Everything on, phase 1: geolocation fetches itself, the deploy signs in as @thepra, the crawler is on, sign-up by invitation

Owner decisions (2026-10-04, recorded in docs/ROADMAP.md): production runs everything that is built, and nothing waits
on a person running a command.

- Geolocation updates itself. GeoUpdater, a hosted service, checks daily whether each DB-IP Lite database was built this
  month. If not, it fetches this month's, or last month's early in the month. It installs a file only once it opens as
  the right kind of database, then swaps it in atomically, and the locator reloads at once. Lookups now run under the
  lock, so a reload can no longer dispose a reader mid-lookup. The systemd timer, its script and their setup.sh lines
  are gone: the root step they needed never happened, and none is needed now. /stargazing names the database in use.
- The admin CLI runs after the app is built, with every service and nothing started.
  - `create-root <login> [--admin]` takes the password on stdin; it is how the first login is made while sign-up is
    closed.
  - `smoke <persona>` keeps the root `deploy-smoke` and an undiscoverable persona, and gives the root a new password
    on every run.
- The deploy signs in as @thepra. It runs the CLI, gets a token through the real OAuth flow (tools/smoke/oauth.sh,
  moved out of the pasture's privapub_token, which now uses it), checks the signed-in API and that @thepra is
  undiscoverable, then revokes the token. PRIVAPUB_SMOKE_TOKEN is gone.
- The deploy also fails when:
  - NodeInfo and the instance API disagree about registrations;
  - /stargazing does not say the crawler is on;
  - the geolocation databases are missing or more than 40 days old.
- The crawler is on in production, seeded with ten large servers of different kinds. FEDERATION.md now describes it
  and how to opt out.
- One registrations switch (Registrations:Mode, default Invitations; Open in tests and the pasture). It is read by
  open sign-up (403 when closed), NodeInfo `openRegistrations`, and v1 and v2 of the instance API, so they can no longer
  disagree. Before, NodeInfo said open and the instance API said closed. Group invitations always work, so
  invites_enabled is true.
- A persona edit through /clientapi no longer resets what the Mastodon API set (discoverable, locked, quote policy…):
  the theme is merged into the settings instead of replacing them.

650 tests pass. The deploy's smoke step was rehearsed against the pasture's PrivaPub.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01ELjqpznMFMNrJoJUj6K5p2

PrivaPub/Api/Mastodon/Controllers/InstanceController.cs

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
 
 using MongoDB.Entities;
 
 using PrivaPub.Api.Mastodon.Infrastructure;
 using PrivaPub.Domain.Privacy;
 using PrivaPub.Federation.Actors;
+using PrivaPub.Infrastructure;
 using PrivaPub.Models.User;
 
 using PostEntity = PrivaPub.Models.Post.Post;
@@ -18,12 +20,16 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Api.Mastodon.Controllers
 		const string Description = "A small ActivityPub server where one private login keeps several unlinkable public personas.";
 
 		readonly ILocalActorService _localActors;
+		readonly IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> _registrations;
 
-		public InstanceController(ILocalActorService localActors)
+		public InstanceController(ILocalActorService localActors, IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> registrations)
 		{
 			_localActors = localActors;
+			_registrations = registrations;
 		}
 
+		bool Open => _registrations.CurrentValue.IsOpen;
+
 		string Domain => new Uri(_localActors.BaseAddress).Authority;
 
 		static object Statuses => new { max_characters = 5000, max_media_attachments = 4, characters_reserved_per_url = 23 };
@@ -58,9 +64,9 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Api.Mastodon.Controllers
 				stats = new { user_count = users, status_count = statuses, domain_count = domains },
 				thumbnail = $"{_localActors.BaseAddress}/media/missing-header.png",
 				languages = new[] { "en" },
-				registrations = false,
+				registrations = Open,
 				approval_required = false,
-				invites_enabled = false,
+				invites_enabled = true,//a group invitation always creates an account
 				configuration = new { accounts = new { max_featured_tags = 0 }, statuses = Statuses, media_attachments = MediaAttachments, polls = Polls },
 				contact_account = default(object),
 				rules = Array.Empty<object>()
@@ -88,7 +94,7 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Api.Mastodon.Controllers
 				polls = Polls,
 				translation = new { enabled = false }
 			},
-			registrations = new { enabled = false, approval_required = false, message = default(string) },
+			registrations = new { enabled = Open, approval_required = false, message = Open ? default : RegistrationOptions.ClosedMessage },
 			contact = new { email = string.Empty, account = default(object) },
 			rules = Array.Empty<object>()
 		});

