Rocket.Chat Deployment Guide on RamNode VPS | Team Communication Platform

Step 1

Why Self-Host Rocket.Chat?

Complete data sovereignty and privacy control
Real-time messaging with threading and reactions
Built-in video and audio conferencing
Omnichannel customer engagement capabilities
Federation with other Rocket.Chat servers
Extensive integrations (GitHub, Jira, webhooks)
End-to-end encryption support
Mobile and desktop applications available

Step 2

Prerequisites

Recommended RamNode Premium VPS Plans

Team Size	Plan	RAM	CPU	Storage
1-50 users	PVPS 4GB	4 GB	2 vCPUs	80 GB NVMe
50-250 users	PVPS 8GB	8 GB	4 vCPUs	160 GB NVMe
250-1000 users	PVPS 16GB	16 GB	6 vCPUs	320 GB NVMe
1000+ users	PVPS 32GB	32 GB	8 vCPUs	640 GB NVMe

Note: MongoDB requires significant memory. For production use with more than 50 concurrent users, 8GB RAM or higher is strongly recommended.

Software Requirements

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12
Docker Engine 24.0+ and Docker Compose v2
A registered domain name pointing to your VPS IP
Root or sudo access

Step 3

Server Preparation

Update your system and install essential packages:

System Update

# Update package lists and upgrade
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install essential packages
sudo apt install -y curl wget git nano ufw

Configure the firewall:

Firewall Configuration

# Allow SSH
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

# Check status
sudo ufw status

Configure system limits for MongoDB:

System Limits

# Add MongoDB limits
cat <<EOF | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf
mongodb soft nofile 64000
mongodb hard nofile 64000
mongodb soft nproc 64000
mongodb hard nproc 64000
EOF

Step 4

Install Docker & Docker Compose

Install Docker using the official convenience script:

Docker Installation

# Download and run Docker install script
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh

# Add your user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Enable Docker to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

# Log out and back in, then verify
docker --version
docker compose version

Step 5

Deploy Rocket.Chat

Create the directory structure and Docker Compose configuration:

Create Directory Structure

# Create Rocket.Chat directory
mkdir -p ~/rocketchat
cd ~/rocketchat

# Create data directories
mkdir -p data/mongodb data/uploads

docker-compose.yml

cat <<'EOF' > docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  rocketchat:
    image: registry.rocket.chat/rocketchat/rocket.chat:latest
    container_name: rocketchat
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - MONGO_URL=mongodb://mongodb:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=rs0
      - MONGO_OPLOG_URL=mongodb://mongodb:27017/local?replicaSet=rs0
      - ROOT_URL=https://chat.yourdomain.com
      - PORT=3000
      - DEPLOY_METHOD=docker
      - DEPLOY_PLATFORM=vps
    depends_on:
      - mongodb
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./data/uploads:/app/uploads
    networks:
      - rocketchat

  mongodb:
    image: docker.io/bitnami/mongodb:5.0
    container_name: mongodb
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - MONGODB_REPLICA_SET_MODE=primary
      - MONGODB_REPLICA_SET_NAME=rs0
      - MONGODB_PORT_NUMBER=27017
      - MONGODB_INITIAL_PRIMARY_HOST=mongodb
      - MONGODB_INITIAL_PRIMARY_PORT_NUMBER=27017
      - MONGODB_ADVERTISED_HOSTNAME=mongodb
      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
    volumes:
      - ./data/mongodb:/bitnami/mongodb
    networks:
      - rocketchat

networks:
  rocketchat:
    driver: bridge
EOF

Important: Replace chat.yourdomain.com with your actual domain name in the ROOT_URL environment variable.

Start Rocket.Chat

# Start the containers
docker compose up -d

# Monitor startup logs
docker compose logs -f rocketchat

# Wait for "SERVER RUNNING" message, then Ctrl+C

Step 6

Configure Nginx & SSL

Install Nginx and Certbot for SSL:

Install Nginx & Certbot

# Install Nginx
sudo apt install -y nginx

# Install Certbot
sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Nginx Configuration

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat

# Add the following configuration:
upstream rocketchat {
    server 127.0.0.1:3000;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name chat.yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://rocketchat;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        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;
        proxy_set_header X-Nginx-Proxy true;
        proxy_redirect off;

        # WebSocket timeout settings
        proxy_read_timeout 86400s;
        proxy_send_timeout 86400s;
    }

    # Increase client max body size for file uploads
    client_max_body_size 100M;
}

Enable Site & Get SSL

# Enable the site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rocketchat /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Remove default site
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Reload Nginx
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Obtain SSL certificate
sudo certbot --nginx -d chat.yourdomain.com

