To set up a default Hackage server, just cabal install it. If you want to extend the server or disable features, you should unpack the source, modify the feature modules (Distribution.Server.Feature and Distribution.Server.State), and install it from there.

This is taken from the  GetOpt output for hackage-server. Once you've installed the hackage-server application (please report build problems), you can use it as follows:

Overview

Usage: hackage-server [COMMAND] [OPTIONS...]

The command can be one of the following:

run	Run an already-initialized Hackage server.
init	Initialize the server state to a useful default.
backup	Export a backup tarball from server state.
restore	Import server state from a backup tarball.
convert	Convert legacy data to a newer backup tarball.

You can also use '--help', '--help COMMAND', or '--version' to query about any of these.

Mode descriptions

Run mode

Run an already-initialized Hackage server.

--port=PORT	Port number to serve on (default 8080)
--host=NAME	Server's host name (defaults to machine name)
--state-dir=DIR	Directory in which to store the persistent state of the server (default state/)
--static-dir=DIR	Directory in which to find the html and other static files (default: cabal location)

New mode

Initialize the server state to a useful default.

--admin=NAME:PASS	New server's administrator, name:password (default: admin:admin)
--state-dir=DIR	Directory in which to store the persistent state of the server (default state/)

Restore mode

Import server state from a backup tarball.

--tarball=TARBALL	Backup tarball produced by the server.
--state-dir=DIR	Directory in which to store the persistent state of the server (default state/)

What it says on the tin. This can't be done when there's existing server state. In theory it would be easy to restore selectively for certain features, but this might cause major inconsistency issues.

Backup mode

Export a backup tarball from server state.

-o TARBALL, --output=TARBALL	The path to write the backup tarball (default export.tar)
--state-dir=DIR	Directory from which to read persistent state of the server (default state/)

Backup all of the server's data into a human-readable snapshot tarball. This may contain confidential information like passwords and email addresses!

Because happstack-state's data lock prevents two processes from accessing the same data store, you have to shut down the server to do this. Coming up very soon is a way for admins to generate backup tarballs on the server disk and then download them.

Convert mode

Convert legacy data to a newer backup tarball.

--index=TARBALL	Import an existing hackage index file (00-index.tar.gz)
--log=LOG	Import an existing hackage upload log file
--archive=LOG	Import an existing hackage package tarball archive file (archive.tar)
--accounts=HTPASSWD	Import an existing apache 'htpasswd' user account database file
--admins=ADMINS	Import a text file containing a list a users which should be administrators
-o TARBALL, --output=TARBALL	The path to write the backup tarball (default export.tar)

Without using happstack-state, convert old data into a form expected by the restore mode.

This is least stable of the modes, and it's likely to be modified to accommodate more optional legacy data. Maybe the myriad options will be replaced with a folder with required file names.

Examples

• hackage-server init --admin=Matt:qwerty
  • Initialize a blank server.
• hackage-server run
  • Start your server
• sudo hackage-server --port=80
  • Start your server on port 80 (requires root). See also how to  proxy through Apache.
• hackage-server convert --index=00-index.tar.gz --log=log --archive=archive.tar --accounts=htpasswd --admins=admins -o export.tar
  • Import legacy data.