PrivaPub/Controllers/ClientToServer/RootUserController.cs

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Controllers.ClientToServer
 		readonly ILocalActorService LocalActors;
 		readonly AuthTokenManager AuthTokenManager;
 		readonly IOptionsMonitor<AppConfiguration> AppConfiguration;
+		readonly IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> Registrations;
 		readonly ILogger<RootUserController> Logger;
 		readonly IStringLocalizer Localizer;
 
@@ -43,9 +44,11 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Controllers.ClientToServer
 				ILocalActorService localActors,
 				AuthTokenManager authTokenManager,
 				IOptionsMonitor<AppConfiguration> appConfiguration,
+				IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> registrations,
 				IStringLocalizer<GenericRes> localizer,
 				ILogger<RootUserController> logger)
 		{
+			Registrations = registrations;
 			UsersService = usersService;
 			GroupUsersService = groupUsersService;
 			AvatarUsersService = avatarUsersService;
@@ -63,6 +66,8 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Controllers.ClientToServer
 		{
 			if (User.Identity?.IsAuthenticated ?? false) return Redirect("/");
 			var result = new WebResult();
+			if (!Registrations.CurrentValue.IsOpen)
+				return StatusCode(StatusCodes.Status403Forbidden, result.Invalidate(Localizer[RegistrationOptions.ClosedMessage], StatusCodes.Status403Forbidden));
 			if (!ModelState.IsValid)
 				return BadRequest(result.Invalidate(Localizer["Invalid model."]));
 			try

PrivaPub/Federation/Controllers/WellKnownController.cs

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
 
 using MongoDB.Entities;
 
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ using System.Text.Json.Nodes;
 using PostEntity = PrivaPub.Models.Post.Post;
 using PrivaPub.Domain.Privacy;
 using PrivaPub.Federation.Actors;
+using PrivaPub.Infrastructure;
 
 namespace PrivaPub.Federation.Controllers
 {
@@ -20,9 +22,11 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Federation.Controllers
 	{
 		readonly ILocalActorService _localActors;
 		readonly DbEntities _dbEntities;
+		readonly IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> _registrations;
 
-		public WellKnownController(ILocalActorService localActors, DbEntities dbEntities)
+		public WellKnownController(ILocalActorService localActors, DbEntities dbEntities, IOptionsMonitor<RegistrationOptions> registrations)
 		{
+			_registrations = registrations;
 			_localActors = localActors;
 			_dbEntities = dbEntities;
 		}
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Federation.Controllers
 				["software"] = software,
 				["protocols"] = new JsonArray("activitypub"),
 				["services"] = new JsonObject { ["inbound"] = new JsonArray(), ["outbound"] = new JsonArray() },
-				["openRegistrations"] = true,
+				["openRegistrations"] = _registrations.CurrentValue.IsOpen,
 				["usage"] = new JsonObject
 				{
 					["users"] = new JsonObject { ["total"] = users },

PrivaPub/Infrastructure/Cli/AdminCommands.cs

@@ -1,22 +1,49 @@
 using MongoDB.Entities;
 
 using PrivaPub.ClientModels;
+using PrivaPub.ClientModels.User;
+using PrivaPub.ClientModels.User.Avatar;
 using PrivaPub.Models.User;
+using PrivaPub.Services;
+using PrivaPub.Services.ClientToServer.Private;
+using PrivaPub.StaticServices;
+
+using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
+using System.Security.Cryptography;
 
 namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Cli
 {
+	// `PrivaPub admin ...` runs with the whole server built but not started: no Kestrel, no hosted services.
 	public static class AdminCommands
 	{
-		const string Usage = "usage: PrivaPub admin promote|demote <root username>";
+		public const string SmokeLogin = "deploy-smoke";
 
