# Offline geolocation (GeoLite2) The admin login overview shows a coarse `City, CC` location and a carrier next to every sign-in. Two tiers can produce that: - **Offline.** MaxMind's GeoLite2-City and GeoLite2-ASN databases read from a local directory. The ASN database is the authoritative source for the carrier and the AS number. The resolver reads these first: an address the local databases can place never leaves the host. - **Online.** A third-party lookup, `https://ipwho.is` by default. Free, keyless, and the only tier on a host without the databases — which means every login IP address of every account on that instance leaves the host. With the databases mounted it sees only the addresses they could not place, and you can switch it off entirely (below). The offline tier is optional and absent by default. The published image only carries the databases when the image build had a MaxMind licence key (`scripts/fetch-geolite2.sh`, run from the release workflow), which is a build-time decision you do not control when you pull `:latest`. Two ways get the offline tier onto a stock `:latest` self-host, and both are on this page: let the app **fetch the databases itself** at runtime (simplest, one env var), or **bring your own** copy and mount it. ## Runtime fetch (one env var) Set a MaxMind licence key and the app downloads the databases itself — no rebuild, no mount, no `geoipupdate` on the host. 1. Create a free MaxMind account at , then a licence key under **My Account → Manage License Keys**. GeoLite2 is free; the account and key exist because MaxMind requires them for the download. 2. Put the key in your `.env`: ```env MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY="your-licence-key" ``` `MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY` is on the compose `environment:` whitelist, so a value in `.env` reaches the container. Leave `GEOLITE2_DIR` unset to use the default `/opt/geolite2`, which the image already owns as the app user for exactly this write. 3. `docker compose up -d`. On the next worker boot the app fetches `GeoLite2-City.mmdb` and `GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb` into `GEOLITE2_DIR` and starts reading them — no restart needed beyond the one that picks up the new env var. It refreshes once a month afterwards (MaxMind reissues on the first Tuesday), so a keyed host stays current on its own. The fetch is fail-soft: if the key is wrong or MaxMind is unreachable, the previous state stands (the online provider keeps answering) and the worker log carries the reason. It never writes a partial database. Confirm it landed under **Admin → System status** (`Geo data: Offline (GeoLite2)`) or from the host: `docker compose exec app ls -l /opt/geolite2`. If you would rather not have the app reach MaxMind on its own schedule — for example you keep a curated database copy — skip the key and use **bring your own** below instead. The two do not conflict: a read-only bind mount wins, because the runtime fetch cannot write over it and just fails soft. ## Bring your own (mount a copy) ### What you need - A free MaxMind account. Sign up at , then create a licence key under **My Account → Manage License Keys**. GeoLite2 is free; the account and key exist because MaxMind requires them for the download. - `geoipupdate` (MaxMind's own downloader) or any other way to fetch the two `.mmdb` files onto the host. Most distributions package `geoipupdate`; there is also an official container image. ### Setup 1. Pick a directory on the host and fetch both databases into it. With `geoipupdate`, `/etc/GeoIP.conf` looks like this: ```conf AccountID LicenseKey EditionIDs GeoLite2-City GeoLite2-ASN DatabaseDirectory /srv/healthlog/geolite2 ``` Then run `geoipupdate`. The directory should end up holding `GeoLite2-City.mmdb` and `GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb`. The City database is the one the readiness check looks for; the ASN database is what fills the carrier and AS number. 2. Mount the directory into the app container read-only. In `docker-compose.yml` the `app` service carries a commented `volumes:` block for exactly this: ```yaml volumes: - ./geolite2:/opt/geolite2:ro ``` Swap the host side (`./geolite2`) for your directory, e.g. `/srv/healthlog/geolite2`. 3. `/opt/geolite2` is the default value of `GEOLITE2_DIR`, so mounting at that container path needs no env var at all. Only if you mount at a different container path do you set it: ```env GEOLITE2_DIR="/var/lib/geolite2" ``` `GEOLITE2_DIR` is on the compose `environment:` whitelist, so a value in your `.env` reaches the container. Variables that are not on that whitelist never do, even when compose substitutes them elsewhere in the file. 4. `docker compose up -d` and sign in once. **Admin → System status** shows `Geo data: Offline (GeoLite2)` when the databases are being read, and names the online provider when they are not. ## Turning the online lookup off entirely With the databases mounted, the third-party lookup already only sees addresses they could not place. To remove that remainder too: ```env IP_GEO_LOOKUP_DISABLED="1" ``` `true` and `yes` work as well. Any other value, including an empty one, leaves the lookup on. The resolver then uses only the local databases and returns nothing when they miss, rather than asking anyone. An instance handling other people's health data is a reasonable place to make that trade. ## Keeping the databases current MaxMind reissues GeoLite2 on its own schedule, and a stale city database is quietly wrong rather than loudly broken — it keeps answering, with last month's allocations. The **runtime fetch** handles this for you: it re-downloads both databases once a month and resets the reader in place, so a keyed host stays current with no cron of your own and no restart. The **bring-your-own** path is yours to keep fresh. Run `geoipupdate` on a schedule (a weekly cron or systemd timer is enough) against the same directory. The reader loads each database once per worker process and holds it, so a refreshed file on the host is picked up at the next container restart, not immediately. A weekly `geoipupdate` followed by `docker compose restart app` keeps the two in step. ## Licence and attribution The databases are downloaded under your own MaxMind account, so their terms are between you and MaxMind — read what your account agrees to at . That agreement, the GeoLite End User License Agreement, incorporates CC BY-SA 4.0 by reference and controls wherever the two disagree; both require you to attribute the data to MaxMind if you make it available to anyone else. HealthLog's own attribution ("This product includes GeoLite2 data created by MaxMind, available from https://www.maxmind.com") is already on the `/about` page and covers an instance that uses them. Keep that page reachable — it is what carries the attribution for your deployment, and it is served without a session for exactly that reason. ## Troubleshooting **System status still says the online provider.** The readiness check requires `GeoLite2-City.mmdb` to exist in `GEOLITE2_DIR` and no `.empty` marker file beside it. Check the path from inside the container: `docker compose exec app ls -l /opt/geolite2` (or your `GEOLITE2_DIR` value). An empty listing means the bind mount did not land; a `.empty` file means the image was built without a licence key and you are still reading the baked-in directory rather than your own. **The variable has no effect.** Confirm it actually reached the process: `docker compose exec app printenv GEOLITE2_DIR`. If it prints nothing, the value is in `.env` but not on the `environment:` whitelist — compare against `docker-compose.yml`. **The carrier column is empty.** The carrier also comes from the online provider's ISP field, but the online lookup only runs for an address the City database could not place. On a host with `GeoLite2-City.mmdb` and no `GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb`, a location that resolves locally has no carrier to go with it — mount the ASN database too. With neither database, the online provider fills both, unless `IP_GEO_LOOKUP_DISABLED="1"` is set.