Prepare WebSSH for self-hosted deployment

README.md

@@ -45,7 +45,29 @@ A simple web application to be used as an ssh client to connect to your ssh serv
 1. Install this app, run command `pip install webssh`
 2. Start a webserver, run command `wssh`
 3. Open your browser, navigate to `127.0.0.1:8888`
-4. Input your data, submit the form.
+4. Create the WebSSH administrator account on first visit
+5. Input your ssh data, submit the form.
+
+
+### WebSSH login and saved connections
+
+WebSSH requires a login before opening ssh sessions. On first startup, if no
+administrator password has been configured, the login page will ask you to
+create one. The password is stored as a PBKDF2 hash under the data directory,
+not as plain text.
+
+You can also provide credentials with environment variables:
+
+```bash
+WEBSSH_AUTH_USERNAME=admin WEBSSH_AUTH_PASSWORD='strong-password' wssh
+```
+
+Saved connections are stored under the data directory too. WebSSH saves
+hostname, port, username and terminal type for quick reconnects. It does not
+persist ssh passwords, private keys, key passphrases or TOTP codes.
+
+Use `--auth=false` only for a trusted private deployment where another layer
+already protects access to WebSSH.
 
 
 ### Server options
@@ -66,6 +88,9 @@ wssh --logging=debug
 # log to file
 wssh --log-file-prefix=main.log
 
+# data directory for login and saved connection data
+wssh --data-dir='/path/to/webssh-data'
+
 # more options
 wssh --help
 ```
@@ -153,14 +178,17 @@ http://localhost:8888/?term=xterm-256color
 
 Start up the app
 ```
-docker-compose up
+docker compose up -d
 ```
 
 Tear down the app
 ```
-docker-compose down
+docker compose down
 ```
 
+The bundled compose file persists login and saved connection data in the
+`webssh-data` volume mounted at `/data` inside the container.
+
 ### Tests
 
 Requirements