In this tutorial you’ll learn that how to install Rocket Chat on Ubuntu 20.04. Rocket chat is an open source platform like Slack that can be used for video meetings, group chats & integrations with many other platforms. It is self hosted chat platform so more reliable and easy to use. So, follow the below steps for an easy and optimal installation.
Step 1: Update Your System
First of all update your system.
sudo apt update -y
Step 2: Install Necessary Packages
Hit the below commands to install the required package dependencies.
wget -qO - https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-4.4.asc | sudo apt-key add - echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu focal/mongodb-org/4.4 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-4.4.list sudo apt -y update && sudo apt install -y curl && curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo bash - sudo apt install -y build-essential mongodb-org nodejs graphicsmagick
Note:Make sure to install the node version as of base version installed. If you didn’t do so, it’ll cause conflicts with the rocket chat.
You can verify the version by typing
sabi@Ubuntu20:~$ node --version v12.20.0
Then hit the given command to install inherits & n.
sudo npm install -g inherits n
Run the below command to create symbolic link.
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/node /usr/local/bin/node
Step 3: Install Rocket Chat On Ubuntu 20.04
Run the below command to download the rocket chat package using curl.
curl -L https://releases.rocket.chat/latest/download -o /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz
Now, extract the downloaded package to the /tmp directory.
tar -xvzf /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz -C /tmp
Now, you can select where to install rocket chat. I’m going to install it under /opt folder.
cd /tmp/bundle/programs/server && npm install
sudo mv /tmp/bundle /opt/Rocket.Chat
Step 4: Create Rocket Chat System User
Fire the below commands to create new user & give owner priviliges to the rocket chat folder.
sudo useradd -M rocketchat && sudo usermod -L rocketchat
sudo chown -R rocketchat:rocketchat /opt/Rocket.Chat
Step 5: Create Rocket Chat Service
After creating the user, create rocket chat service. You can create the service unit file like below:
cat << EOF |sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/rocketchat.service [Unit] Description=The Rocket.Chat server After=network.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target nginx.target mongod.target [Service] ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node /opt/Rocket.Chat/main.js StandardOutput=syslog StandardError=syslog SyslogIdentifier=rocketchat User=rocketchat Environment=MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=rs01 MONGO_OPLOG_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/local?replicaSet=rs01 ROOT_URL=http://localhost:3000/ PORT=3000 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target EOF
Now, hit the below commands to configure storage engine & MongoDB.
sudo sed -i "s/^# engine:/ engine: mmapv1/" /etc/mongod.conf
sudo sed -i "s/^#replication:/replication:\n replSetName: rs01/" /etc/mongod.conf
Then, start the MongoDB services.
sudo systemctl start mongod
To start MongoDB on system boot type
sudo systemctl enable mongod
Verify:
mongo --eval "printjson(rs.initiate())"
And then start rocket chat service by typing
sudo systemctl start rocketchat
Make sure the status is in running position.
systemctl status rocketchat ● rocketchat.service - The Rocket.Chat server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/rocketchat.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Fri 2020-11-27 10:05:54 UTC; 31s ago Main PID: 28294 (node) Tasks: 11 (limit: 19076) Memory: 559.7M CGroup: /system.slice/rocketchat.service └─28294 /usr/local/bin/node /opt/Rocket.Chat/main.js Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | MongoDB Version: 4.0.21 | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | MongoDB Engine: mmapv1 | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | Platform: linux | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | Process Port: 3000 | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | Site URL: http://0.0.0.0:3000/ | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | ReplicaSet OpLog: Enabled | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | Commit Hash: b471caf9c9 | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | Commit Branch: HEAD | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ | | Nov 30 10:06:20 chat rocketchat[28294]: ➔ +---------------------------------------------------+
Step 6: Configuring Nginx On Ubuntu 20.04
Type the given command to install nginx.
sudo apt install nginx
Edit the /etc/nginx/conf.d/rocketchat.conf file to configure nginx with rocket chat.
sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/rocketchat.conf
Then make the changes as shown below:
upstream rocket_backend {
server 127.0.0.1:3000;
}
server {
listen 80;
server_name chat.osradar.com;
access_log /var/log/nginx/rocketchat-access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/rocketchat-error.log;
location / {
proxy_pass http://rocket_backend/;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forward-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forward-Proto http;
proxy_set_header X-Nginx-Proxy true;
proxy_redirect off;
}
}
Note: Don’t forget to replace chat.osradar.com with your domain name.
Verify the syntax.
sudo nginx -t
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Then restart the nginx services.
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Step 7: Setup Let’s Encrypt SSL
As for security reasons, it is recommended to use SSl with rocket chat. So, download the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for free.
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
Run the below command to get SSL.
certbot --nginx Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log Plugins selected: Authenticator nginx, Installer nginx Which names would you like to activate HTTPS for? 1: chat.osradar.com Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 1 Obtaining a new certificate Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for chat.osradar.com Waiting for verification… Cleaning up challenges Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/nginx/conf.d/chat.conf Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access. 1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration. 2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this change by editing your web server's configuration. Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2 Redirecting all traffic on port 80 to ssl in /etc/nginx/conf.d/chat.conf Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://chat.osradar.com You should test your configuration at: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=chat.osradar.com IMPORTANT NOTES: Congratulations! Your certificate and chain have been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.osradar.com/fullchain.pem Your key file has been saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.osradar.com/privkey.pem Your cert will expire on 2021-02-26. To obtain a new or tweaked version of this certificate in the future, simply run certbot again with the "certonly" option. To non-interactively renew all of your certificates, run "certbot renew" If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by: Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt: https://letsencrypt.org/donate Donating to EFF: https://eff.org/donate-le
After installing SSL certificates, the updated nginx file will be like this:
upstream rocket_backend {
server 127.0.0.1:3000;
}
server {
server_name chat.osradar.com;
access_log /var/log/nginx/rocketchat-access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/rocketchat-error.log;
location / {
proxy_pass http://rocket_backend/;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forward-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forward-Proto http;
proxy_set_header X-Nginx-Proxy true;
proxy_redirect off;
}
listen 443 ssl; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.osradar.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.osradar.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot
}
server {
if ($host = chat.osradar.com) {
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
} # managed by Certbot
listen 80;
server_name chat.osradar.com;
return 404; # managed by Certbot
}
Now, again verify the nginx syntax. If everything ok it’ll show the success message.
sudo nginx -t nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Finally restart nginx services.
sudo systemctl restart nginx.
Step 8: Access Rocket Chat Serve
Now, you can access your rocket chat server via FQDN with https(SSL). Configure it with the help of setup wizard as seen below:
Once, done you can access the site by providing admin credentials created in the above wizard.
So, this is how you can install Rocket Chat On Ubuntu 20.04
