CoMatrix

Matrix Synapse Homeserver

Run Matrix Synapse Homeserver as Docker Container with SQLite DB

Source/Based on: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docker#running-synapse

Tested on Ubuntu 18.04 (used sqlite DB)

  1. Install required Python 3.8:

     sudo apt install python3.8

  2. Clone Synapse repo:

     git clone https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse
 cd synapse

  3. Build Synapse Docker image from source:

     docker build -t matrixdotorg/synapse -f docker/Dockerfile .

  4. Generate and adapt configuration files:

     docker run -it --rm \
 --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data\
 -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=synapse \
 -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=yes \
 matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate

    Command generates a homeserver.yaml in (typically) /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapse-data/_data, customise homeserver.yaml to use sqlite DB:

    sudo nano /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapse-data/_data/homeserver.yaml

    Changed following part to:

     # Example Postgres configuration:
 #
 #database:
 #  name: psycopg2
 #  args:
 #    user: synapse
 #    password: Our_supersecret_postgrespassword
 #    database: synapse
 #    host: postgres
 #    cp_min: 5
 #    cp_max: 10
 #
 # For more information on using Synapse with Postgres, see `docs/postgres.md`.
 #
 database:
   name: sqlite3
   args:
     database: /data/homeserver.db

    Enable user registration for the Matrix Synapse homeserver:

     ## Registration ##
 #
 # Registration can be rate-limited using the parameters in the "Ratelimiting"
 # section of this file.    

 # Enable registration for new users.   
 #   
 enable_registration: true

    Session lifetime can be defined (by default it is infinite):

     # Time that a user’s session remains valid for, after they log in.
 #
 # Note that this is not currently compatible with guest logins.
 #
 # Note also that this is calculated at login time: changes are not applied
 # retrospectively to users who have already logged in.
 #
 # By default, this is infinite.
 #
 #session_lifetime: 24h

  5. Run Matrix Synapse Docker container:

     docker run -d --name synapse \
 --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data\
 -p 8008:8008 \
 matrixdotorg/synapse:latest

    Matrix Synapse homeserver is available at http://localhost:8008, but a client (e.g. Element) is necessary to access it.

  6. If anything goes wrong:

     docker logs synapse    # check the docker logs
 docker container ls    # list running container
 docker container stop synapse  # stop container
 docker container start synapse # start container
 docker container rm synapse # delete container
 docker image rmsynapse # delete synapse docker image and build a new one

Links/additional resources:

  • Synapse installation without Docker is described here: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/INSTALL.md
  • Installed Synapse version can be identified via: http://localhost:8008/_matrix/federation/v1/version
  • http://localhost:8008/_matrix/client/versions shows the versions of the Client-Server API supported (and unstable features).

Run Matrix Synapse Homeserver as Docker Container with Postgres DB

Create an .env file as described in the .env.example file:

# Postgres DB connection
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secretpassword
POSTGRES_DB=synapse
POSTGRES_USER=synapse_user


# synapse settings
SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=synapse
SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=yes

Download and run a Postgres Docker image (check for correct path of .env file):

    docker run --name postgres --env-file=./resources/.env  -p 5432:5432 -d  --mount type=volume,src=postgres-data,dst=/data postgres:11

Connect to container and create the Synapse database:

docker exec -it postgres psql -U  synapse_user
CREATE DATABASE synapse OWNER synapse_user ENCODING utf8 LC_COLLATE "C" LC_CTYPE "C" TEMPLATE template0;
\l 				# show  databases
\q 				# exit

Generate a new volume and Matrix homeserver configuration file (check for correct path of .env file):

 docker run -it --rm  --env-file=./resources/.env  --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate

The homeserver.yaml is (typically) stored in /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapse-data/_data; customise homeserver.yaml to use Postgres database:

  sudo nano /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapse-data/_data/homeserver.yaml

Change the following part to use a Postgres DB:

# Example Postgres configuration:

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

and enable Matrix Synapse registration: uncomment and set to true

# Enable registration for new users.
enable_registration: true

The current release (Synapse v1.34) has a writing permission issue (cf. https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9970), therefore open the synapse.log.config and change the log file path:

sudo nano /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapse-data/_data/synapse.log.config

filename: /data/homeserver.log

Start the Matrix-Synapse Docker container:

docker run -d --env-file=./resources/.env  --name synapse --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data --link postgres:postgres -p 8008:8008 matrixdotorg/synapse:latest

User and room creation at Matrix Synapse homeserver

Platform: Debian / Ubuntu (64-bit)

Entities:

  • testuser
    • Installs Element (Matrix client)
    • Creates a Matrix room
    • Sends an invite to the SAMR21-xpro users
  • samr21node
    • Creates an access token via login
    • Joins the room

  1. Install Matrix Client “Element-Desktop” for Testing purpose:

    Source: https://element.io/get-started

     sudo apt install -y wget apt-transport-https
 sudo wget -O /usr/share/keyrings/riot-im-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.riot.im/debian/riot-im-archive-keyring.gpg
 echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/riot-im-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.riot.im/debian/ default main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/riot-im.list
 sudo apt update
 sudo apt install element-desktop

    Alternatively you can run “Element-Web” as Docker container and access it via http://localhost (source: https://github.com/vector-im/element-web):

     docker run -p 80:80 vectorim/riot-web

  2. Register the following users (these are created for testing purposes): admin, testuser and samr21node

     docker exec -it synapse register_new_matrix_user http://localhost:8008 -c /data/homeserver.yaml -u admin -a -p <adminpwd>
 docker exec -it synapse register_new_matrix_user http://localhost:8008 -c /data/homeserver.yaml -u testuser -p <testpwd>
 docker exec -it synapse register_new_matrix_user http://localhost:8008 -c /data/homeserver.yaml -u samr21node -p <samr21pwd>

  3. Start the Element client and login as testuser, create a new room, and check the room ID in the room settings: Element Login/Homeserver Config Element check room ID

  4. Create an invite for the @samr21node:synapse user (Element.io client: Room options->Invite people), this creates an invite event which can be viewed by view source:

     {
   "type": "m.room.member",
   "sender": "@testuser:synapse",
   "content": {
     "membership": "invite",
     "displayname": "samr21node"
   },
   "state_key": "@samr21node:synapse",
   "origin_server_ts": 1619515917506,
   "unsigned": {
     "age": 106
   },
   "event_id": "$pwssXPgZ6_qiliLYmG2Kcj0vZPKUo_cWPKdp7zspc0Q",
   "room_id": "!kYsGiNgnRRVZCizHAF:synapse"
 }

Create invite via commandline:

    curl -XPOST -d '{"user_id":"@myfriend:localhost"}' "http://localhost:8008/_matrix/client/r0/rooms/<room_id>/invite?access_token=<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

  1. [Optional] Get the access token for the samr21node user via commandline:

     curl -XPOST -d '{"type":"m.login.password", "user":"samr21node", "password":"samr21pwd"}' "http://localhost:8008/_matrix/client/r0/login"
 {"user_id":"@samr21node:synapse","access_token":"<access token>","home_server":"synapse","device_id":"OPJPRXXURH"}

  2. [Optional] Join the room with the samr21node user:

      curl -XPOST -d '{ "room_id": "!kYsGiNgnRRVZCizHAF:synapse"}' "http://localhost:8008/_matrix/client/r0/rooms/%21kYsGiNgnRRVZCizHAF:synapse/join?access_token=<access token>"
Network connectivity and CoAP CoMatrix Gateway