# Verify auto-renewal
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 7

Initial Configuration

Access your Rocket.Chat instance at https://chat.yourdomain.com and complete the setup wizard:

1. Admin Account Setup

Enter admin name, username, and email
Create a strong password (12+ characters)
This account will have full administrative access

2. Organization Information

Enter your organization name
Select industry type
Choose server type (Community, Pro, or Enterprise)

3. Register Your Server (Optional)

Registration enables push notifications for mobile apps
Provides access to the marketplace
Can be skipped and configured later

Step 8

Security Hardening

Apply these security configurations:

Secure MongoDB

Update docker-compose.yml to add MongoDB authentication:

MongoDB Authentication

# In docker-compose.yml, update mongodb environment:
environment:
  - MONGODB_REPLICA_SET_MODE=primary
  - MONGODB_REPLICA_SET_NAME=rs0
  - MONGODB_PORT_NUMBER=27017
  - MONGODB_INITIAL_PRIMARY_HOST=mongodb
  - MONGODB_INITIAL_PRIMARY_PORT_NUMBER=27017
  - MONGODB_ADVERTISED_HOSTNAME=mongodb
  - MONGODB_ROOT_USER=admin
  - MONGODB_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_password_here

# Update rocketchat MONGO_URL:
environment:
  - MONGO_URL=mongodb://admin:your_secure_password_here@mongodb:27017/rocketchat?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin
  - MONGO_OPLOG_URL=mongodb://admin:your_secure_password_here@mongodb:27017/local?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin

Recommended Admin Settings

Navigate to Administration → Settings:

Accounts → Registration: Set registration to "Invite Only" or disable
Accounts → Two Factor Authentication: Enable and enforce for all users
General → Iframe Integration: Disable if not needed
Message → File Upload: Configure allowed file types
Rate Limiter: Enable API rate limiting

Additional Security Headers

# Add to Nginx server block
add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;

# Reload Nginx
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 9

Maintenance & Backups

Backup Strategy

Backup Script

cat <<'EOF' > ~/rocketchat/backup.sh
#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/rocketchat"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Backup MongoDB
docker exec mongodb mongodump --archive=/bitnami/mongodb/backup_$DATE.archive --gzip
docker cp mongodb:/bitnami/mongodb/backup_$DATE.archive $BACKUP_DIR/

# Backup uploads
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/uploads_$DATE.tar.gz -C ~/rocketchat/data uploads

# Backup config
cp ~/rocketchat/docker-compose.yml $BACKUP_DIR/docker-compose_$DATE.yml

# Keep only last 7 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $DATE"
EOF

chmod +x ~/rocketchat/backup.sh

# Add to crontab for daily backups
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 2 * * * /root/rocketchat/backup.sh") | crontab -

Update Rocket.Chat

Update Process

cd ~/rocketchat

# Pull latest images
docker compose pull

# Restart with new images
docker compose up -d

# Verify update
docker compose logs -f rocketchat | head -50

Monitoring

Useful Commands

# Check container status
docker compose ps

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# Check disk usage
docker system df

# MongoDB stats
docker exec mongodb mongosh --eval "db.stats()"

Step 10

Troubleshooting

Rocket.Chat won't start

# Check MongoDB replica set status
docker exec mongodb mongosh --eval "rs.status()"

# If replica set not initialized, wait 30-60 seconds
# MongoDB needs time to initialize on first start

# Force recreate containers
docker compose down && docker compose up -d

WebSocket connection issues

# Ensure Nginx proxy settings are correct
# Check for WebSocket upgrade headers

# Verify with curl
curl -i -N -H "Connection: Upgrade" \
  -H "Upgrade: websocket" \
  -H "Host: chat.yourdomain.com" \
  https://chat.yourdomain.com/sockjs/info

Performance issues

# Check memory usage
docker stats

# Increase Node.js memory (in docker-compose.yml)
environment:
  - METEOR_SETTINGS={"numberOfRules":100}
  - NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096

Reset admin password

# Access MongoDB shell
docker exec -it mongodb mongosh rocketchat

# Reset admin password (replace with desired password hash)
db.users.update(
  { username: "admin" },
  { $set: { "services.password.bcrypt": "$2a$10$n9CM8OgInDlwpvjLKLPML.eizXIzLlRtgCh3GRLafOdR9ldAUh/KG" } }
)
# This sets password to "Password1" - change immediately after login

Deployment Complete!

Your Rocket.Chat instance is now running. Access it at your configured domain and invite your team members to start collaborating!

Official Documentation Community Support

Deploying Rocket.Chat