-		public static async Task<int> Run(string[] args)
+		const string Usage = """
+			usage: PrivaPub admin promote|demote <root>
+			       PrivaPub admin create-root <login> [--admin]   the password is read from standard input
+			       PrivaPub admin smoke <persona>                 prints "<login> <password>" for the deploy's signed-in check
+			""";
+
+		public static async Task<int> Run(string[] args, IServiceProvider services, TextReader input = default, TextWriter output = default)
 		{
-			if (args is not [("promote" or "demote") and var verb, var userName])
+			input ??= Console.In;
+			output ??= Console.Out;
+			switch (args)
 			{
-				Console.Error.WriteLine(Usage);
-				return 2;
+				case [("promote" or "demote") and var verb, var userName]:
+					return await Promote(verb == "promote", userName, output);
+				case ["create-root", var login, .. var flags] when flags.All(f => f == "--admin"):
+					return await CreateRoot(services, login, input.ReadLine(), flags.Contains("--admin"), output);
+				case ["smoke", var persona]:
+					return await Smoke(services, persona, output);
+				default:
+					Console.Error.WriteLine(Usage);
+					return 2;
 			}
+		}
 
+		static async Task<int> Promote(bool promote, string userName, TextWriter output)
+		{
 			userName = userName.ToLowerInvariant();
 			var user = await DB.Default.Find<RootUser>().Match(u => u.UserName == userName).ExecuteFirstAsync();
 			if (user == default)
@@ -26,14 +53,94 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Cli
 			}
 
 			user.Policies.RemoveAll(p => p is Policies.IsAdmin or Policies.IsModerator);
-			if (verb == "promote")
+			if (promote)
 				user.Policies.AddRange(new[] { Policies.IsAdmin, Policies.IsModerator });
 			if (!user.Policies.Contains(Policies.IsUser))
 				user.Policies.Add(Policies.IsUser);
 			user.UpdatedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
 			await DB.Default.SaveAsync(user);
 
-			Console.WriteLine($"{userName}: {string.Join(", ", user.Policies)}");
+			output.WriteLine($"{userName}: {string.Join(", ", user.Policies)}");
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		// With sign-up closed this is how the first root is made; group invitations make the rest.
+		static async Task<int> CreateRoot(IServiceProvider services, string login, string password, bool admin, TextWriter output)
+		{
+			var form = new LoginForm { UserName = login, Password = password?.Trim() };
+			var problems = new List<ValidationResult>();
+			if (!Validator.TryValidateObject(form, new ValidationContext(form), problems, validateAllProperties: true))
+			{
+				Console.Error.WriteLine(string.Join(Environment.NewLine, problems.Select(p => p.ErrorMessage)));
+				return 1;
+			}
+			var created = await services.GetRequiredService<IRootUsersService>().SignUpAsync(form);
+			if (!created.IsValid)
+			{
+				Console.Error.WriteLine(created.ErrorMessage);
+				return 1;
+			}
+			return admin ? await Promote(true, login, output) : await Report(login, output);
+		}
+
+		static Task<int> Report(string login, TextWriter output)
+		{
+			output.WriteLine($"{login.ToLowerInvariant()}: created");
+			return Task.FromResult(0);
+		}
+
+		// The deploy's signed-in smoke check: a root nobody signs in to by hand, owning one undiscoverable persona. Every run
+		// sets a new password and prints it, so no secret is kept anywhere and nothing waits on a person.
+		static async Task<int> Smoke(IServiceProvider services, string personaName, TextWriter output)
+		{
+			personaName = personaName.ToLowerInvariant();
+			var password = "Smoke-x" + Convert.ToHexStringLower(RandomNumberGenerator.GetBytes(24));
+			var root = await DB.Default.Find<RootUser>().Match(u => u.UserName == SmokeLogin).ExecuteFirstAsync();
+			if (root == default)
+			{
+				var created = await services.GetRequiredService<IRootUsersService>().SignUpAsync(new LoginForm { UserName = SmokeLogin, Password = password });
+				if (!created.IsValid)
+				{
+					Console.Error.WriteLine(created.ErrorMessage);
+					return 1;
+				}
+				root = await DB.Default.Find<RootUser>().Match(u => u.UserName == SmokeLogin).ExecuteFirstAsync();
+			}
+			else if (root.DeletedAt.HasValue || root.IsBanned)
+			{
+				Console.Error.WriteLine($"the root '{SmokeLogin}' is deleted or banned");
+				return 1;
+			}
+			else
+				await DB.Default.Update<RootUser>().MatchID(root.ID)
+					.Modify(u => u.HashedPassword, services.GetRequiredService<IPasswordHasher>().Hash(password))
+					.Modify(u => u.UpdatedAt, DateTime.UtcNow)
+					.ExecuteAsync();
+
+			var owned = (await DB.Default.Find<RootToAvatar>().Match(ra => ra.RootId == root.ID).ExecuteAsync()).Select(ra => ra.AvatarId).ToList();
+			var persona = await DB.Default.Find<Avatar>().Match(a => owned.Contains(a.ID) && a.UserName == personaName && !a.DeletionAt.HasValue).ExecuteFirstAsync();
+			if (persona == default)
+			{
+				var inserted = await services.GetRequiredService<IPrivateAvatarUsersService>().InsertAvatar(new InsertAvatarForm
+				{
+					RootId = root.ID,
+					UserName = personaName,
+					Name = personaName,
+					Biography = "The deploy signs in here to check that the Mastodon API works for a signed-in persona."
+				});
+				if (!inserted.IsValid)
+				{
+					Console.Error.WriteLine(inserted.ErrorMessage);
+					return 1;
+				}
+				persona = await DB.Default.Find<Avatar>().MatchID(((ViewAvatar)inserted.Data).Id).ExecuteFirstAsync();
+			}
+			await DB.Default.Update<Avatar>().MatchID(persona.ID)
+				.Modify(a => a.Settings.IsDiscoverable, false)
+				.Modify(a => a.Settings.IsIndexable, false)
+				.ExecuteAsync();
+
+			output.WriteLine($"{SmokeLogin} {password}");
 			return 0;
 		}
 	}

