@ -16,10 +16,12 @@ Using this playbook, you can get the following services configured on your serve
- a [STUN/TURN server](https://github.com/coturn/coturn) for WebRTC audio/video calls
- a [Riot](https://riot.im/) web UI, which is configured to connect to your own Matrix Synapse server by default
- (optional default) a [Riot](https://riot.im/) web UI, which is configured to connect to your own Matrix Synapse server by default
- free [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/) SSL certificate, which secures the connection to the Synapse server and the Riot web UI
- (optional default) an [nginx](http://nginx.org/) web server, listening on ports 80 and 443 - standing in front of all the other services. Using your own webserver [is possible](#using-your-own-webserver-instead-of-this-playbooks-nginx-proxy-optional)
Basically, this playbook aims to get you up-and-running with all the basic necessities around Matrix, without you having to do anything else.
@ -33,13 +35,17 @@ This is similar to the [EMnify/matrix-synapse-auto-deploy](https://github.com/EM
- works on both **CentOS** (7.0+) and Debian-based distributions (**Debian** 9/Stretch+, **Ubuntu** 16.04+)
- this one keeps mostly everything in a single directory (`/matrix` by default) and **doesn't "contaminate" your server** with files all over the place
- this one **doesn't necessarily take over** ports 80 and 443. By default, it sets up nginx for you there, but you can disable that and configure your own webserver (proxy)
- this one **runs everything in Docker containers** (like [silviof/docker-matrix](https://hub.docker.com/r/silviof/docker-matrix/) and [silviof/matrix-riot-docker](https://hub.docker.com/r/silviof/matrix-riot-docker/)), so it's likely more predictable
- this one retrieves and automatically renews free [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/) **SSL certificates** for you
- this one optionally can store the `media_store` content repository files on [Amazon S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) (but defaults to storing files on the server's filesystem)
- this one optionally allows you to use an external PostgreSQL server for Matrix Synapse's database (but defaults to running one in a container)
- this one optionally **allows you to use an external PostgreSQL server** for Matrix Synapse's database (but defaults to running one in a container)
Special thanks goes to:
@ -52,7 +58,7 @@ Special thanks goes to:
## Prerequisites
- **CentOS** (7.0+), **Debian** (9/Stretch+) or **Ubuntu** (16.04+) server with no services running on port 80/443
- **CentOS** (7.0+), **Debian** (9/Stretch+) or **Ubuntu** (16.04+) server. This playbook can take over your whole server or co-exist with other services that you have there.
- the [Ansible](http://ansible.com/) program, which is used to run this playbook and configures everything for you
@ -158,6 +164,33 @@ The database (as specified in `matrix_postgres_db_name`) must exist and be acces
It must be empty or contain a valid Matrix Synapse database. If empty, Matrix Synapse would populate it the first time it runs.
## Using your own webserver, instead of this playbook's nginx proxy (optional)
By default, this playbook installs its own nginx webserver (in a Docker container) which listens on ports 80 and 443.
If that's alright, you can skip ahead.
If you don't want this playbook's nginx webserver to take over your server's 80/443 ports like that,
and you'd like to use your own webserver (be it nginx, Apache, Varnish Cache, etc.), you can.
All it takes is editing your configuration file (`inventory/matrix.<your-domain>/vars.yml`):
```
matrix_nginx_proxy_enabled: false
```
**Note**: even if you do this, in order [to install](#installing), this playbook still expects port 80 to be available. **Please manually stop your other webserver while installing**. You can start it back again afterwards.
**If your own webserver is nginx**, you can most likely directly use the config files installed by this playbook at: `/matrix/nginx-proxy/conf.d`. Just include them in your `nginx.conf` like this: `include /matrix/nginx-proxy/conf.d/*.conf;`
**If your own webserver is not nginx**, you can still take a look at the sample files in `/matrix/nginx-proxy/conf.d`, and:
- ensure you set up (separate) vhosts that proxy for both Riot (`localhost:8765`) and Matrix Synapse (`localhost:8008`)
- ensure that the `/.well-known/acme-challenge` location for each "port=80 vhost" is an alias to the `/matrix/ssl/run/acme-challenge` directory (for automated SSL renewal to work)
- ensure that you restart/reload your webserver once in a while, so that renewed SSL certificates would take effect (once a month should be enough)
## Installing
Once you have your server and you have [configured your DNS records](#configuring-dns), you can proceed with installing.
@ -226,12 +259,31 @@ You can do it via this Ansible playbook (make sure to edit the `<your-username>`
**Note**: `<your-username>` is just a plain username (like `john`), not your full `@<username>:<your-domain>` identifier.
## Uninstalling
**Note**: If you have some trouble with your installation configuration, you can just re-run the playbook and it will try to set things up again. You don't need to uninstall and install fresh.
However, if you've installed this on some server where you have other stuff you wish to preserve, and now want get rid of Matrix, it's enough to do these:
- ensure all Matrix services are stopped (`systemctl stop 'matrix*'`)
- delete the Matrix-related systemd .service files (`rm -f /etc/systemd/system/matrix*`) and reload systemd (`systemctl daemon-reload`)
- delete all Matrix-related cronjobs (`rm -f /etc/cron.d/matrix*'`)
- delete some helper scripts (`rm -f /usr/local/bin/matrix*`)
- delete some cached Docker images (or just delete them all: `docker rmi $(docker images -aq)`)
- uninstall Docker itself, if necessary
- delete the `/matrix` directory (`rm -rf /matrix`)
## Deficiencies
This Ansible playbook can be improved in the following ways:
- not expecting to run its own nginx server overtaking port 80/443, thus allowing own/custom proxying to be configured
- setting up automatic backups to one or more storage providers
- [importing an old SQLite database](#Restoring-an-existing-SQLite=database-from-another-installation) likely works because of a patch, but may be fragile until [this](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/2287) is fixed