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112 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Setting up the domain
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parent: Installation
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nav_order: 2
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permalink: /installation/domainname
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---
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# Setting up the domain
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Every Matrix server deployment requires a server name which uniquely identifies it. For
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example, if you are using the server name `example.com`, then your users will have usernames
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that take the format `@user:example.com`.
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For federation to work, the server name must be resolvable by other homeservers on the internet
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— that is, the domain must be registered and properly configured with the relevant DNS records.
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Matrix servers discover each other when federating using the following methods:
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1. If a well-known delegation exists on `example.com`, use the path server from the
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well-known file to connect to the remote homeserver;
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2. If a DNS SRV delegation exists on `example.com`, use the hostname and port from the DNS SRV
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record to connect to the remote homeserver;
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3. If neither well-known or DNS SRV delegation are configured, attempt to connect to the remote
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homeserver by connecting to `example.com` port TCP/8448 using HTTPS.
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## TLS certificates
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Matrix federation requires that valid TLS certificates are present on the domain. You must
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obtain certificates from a publicly-trusted certificate authority (CA). [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org)
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is a popular choice of CA because the certificates are publicly-trusted, free, and automated
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via the ACME protocol. (Self-signed certificates are not suitable for federation and will typically
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not be accepted by other homeservers.)
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Automating the renewal of TLS certificates is best practice. There are many tools for this,
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but the simplest way to achieve TLS automation is to have your reverse proxy do it for you.
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[Caddy](https://caddyserver.com) is recommended as a production-grade reverse proxy with
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automatic TLS which is commonly used in front of Dendrite. It obtains and renews TLS certificates
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automatically and by default as long as your domain name is pointed at your server first.
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Although the finer details of [configuring Caddy](https://caddyserver.com/docs/) is not described
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here, in general, you must reverse proxy all `/_matrix` paths to your Dendrite server. For example,
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with Caddy:
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```
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reverse_proxy /_matrix/* localhost:8008
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```
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It is possible for the reverse proxy to listen on the standard HTTPS port TCP/443 so long as your
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domain delegation is configured to point to port TCP/443.
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## Delegation
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Delegation allows you to specify the server name and port that your Dendrite installation is
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reachable at, or to host the Dendrite server at a different server name to the domain that
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is being delegated.
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For example, if your Dendrite installation is actually reachable at `matrix.example.com` port 8448,
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you will be able to delegate from `example.com` to `matrix.example.com` so that your users will have
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`@user:example.com` user names instead of `@user:matrix.example.com` usernames.
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Delegation can be performed in one of two ways:
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* **Well-known delegation**: A well-known text file is served over HTTPS on the domain name
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that you want to use, pointing to your server on `matrix.example.com` port 8448;
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* **DNS SRV delegation**: A DNS SRV record is created on the domain name that you want to
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use, pointing to your server on `matrix.example.com` port TCP/8448.
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If you are using a reverse proxy to forward `/_matrix` to Dendrite, your well-known or DNS SRV
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delegation must refer to the hostname and port that the reverse proxy is listening on instead.
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Well-known delegation is typically easier to set up and usually preferred. However, you can use
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either or both methods to delegate. If you configure both methods of delegation, it is important
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that they both agree and refer to the same hostname and port.
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## Well-known delegation
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Using well-known delegation requires that you are running a web server at `example.com` which
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is listening on the standard HTTPS port TCP/443.
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Assuming that your Dendrite installation is listening for HTTPS connections at `matrix.example.com`
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on port 8448, the delegation file must be served at `https://example.com/.well-known/matrix/server`
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and contain the following JSON document:
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```json
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{
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"m.server": "https://matrix.example.com:8448"
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}
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```
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For example, this can be done with the following Caddy config:
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```
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handle /.well-known/matrix/client {
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header Content-Type application/json
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header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *
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respond `{"m.homeserver": {"base_url": "https://matrix.example.com:8448"}}`
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}
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```
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## DNS SRV delegation
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Using DNS SRV delegation requires creating DNS SRV records on the `example.com` zone which
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refer to your Dendrite installation.
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Assuming that your Dendrite installation is listening for HTTPS connections at `matrix.example.com`
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port 8448, the DNS SRV record must have the following fields:
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* Name: `@` (or whichever term your DNS provider uses to signal the root)
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* Service: `_matrix`
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* Protocol: `_tcp`
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* Port: `8448`
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* Target: `matrix.example.com`
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