Merge remote-tracking branch 'drebs/feature/2616-separate-soledad-into-client-and-server-2' into develop

6 files changed, 1326 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/soledad_server/pkg/soledad b/soledad_server/pkg/soledad
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c640a94d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/pkg/soledad
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+### BEGIN INIT INFO
+# Provides:          soledad
+# Required-Start:    $network $named $remote_fs $syslog $time
+# Required-Stop:     $network $named $remote_fs $syslog
+# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
+# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
+# Short-Description: Start soledad daemon at boot time
+# Description:       Synchronization of locally encrypted data among devices
+### END INIT INFO
+
+PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
+PIDFILE=/var/run/soledad.pid
+RUNDIR=/var/lib/soledad/
+OBJ=leap.soledad.server.application
+LOGFILE=/var/log/soledad.log
+HTTPS_PORT=2424
+PLAIN_PORT=65534
+CERT_PATH=/etc/leap/soledad-server.pem
+PRIVKEY_PATH=/etc/leap/soledad-server.pem
+TWISTD_PATH=/usr/bin/twistd
+HOME=/var/lib/soledad/
+
+[ -r /etc/default/soledad ] && . /etc/default/soledad
+
+test -r /etc/leap/ || exit 0
+
+. /lib/lsb/init-functions
+
+
+case "$1" in
+    start)
+        echo -n "Starting soledad: twistd"
+          start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec $TWISTD_PATH -- \
+                          --pidfile=$PIDFILE \
+                          --logfile=$LOGFILE \
+                          web \
+                          --wsgi=$OBJ \
+                          --https=$HTTPS_PORT \
+                          --certificate=$CERT_PATH \
+                          --privkey=$PRIVKEY_PATH \
+                          --port=$PLAIN_PORT
+        echo "."
+    ;;
+
+    stop)
+        echo -n "Stopping soledad: twistd"
+        start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet  \
+            --pidfile $PIDFILE
+        echo "."
+    ;;
+
+    restart)
+        $0 stop
+        $0 start
+    ;;
+
+    force-reload)
+        $0 restart
+    ;;
+
+    status)
+        status_of_proc -p $PIDFILE $TWISTD_PATH soledad && exit 0 || exit $?
+    ;;
+
+    *)
+        echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/soledad {start|stop|restart|force-reload|status}" >&2
+        exit 1
+    ;;
+esac
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/soledad_server/setup.py b/soledad_server/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..522c86ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# setup.py
+# Copyright (C) 2013 LEAP
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+import os
+from setuptools import (
+    setup,
+    find_packages
+)
+
+
+install_requirements = [
+    'configparser',
+    'couchdb',
+    'simplejson',
+    'twisted>=12.0.0',  # TODO: maybe we just want twisted-web?
+    'oauth',  # this is not strictly needed by us, but we need it
+              # until u1db adds it to its release as a dep.
+    'u1db',
+    'six==1.1.0',
+    'routes',
+    'PyOpenSSL',
+]
+
+
+if os.environ.get('VIRTUAL_ENV', None):
+    data_files = None
+else:
+    # XXX this should go only for linux/mac
+    data_files = [("/etc/init.d/", ["pkg/soledad"])]
+
+trove_classifiers = (
+    "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha",
+    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: "
+    "GNU General Public License v3 or later (GPLv3+)",
+    "Environment :: Console",
+    "Operating System :: OS Independent",
+    "Operating System :: POSIX",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 2.6",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7",
+    "Topic :: Database :: Front-Ends",
+    "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules"
+)
+
+setup(
+    name='leap.soledad_server',
+    version='0.1.1',
+    url='https://leap.se/',
+    license='GPLv3+',
+    description='Synchronization of locally encrypted data among devices.',
+    author='The LEAP Encryption Access Project',
+    author_email='info@leap.se',
+    long_description=(
+        "Soledad is the part of LEAP that allows application data to be "
+        "securely shared among devices. It provides, to other parts of the "
+        "LEAP client, an API for data storage and sync."
+    ),
+    namespace_packages=["leap"],
+    packages=find_packages('src'),
+    package_dir={'': 'src'},
+    install_requires=install_requirements,
+    data_files=data_files,
+    classifiers=trove_classifiers,
+)
diff --git a/soledad_server/src/leap/__init__.py b/soledad_server/src/leap/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f48ad105
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/src/leap/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# See http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/setuptools#namespace-packages
+try:
+    __import__('pkg_resources').declare_namespace(__name__)
+except ImportError:
+    from pkgutil import extend_path
+    __path__ = extend_path(__path__, __name__)
diff --git a/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/__init__.py b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bea5d5fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,393 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# server.py
+# Copyright (C) 2013 LEAP
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+"""
+A U1DB server that stores data using CouchDB as its persistence layer.
