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Pair a device

Storm has one account, protected by a password. Every app you sign in is a device with its own credential, which you can sign out on its own. When a device connects, it first checks that the server proves the identity it pinned at pairing, on your network and through a relay alike, before it sends any credential.

The first device

The password is chosen on the first device, so it needs no password to enter.

  • A browser on the same network: open http://<server>:8484. The page pairs itself with the server that served it and asks you to choose the password (12 characters or more).

  • The macOS or Android app: scan a single-use setup code. The installer can show one at the end; or print it on the server:

    Terminal window
    sudo -u storm storm-server pair --state /srv/storm/state --qr

    Without --qr it prints the code as a storm://pair?… line you can paste into the app’s Enter address manually. pair works only while the server has no account.

Every device after that

  • On your home network, the app lists the Storms it can see under On this network. Pick yours and enter the password.
  • Otherwise, on a device that is already signed in, open Settings › Devices & access › Add a device and scan the QR code. Each code works once.

On a network the computer treats as public (a café, a hotel), the server does not announce itself and refuses password pairing; scan a QR code instead. To turn discovery and password pairing off, use Settings › Connection › Discoverable on this network, or set STORM_DISCOVERY=0 (Configuration), which wins over the app’s setting. QR pairing still works.

Signing devices out

Settings › Devices & access lists every signed-in device. Removing one signs it out at once; it cannot connect again until it pairs again.

A forgotten password

Reset it on the server. On Linux, run it as the service user, never as root — a database created by root is one the service cannot write:

Terminal window
sudo -u storm storm-server passwd --state /srv/storm/state

It prompts without echo, or reads --password-stdin; there is never a password argument, because arguments are visible to every user on the machine. On a server with no account yet, the same command creates it.