PrivaPub/Infrastructure/Geo/GeoLocator.cs

@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Geo
 
 	public sealed class DbIpLocator : IGeoLocator, IDisposable
 	{
-		public const string CityFile = "dbip-city-lite.mmdb";
-		public const string AsnFile = "dbip-asn-lite.mmdb";
+		public static readonly string CityFile = GeoUpdater.FileOf("city");
+		public static readonly string AsnFile = GeoUpdater.FileOf("asn");
 		static readonly TimeSpan CheckInterval = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10);
 
 		readonly IOptionsMonitor<StatisticsOptions> _options;
@@ -60,18 +60,17 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Geo
 			if (address == default || !IpRangeGuard.IsPublic(address))
 				return default;
 			Refresh();
-			Reader city, asn;
-			lock (_lock)
-			{
-				city = _city;
-				asn = _asn;
-			}
-			if (city == default && asn == default)
-				return default;
+			Dictionary<string, object> place, network;
 			try
 			{
-				var place = city?.Find<Dictionary<string, object>>(address);
-				var network = asn?.Find<Dictionary<string, object>>(address);
+				// under the lock, so a reload cannot dispose a reader in the middle of a lookup; lookups are rare
+				lock (_lock)
+				{
+					if (_city == default && _asn == default)
+						return default;
+					place = _city?.Find<Dictionary<string, object>>(address);
+					network = _asn?.Find<Dictionary<string, object>>(address);
+				}
 				var location = Section(place, "location");
 				return new GeoFix(
 					Text(Section(place, "country"), "iso_code"),
@@ -88,6 +87,14 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Geo
 			}
 		}
 
+		// Looks at the files again now instead of within the next ten minutes: GeoUpdater has just replaced one.
+		public void Reload()
+		{
+			lock (_lock)
+				_checkedAt = DateTime.MinValue;
+			Refresh();
+		}
+
 		void Refresh()
 		{
 			if (DateTime.UtcNow - _checkedAt < CheckInterval)