+
+This should be run with:
+    twistd -n web --wsgi=leap.soledad_server.application --port=2424
+"""
+
+import configparser
+import httplib
+import simplejson as json
+
+
+from hashlib import sha256
+from routes.mapper import Mapper
+from u1db import DBNAME_CONSTRAINTS
+from u1db.remote import http_app
+
+
+# Keep OpenSSL's tsafe before importing Twisted submodules so we can put
+# it back if Twisted==12.0.0 messes with it.
+from OpenSSL import tsafe
+old_tsafe = tsafe
+
+from twisted.web.wsgi import WSGIResource
+from twisted.internet import reactor
+from twisted.python import log
+
+from twisted import version
+if version.base() == "12.0.0":
+    # Put OpenSSL's tsafe back into place. This can probably be removed if we
+    # come to use Twisted>=12.3.0.
+    import sys
+    sys.modules['OpenSSL.tsafe'] = old_tsafe
+
+from couchdb.client import Server
+
+from leap.soledad import SECRETS_DOC_ID_HASH_PREFIX
+from leap.soledad_server.couch import CouchServerState
+
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Authentication
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class Unauthorized(Exception):
+    """
+    User authentication failed.
+    """
+
+
+class URLToAuth(object):
+    """
+    Verify if actions can be performed by a user.
+    """
+
+    HTTP_METHOD_GET = 'GET'
+    HTTP_METHOD_PUT = 'PUT'
+    HTTP_METHOD_DELETE = 'DELETE'
+    HTTP_METHOD_POST = 'POST'
+
+    def __init__(self, uuid):
+        """
+        Initialize the mapper.
+
+        The C{uuid} is used to create the rules that will either allow or
+        disallow the user to perform specific actions.
+
+        @param uuid: The user uuid.
+        @type uuid: str
+        """
+        self._map = Mapper(controller_scan=None)
+        self._register_auth_info(self._uuid_dbname(uuid))
+
+    def is_authorized(self, environ):
+        """
+        Return whether an HTTP request that produced the CGI C{environ}
+        corresponds to an authorized action.
+
+        @param environ: Dictionary containing CGI variables.
+        @type environ: dict
+
+        @return: Whether the action is authorized or not.
+        @rtype: bool
+        """
+        return self._map.match(environ=environ) is not None
+
+    def _register(self, pattern, http_methods):
+        """
+        Register a C{pattern} in the mapper as valid for C{http_methods}.
+
+        @param pattern: The URL pattern that corresponds to the user action.
+        @type pattern: str
+        @param http_methods: A list of authorized HTTP methods.
+        @type http_methods: list of str
+        """
+        self._map.connect(
+            None, pattern, http_methods=http_methods,
+            conditions=dict(method=http_methods),
+            requirements={'dbname': DBNAME_CONSTRAINTS})
+
+    def _uuid_dbname(self, uuid):
+        """
+        Return the database name corresponding to C{uuid}.
+
+        @param uuid: The user uid.
+        @type uuid: str
+
+        @return: The database name corresponding to C{uuid}.
+        @rtype: str
+        """
+        return '%s%s' % (SoledadApp.USER_DB_PREFIX, uuid)
+
+    def _register_auth_info(self, dbname):
+        """
+        Register the authorization info in the mapper using C{dbname} as the
+        user's database name.
+
+        This method sets up the following authorization rules:
+
+            URL path                      | Authorized actions
+            --------------------------------------------------
+            /                             | GET
+            /shared-db                    | GET
+            /shared-db/docs               | -
+            /shared-db/doc/{id}           | GET, PUT, DELETE
+            /shared-db/sync-from/{source} | -
+            /user-db                      | GET, PUT, DELETE
+            /user-db/docs                 | -
+            /user-db/doc/{id}             | -
+            /user-db/sync-from/{source}   | GET, PUT, POST
+
+        @param dbname: The name of the user's database.
+        @type dbname: str
+        """
+        # auth info for global resource
+        self._register('/', [self.HTTP_METHOD_GET])
+        # auth info for shared-db database resource
+        self._register(
+            '/%s' % SoledadApp.SHARED_DB_NAME,
+            [self.HTTP_METHOD_GET])
+        # auth info for shared-db doc resource
+        self._register(
+            '/%s/doc/{id:.*}' % SoledadApp.SHARED_DB_NAME,
+            [self.HTTP_METHOD_GET, self.HTTP_METHOD_PUT,
+             self.HTTP_METHOD_DELETE])
+        # auth info for user-db database resource
+        self._register(
+            '/%s' % dbname,
+            [self.HTTP_METHOD_GET, self.HTTP_METHOD_PUT,
+             self.HTTP_METHOD_DELETE])
+        # auth info for user-db sync resource
+        self._register(
+            '/%s/sync-from/{source_replica_uid}' % dbname,
+            [self.HTTP_METHOD_GET, self.HTTP_METHOD_PUT,
+             self.HTTP_METHOD_POST])
+        # generate the regular expressions
+        self._map.create_regs()
+
+
+class SoledadAuthMiddleware(object):
+    """
+    Soledad Authentication WSGI middleware.
