How to install RocketChat Server on CentOS 8

RocketChat is a free and open source web chat server. In this article, you will learn how to install RocketChat server on CentOS 8. #centlinux #linux #rocketchat

What is RocketChat?

Rocket.Chat is an open-source communication platform designed for team collaboration, real-time messaging, and more. It provides a versatile and secure alternative to proprietary chat applications like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Here’s a detailed overview of Rocket.Chat:

Key Features

Real-Time Messaging

• Supports direct messages, group chats, public channels, and private channels.
• Real-time notifications and message updates.

Customization and Extensibility

• Highly customizable with themes, layouts, and branding options.
• Powerful API for creating custom integrations and plugins.

Video and Audio Conferencing

• Integrated video and audio calling features.
• Supports group calls and video conferencing with screen sharing capabilities.
• Integration with Jitsi for advanced video conferencing.

File Sharing and Collaboration

• Enables sharing of files, images, and documents within chats and channels.
• Collaborative tools like editing and commenting on shared files.

Security and Compliance

• Offers end-to-end encryption for secure messaging.
• Compliant with various data protection regulations, making it suitable for enterprise use.

Self-Hosted and Cloud Options

• Can be self-hosted for complete control over data and infrastructure.
• Also available as a managed cloud service provided by Rocket.Chat.

Mobile and Desktop Applications

• Available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
• Ensures accessibility and consistent experience across devices.

Integrations

• Integrates with various third-party tools like GitHub, GitLab, Jira, and others.
• Supports webhooks, APIs, and custom bots to automate workflows.

Federation

• Supports federated messaging, allowing communication between different Rocket.Chat servers and other compatible platforms.

Community and Enterprise Support

• Offers robust community support and documentation.
• Enterprise plans provide additional features and dedicated support.

Use Cases

Team Collaboration

• Facilitates seamless communication and project collaboration within teams.
• Channels for project-specific discussions and direct messages for individual communication.

Customer Support

• Can be used for live customer support on websites through embedded chat widgets.
• Efficiently manages customer queries and support tickets.

Remote Work

• Ideal for remote teams with features like video conferencing, screen sharing, and real-time collaboration tools.

Education

• Used by educational institutions to connect students, teachers, and staff.
• Supports virtual classrooms and collaborative learning environments.

Community Building

• Suitable for building and managing online communities.
• Provides tools for moderated discussions and community engagement.

Deployment and Management

Installation

• Supports various deployment methods including Docker, Kubernetes, and traditional server installations.
• Comprehensive setup guides and community support available.

Administration

• Web-based admin panel for managing users, settings, and integrations.
• Supports authentication methods like LDAP, OAuth, and SAML for user management.

Summary

Rocket.Chat is a powerful, flexible, and secure communication platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of various organizations, from small teams to large enterprises. Its open-source nature allows for extensive customization and integration, making it a popular choice for those seeking a robust and versatile messaging solution.

Read Also: How to install TeamSpeak 3 on RHEL 8

Environment Specification

We are using a minimally installed CentOS 8 virtual machine with following specification.

• CPU – 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
• Memory – 2 GB
• Storage – 20 GB
• Operating System – CentOS Linux 8.2
• Hostname – rocket-chat-server.centlinux.com
• IP Address – 192.168.116.206 /24

For experimenting with RocketChat Server on CentOS 8, having a reliable and dedicated environment is crucial. You can either set up RocketChat on a local Mini PC, which offers excellent performance for small-scale deployments and hands-on learning, or opt for a Bluehost VPS with scalable resources and 24/7 remote accessibility.

Both options provide an ideal platform for testing and running your Linux server smoothly. If you’re looking for recommendations, consider checking out popular Mini PCs designed for Linux workloads or explore Bluehost’s VPS plans to find the best fit for your needs.

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Update Linux Software Packages

Connect with rocket-chat-server.centlinux.com as root user by using a ssh client.

By following the best practice, you should update all the software packages in Linux operating system before installing a new software.

dnf update -y

Check Kernel version of your Linux operating system.

uname -r

Output:

4.18.0-193.6.3.el8_2.x86_64

Check version of your Linux operating system.

cat /etc/redhat-release

Output:

CentOS Linux release 8.2.2004 (Core)

Install MongoDB on CentOS 8

To install MongoDB database server, you need to add MongoDB official yum repository in your Linux operating system.

Create a repo file for MongoDB yum repository by using vim text editor.

vi /etc/yum.repos.d/mongodb-org-4.2.repo

Add following directives in this file.

