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What’s Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is a professional, Slack-like messaging system, developed for companies wanting to privately host their own chat service. It is developed in JavaScript using the Meteor full stack framework.
It has many features, like:
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- Help desk chat
- Video conferences
- File sharing
- Link previews
- Voice messages
We will install Rocket.Chat on a Debian 9 server.
Getting Started
The first thing to do is to satisfy Rocket.Chat dependencies. Execute the following apt command:
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# apt install build-essential graphicsmagick |
Install MongoDB
Rocket.Chat works with MongoDB as database system. There aren’t already Debian 9 packages for MongoDB, so we will install it from the tarball.
Download the tarball
First, download with curl the MongoDB tarball
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$ curl -O https://fastdl.mongodb.org/linux/mongodb-linux-x86_64-debian81-3.4.9.tgz |
Extract the archive
Extract the previously downloaded archive by executing the following command:
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$ tar -zxvf mongodb-linux*.tgz |
Rename and move the directory, for example, in /opt:
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# mv mongodb-linux-x86_64-debian81-3.4.9/ /opt/mongodb |
Update the PATH variable by adding the /opt/mongodb/bin directory. In ~/.bashrc add the following line:
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$ export PATH=${PATH}:/opt/mongodb/bin |
Create a unit file
Create a systemctl unit file for MongoDB, executing the following command:
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# $EDITOR /<code>lib/systemd/system/mongodb.service |
In this file, paste the following content:
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[Unit] Description=A document-oriented database [Service] User=mongodb Group=mongodb RuntimeDirectory=mongodb RuntimeDirectoryMode=0755 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/default/mongodb Environment=CONF=/etc/mongodb.conf Environment=SOCKETPATH=/run/mongodb ExecStart=/opt/mongodb/bin/mongod --unixSocketPrefix=${SOCKETPATH} --config ${CONF} $DAEMON_OPTS [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target |
Save and exit.
Reload systemd daemon service:
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# systemctl daemon-reload |
Start MongoDB
At this point, we can start MongoDB and enable it for starting at boot time:
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# systemctl start mongodb # systemctl enable mongodb |
Install Node.js and npm
Rocket.Chat requires Node.js (in particular, any version newer than 4.5) and npm. First of all, add the NodeSource repository:
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# curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | bash - |
Next, execute the following command for installing both Node.js and npm:
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# apt-get install nodejs |
Check the Node.js version:
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# node --version v8.7.0 |
Next, install n through npm:
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# npm install -g n |
With n, it’s possible to change Node.js version.
Install Rocket.Chat
If not exists, create the /var/www directory, which will store Rocket.Chat:
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# mkdir -p /var/www # cd /var/www |
In that directory, execute the following command for downloading Rocket.Chat:
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# wget https://s3.amazonaws.com/download.rocket.chat/build/rocket.chat-0.58.4.tgz -O rocket.chat.tgz |
Extract the archive and rename the extracted folder:
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# tar xzf rocket.chat.tgz # mv bundle Rocket.Chat |
Next, set environment variables and run the Rocket.Chat server:
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# cd Rocket.Chat/programs/server # npm install # cd ../.. # export ROOT_URL=http://example.com:3000/ # export MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat # export PORT=3000 |
Those who are using the replica set should set the MONGO_URL variable with this content: mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=001-rs
Rocket.Chat is installed and configured, but it requires configuration behind a web server. In this tutorial we’ll be using NGINX.
Install NGINX
NGINX can be install with apt:
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# apt install nginx |
Create a new directory that will contain the SSL certificates:
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# mkdir -p /etc/nginx/ssl/ |
In this directory, generate a new key:
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# openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes -out /etc/nginx/ssl/rocketchat.crt -keyout /etc/nginx/ssl/rocketchat.key |
Change permissions to the key file:
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# chmod 400 rocketchat.key |
Create a Virtual Host file:
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# $EDITOR /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat |
In this file, paste the following content:
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# Upstreams upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:3000; } # Redirect Options server { listen 80; server_name chat.mydomain.com; # enforce https return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri; } # HTTPS Server server { listen 443; server_name chat.mydomain.com; error_log /var/log/nginx/rocketchat.access.log; ssl on; ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/rocketchat.crt; ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/rocketchat.key; ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2; # dont use SSLv3 ref: POODLE location / { proxy_pass http://192.168.1.110:3000/; 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; } } |
Save and close the file. Activate the configuration with:
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# ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/rocketchat |
Test NGINX:
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# nginx -t |
If no errors occur, restart the web server:
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# systemctl restart nginx |
Next, update the environment variables:
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# cd /var/www/Rocket.Chat/ # export ROOT_URL=https://chat.example.com # export MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=001-rs # export PORT=3000 |
Run Rocket.Chat:
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# node main.js |
The final step is to insert the following URL into a web browser: https://chat.example.com to register a new admin account and finish the graphical configuration.
Conclusion
There you have it! We’ve just explained how to install and configure your Rocket.Chat Server on a Debian 9 server using NGINX. This useful online communication program can help your team work more efficiently and with more collaboration!
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