Step 1: Update Your System

Before installing any software, it's a good idea to ensure that your system is up to date. Run the following commands to update your Debian 11 system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Keeping your system updated is critical for security and performance, especially when running it on a VPS Windows Servers platform.

Step 2: Install PostgreSQL

Mattermost requires a database to store its data. We will use PostgreSQL, which is supported by Mattermost. Install PostgreSQL with the following command:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

After installing PostgreSQL, start and enable it:

sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Log into PostgreSQL and create a 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

Download the latest version of Mattermost for Linux. Navigate to the /opt directory and download Mattermost:

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

Extract the Mattermost archive:

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

Move the extracted files to a directory and create a data folder:

sudo mv mattermost /opt/mattermost
sudo mkdir /opt/mattermost/data

Step 4: Configure Mattermost

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

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

Look for 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 close the file.

Step 5: Create a Mattermost Service

To manage Mattermost as a service, create a systemd service file. This will ensure Mattermost starts automatically with the system:

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. Reload systemd and start the Mattermost service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mattermost
sudo systemctl enable mattermost

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

In production environments, it’s recommended to use Nginx as a reverse proxy for Mattermost. Install Nginx:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Create a new Nginx configuration file 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;
    }
}

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 will see the Mattermost setup page where you can create an admin account and configure your team.