+
+    In general, databases are accessed using a token provided by the LEAP API.
+    Some special databases can be read without authentication.
+    """
+
+    TOKENS_DB = "tokens"
+    TOKENS_TYPE_KEY = "type"
+    TOKENS_TYPE_DEF = "Token"
+    TOKENS_USER_ID_KEY = "user_id"
+
+    HTTP_AUTH_KEY = "HTTP_AUTHORIZATION"
+    PATH_INFO_KEY = "PATH_INFO"
+
+    CONTENT_TYPE_JSON = ('content-type', 'application/json')
+
+    def __init__(self, app):
+        """
+        Initialize the Soledad Authentication Middleware.
+
+        @param app: The application to run on successfull authentication.
+        @type app: u1db.remote.http_app.HTTPApp
+        @param prefix: Auth app path prefix.
+        @type prefix: str
+        """
+        self._app = app
+
+    def _error(self, start_response, status, description, message=None):
+        """
+        Send a JSON serialized error to WSGI client.
+
+        @param start_response: Callable of the form start_response(status,
+            response_headers, exc_info=None).
+        @type start_response: callable
+        @param status: Status string of the form "999 Message here"
+        @type status: str
+        @param response_headers: A list of (header_name, header_value) tuples
+            describing the HTTP response header.
+        @type response_headers: list
+        @param description: The error description.
+        @type description: str
+        @param message: The error message.
+        @type message: str
+
+        @return: List with JSON serialized error message.
+        @rtype list
+        """
+        start_response("%d %s" % (status, httplib.responses[status]),
+                       [self.CONTENT_TYPE_JSON])
+        err = {"error": description}
+        if message:
+            err['message'] = message
+        return [json.dumps(err)]
+
+    def __call__(self, environ, start_response):
+        """
+        Handle a WSGI call to the authentication application.
+
+        @param environ: Dictionary containing CGI variables.
+        @type environ: dict
+        @param start_response: Callable of the form start_response(status,
+            response_headers, exc_info=None).
+        @type start_response: callable
+
+        @return: Target application results if authentication succeeds, an
+        error message otherwise.
+        @rtype: list
+        """
+        unauth_err = lambda msg: self._error(start_response,
+                                             401,
+                                             "unauthorized",
+                                             msg)
+
+        auth = environ.get(self.HTTP_AUTH_KEY)
+        if not auth:
+            return unauth_err("Missing Token Authentication.")
+
+        scheme, encoded = auth.split(None, 1)
+        if scheme.lower() != 'token':
+            return unauth_err("Missing Token Authentication")
+
+        uuid, token = encoded.decode('base64').split(':', 1)
+        if not self.verify_token(environ, uuid, token):
+            return unauth_err("Incorrect address or token.")
+
+        if not self.verify_action(uuid, environ):
+            return unauth_err("Unauthorized action.")
+
+        del environ[self.HTTP_AUTH_KEY]
+
+        return self._app(environ, start_response)
+
+    def verify_token(self, environ, uuid, token):
+        """
+        Verify if token is valid for authenticating this request.
+
+        @param environ: Dictionary containing CGI variables.
+        @type environ: dict
+        @param uuid: The user's uuid.
+        @type uuid: str
+        @param token: The authentication token.
+        @type token: str
+
+        @return: Whether the token is valid for authenticating the request.
+        @rtype: bool
+        """
+
+        server = Server(url=self._app.state.couch_url)
+        try:
+            dbname = self.TOKENS_DB
+            db = server[dbname]
+            token = db.get(token)
+            if token is None:
+                return False
+            return token[self.TOKENS_TYPE_KEY] == self.TOKENS_TYPE_DEF and \
+                token[self.TOKENS_USER_ID_KEY] == uuid
+        except Exception as e:
+            log.err(e)
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    def verify_action(self, uuid, environ):
+        """
+        Verify if the user is authorized to perform the requested action over
+        the requested database.
+
+        @param uuid: The user's uuid.
+        @type uuid: str
+        @param environ: Dictionary containing CGI variables.
+        @type environ: dict
+
+        @return: Whether the user is authorize to perform the requested action
+            over the requested db.
+        @rtype: bool
+        """
+        return URLToAuth(uuid).is_authorized(environ)
+
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Soledad WSGI application
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class SoledadApp(http_app.HTTPApp):
+    """
+    Soledad WSGI application
+    """
+
+    SHARED_DB_NAME = 'shared'
+    """
+    The name of the shared database that holds user's encrypted secrets.
+    """
+
+    USER_DB_PREFIX = 'uuid-'
+    """
+    The string prefix of users' databases.
+    """
+
+    def __call__(self, environ, start_response):
+        """
+        Handle a WSGI call to the Soledad application.
+
+        @param environ: Dictionary containing CGI variables.
