BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system that enables teachers to build a virtual classroom. In this tutorial, we will explain how to install and configure BigBlueButton on NixOS Latest.
Before you proceed with this tutorial, make sure you have the following:
BigBlueButton is built to run behind an Nginx server, so we need to install and configure it first.
To install Nginx, run the following command:
sudo nix-env -iA nixos.nginx
Next, we need to configure Nginx by adding a virtual host for BigBlueButton. Edit the Nginx configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Add the following block to the configuration file:
server {
listen 80;
server_name your.domain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5000;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_buffering off;
client_max_body_size 500m;
}
}
Replace your.domain.com with your own domain name. Save and close the file.
Finally, restart Nginx for changes to take effect:
sudo systemctl restart nginx
Now that we have Nginx set up, we can install BigBlueButton. To do so, run the following commands:
sudo nix-env -iA nixos-unstable.bigbluebutton
sudo nixos-rebuild switch
This will install the latest version of BigBlueButton and rebuild the system with the new package.
Once BigBlueButton is installed, we need to configure it. The configuration files are located in the /etc/bigbluebutton directory.
First, we need to set the hostname for BigBlueButton. Edit the bbb-conf file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/bigbluebutton/bbb-conf/apply-config.sh
Locate the BIGBLUEBUTTON_HOST variable and set it to your domain name:
BIGBLUEBUTTON_HOST=your.domain.com
Save and close the file.
Next, we need to configure the Nginx proxy. Edit the nginx configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/bigbluebutton/nginx/web.nginx
Replace the server name and IP address with your own:
server {
listen 80; ## listen for ipv4; this line is default and implied
## listen for ipv6
# listen [::]:80 default_server ipv6only=on;
server_name your.domain.com;
...
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
...
Save and close the file.
Finally, we need to enable HTTPS encryption. To do so, run the following command:
sudo bbb-conf --setip your.server.ip.address --enablessl -t
Replace your.server.ip.address with the IP address of your server. This command generates a new SSL certificate for your domain, updates the Nginx configuration file to use HTTPS, and restarts Nginx to apply the changes.
After completing the configuration, we can start BigBlueButton:
sudo systemctl start bigbluebutton
You can then access the BigBlueButton web interface by navigating to https://your.domain.com in a web browser.
In this tutorial, we explained how to install and configure BigBlueButton on NixOS Latest. With these instructions, you should be able to set up a virtual classroom and collaborate with your students remotely.
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!
