.1.10:8787, which is also the hint the app puts in the field.
A vault passphrase. There is no account here. The passphrase is the whole of your identity, and every device has to use the same one.

Check the server first

curl http://192.168.1.10:8787/health

Connecting a computer

Open Connect
Open Settings›Sync and account and press Connect…. That button is on the account row whenever the computer is not connected. If it is already syncing somewhere else, press Disconnect first.
Choose Your own server
A dialog opens headed Connect to your vault, asking Where should this device sync? The two cards are Relic Cloud (We host it. Nothing to set up.) and Your own server (Self-hosted. We can't see it.). Pick the second one and press Next.
Type the address and test it
Put your server's address in SERVER ADDRESS, then press Test. The line under the field tells you what happened, from Not tested yet. to Reachable. Do not carry on until it is reachable.
Enter the passphrase
Type your vault passphrase under PASSPHRASE. The line under it says Same passphrase on every device. and it means it. See The same passphrase everywhere.
Open Advanced only if your server asks for it
Most servers need nothing here. If yours is set up to require a joining secret, expand Advanced and put it in ENROLLMENT SECRET. The hint under the field says Only if your server sets RELIC_ENROLL_SECRET.
Press Connect
Press Connect. The button reads Connecting… while it works, and anything that goes wrong is shown in red under the fields. The first device you connect creates the vault and shows you a recovery kit. Save it before you close that screen.

The line under the address field has four states, and it is the fastest way to find a wrong address:

Not tested yet.: You have not pressed Test.
Checking…: Relic is asking the server. It gives up after a few seconds.
Reachable.: The server answered. Carry on.
Can't reach that server.: Wrong address, wrong port, the server is down, or this computer cannot see it from the network it is on.

Once connected, the account row says Connected to your own server, end-to-end encryptedwith the server's host under it, and the Plan row reads Self-hosted. There is no account and nothing to pay.

Connecting a phone

A phone does the same thing from its welcome screen. Under the sign-in buttons, tap Use your own server. The screen is headed Your own server and explains that your server only ever sees encrypted bytes.

Fill in the same two things:

The address, in the field hinted http://192.168.1.10:8787. Typing an address on a phone keyboard is a chore, so use the QR instead.
Vault passphrase, with the same reminder under it: Same passphrase on every device.
Advanced holds Enrollment secret, for the servers that use one.

Tap Connect and the phone joins the same vault. On a home network the phone reaches the server directly. From outside, the address has to be one your phone can actually reach.

Passing the address with a QR

A device already connected to your server can hand the address to the next one. On the connected computer, open Settings›Sync and account›Add a device and press Show QR. That row appears only on a self-hosted connection.

The dialog is headed Add a device and says:

Scan this in the Relic app on your other device (Add this device → Use your own server → Scan QR), then enter the same passphrase.

A dialog headed Add a device. A short line of instructions, then a square QR code on a white tile, the server address written under it in a monospace face, and a Done button. The QR carries the address, and the joining secret when the server uses one. It never carries your passphrase.

On the phone, tap Scan QR from another device on the Your own server form. The camera opens with the reminder On the connected device: Settings → Add a device → Show QR, then point this camera at it. Scanning fills the address in for you, and the joining secret too when there is one. You still type the passphrase yourself, because it is never in the QR.

The same passphrase everywhere

Relic Cloud has accounts. Your own server does not. The vault passphrase is what proves the device is yours and what unlocks the vault, so there is nothing else to get right.

The first device to connect creates the vault and fixes the passphrase. Every device after that has to use the same one. A different passphrase does not fail with a warning, it simply does not open that vault.

Because there is no account to reset, the passphrase and the recovery kit are the only ways in. Keep the kit somewhere safe, away from the server itself. How sync works is the same on your own server as it is on ours, at the same speed and with the same offline behaviour.