Setup Matrix and Element Chat Server

In this tutorial we will setup a Matrix and Element Chat Server using Docker on Ubuntu.

What is Matrix?

Matrix is an open standard and communication protocol for secure, decentralised, real-time communication. For more information on Matrix, see their website

Install Docker

I will assume that docker and docker compose is installed, if not, follow this resource to install them:

https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/

Install Matrix Server

Create the directory structure:

$ docker network create --driver=bridge --subnet=10.10.10.0/24 --gateway=10.10.10.1 matrix_net
$ mkdir matrix
$ cd matrix/

The docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  element:
    image: vectorim/element-web:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./element-config.json:/app/config.json
    networks:
      default:
        ipv4_address: 10.10.10.3

  synapse:
    image: matrixdotorg/synapse:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      default:
        ipv4_address: 10.10.10.4
    volumes:
     - ./synapse:/data

  postgres:
    image: postgres:11
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      default:
        ipv4_address: 10.10.10.2
    volumes:
     - ./postgresdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
     - POSTGRES_DB=synapse
     - POSTGRES_USER=synapse
     - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=STRONGPASSWORD
     - POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--lc-collate C --lc-ctype C --encoding UTF8

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: matrix

Download a sample config:

$ wget https://develop.element.io/config.json
$ mv config.json element-config.json

And adjust the bits where needed in element-config.json:

{
    "default_server_config": {
        "m.homeserver": {
            "base_url": "https://matrix.domain.co.za",
            "server_name": "matrix.domain.co.za"
        },
        "m.identity_server": {
            "base_url": "https://vector.im"
        }
    },
    "brand": "Element",
    "integrations_ui_url": "https://scalar.vector.im/",
    "integrations_rest_url": "https://scalar.vector.im/api",
    "integrations_widgets_urls": [
        "https://scalar.vector.im/_matrix/integrations/v1",
        "https://scalar.vector.im/api",
        "https://scalar-staging.vector.im/_matrix/integrations/v1",
        "https://scalar-staging.vector.im/api",
        "https://scalar-staging.riot.im/scalar/api"
    ],
    "hosting_signup_link": "https://element.io/matrix-services?utm_source=element-web&utm_medium=web",
    "bug_report_endpoint_url": "https://element.io/bugreports/submit",
    "uisi_autorageshake_app": "element-auto-uisi",
    "showLabsSettings": true,
    "piwik": {
        "url": "https://piwik.riot.im/",
        "siteId": 1,
        "policyUrl": "https://element.io/cookie-policy"
    },
    "roomDirectory": {
        "servers": [
            "matrix.org",
            "gitter.im",
            "libera.chat"
        ]
    },
    "enable_presence_by_hs_url": {
        "https://matrix.org": false,
        "https://matrix-client.matrix.org": false
    },
    "terms_and_conditions_links": [
        {
            "url": "https://element.io/privacy",
            "text": "Privacy Policy"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://element.io/cookie-policy",
            "text": "Cookie Policy"
        }
    ],
    "hostSignup": {
      "brand": "Element Home",
      "cookiePolicyUrl": "https://element.io/cookie-policy",
      "domains": [
          "matrix.org"
      ],
      "privacyPolicyUrl": "https://element.io/privacy",
      "termsOfServiceUrl": "https://element.io/terms-of-service",
      "url": "https://ems.element.io/element-home/in-app-loader"
    },
    "sentry": {
        "dsn": "https://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc5@sentry.matrix.org/6",
        "environment": "develop"
    },
    "posthog": {
        "projectApiKey": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "apiHost": "https://posthog.hss.element.io"
    },
    "features": {},
    "map_style_url": "https://api.maptiler.com/maps/streets/style.json?key=xxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}

Generate the homeserver config:

$ docker run -it --rm -v "$HOME/matrix/synapse:/data" -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=matrix.domain.co.za -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=yes matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate

Verify the generated config in synapse/homeserver.yaml (I only changed server name and database):

server_name: "matrix.domain.co.za"
database:
  name: psycopg2
  args:
    user: synapse
    password: STRONGPASSWORD
    database: synapse
    host: postgres
    cp_min: 5
    cp_max: 10

Boot the stack:

$ docker-compose up -d

Caddy Reverse Proxy

Install caddy as a reverse proxy (includes letsencrypt out of the box):

$ apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
$ curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/caddy-stable.asc
$ curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
$ apt update
$ apt install caddy -y

Create the /etc/caddy/Caddyfile with the following content:

matrix.domain.co.za {
        reverse_proxy /_matrix/* 10.10.10.4:8008
        reverse_proxy /_synapse/client/* 10.10.10.4:8008

        header {
                X-Content-Type-Options nosniff
                Referrer-Policy strict-origin-when-cross-origin
                Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains;"
                Permissions-Policy "accelerometer=(), camera=(), geolocation=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), microphone=(), payment=(), usb=(), interest-cohort=()"
                X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN
                X-XSS-Protection 1
                X-Robots-Tag none
                -server
        }
}

element.domain.co.za {
        encode zstd gzip
        reverse_proxy 10.10.10.3:80

        header {
                X-Content-Type-Options nosniff
                Referrer-Policy strict-origin-when-cross-origin
                Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains;"
                Permissions-Policy "accelerometer=(), camera=(), geolocation=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), microphone=(), payment=(), usb=(), interest-cohort=()"
                X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN
                X-XSS-Protection 1
                X-Robots-Tag none
                -server
        }
}

Change to the /etc/caddy directory then reload:

$ pushd /etc/caddy
$ caddy fmt
$ caddy reload
$ popd

Wait a couple of minutes and visit element on https://element.domain.co.za/

Admin Element User

Create your admin user on the docker container:

$ docker exec -it matrix_synapse_1 bash
> register_new_matrix_user -c /data/homeserver.yaml http://localhost:8008

New user localpart [root]: ruan
Password:
Confirm password:
Make admin [no]: yes
Sending registration request...
Success!

Resources

Thanks to cyberhost.uk for credit on helping me with this post.

Thank You

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