# Run a Signal Proxy using DigitalOcean Droplets and Cloudflare Domains! #IRanASignalProxy

> I have already set up a proxy. Please email me at `contact@nabilridhwan.com` privately!

Read more here: https://signal.org/blog/run-a-proxy/

This article uses DigitalOcean Droplets and a Domain name from Cloudflare to run a Signal Proxy and focuses on being as user-friendly as possible.

# What you'll need
-  A VPS (DigitalOcean) ($4/month) - Free credits for students under the GitHub Student Developer pack
-  A Domain Name (Cloudflare) ($14 per year)

# Creating a DigitalOcean Droplet
1.  Create a new Droplet in DigitalOcean. The basic $4.00/mo plan will help.
![1.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909397784/ANholYcVR.png align="left")
2. Create new SSH Keys by clicking the new SSH Keys. The generation of SSH keys could be found in the original DigitalOcean documentation. But in this case, I used 1Password to generate an SSH key.
![2-create-ssh-keys.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909493887/x-nnPPnZ8.png align="left")


# Configure domain in Cloudflare Dashboard
1. Copy your Droplet's IP Address
![1-copy-ip-address.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909850631/tNi8hMF80.png align="left")
2. Go to your Cloudflare dashboard, log in and configure one of your domains. (We are going to add a subdomain)
3. Configure accordingly by making an `A` record with the name which points to the IP address you copied.
![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909951540/eyhjHo6qB.png align="left")
4. Click save.
5. Wait. (Different timing for different domain name providers but mine took approximately ~10 minutes)

# Installing the proxy on your new Droplet
**Note, you can follow the instructions written by Signal: https://signal.org/blog/run-a-proxy/**
1. After creating the droplet, wait a little while for the droplet to set up, and then right-click on the three dots and click on 'Access Console.'
![3-access-console.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909649019/DKGr_476Z.png align="left")
2. You'll be redirected to a new page, remember to log in as `root` and click on launch droplet console.
![4-login-as-root.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663909685270/SYho-JRQz.png align="left")
3. From here on, you can follow the article written by Signal: https://signal.org/blog/run-a-proxy/

# What I Did
If you didn't follow the article, you could follow what I did.
1. Install docker, docker-compose, and git by running `sudo apt update && sudo apt install docker docker-compose git`
![7-install-docker-docker-compose-git.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663910443454/PQYQp60yB.png align="left")
2. Clone the Signal TLS Proxy repo from GitHub by running `git clone https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-TLS-Proxy.git` and change directory to the newly cloned repo by running `cd Signal-TLS-Proxy`.
![9-clone-and-cd.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663910511870/P2462KhcC.png align="left")
3. Run the helper script provided by Signal that configures and provisions a TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt by running `sudo ./init-certificate.sh`. At some point, you'll be asked to enter your domain name. Enter the domain name you configured.
![10-configure-cert.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663911242702/EJzeN5JnL.png align="left")
4. Use Docker Compose to launch the proxy by running `sudo docker-compose up --build -d`
![11.1-run-docker-compose-build-detatched-sudo.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1663910599597/t-ylPW0xJ.png align="left")

# Voila!
You're done! Share your Proxy with the world. A recommendation is not to share your proxy URL in public since they can just add your IP to a blacklist. Instead _Signal_ encourages people to DM each other!

# Credits
Signal for having an easy-to-follow article: https://signal.org/blog/run-a-proxy/

# Footnote
Sorry if this article is not explained in detail on the background information. It's just a simple article to get users with resources to join and help!