PrivaPub/Infrastructure/Geo/GeoUpdater.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+using MaxMind.Db;
+
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
+
+using PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Statistics;
+
+using System.IO.Compression;
+using System.Net;
+
+namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Geo
+{
+	// Keeps the DB-IP Lite databases current by itself, so a deploy needs no timer and no root: once a day it checks
+	// whether each database was built this month and, if not, fetches this month's (or, early in the month, last month's),
+	// checks it opens as the right kind of database and swaps it in. This and SMTP are the server's only traffic that is not
+	// federation, which is why it has its own client instead of IFederationHttp.
+	public sealed class GeoUpdater : BackgroundService
+	{
+		public const string ClientName = "geo";
+		static readonly string[] Kinds = { "city", "asn" };
+		static readonly TimeSpan FirstWait = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30);
+		static readonly TimeSpan Interval = TimeSpan.FromHours(24);
+
+		readonly IHttpClientFactory _http;
+		readonly IOptionsMonitor<StatisticsOptions> _options;
+		readonly IGeoLocator _locator;
+		readonly ILogger<GeoUpdater> _logger;
+
+		public GeoUpdater(IHttpClientFactory http, IOptionsMonitor<StatisticsOptions> options, IGeoLocator locator, ILogger<GeoUpdater> logger)
+		{
+			_http = http;
+			_options = options;
+			_locator = locator;
+			_logger = logger;
+		}
+
+		public static string FileOf(string kind) => $"dbip-{kind}-lite.mmdb";
+
+		protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
+		{
+			try
+			{
+				await Task.Delay(FirstWait, stoppingToken);
+				while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+				{
+					if (_options.CurrentValue.Geo.AutoUpdate)
+						await Update(DateTime.UtcNow, stoppingToken);
+					await Task.Delay(Interval + TimeSpan.FromMinutes(Random.Shared.Next(60)), stoppingToken);
+				}
+			}
+			catch (OperationCanceledException) when (stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+			{
+			}
+		}
+
+		// The number of databases replaced. A failure keeps the database already there and is tried again the next day.
+		public async Task<int> Update(DateTime now, CancellationToken token)
+		{
+			var options = _options.CurrentValue;
+			var replaced = 0;
+			try
+			{
+				Directory.CreateDirectory(options.GeoDirectory);
+			}
+			catch (Exception ex) when (ex is IOException or UnauthorizedAccessException)
+			{
+				_logger.LogWarning(ex, "Cannot create {Directory}; servers are not located", options.GeoDirectory);
+				return 0;
+			}
+			foreach (var kind in Kinds)
+			{
+				var path = Path.Combine(options.GeoDirectory, FileOf(kind));
+				var built = BuiltMonth(path);
+				foreach (var month in new[] { Month(now), Month(now).AddMonths(-1) })
+				{
+					if (built >= month)
+						break;
+					try
+					{
+						if (await Install(kind, month, path, options, token))
+						{
+							replaced++;
+							_logger.LogInformation("Installed DB-IP Lite {Kind} {Month:yyyy-MM}", kind, month);
+							break;
+						}
+					}
+					catch (Exception ex) when (ex is HttpRequestException or IOException or InvalidDatabaseException or InvalidDataException
+						or TaskCanceledException && !token.IsCancellationRequested)
+					{
+						_logger.LogWarning(ex, "Could not install DB-IP Lite {Kind} {Month:yyyy-MM}", kind, month);
+						break;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			if (replaced > 0 && _locator is DbIpLocator locator)
+				locator.Reload();
+			return replaced;
+		}
+
+		static DateTime Month(DateTime at) => new(at.Year, at.Month, 1, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
+
+		static DateTime BuiltMonth(string path)
+		{
+			if (!File.Exists(path))
+				return DateTime.MinValue;
+			try
+			{
+				using var reader = new Reader(path, FileAccessMode.MemoryMapped);
+				return Month(reader.Metadata.BuildDate);
+			}
+			catch (Exception ex) when (ex is InvalidDatabaseException or IOException)
+			{
+				return DateTime.MinValue;
+			}
+		}
+
+		// False when that month is not published (yet); throws when it is published but cannot be used.
+		async Task<bool> Install(string kind, DateTime month, string path, StatisticsOptions options, CancellationToken token)
+		{
+			var url = $"{options.Geo.DownloadBase.TrimEnd('/')}/dbip-{kind}-lite-{month:yyyy-MM}.mmdb.gz";
+			var packed = path + ".gz.part";
+			var unpacked = path + ".new";
+			try
+			{
+				using (var response = await _http.CreateClient(ClientName).GetAsync(url, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead, token))
+				{
+					if (response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.NotFound)
+						return false;
+					response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
+					await using var source = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync(token);
+					await using var target = File.Create(packed);
+					await CopyCapped(source, target, options.Geo.MaxDownloadBytes, token);
+				}
+				await using (var source = new GZipStream(File.OpenRead(packed), CompressionMode.Decompress))
+				await using (var target = File.Create(unpacked))
+					await CopyCapped(source, target, options.Geo.MaxDatabaseBytes, token);
+				using (var reader = new Reader(unpacked, FileAccessMode.MemoryMapped))
+					if (!reader.Metadata.DatabaseType.Contains(kind, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+						throw new InvalidDatabaseException($"{url} is a {reader.Metadata.DatabaseType} database, not {kind}");
+				File.Move(unpacked, path, overwrite: true);
+				return true;
+			}
+			finally
+			{
+				File.Delete(packed);
+				File.Delete(unpacked);
+			}
+		}
+
+		static async Task CopyCapped(Stream source, Stream target, long limit, CancellationToken token)
+		{
+			var buffer = new byte[81920];
+			long total = 0;
+			int read;
+			while ((read = await source.ReadAsync(buffer, token)) > 0)
+			{
+				total += read;
+				if (total > limit)
+					throw new InvalidDataException($"more than {limit} bytes");
+				await target.WriteAsync(buffer.AsMemory(0, read), token);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}

