Step 1: Update Your System

Before installing any new software, it is important to ensure that your system is up to date. Run the following commands to update your package list and upgrade all installed packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Keeping your system updated ensures optimal performance and security, especially when using a VPS Windows Servers platform.

Step 2: Install PostgreSQL Database

Mattermost requires a database to store its data. In this guide, we will use PostgreSQL. Install PostgreSQL using the following command:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

Once installed, start and enable the PostgreSQL service:

sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Log into the PostgreSQL shell and create a new user and database for Mattermost:

sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE DATABASE mattermostdb;
CREATE USER mmuser WITH PASSWORD 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE mattermostdb TO mmuser;
\q

Replace your_password with a strong password of your choice.

Step 3: Download and Install Mattermost

Navigate to the /opt directory and download the latest version of Mattermost:

cd /opt
sudo wget https://releases.mattermost.com/7.0.0/mattermost-7.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz

Extract the downloaded archive:

sudo tar -xvzf mattermost-7.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz

Move the extracted Mattermost directory to its proper location:

sudo mv mattermost /opt/mattermost

Create a directory for file storage:

sudo mkdir /opt/mattermost/data

Step 4: Configure Mattermost

Now you need to configure Mattermost to connect to the PostgreSQL database. Open the Mattermost configuration file:

sudo nano /opt/mattermost/config/config.json

Find the following lines and update them with your PostgreSQL database information:

"DriverName": "postgres",
"DataSource": "postgres://mmuser:your_password@localhost:5432/mattermostdb?sslmode=disable&connect_timeout=10"

Replace your_password with the password you set for the PostgreSQL user.

Save and exit the file.

Step 5: Create a Mattermost Service

Create a new systemd service file to manage Mattermost as a service:

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/mattermost.service

Add the following content to the service file:

[Unit]
Description=Mattermost
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=mattermost
Group=mattermost
ExecStart=/opt/mattermost/bin/mattermost
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
WorkingDirectory=/opt/mattermost

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit the file, then reload systemd to apply the new service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Start and enable the Mattermost service:

sudo systemctl start mattermost
sudo systemctl enable mattermost

Step 6: Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy (Optional)

For production environments, it's recommended to set up Nginx as a reverse proxy for Mattermost. Install Nginx using the following command:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Create a new Nginx server block configuration for Mattermost:

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

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8065;
        proxy_set_header Host $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;
    }
}

Save and exit the file. Enable the configuration and restart Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/mattermost /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 7: Access Mattermost

You can now access Mattermost by opening your web browser and navigating to http://yourdomain.com. You should see the Mattermost setup page where you can create an admin account and configure your team.