path: root/nixos/modules/services/matrix/matrix-synapse.xml

<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
         version="5.0"
         xml:id="module-services-matrix">
 <title>Matrix</title>
 <para>
  <link xlink:href="https://matrix.org/">Matrix</link> is an open standard for
  interoperable, decentralised, real-time communication over IP. It can be used
  to power Instant Messaging, VoIP/WebRTC signalling, Internet of Things
  communication - or anywhere you need a standard HTTP API for publishing and
  subscribing to data whilst tracking the conversation history.
 </para>
 <para>
  This chapter will show you how to set up your own, self-hosted Matrix
  homeserver using the Synapse reference homeserver, and how to serve your own
  copy of the Element web client. See the
  <link xlink:href="https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html">Try
  Matrix Now!</link> overview page for links to Element Apps for Android and iOS,
  desktop clients, as well as bridges to other networks and other projects
  around Matrix.
 </para>
 <section xml:id="module-services-matrix-synapse">
  <title>Synapse Homeserver</title>

  <para>
   <link xlink:href="https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse">Synapse</link> is
   the reference homeserver implementation of Matrix from the core development
   team at matrix.org. The following configuration example will set up a
   synapse server for the <literal>example.org</literal> domain, served from
   the host <literal>myhostname.example.org</literal>. For more information,
   please refer to the
   <link xlink:href="https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse#synapse-installation">
   installation instructions of Synapse </link>.
<programlisting>
{ pkgs, lib, ... }:
let
  fqdn =
    let
      join = hostName: domain: hostName + lib.optionalString (domain != null) ".${domain}";
    in join config.networking.hostName config.networking.domain;
in {
  networking = {
    <link linkend="opt-networking.hostName">hostName</link> = "myhostname";
    <link linkend="opt-networking.domain">domain</link> = "example.org";
  };
  <link linkend="opt-networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts">networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts</link> = [ 80 443 ];

  <link linkend="opt-services.postgresql.enable">services.postgresql.enable</link> = true;
  <link linkend="opt-services.postgresql.initialScript">services.postgresql.initialScript</link> = pkgs.writeText "synapse-init.sql" ''
    CREATE ROLE "matrix-synapse" WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'synapse';
    CREATE DATABASE "matrix-synapse" WITH OWNER "matrix-synapse"
      TEMPLATE template0
      LC_COLLATE = "C"
      LC_CTYPE = "C";
  '';

  services.nginx = {
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.enable">enable</link> = true;
    # only recommendedProxySettings and recommendedGzipSettings are strictly required,
    # but the rest make sense as well
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.recommendedTlsSettings">recommendedTlsSettings</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.recommendedOptimisation">recommendedOptimisation</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.recommendedGzipSettings">recommendedGzipSettings</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.recommendedProxySettings">recommendedProxySettings</link> = true;

    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts">virtualHosts</link> = {
      # This host section can be placed on a different host than the rest,
      # i.e. to delegate from the host being accessible as ${config.networking.domain}
      # to another host actually running the Matrix homeserver.
      "${config.networking.domain}" = {
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.enableACME">enableACME</link> = true;
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.forceSSL">forceSSL</link> = true;

        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.locations._name_.extraConfig">locations."= /.well-known/matrix/server".extraConfig</link> =
          let
            # use 443 instead of the default 8448 port to unite
            # the client-server and server-server port for simplicity
            server = { "m.server" = "${fqdn}:443"; };
          in ''
            add_header Content-Type application/json;
            return 200 '${builtins.toJSON server}';
          '';
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.locations._name_.extraConfig">locations."= /.well-known/matrix/client".extraConfig</link> =
          let
            client = {
              "m.homeserver" =  { "base_url" = "https://${fqdn}"; };
              "m.identity_server" =  { "base_url" = "https://vector.im"; };
            };
          # ACAO required to allow element-web on any URL to request this json file
          in ''
            add_header Content-Type application/json;
            add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
            return 200 '${builtins.toJSON client}';
          '';
      };

      # Reverse proxy for Matrix client-server and server-server communication
      ${fqdn} = {
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.enableACME">enableACME</link> = true;
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.forceSSL">forceSSL</link> = true;

        # Or do a redirect instead of the 404, or whatever is appropriate for you.
        # But do not put a Matrix Web client here! See the Element web section below.
        <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.locations._name_.extraConfig">locations."/".extraConfig</link> = ''
          return 404;
        '';