+        @type environ: dict
+        @param start_response: Callable of the form start_response(status,
+            response_headers, exc_info=None).
+        @type start_response: callable
+
+        @return: HTTP application results.
+        @rtype: list
+        """
+        # ensure the shared database exists
+        self.state.ensure_database(self.SHARED_DB_NAME)
+        return http_app.HTTPApp.__call__(self, environ, start_response)
+
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Auxiliary functions
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def load_configuration(file_path):
+    """
+    Load server configuration from file.
+
+    @param file_path: The path to the configuration file.
+    @type file_path: str
+
+    @return: A dictionary with the configuration.
+    @rtype: dict
+    """
+    conf = {
+        'couch_url': 'http://localhost:5984',
+    }
+    config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+    config.read(file_path)
+    if 'soledad-server' in config:
+        for key in conf:
+            if key in config['soledad-server']:
+                conf[key] = config['soledad-server'][key]
+    # TODO: implement basic parsing/sanitization of options comming from
+    # config file.
+    return conf
+
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Run as Twisted WSGI Resource
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+conf = load_configuration('/etc/leap/soledad-server.conf')
+state = CouchServerState(conf['couch_url'])
+
+# WSGI application that may be used by `twistd -web`
+application = SoledadAuthMiddleware(SoledadApp(state))
+
+resource = WSGIResource(reactor, reactor.getThreadPool(), application)
diff --git a/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/couch.py b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/couch.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ed5ad6b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/couch.py
@@ -0,0 +1,480 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# couch.py
+# Copyright (C) 2013 LEAP
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+"""A U1DB backend that uses CouchDB as its persistence layer."""
+
+# general imports
+import uuid
+import re
+import simplejson as json
+
+
+from base64 import b64encode, b64decode
+from u1db import errors
+from u1db.sync import Synchronizer
+from u1db.backends.inmemory import InMemoryIndex
+from u1db.remote.server_state import ServerState
+from u1db.errors import DatabaseDoesNotExist
+from couchdb.client import Server, Document as CouchDocument
+from couchdb.http import ResourceNotFound
+
+
+from leap.soledad_server.objectstore import (
+    ObjectStoreDatabase,
+    ObjectStoreSyncTarget,
+)
+
+
+class InvalidURLError(Exception):
+    """
+    Exception raised when Soledad encounters a malformed URL.
+    """
+
+
+class CouchDatabase(ObjectStoreDatabase):
+    """
+    A U1DB backend that uses Couch as its persistence layer.
+    """
+
+    U1DB_TRANSACTION_LOG_KEY = 'transaction_log'
+    U1DB_CONFLICTS_KEY = 'conflicts'
+    U1DB_OTHER_GENERATIONS_KEY = 'other_generations'
+    U1DB_INDEXES_KEY = 'indexes'
+    U1DB_REPLICA_UID_KEY = 'replica_uid'
+
+    COUCH_ID_KEY = '_id'
+    COUCH_REV_KEY = '_rev'
+    COUCH_U1DB_ATTACHMENT_KEY = 'u1db_json'
+    COUCH_U1DB_REV_KEY = 'u1db_rev'
+
+    @classmethod
+    def open_database(cls, url, create):
+        """
+        Open a U1DB database using CouchDB as backend.
+
+        @param url: the url of the database replica
+        @type url: str
+        @param create: should the replica be created if it does not exist?
+        @type create: bool
+
+        @return: the database instance
+        @rtype: CouchDatabase
+        """
+        # get database from url
+        m = re.match('(^https?://[^/]+)/(.+)$', url)
+        if not m:
+            raise InvalidURLError
+        url = m.group(1)
+        dbname = m.group(2)
+        server = Server(url=url)
+        try:
+            server[dbname]
+        except ResourceNotFound:
+            if not create:
+                raise DatabaseDoesNotExist()
+        return cls(url, dbname)
+
+    def __init__(self, url, dbname, replica_uid=None, full_commit=True,
+                 session=None):
+        """
+        Create a new Couch data container.
+
+        @param url: the url of the couch database
+        @type url: str
+        @param dbname: the database name
+        @type dbname: str
+        @param replica_uid: an optional unique replica identifier
+        @type replica_uid: str
+        @param full_commit: turn on the X-Couch-Full-Commit header
+        @type full_commit: bool
+        @param session: an http.Session instance or None for a default session
+        @type session: http.Session
+        """
+        self._url = url
+        self._full_commit = full_commit
+        self._session = session
+        self._server = Server(url=self._url,
+                              full_commit=self._full_commit,
+                              session=self._session)
+        self._dbname = dbname
+        # this will ensure that transaction and sync logs exist and are
+        # up-to-date.
+        try:
+            self._database = self._server[self._dbname]
+        except ResourceNotFound:
+            self._server.create(self._dbname)
+            self._database = self._server[self._dbname]
+        ObjectStoreDatabase.__init__(self, replica_uid=replica_uid)
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # methods from Database
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def _get_doc(self, doc_id, check_for_conflicts=False):
+        """
+        Get just the document content, without fancy handling.