[mongodb-org-4.2]
name=MongoDB Repository
baseurl=https://repo.mongodb.org/yum/redhat/$releasever/mongodb-org/4.2/x86_64/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-4.2.asc

Build cache for MongoDB yum repository.

# dnf makecache
CentOS-8 - AppStream                            4.4 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00
CentOS-8 - Base                                 182  B/s | 3.9 kB     00:21
CentOS-8 - Extras                               2.0 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00
MongoDB Repository                              9.4 kB/s |  12 kB     00:01
Metadata cache created.

MongoDB yum repository has been added. Now, you can easily install MongoDB server on CentOS / RHEL 8 by executing dnf command.

dnf install -y mongodb-org

Configure following settings in MongoDB configuration files as required by Rocket Chat software.

sed -i "s/^#replication:/replication:n  replSetName: rs01/" /etc/mongod.conf

Enable and start MongoDB database service.

systemctl enable --now mongod.service

Initiate a MongoDB replica set.

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

Output:

MongoDB shell version v4.2.9
connecting to: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?compressors=disabled&gssapiServiceName=mongodb
Implicit session: session { "id" : UUID("62a95226-85a3-4716-bf55-e98ed1510cec") }
MongoDB server version: 4.2.9
{
        "info2" : "no configuration specified. Using a default configuration for the set",
        "me" : "127.0.0.1:27017",
        "ok" : 1,
        "$clusterTime" : {
                "clusterTime" : Timestamp(1598207737, 1),
                "signature" : {
                        "hash" : BinData(0,"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA="),
                        "keyId" : NumberLong(0)
                }
        },
        "operationTime" : Timestamp(1598207737, 1)
}

Install Node.js on CentOS 8

Rocket Chat requires Node.js server to run its services. Therefore, you need to install Node.js on your Linux server.

Node.js requires following software packages for compilation and to make the executables. Therefore, we are installing these packages by using dnf command.

dnf install -y gcc-c++ make

Before installing Node.js, we need to add Node.js official yum repository in our Linux server.

Use the following command to install Node.js yum repository in your Linux server.

curl -sL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | bash

Output:

## Installing the NodeSource Node.js 12.x repo...


## Inspecting system...

+ rpm -q --whatprovides redhat-release || rpm -q --whatprovides centos-release || rpm -q --whatprovides cloudlinux-release || rpm -q --whatprovides sl-release
+ uname -m

## Confirming "el8-x86_64" is supported...

+ curl -sLf -o /dev/null 'https://rpm.nodesource.com/pub_12.x/el/8/x86_64/nodesource-release-el8-1.noarch.rpm'

## As yum will try to install Node.js from the AppStream repository
instead of the NodeSource repository, the AppStream's version of Node.js has to be disabled.
## Run `sudo yum module enable -y nodejs` to reactivate the AppStream's Node.js repository.

+ yum module disable -y nodejs
Last metadata expiration check: 0:06:13 ago on Sun 23 Aug 2020 12:58:45 PM PKT.
Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
 Package           Architecture     Version             Repository         Size
================================================================================
Disabling modules:
 nodejs

Transaction Summary
================================================================================

Complete!

## Downloading release setup RPM...

+ mktemp
+ curl -sL -o '/tmp/tmp.bCqMCmLHXC' 'https://rpm.nodesource.com/pub_12.x/el/8/x86_64/nodesource-release-el8-1.noarch.rpm'

## Installing release setup RPM...

+ rpm -i --nosignature --force '/tmp/tmp.bCqMCmLHXC'

## Cleaning up...

+ rm -f '/tmp/tmp.bCqMCmLHXC'

## Checking for existing installations...

+ rpm -qa 'node|npm' | grep -v nodesource

## Run `sudo yum install -y nodejs` to install Node.js 12.x and npm.
## You may also need development tools to build native addons:
     sudo yum install gcc-c++ make
## To install the Yarn package manager, run:
     curl -sL https://dl.yarnpkg.com/rpm/yarn.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/yarn.repo
     sudo yum install yarn

Node.js yum repository has been added in your Linux operating system. Now, we can easily install Node.js by using dnf command.

dnf install -y nodejs

Install GraphicsMagick on CentOS 8

GraphicsMagick is a robust set of tools and libraries to read, write, and manipulate an image in any of the more popular image formats.