PrivaPub/Infrastructure/RegistrationOptions.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure
+{
+	public enum RegistrationMode
+	{
+		Invitations,
+		Open
+	}
+
+	// Who may make a root login. NodeInfo, both instance API versions and the sign-up endpoint read this one switch, so they
+	// cannot disagree. A group invitation always creates an account, whatever the mode.
+	public class RegistrationOptions
+	{
+		public RegistrationMode Mode { get; set; } = RegistrationMode.Invitations;//owner decision (2026-10-04): invitations only
+
+		public bool IsOpen => Mode == RegistrationMode.Open;
+
+		public const string ClosedMessage = "Sign-up is by invitation only: ask someone here for a group invitation.";
+	}
+}

PrivaPub/Infrastructure/Statistics/StatisticsOptions.cs

@@ -6,9 +6,19 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Infrastructure.Statistics
 		public string GeoDirectory { get; set; } = "/var/lib/privapub/geo";
 		public int PublicCityMinUsers { get; set; } = 10;
 		public CrawlerOptions Crawler { get; set; } = new();
+		public GeoOptions Geo { get; set; } = new();
 	}
 
-	//owner decision: off by default; when on, one server a minute, each at most weekly, at most MaxHosts servers
+	//owner decision (2026-10-04): the server keeps its DB-IP Lite databases current by itself
+	public class GeoOptions
+	{
+		public bool AutoUpdate { get; set; } = true;
+		public string DownloadBase { get; set; } = "https://download.db-ip.com/free";
+		public long MaxDownloadBytes { get; set; } = 300L * 1024 * 1024;
+		public long MaxDatabaseBytes { get; set; } = 1024L * 1024 * 1024;
+	}
+
+	//owner decision: off by default (on in production since 2026-10-04); when on, one server a minute, each at most weekly, at most MaxHosts servers
 	public class CrawlerOptions
 	{
 		public bool Enabled { get; set; }