+
+        @param doc_id: The unique document identifier
+        @type doc_id: str
+        @param include_deleted: If set to True, deleted documents will be
+            returned with empty content. Otherwise asking for a deleted
+            document will return None.
+        @type include_deleted: bool
+
+        @return: a Document object.
+        @type: u1db.Document
+        """
+        cdoc = self._database.get(doc_id)
+        if cdoc is None:
+            return None
+        has_conflicts = False
+        if check_for_conflicts:
+            has_conflicts = self._has_conflicts(doc_id)
+        doc = self._factory(
+            doc_id=doc_id,
+            rev=cdoc[self.COUCH_U1DB_REV_KEY],
+            has_conflicts=has_conflicts)
+        contents = self._database.get_attachment(
+            cdoc,
+            self.COUCH_U1DB_ATTACHMENT_KEY)
+        if contents:
+            doc.content = json.loads(contents.read())
+        else:
+            doc.make_tombstone()
+        return doc
+
+    def get_all_docs(self, include_deleted=False):
+        """
+        Get the JSON content for all documents in the database.
+
+        @param include_deleted: If set to True, deleted documents will be
+            returned with empty content. Otherwise deleted documents will not
+            be included in the results.
+        @type include_deleted: bool
+
+        @return: (generation, [Document])
+            The current generation of the database, followed by a list of all
+            the documents in the database.
+        @rtype: tuple
+        """
+        generation = self._get_generation()
+        results = []
+        for doc_id in self._database:
+            if doc_id == self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID:
+                continue
+            doc = self._get_doc(doc_id, check_for_conflicts=True)
+            if doc.content is None and not include_deleted:
+                continue
+            results.append(doc)
+        return (generation, results)
+
+    def _put_doc(self, doc):
+        """
+        Update a document.
+
+        This is called everytime we just want to do a raw put on the db (i.e.
+        without index updates, document constraint checks, and conflict
+        checks).
+
+        @param doc: The document to update.
+        @type doc: u1db.Document
+
+        @return: The new revision identifier for the document.
+        @rtype: str
+        """
+        # prepare couch's Document
+        cdoc = CouchDocument()
+        cdoc[self.COUCH_ID_KEY] = doc.doc_id
+        # we have to guarantee that couch's _rev is consistent
+        old_cdoc = self._database.get(doc.doc_id)
+        if old_cdoc is not None:
+            cdoc[self.COUCH_REV_KEY] = old_cdoc[self.COUCH_REV_KEY]
+        # store u1db's rev
+        cdoc[self.COUCH_U1DB_REV_KEY] = doc.rev
+        # save doc in db
+        self._database.save(cdoc)
+        # store u1db's content as json string
+        if not doc.is_tombstone():
+            self._database.put_attachment(
+                cdoc, doc.get_json(),
+                filename=self.COUCH_U1DB_ATTACHMENT_KEY)
+        else:
+            self._database.delete_attachment(
+                cdoc,
+                self.COUCH_U1DB_ATTACHMENT_KEY)
+
+    def get_sync_target(self):
+        """
+        Return a SyncTarget object, for another u1db to synchronize with.
+
+        @return: The sync target.
+        @rtype: CouchSyncTarget
+        """
+        return CouchSyncTarget(self)
+
+    def create_index(self, index_name, *index_expressions):
+        """
+        Create a named index, which can then be queried for future lookups.
+
+        @param index_name: A unique name which can be used as a key prefix.
+        @param index_expressions: Index expressions defining the index
+            information.
+        """
+        if index_name in self._indexes:
+            if self._indexes[index_name]._definition == list(
+                    index_expressions):
+                return
+            raise errors.IndexNameTakenError
+        index = InMemoryIndex(index_name, list(index_expressions))
+        for doc_id in self._database:
+            if doc_id == self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID:  # skip special file
+                continue
+            doc = self._get_doc(doc_id)
+            if doc.content is not None:
+                index.add_json(doc_id, doc.get_json())
+        self._indexes[index_name] = index
+        # save data in object store
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    def close(self):
+        """
+        Release any resources associated with this database.
+
+        @return: True if db was succesfully closed.
+        @rtype: bool
+        """
+        # TODO: fix this method so the connection is properly closed and
+        # test_close (+tearDown, which deletes the db) works without problems.
+        self._url = None
+        self._full_commit = None
+        self._session = None
+        #self._server = None
+        self._database = None
+        return True
+
+    def sync(self, url, creds=None, autocreate=True):
+        """
+        Synchronize documents with remote replica exposed at url.
+
+        @param url: The url of the target replica to sync with.
+        @type url: str
+        @param creds: optional dictionary giving credentials.
+            to authorize the operation with the server.
+        @type creds: dict
+        @param autocreate: Ask the target to create the db if non-existent.
