Preparation Steps

Depending on the version of Rocket.Chat you want to install, check the release notes to see the supported engine versions for MongoDB and NodeJs, and install as recommended.

• Install MongoDB

  Please refer to the official MongoDB documentation on how to install MongoDB on Debian. For the list of supported versions, see our documentation here.

• Install NodeJS

  Follow the official guide to install NodeJS on a Debian system. Check out our page on supported node versions for your specific version. You can also use third-party tools like nvm or n.

Install Rocket.Chat on Debian

• Update your system by running this command:

sudo apt -y updatesudo apt -y upgrade

• Install required packages/dependencies:

sudo apt install -y curl build-essential graphicsmagick

• To download the latest Rocket.Chat version run the following command:

curl -L https://releases.rocket.chat/latest/download -o /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz

You can also use wgetto download Rocket.Chat with this command:

wget https://releases.rocket.chat/latest/download -O /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz

To download a specific version, replace latest the version number.

wget https://releases.rocket.chat/4.1.2/download -O /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz

• Extract the archive with tar:

tar xzf /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz -C /tmp

You should now see a new directory under /tmp named bundle.

• Next, install all the node dependencies:

(cd /tmp/bundle/programs/server; npm i)

/tmp has been a temporary non-root user-writable location to prepare the bundle. For this guide, we're going to use /opt to be the final location but you can choose any other. Whatever may it be, if not /opt, make sure you change the location in all the other places it is specified.

sudo mv /tmp/bundle /opt/Rocket.Chat

Configure the Rocket.Chat service

• Add the rocketchat user, and set the right permissions on the Rocket.Chat folder.

sudo useradd -M rocketchat && sudo usermod -L rocketchat

• Create the Rocket.Chat service file:

sudo chown -R rocketchat:rocketchat /opt/Rocket.Chat

• Depending on how you install NodeJS, the binary path may be different. Save the path to a variable.

NODE_PATH=$(which node)

• Now, save the systemd service file.

cat << EOF |sudo tee -a /lib/systemd/system/rocketchat.service[Unit]Description=The Rocket.Chat serverAfter=network.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target nginx.service mongod.service[Service]ExecStart=$NODE_PATH /opt/Rocket.Chat/main.jsStandardOutput=syslogStandardError=syslogSyslogIdentifier=rocketchatUser=rocketchat[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.targetEOF

The command above will create a barebone service file, this service file is what systemd will use to start your Rocket.Chat daemon/process.

Passing environment variables

• Pass some environment variables to the running process. See Rocket.Chat environmental variables for more details. To update the Rocket.Chat file, run the following command :

sudo systemctl edit rocketchat

• Update the text editor with the information below and save.

[Service]Environment=ROOT_URL=http://localhost:3000Environment=PORT=3000Environment=MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=rs01Environment=MONGO_OPLOG_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/local?replicaSet=rs01

MongoDB Configuration

• Open the MongoDB config file (/etc/mongod.conf) in your preferred text editor.

nano /etc/mongod.conf

• Set the storage engine to wiredTiger.

storage:  engine: wiredTiger

• Enable replication, and name the replicaset rs01.

replication:  replSetName: rs01

Your MongoDB config file should look something like the following:

storage:  dbPath: /var/lib/mongodb  journal:    enabled: true  engine: wiredTigersystemLog:  destination: file  logAppend: true  path: /var/log/mongodb/mongod.lognet:  port: 27017  bindIp: 127.0.0.1processManagement:  fork: true  timeZoneInfo: /usr/share/zoneinforeplication:  replSetName: rs01

• Start MongoDB with the following command:

sudo systemctl enable --now mongod

• Then, initiate replica set with this command:

mongo --eval "printjson(rs.initiate())"

• You can start your Rocket.Chat workspace now using this command:

sudo systemctl enable --now rocketchat

Configure your Rocket.Chat server

To access your Rocket.Chat workspace, open a web browser and navigate to the specified ROOT URL (http://your-host-name.com-as-accessed-from-internet:3000). Follow the configuration prompts to configure your workspace.

• Configure firewall rule

• Configure a HTTP reverse proxy to access Rocket.Chat server

• Configure mongo access control

• Configure production values for mongodb