PrivaPub/Middleware/SocialPubConfigurations.cs

@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Middleware
 		{
 			return service
 				.Configure<MongoSettings>(configuration.GetSection(nameof(MongoSettings)))
-				.Configure<AppConfiguration>(configuration.GetSection(nameof(AppConfiguration)));
+				.Configure<AppConfiguration>(configuration.GetSection(nameof(AppConfiguration)))
+				.Configure<PrivaPub.Infrastructure.RegistrationOptions>(configuration.GetSection("Registrations"));
 		}
 		public static IServiceCollection PrivaPubWorkersConfiguration(this IServiceCollection service)
 		{
@@ -107,8 +108,16 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Middleware
 				.AddSingleton<IJobHandler, DeliveryJobHandler>()
 				.AddHostedService<JobWorker>();
 		}
-		public static IServiceCollection PrivaPubStatisticsConfiguration(this IServiceCollection service, IConfiguration configuration) =>
-			service
+		public static IServiceCollection PrivaPubStatisticsConfiguration(this IServiceCollection service, IConfiguration configuration)
+		{
+			// not federation: the DB-IP download only (GeoUpdater), plain HTTPS to a fixed host
+			service.AddHttpClient(GeoUpdater.ClientName, (provider, client) =>
+			{
+				var baseAddress = provider.GetRequiredService<IOptionsMonitor<AppConfiguration>>().CurrentValue.BackendBaseAddress?.TrimEnd('/');
+				client.Timeout = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(15);
+				client.DefaultRequestHeaders.UserAgent.ParseAdd($"PrivaPub/{BuildInfo.Ref} (+{baseAddress}/)");
+			});
+			return service
 				.Configure<StatisticsOptions>(configuration.GetSection("Statistics"))
 				.AddSingleton<InteractionSalts>()
 				.AddSingleton<InteractionLedger>()
@@ -116,10 +125,12 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Middleware
 				.AddHostedService(services => services.GetRequiredService<InteractionLedger>())
 				.AddSingleton<IJobHandler, RollupJob>()
 				.AddSingleton<IGeoLocator, DbIpLocator>()
+				.AddHostedService<GeoUpdater>()
 				.AddSingleton<Domain.Statistics.StatisticsQueries>()
 				.AddSingleton<IJobHandler, Federation.Crawler.CrawlPlanner>()
 				.AddSingleton<IJobHandler, Federation.Crawler.InstanceCrawler>()
 				.AddHostedService<StatisticsSchedule>();
+		}
 
 		public static IServiceCollection PrivaPubAuthServicesConfiguration(this IServiceCollection service, IConfiguration configuration)
 		{

PrivaPub/Program.cs

@@ -87,12 +87,6 @@ try
 		EntityMaps.Warm();
 		await DB.Default.MigrateAsync<Program>();
 		await Indexes.Create();
-
-		if (args is ["admin", ..])
-		{
-			Environment.ExitCode = await AdminCommands.Run(args[1..]);
-			return;
-		}
 	}
 	catch (Exception ex)
 	{
@@ -111,6 +105,15 @@ try
 		throw;
 	}
 
+	// Commands get every service but start nothing: no Kestrel, no hosted services, no media directory. The deploy runs
+	// them as its own user, which can read the configuration and reach the private mongod but owns no www-data directory.
+	if (args is ["admin", ..])
+	{
+		using var scope = app.Services.CreateScope();
+		Environment.ExitCode = await AdminCommands.Run(args[1..], scope.ServiceProvider);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	try
 	{
 		var localizationService = app.Services.GetService<RequestLocalizationOptionsService>();

PrivaPub/Services/ClientToServer/Private/IPrivateAvatarUsersService.cs

@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Services.ClientToServer.Private
 				if (!await _localActors.TryReserveUserName(userName, LocalActorKind.Person, newAvatar.ID, default))
 					return result.Invalidate(_localizer["The username '{0}' is already take.", userName]);
 				if (form.Settings is { IsDefault: false })
-					newAvatar.Settings = ToSettings(form.Settings);
+					Apply(newAvatar.Settings, form.Settings);
 
 				var actor = _localActors.FromAvatar(newAvatar);
 				newAvatar.Url = actor.Uri;
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Services.ClientToServer.Private
 				avatar.Fields = form.Fields ?? new();
 				avatar.PersonalNote = form.PersonalNote;
 				if (form.Settings != default)
-					avatar.Settings = ToSettings(form.Settings);
+					Apply(avatar.Settings ??= new(), form.Settings);
 				avatar.UpdatedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
 				await DB.Default.SaveAsync(avatar);
 				await _outbox.PublishProfile(_localActors.FromAvatar(avatar), default);
@@ -158,18 +158,20 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Services.ClientToServer.Private
 				.Match(ru => !ru.DeletedAt.HasValue && !ru.IsBanned)
 				.ExecuteAnyAsync();
 