+        @type autocreate: bool
+
+        @return: The local generation before the synchronisation was performed.
+        @rtype: int
+        """
+        return Synchronizer(self, CouchSyncTarget(url, creds=creds)).sync(
+            autocreate=autocreate)
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # methods from ObjectStoreDatabase
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def _init_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Initialize U1DB info data structure in the couch db.
+
+        A U1DB database needs to keep track of all database transactions,
+        document conflicts, the generation of other replicas it has seen,
+        indexes created by users and so on.
+
+        In this implementation, all this information is stored in a special
+        document stored in the couch db with id equals to
+        CouchDatabse.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID.
+
+        This method initializes the document that will hold such information.
+        """
+        if self._replica_uid is None:
+            self._replica_uid = uuid.uuid4().hex
+        # TODO: prevent user from overwriting a document with the same doc_id
+        # as this one.
+        doc = self._factory(doc_id=self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID)
+        doc.content = {
+            self.U1DB_TRANSACTION_LOG_KEY: b64encode(json.dumps([])),
+            self.U1DB_CONFLICTS_KEY: b64encode(json.dumps({})),
+            self.U1DB_OTHER_GENERATIONS_KEY: b64encode(json.dumps({})),
+            self.U1DB_INDEXES_KEY: b64encode(json.dumps({})),
+            self.U1DB_REPLICA_UID_KEY: b64encode(self._replica_uid),
+        }
+        self._put_doc(doc)
+
+    def _fetch_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Fetch U1DB info from the couch db.
+
+        See C{_init_u1db_data} documentation.
+        """
+        # retrieve u1db data from couch db
+        cdoc = self._database.get(self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID)
+        jsonstr = self._database.get_attachment(
+            cdoc, self.COUCH_U1DB_ATTACHMENT_KEY).read()
+        content = json.loads(jsonstr)
+        # set u1db database info
+        self._transaction_log = json.loads(
+            b64decode(content[self.U1DB_TRANSACTION_LOG_KEY]))
+        self._conflicts = json.loads(
+            b64decode(content[self.U1DB_CONFLICTS_KEY]))
+        self._other_generations = json.loads(
+            b64decode(content[self.U1DB_OTHER_GENERATIONS_KEY]))
+        self._indexes = self._load_indexes_from_json(
+            b64decode(content[self.U1DB_INDEXES_KEY]))
+        self._replica_uid = b64decode(content[self.U1DB_REPLICA_UID_KEY])
+        # save couch _rev
+        self._couch_rev = cdoc[self.COUCH_REV_KEY]
+
+    def _store_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Store U1DB info in the couch db.
+
+        See C{_init_u1db_data} documentation.
+        """
+        doc = self._factory(doc_id=self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID)
+        doc.content = {
+            # Here, the b64 encode ensures that document content
+            # does not cause strange behaviour in couchdb because
+            # of encoding.
+            self.U1DB_TRANSACTION_LOG_KEY:
+                b64encode(json.dumps(self._transaction_log)),
+            self.U1DB_CONFLICTS_KEY: b64encode(json.dumps(self._conflicts)),
+            self.U1DB_OTHER_GENERATIONS_KEY:
+                b64encode(json.dumps(self._other_generations)),
+            self.U1DB_INDEXES_KEY: b64encode(self._dump_indexes_as_json()),
+            self.U1DB_REPLICA_UID_KEY: b64encode(self._replica_uid),
+            self.COUCH_REV_KEY: self._couch_rev}
+        self._put_doc(doc)
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Couch specific methods
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    INDEX_NAME_KEY = 'name'
+    INDEX_DEFINITION_KEY = 'definition'
+    INDEX_VALUES_KEY = 'values'
+
+    def delete_database(self):
+        """
+        Delete a U1DB CouchDB database.
+        """
+        del(self._server[self._dbname])
+
+    def _dump_indexes_as_json(self):
+        """
+        Dump index definitions as JSON string.
+        """
+        indexes = {}
+        for name, idx in self._indexes.iteritems():
+            indexes[name] = {}
+            for attr in [self.INDEX_NAME_KEY, self.INDEX_DEFINITION_KEY,
+                         self.INDEX_VALUES_KEY]:
+                indexes[name][attr] = getattr(idx, '_' + attr)
+        return json.dumps(indexes)
+
+    def _load_indexes_from_json(self, indexes):
+        """
+        Load index definitions from JSON string.
+
+        @param indexes: A JSON serialization of a list of [('index-name',
+            ['field', 'field2'])].
+        @type indexes: str
+
+        @return: A dictionary with the index definitions.
+        @rtype: dict
+        """
+        dict = {}
+        for name, idx_dict in json.loads(indexes).iteritems():
+            idx = InMemoryIndex(name, idx_dict[self.INDEX_DEFINITION_KEY])
+            idx._values = idx_dict[self.INDEX_VALUES_KEY]
+            dict[name] = idx
+        return dict
+
+
+class CouchSyncTarget(ObjectStoreSyncTarget):
+    """
+    Functionality for using a CouchDatabase as a synchronization target.
