Rocket.Chat is an open-source team communication platform that can be self-hosted on your own server. This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Rocket.Chat on your Arch Linux server.
Before we begin, make sure you have the following:
Rocket.Chat is built on top of Node.js, so the first thing you’ll need to do is install it on your server. Execute this command:
sudo pacman -S nodejs npm
Download the latest version of Rocket.Chat from the official website. You can download it with wget:
wget https://releases.rocket.chat/latest/download -O rocket.chat.tgz
Extract the downloaded archive in your preferred directory:
tar -xzf rocket.chat.tgz
Navigate to the extracted directory and start the Rocket.Chat server:
cd bundle/
node main.js
This will start the server on port 3000
. If you want to use a different port, use the --port
option followed by the port number.
For example:
node main.js --port 8080
A reverse proxy provides an additional layer of security and can also help with load balancing. To use Nginx as a reverse proxy, first, install it:
sudo pacman -S nginx
Create a new configuration file for your Rocket.Chat server in Nginx’s sites-available
folder:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat
Paste the following configuration in the file:
server {
listen 80;
server_name chat.example.com; # Change this to your domain name
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000/;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
}
}
Save and exit the file.
Then, create a symbolic link between the sites-available
and sites-enabled
folders:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
Finally, restart Nginx:
sudo systemctl restart nginx
You have successfully installed Rocket.Chat on your Arch Linux server, and configured Nginx to act as a reverse proxy. You can now proceed to create users and manage your team communication using Rocket.Chat.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!