-		static AvatarSettings ToSettings(ViewAvatarSettings settings) => new()
+		// The client API carries only the theme; the rest (discoverable, locked, quote policy…) is set through the Mastodon API
+		// and must survive an edit made here.
+		static void Apply(AvatarSettings target, ViewAvatarSettings settings)
 		{
-			IsDefault = settings.IsDefault,
-			DarkThemeIndexColour = settings.DarkThemeIndexColour,
-			IconsThemeIndexColour = settings.IconsThemeIndexColour,
-			LanguageCode = settings.LanguageCode,
-			LightThemeIndexColour = settings.LightThemeIndexColour,
-			PreferSystemTheming = settings.PreferSystemTheming,
-			ThemeIsDarkGray = settings.ThemeIsDarkGray,
-			ThemeIsDarkMode = settings.ThemeIsDarkMode,
-			ThemeIsLightGray = settings.ThemeIsLightGray
-		};
+			target.IsDefault = settings.IsDefault;
+			target.DarkThemeIndexColour = settings.DarkThemeIndexColour;
+			target.IconsThemeIndexColour = settings.IconsThemeIndexColour;
+			target.LanguageCode = settings.LanguageCode;
+			target.LightThemeIndexColour = settings.LightThemeIndexColour;
+			target.PreferSystemTheming = settings.PreferSystemTheming;
+			target.ThemeIsDarkGray = settings.ThemeIsDarkGray;
+			target.ThemeIsDarkMode = settings.ThemeIsDarkMode;
+			target.ThemeIsLightGray = settings.ThemeIsLightGray;
+		}
 
 		ViewAvatar ToView(Avatar avatar) => new()
 		{

PrivaPub/Web/Pages/Pages.cs

@@ -133,14 +133,18 @@ namespace PrivaPub.Web.Pages
 		readonly Microsoft.Extensions.Options.IOptionsMonitor<Infrastructure.Statistics.StatisticsOptions> _options;
 		readonly Microsoft.Extensions.Options.IOptionsMonitor<Models.AppConfiguration> _app;
 
+		readonly Infrastructure.Geo.IGeoLocator _geo;
+
 		public StargazingModel(Microsoft.Extensions.Options.IOptionsMonitor<Infrastructure.Statistics.StatisticsOptions> options,
-			Microsoft.Extensions.Options.IOptionsMonitor<Models.AppConfiguration> app)
+			Microsoft.Extensions.Options.IOptionsMonitor<Models.AppConfiguration> app, Infrastructure.Geo.IGeoLocator geo)
 		{
 			_options = options;
 			_app = app;
+			_geo = geo;
 		}
 
 		public bool CrawlerEnabled => _options.CurrentValue.Crawler.Enabled;
+		public string GeoSource => _geo.Source;
 		public string UserAgent => Federation.Crawler.Stargazer.UserAgent(_app.CurrentValue.BackendBaseAddress);
 
 		public void OnGet() => Harden();

PrivaPub/Web/Pages/Stargazing.cshtml

@@ -15,6 +15,15 @@
 	<p>A server we exchange activities with is described once a week, from its public NodeInfo and, when it has one, its
 	Mastodon instance API. Its location comes from the address we reached, looked up in an offline database: only the
 	country is shown publicly for small servers, and only the CDN for servers behind one.</p>
+	@if (Model.GeoSource is { } geo)
+	{
+		<p>Locations come from <a href="https://db-ip.com" rel="nofollow noopener">@geo</a>, licensed under
+		<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="nofollow noopener">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		<p>No location database is loaded yet, so servers are not located.</p>
+	}
 </article>
 <article>
 	<h2>The crawler</h2>

PrivaPub/appsettings.Production.json

@@ -2,6 +2,26 @@
 	"Media": {
 		"Root": "/var/lib/privapub/media"
 	},
+	"Registrations": {
+		"Mode": "Invitations"
+	},
+	"Statistics": {
+		"Crawler": {
+			"Enabled": true,
+			"Seeds": [
+				"mastodon.social",
+				"fosstodon.org",
+				"mas.to",
+				"lemmy.world",
+				"lemmy.ml",
+				"misskey.io",
+				"pixelfed.social",
+				"framatube.org",
+				"piefed.social",
+				"bookwyrm.social"
+			]
+		}
+	},
 	"MongoSettings": {
 		"Database": "PrivaPub",
 		"LogsDatabase": "logs",