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This article provides a comprehensive guide to install and run self-hosted Mattermost instance on Linux VPS (Ubuntu/Debian). This guide will set up Mattermost with PostgreSQL and NGINX as a reverse proxy with HTTPS. What is Mattermost? Mattermost is a self-hosted, open-source collaboration platform designed for secure team communication. It offers features similar to Slack or Microsoft Teams but gives organizations full control over data, deployment, and customization. 🧩 Key Features Team Messaging (channels, DMs, threads) File Sharing Voice and Video Calls (with plugins like Calls or Jitsi) Integrations & Webhooks (Jira, GitHub, CI/CD tools) Custom Commands and Bots Granular Permissions and Roles Mobile and Desktop Apps 🔒 Why Use Mattermost? ✅ Self-hosted: Run it on your own servers. ✅ Security-first: No third-party access to your messages. ✅ Open-source: Source code is public, extensible, and customizable. ✅ DevOps Friendly: Built with developers and tech teams in mind—great for integrating DevOps workflows. ✅ DevOps Friendly: Avoid potential vendor lock-in scenarios of cloud-based services. 🆚 Mattermost vs Slack Feature Mattermost Slack Hosting Self-hosted or Cloud Cloud-only Open-source ✅ Yes ❌ No Custom integrations Unlimited Limited on Free Plan Data privacy Full control Vendor-controlled Cost Free (Team Ed.) + Paid options Free + Paid tiers 🏗️ Editions Team Edition: Free, core functionality, ideal for small teams. Enterprise Edition: Adds LDAP, compliance, HA, etc. for large orgs. Cloud: Hosted by Mattermost Inc. (optional). 🔧 Common Use Cases Developer teams Remote/distributed teams Government, finance, or healthcare orgs (privacy-focused) Incident response and DevOps collaboration In short: Mattermost is a powerful, private alternative to Slack that puts you in control. 🧰 How to Install and Run Self-Hosted Mattermost Instance on Linux VPS This guide assumes the following environment variables exist in your system. Attempting to perform the installation steps on a system that does not satisfy the conditions listed below can lead to unexpected behavior. ✅ Prerequisites VPS with Ubuntu 20.04+ (we recommend Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) Root (or sudo) access Domain name pointing to your server (e.g. chat.yourdomain.com) ~2GB RAM minimum (4GB+ recommended for production) Open ports: 80, 443 (HTTP/S) To install and run self-hosted Mattermost instance on Linux VPS, please follow the steps provided below: 🧱 Update System sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y 🐘 Install PostgreSQL Mattermost uses PostgreSQL for data storage. sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y Configure PostgreSQL sudo -u postgres psql Inside the PostgreSQL prompt: CREATE DATABASE mattermost; CREATE USER mmuser WITH PASSWORD 'strongpassword'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE mattermost TO mmuser; \q ✅ Create Mattermost User and Group sudo useradd --system --user-group --create-home --shell /sbin/nologin mattermost Explanation: --system: Creates a system user (UID < 1000, no login by default). --user-group: Creates a group with the same name (mattermost). --create-home: Sets up a home directory (optional, but useful). --shell /sbin/nologin: Prevents direct login access. 📁 Download and Install Mattermost wget https://releases.mattermost.com/9.5.0/mattermost-9.5.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz tar -xvzf mattermost-9.5.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz sudo mv mattermost /opt sudo mkdir /opt/mattermost/data Give permissions: sudo chown -R mattermost:mattermost /opt/mattermost sudo chmod -R 770 /opt/mattermost ⚙️ Configure Mattermost Edit the config: sudo nano /opt/mattermost/config/config.json Change: "DriverName": "postgres" "DataSource": "postgres://mmuser:strongpassword@localhost:5432/mattermost?sslmodedisable" Also update "SiteURL": "https://chat.yourdomain.com" Save and exit. 🔧 Create Systemd Service sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mattermost.service Paste the following: DescriptionMattermost Afternetwork.target postgresql.service Typesimple Usermattermost Groupmattermost WorkingDirectory/opt/mattermost ExecStart/opt/mattermost/bin/mattermost Restartalways LimitNOFILE49152 WantedBymulti-user.target Enable and start: sudo systemctl daemon-reexec sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable mattermost sudo systemctl start mattermost 🌐 Install and Configure NGINX sudo apt install nginx -y Create NGINX config sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/mattermost Paste: server { listen 80; server_name chat.yourdomain.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8065; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade"; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } } Enable the config: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mattermost /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl reload nginx 🔒 Secure with Let's Encrypt SSL sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y sudo certbot --nginx -d chat.yourdomain.com Set up automatic renewal: sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer 🧪 Test It Out Open your browser and visit: https://chat.yourdomain.com You should see the Mattermost setup page. Create the first admin user and you're in! 🧼 Harden and Monitor Enable UFW or iptables firewall Monitor Mattermost service: sudo journalctl -u mattermost Backups: regularly back up /opt/mattermost and the PostgreSQL database Consider setting up email notifications (SMTP) in config.json 📋 Summary Component Details App Mattermost Team Edition 9.5.0 DB PostgreSQL Web Server NGINX with SSL Directory /opt/mattermost Service Name mattermost URL https://chat.yourdomain.com You now know how to install and run Self-hosted Mattermost instance on Linux VPS. Next, we will further configure our self-hosted Mattermost instance to apply important security and performance improvements and setup monitoring and logging of the Mattermost service. Let's proceed. Implement Best-Practices for Self-hosted Mattermost Best-practices to Run self-hosted Mattermost instance include implementing the following additional security measures, optimizing performance, and configuring reliable monitoring and service logging. 🔐 Security Best Practices Enable HTTPS Only Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS in your NGINX config. Use HSTS to enforce SSL: add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age63072000; includeSubDomains; preload" always; Secure Configuration Files Set correct permissions on config.json and environment files: sudo chmod 640 /opt/mattermost/config/config.json Regularly Update Packages Keep the OS, Mattermost, and dependencies up to date: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Enforce 2FA for all users via System Console → Authentication → MFA. ⚙️ System & Performance Tuning Enable System Swap Prevent OOM kills: sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile sudo chmod 600 /swapfile sudo mkswap /swapfile sudo swapon /swapfile Optimize PostgreSQL Adjust shared buffers and work memory for your RAM size in /etc/postgresql/XX/main/postgresql.conf. Run Mattermost Behind a Reverse Proxy Let NGINX handle SSL and compression, freeing Mattermost to focus on app logic. 📊 Monitoring & Logging Enable Application Logs Set logging level to INFO or ERROR in config.json. Store logs outside the Mattermost directory (e.g., /var/log/mattermost/). Monitor with Tools Use tools like: Netdata for server metrics Uptime Kuma for endpoint monitoring Fail2Ban to monitor failed logins and ban malicious IPs Systemd Health Checks Ensure mattermost.service restarts on crash with: Restartalways RestartSec5 Conclusion You now know how to install and run self-hosted Mattermost instance on Linux VPS. If you followed the guide, you've also implemented the hardened server security, performance optimizations, and configured monitoring and logging of the Mattermost service.

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