+    """
+
+
+class CouchServerState(ServerState):
+    """
+    Inteface of the WSGI server with the CouchDB backend.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, couch_url):
+        self._couch_url = couch_url
+
+    def open_database(self, dbname):
+        """
+        Open a couch database.
+
+        @param dbname: The name of the database to open.
+        @type dbname: str
+
+        @return: The CouchDatabase object.
+        @rtype: CouchDatabase
+        """
+        # TODO: open couch
+        return CouchDatabase.open_database(
+            self._couch_url + '/' + dbname,
+            create=False)
+
+    def ensure_database(self, dbname):
+        """
+        Ensure couch database exists.
+
+        @param dbname: The name of the database to ensure.
+        @type dbname: str
+
+        @return: The CouchDatabase object and the replica uid.
+        @rtype: (CouchDatabase, str)
+        """
+        db = CouchDatabase.open_database(
+            self._couch_url + '/' + dbname,
+            create=True)
+        return db, db._replica_uid
+
+    def delete_database(self, dbname):
+        """
+        Delete couch database.
+
+        @param dbname: The name of the database to delete.
+        @type dbname: str
+        """
+        CouchDatabase.delete_database(self._couch_url + '/' + dbname)
+
+    def _set_couch_url(self, url):
+        """
+        Set the couchdb URL
+
+        @param url: CouchDB URL
+        @type url: str
+        """
+        self._couch_url = url
+
+    def _get_couch_url(self):
+        """
+        Return CouchDB URL
+
+        @rtype: str
+        """
+        return self._couch_url
+
+    couch_url = property(_get_couch_url, _set_couch_url, doc='CouchDB URL')
diff --git a/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/objectstore.py b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/objectstore.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8afac3ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soledad_server/src/leap/soledad_server/objectstore.py
@@ -0,0 +1,296 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# objectstore.py
+# Copyright (C) 2013 LEAP
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+"""
+Abstract U1DB backend to handle storage using object stores (like CouchDB, for
+example).
+
+Right now, this is only used by CouchDatabase backend, but can also be
+extended to implement OpenStack or Amazon S3 storage, for example.
+
+See U1DB documentation for more information on how to use databases.
+"""
+
+from u1db.backends.inmemory import (
+    InMemoryDatabase,
+    InMemorySyncTarget,
+)
+from u1db import errors
+
+
+class ObjectStoreDatabase(InMemoryDatabase):
+    """
+    A backend for storing u1db data in an object store.
+    """
+
+    @classmethod
+    def open_database(cls, url, create, document_factory=None):
+        """
+        Open a U1DB database using an object store as backend.
+
+        @param url: the url of the database replica
+        @type url: str
+        @param create: should the replica be created if it does not exist?
+        @type create: bool
+        @param document_factory: A function that will be called with the same
+            parameters as Document.__init__.
+        @type document_factory: callable
+
+        @return: the database instance
+        @rtype: CouchDatabase
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(cls.open_database)
+
+    def __init__(self, replica_uid=None, document_factory=None):
+        """
+        Initialize the object store database.
+
+        @param replica_uid: an optional unique replica identifier
+        @type replica_uid: str
+        @param document_factory: A function that will be called with the same
+            parameters as Document.__init__.
+        @type document_factory: callable
+        """
+        InMemoryDatabase.__init__(
+            self,
+            replica_uid,
+            document_factory=document_factory)
+        # sync data in memory with data in object store
+        if not self._get_doc(self.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID):
+            self._init_u1db_data()
+        self._fetch_u1db_data()
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # methods from Database
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def _set_replica_uid(self, replica_uid):
+        """
+        Force the replica_uid to be set.
+
+        @param replica_uid: The uid of the replica.
+        @type replica_uid: str
+        """
+        InMemoryDatabase._set_replica_uid(self, replica_uid)
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    def _put_doc(self, doc):
+        """
+        Update a document.
+
+        This is called everytime we just want to do a raw put on the db (i.e.
+        without index updates, document constraint checks, and conflict
+        checks).
+
+        @param doc: The document to update.
+        @type doc: u1db.Document
+
+        @return: The new revision identifier for the document.
+        @rtype: str
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(self._put_doc)
+
+    def _get_doc(self, doc_id):
+        """
+        Get just the document content, without fancy handling.
+
+        @param doc_id: The unique document identifier
+        @type doc_id: str
+        @param include_deleted: If set to True, deleted documents will be
+            returned with empty content. Otherwise asking for a deleted
+            document will return None.
+        @type include_deleted: bool
+
+        @return: a Document object.
+        @type: u1db.Document
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(self._get_doc)
+
+    def get_all_docs(self, include_deleted=False):
+        """
+        Get the JSON content for all documents in the database.
