Synapse - Postgres - Element stack [Sunday Projects]

Stack providing self-hosted Matrix server with client. Default Sqlite database is switched to Postgres.

Docker images

• portainer/portainer-ce:latest
• matrixdotorg/synapse:latest
• postgres:14
• vectorim/element-web:latest

Working setup

• RPI 3B+
• SSD

Setup stack

Generate Synapse server configuration.

docker run -it --rm \
    -v "/var/docker_data/matrix:/data" \
    -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com \
    -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=no \
    matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate

Create Element config file.

sudo nano /var/docker_data/element-config.yml

Copy this into file and fix domain name.

{
    "default_server_config": {
        "m.homeserver": {
            "base_url": "https://matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com",
            "server_name": "matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com"
        },
        "m.identity_server": {
            "base_url": "https://vector.im"
        }
    },
    "brand": "Element",
    "integrations_ui_url": "https://scalar.vector.im/",
    "integrations_rest_url": "https://scalar.vector.im/api",
    "integrations_widgets_urls": [
        "https://scalar.vector.im/_matrix/integrations/v1",
        "https://scalar.vector.im/api",
        "https://scalar-staging.vector.im/_matrix/integrations/v1",
        "https://scalar-staging.vector.im/api",
        "https://scalar-staging.riot.im/scalar/api"
    ],
    "hosting_signup_link": "https://element.io/matrix-services?utm_source=element-web&utm_medium=web",
    "bug_report_endpoint_url": "https://element.io/bugreports/submit",
    "uisi_autorageshake_app": "element-auto-uisi",
    "showLabsSettings": true,
    "piwik": {
        "url": "https://piwik.riot.im/",
        "siteId": 1,
        "policyUrl": "https://element.io/cookie-policy"
    },
    "roomDirectory": {
        "servers": [
            "matrix.org",
            "gitter.im",
            "libera.chat"
        ]
    },
    "enable_presence_by_hs_url": {
        "https://matrix.org": false,
        "https://matrix-client.matrix.org": false
    },
    "terms_and_conditions_links": [
        {
            "url": "https://element.io/privacy",
            "text": "Privacy Policy"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://element.io/cookie-policy",
            "text": "Cookie Policy"
        }
    ],
    "hostSignup": {
      "brand": "Element Home",
      "cookiePolicyUrl": "https://element.io/cookie-policy",
      "domains": [
          "matrix.org"
      ],
      "privacyPolicyUrl": "https://element.io/privacy",
      "termsOfServiceUrl": "https://element.io/terms-of-service",
      "url": "https://ems.element.io/element-home/in-app-loader"
    },
    "sentry": {
        "dsn": "https://[email protected]/6",
        "environment": "develop"
    },
    "posthog": {
        "projectApiKey": "phc_Jzsm6DTm6V2705zeU5dcNvQDlonOR68XvX2sh1sEOHO",
        "apiHost": "https://posthog.element.io"
    },
    "features": {
        "feature_spotlight": true
    },
    "map_style_url": "https://api.maptiler.com/maps/streets/style.json?key=fU3vlMsMn4Jb6dnEIFsx"
}

Go to /var/docker_data/matrix and edit homeserver.yaml.

Comment database settings for sqlite3.

Add settings for Postgres database.

database:
  name: psycopg2
  args:
    user: synapse
    password: SUPERSECRETLONGPASSWORD
    database: synapse
    host: postgres
    cp_min: 5
    cp_max: 10

And then start containers.

docker-compose up -d

Use Portainer to check state of containers. Setting up database by Synapse takes some time.

When everything is ok and running without error setup first user.

Enter into synapse container.

docker exec -it synapse /bin/bash

Register new matrix user.

register_new_matrix_user -c /data/homeserver.yaml http://127.0.0.1:8008

Follow on screen prompts.

Now is everything prepared. Go to Element on your domain and login.

Setup reverse proxy

For self-hosted Matrix server and Element can be used Nginx as reverse proxy.

Synapse Nginx config example.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    listen 8448 ssl http2 default_server;
    listen [::]:8448 ssl http2 default_server;

    server_name matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com;

    ssl on;
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOUR_DOMAIN.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOUR_DOMAIN.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot

     location /.well-known/matrix/client {
                return 200 '{"m.server": {"base_url": "matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com:443"}}';
                default_type application/json;
                add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
        }

    location /.well-known/matrix/server {
                default_type application/json;
                add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
                return 200 '{"m.server":"matrix.YOUR_DOMAIN.com:443"}';
        }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://192.168.0.123:8008;
        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;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

Element Nginx config example.

 server {
    listen 80;
    server_name element.YOUR_DOMAIN.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;

    server_name element.YOUR_DOMAIN.com;

    ssl on;
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOUR_DOMAIN.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOUR_DOMAIN.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://192.168.0.123:80;
        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;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}