GraphicsMagick is required by Rocket Chat. GraphicsMagick is not available in standard yum repositories, therefore, you need to install EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) yum repository.

dnf install -y epel-release

Now, you can install GraphicsMagick by using dnf command.

dnf install -y GraphicsMagick

Install inherits and n packages by using npm (Node Package Manager) command.

npm install -g inherits n

Output:

/usr/bin/n -> /usr/lib/node_modules/n/bin/n
+ inherits@2.0.4
+ n@6.7.0
added 2 packages from 4 contributors in 2.858s

Install the Node.js 12.14.0 as required by Rocket Chat server.

n 12.14.0

Output:

  installing : node-v12.14.0
       mkdir : /usr/local/n/versions/node/12.14.0
       fetch : https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.14.0/node-v12.14.0-linux-x64.tar.xz
   installed : v12.14.0 (with npm 6.13.4)

Note: the node command changed location and the old location may be remembered in your current shell.
         old : /usr/bin/node
         new : /usr/local/bin/node
To reset the command location hash either start a new shell, or execute PATH="$PATH"

Install RocketChat Server on CentOS 8

Download latest version of RocketChat software by using the following command.

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

Extract downloaded zip file in a temporary directory.

tar -xzf /tmp/rocket.chat.tgz -C /tmp

You can install RocketChat server on Linux by using npm command.

cd /tmp/bundle/programs/server
npm install

Output:

npm WARN deprecated request@2.88.2: request has been deprecated, see https://github.com/request/request/issues/3142
npm WARN deprecated har-validator@5.1.5: this library is no longer supported

> fibers@4.0.3 install /tmp/bundle/programs/server/node_modules/fibers
> node build.js || nodejs build.js

`linux-x64-72-glibc` exists; testing
Binary is fine; exiting
npm WARN lifecycle meteor-dev-bundle@~install: cannot run in wd meteor-dev-bundle@ node npm-rebuild.js (wd=/tmp/bundle/programs/server)
added 146 packages from 122 contributors and audited 147 packages in 22.341s

2 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities

Move RocketChat software to /opt directory.

mv /tmp/bundle /opt/Rocket.Chat

Create an user to own RocketChat software and processes.

useradd -M rocketchat

Lock rocketchat user, so nobody can use it to login to our Linux server.

usermod -L rocketchat

Grant ownership of software directory to rocketchat user.

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

Create Systemd Service

To configure autostart of RocketChat server, we need to create a systemd unit.

Create a systemd unit file by using vim editor.

vi /lib/systemd/system/rocketchat.service

Add following directives in this file.

[Unit]
Description=The Rocket.Chat server
After=network.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target nginx.target mongod.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node /opt/Rocket.Chat/main.js
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=rocketchat
User=rocketchat
Environment=MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=rs01 MONGO_OPLOG_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/local?replicaSet=rs01 ROOT_URL=http://localhost:3000/ PORT=3000

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start RocketChat service.

systemctl enable --now rocketchat.service

Configure Linux Firewall

Node.js uses default port 3000. Therefore, to access RocketChat web interface, we need to allow the incoming traffic to this port in Linux firewall.

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3000/tcp
firewall-cmd --reload

Access RocketChat Web Interface

Open URL http://rocket-chat-server.centlinux.com:3000 in a web browser.

Provide Admin info and click on Continue.

You need to provide the Organization info on this page. Click on Continue.

Provide the Server info and click on Continue.

Register your RocketChat server online or keep it stand alone. Click on Continue.

Your Rocket Chat workplace is ready to use now. Click on Go to workplace.

You are now at the Home page of Rocket Chat web interface. Click on Administration from the top-left toolbar.

Final Thoughts

Install RocketChat Server on CentOS 8 is a fantastic way to enhance your team’s communication and collaboration capabilities. With its robust features, customization options, and secure infrastructure, Rocket.Chat provides a versatile platform for both small teams and large enterprises.

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FAQs

Q1: Can RocketChat run on CentOS 8 with minimal hardware resources?
A1: Yes, RocketChat can run on minimal hardware, but for better performance, at least 2GB RAM and a dual-core CPU are recommended.

Q2: Is it necessary to use MongoDB with RocketChat on CentOS 8?
A2: Yes, RocketChat requires MongoDB as its database backend to store messages and user data.

Q3: Can I install RocketChat using Docker on CentOS 8?
A3: Yes, Docker is supported and can simplify installation and updates on CentOS 8.

Q4: How do I secure RocketChat communications on CentOS 8?
A4: You should enable HTTPS with an SSL certificate and configure firewall rules to protect your server.

Q5: Does RocketChat support LDAP or Active Directory integration on CentOS 8?
A5: Yes, RocketChat has built-in options to integrate with LDAP/Active Directory for user authentication.

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