+
+        @param include_deleted: If set to True, deleted documents will be
+            returned with empty content. Otherwise deleted documents will not
+            be included in the results.
+        @type include_deleted: bool
+
+        @return: (generation, [Document])
+            The current generation of the database, followed by a list of all
+            the documents in the database.
+        @rtype: tuple
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(self.get_all_docs)
+
+    def delete_doc(self, doc):
+        """
+        Mark a document as deleted.
+
+        @param doc: The document to mark as deleted.
+        @type doc: u1db.Document
+
+        @return: The new revision id of the document.
+        @type: str
+        """
+        old_doc = self._get_doc(doc.doc_id, check_for_conflicts=True)
+        if old_doc is None:
+            raise errors.DocumentDoesNotExist
+        if old_doc.rev != doc.rev:
+            raise errors.RevisionConflict()
+        if old_doc.is_tombstone():
+            raise errors.DocumentAlreadyDeleted
+        if old_doc.has_conflicts:
+            raise errors.ConflictedDoc()
+        new_rev = self._allocate_doc_rev(doc.rev)
+        doc.rev = new_rev
+        doc.make_tombstone()
+        self._put_and_update_indexes(old_doc, doc)
+        return new_rev
+
+    # index-related methods
+
+    def create_index(self, index_name, *index_expressions):
+        """
+        Create a named index, which can then be queried for future lookups.
+
+        See U1DB documentation for more information.
+
+        @param index_name: A unique name which can be used as a key prefix.
+        @param index_expressions: Index expressions defining the index
+            information.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(self.create_index)
+
+    def delete_index(self, index_name):
+        """
+        Remove a named index.
+
+        Here we just guarantee that the new info will be stored in the backend
+        db after update.
+
+        @param index_name: The name of the index we are removing.
+        @type index_name: str
+        """
+        InMemoryDatabase.delete_index(self, index_name)
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    def _replace_conflicts(self, doc, conflicts):
+        """
+        Set new conflicts for a document.
+
+        Here we just guarantee that the new info will be stored in the backend
+        db after update.
+
+        @param doc: The document with a new set of conflicts.
+        @param conflicts: The new set of conflicts.
+        @type conflicts: list
+        """
+        InMemoryDatabase._replace_conflicts(self, doc, conflicts)
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    def _do_set_replica_gen_and_trans_id(self, other_replica_uid,
+                                         other_generation,
+                                         other_transaction_id):
+        """
+        Set the last-known generation and transaction id for the other
+        database replica.
+
+        Here we just guarantee that the new info will be stored in the backend
+        db after update.
+
+        @param other_replica_uid: The U1DB identifier for the other replica.
+        @type other_replica_uid: str
+        @param other_generation: The generation number for the other replica.
+        @type other_generation: int
+        @param other_transaction_id: The transaction id associated with the
+            generation.
+        @type other_transaction_id: str
+        """
+        InMemoryDatabase._do_set_replica_gen_and_trans_id(
+            self,
+            other_replica_uid,
+            other_generation,
+            other_transaction_id)
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # implemented methods from CommonBackend
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def _put_and_update_indexes(self, old_doc, doc):
+        """
+        Update a document and all indexes related to it.
+
+        @param old_doc: The old version of the document.
+        @type old_doc: u1db.Document
+        @param doc: The new version of the document.
+        @type doc: u1db.Document
+        """
+        for index in self._indexes.itervalues():
+            if old_doc is not None and not old_doc.is_tombstone():
+                index.remove_json(old_doc.doc_id, old_doc.get_json())
+            if not doc.is_tombstone():
+                index.add_json(doc.doc_id, doc.get_json())
+        trans_id = self._allocate_transaction_id()
+        self._put_doc(doc)
+        self._transaction_log.append((doc.doc_id, trans_id))
+        self._store_u1db_data()
+
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # methods specific for object stores
+    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID = 'u1db_data'
+
+    def _fetch_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Fetch u1db configuration data from backend storage.
+
+        See C{_init_u1db_data} documentation.
+        """
+        NotImplementedError(self._fetch_u1db_data)
+
+    def _store_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Store u1db configuration data on backend storage.
+
+        See C{_init_u1db_data} documentation.
+        """
+        NotImplementedError(self._store_u1db_data)
+
+    def _init_u1db_data(self):
+        """
+        Initialize u1db configuration data on backend storage.
+
+        A U1DB database needs to keep track of all database transactions,
+        document conflicts, the generation of other replicas it has seen,
+        indexes created by users and so on.
+
+        In this implementation, all this information is stored in a special
+        document stored in the couch db with id equals to
+        CouchDatabse.U1DB_DATA_DOC_ID.
+
+        This method initializes the document that will hold such information.
+        """
+        NotImplementedError(self._init_u1db_data)
+
+
+class ObjectStoreSyncTarget(InMemorySyncTarget):
+    """
+    Functionality for using an ObjectStore as a synchronization target.
+    """