        # forward all Matrix API calls to the synapse Matrix homeserver
        locations."/_matrix" = {
          <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.locations._name_.proxyPass">proxyPass</link> = "http://[::1]:8008"; # without a trailing /
        };
      };
    };
  };
  services.matrix-synapse = {
    <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.enable">enable</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.server_name">server_name</link> = config.networking.domain;
    <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners">listeners</link> = [
      {
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.port">port</link> = 8008;
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.bind_addresses">bind_addresses</link> = [ "::1" ];
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.type">type</link> = "http";
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.tls">tls</link> = false;
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.x_forwarded">x_forwarded</link> = true;
        <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.resources">resources</link> = [ {
          <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.resources._.names">names</link> = [ "client" ];
          <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.resources._.compress">compress</link> = true;
        } {
          <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.resources._.names">names</link> = [ "federation" ];
          <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.listeners._.resources._.compress">compress</link> = false;
        } ];
      }
    ];
  };
}
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   If the <code>A</code> and <code>AAAA</code> DNS records on
   <literal>example.org</literal> do not point on the same host as the records
   for <code>myhostname.example.org</code>, you can easily move the
   <code>/.well-known</code> virtualHost section of the code to the host that
   is serving <literal>example.org</literal>, while the rest stays on
   <literal>myhostname.example.org</literal> with no other changes required.
   This pattern also allows to seamlessly move the homeserver from
   <literal>myhostname.example.org</literal> to
   <literal>myotherhost.example.org</literal> by only changing the
   <code>/.well-known</code> redirection target.
  </para>

  <para>
   If you want to run a server with public registration by anybody, you can
   then enable <literal><link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.enable_registration">services.matrix-synapse.settings.enable_registration</link> =
   true;</literal>. Otherwise, or you can generate a registration secret with
   <command>pwgen -s 64 1</command> and set it with
   <option><link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.registration_shared_secret">services.matrix-synapse.settings.registration_shared_secret</link></option>.
   To create a new user or admin, run the following after you have set the secret
   and have rebuilt NixOS:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt>nix run nixpkgs.matrix-synapse
<prompt>$ </prompt>register_new_matrix_user -k <replaceable>your-registration-shared-secret</replaceable> http://localhost:8008
<prompt>New user localpart: </prompt><replaceable>your-username</replaceable>
<prompt>Password:</prompt>
<prompt>Confirm password:</prompt>
<prompt>Make admin [no]:</prompt>
Success!
</screen>
   In the example, this would create a user with the Matrix Identifier
   <literal>@your-username:example.org</literal>. Note that the registration
   secret ends up in the nix store and therefore is world-readable by any user
   on your machine, so it makes sense to only temporarily activate the
   <link linkend="opt-services.matrix-synapse.settings.registration_shared_secret">registration_shared_secret</link>
   option until a better solution for NixOS is in place.
  </para>
 </section>
 <section xml:id="module-services-matrix-element-web">
  <title>Element (formerly known as Riot) Web Client</title>

  <para>
   <link xlink:href="https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/">Element Web</link> is
   the reference web client for Matrix and developed by the core team at
   matrix.org. Element was formerly known as Riot.im, see the
   <link xlink:href="https://element.io/blog/welcome-to-element/">Element introductory blog post</link>
   for more information. The following snippet can be optionally added to the code before
   to complete the synapse installation with a web client served at
   <code>https://element.myhostname.example.org</code> and
   <code>https://element.example.org</code>. Alternatively, you can use the hosted
   copy at <link xlink:href="https://app.element.io/">https://app.element.io/</link>,
   or use other web clients or native client applications. Due to the
   <literal>/.well-known</literal> urls set up done above, many clients should
   fill in the required connection details automatically when you enter your
   Matrix Identifier. See
   <link xlink:href="https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html">Try
   Matrix Now!</link> for a list of existing clients and their supported
   featureset.
<programlisting>
{
  services.nginx.virtualHosts."element.${fqdn}" = {
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.enableACME">enableACME</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.forceSSL">forceSSL</link> = true;
    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.serverAliases">serverAliases</link> = [
      "element.${config.networking.domain}"
    ];

    <link linkend="opt-services.nginx.virtualHosts._name_.root">root</link> = pkgs.element-web.override {
      conf = {
        default_server_config."m.homeserver" = {
          "base_url" = "https://${fqdn}";
          "server_name" = "${fqdn}";
        };
      };
    };
  };
}
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Note that the Element developers do not recommend running Element and your Matrix
   homeserver on the same fully-qualified domain name for security reasons. In
   the example, this means that you should not reuse the
   <literal>myhostname.example.org</literal> virtualHost to also serve Element,
   but instead serve it on a different subdomain, like
   <literal>element.example.org</literal> in the example. See the
   <link xlink:href="https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web#important-security-note">Element
   Important Security Notes</link> for more information on this subject.
  </para>
 </section>
</chapter>