Mattermost is a powerful and secure platform designed for organizations and companies to enhance communication, collaboration, and workflow orchestration. With features like one-to-one messaging, unlimited search history, file sharing, two-factor authentication, and notifications, Mattermost provides an excellent alternative to Slack. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Mattermost on Alma Linux 8, ensuring that your team can benefit from this self-hosted chat service.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

1. A server running Alma Linux 8.
2. A valid domain name pointed to your server’s IP address.
3. A root password configured on the server.

Install MySQL Server

Mattermost utilizes MySQL as its database backend, so we need to install it on our server. Execute the following command:

dnf install mysql-server -y

Once the installation is complete, start and enable the MySQL service:

systemctl start mysqld
systemctl enable mysqld

To secure the MySQL installation, run the following script:

mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set the root password and secure the installation.

Create a Database for Mattermost

Next, we need to create a database and user for Mattermost. Log in to MySQL using the following command:

mysql -u root -p

Once logged in, create the Mattermost database and user:

CREATE DATABASE matterdb;
CREATE USER 'matteruser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Grant all privileges to the Mattermost database:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON matterdb.* TO matteruser@localhost;

Flush the privileges and exit from MySQL:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Install Mattermost on Alma Linux 8

To install Mattermost on Alma Linux 8, follow these steps:

1. Create a dedicated user to run Mattermost:

useradd --system --user-group mattermost

2. Download the latest version of Mattermost:

wget https://releases.mattermost.com/6.0.2/mattermost-6.0.2-linux-amd64.tar.gz

3. Extract the downloaded file:

tar -xf mattermost-6.0.2-linux-amd64.tar.gz

4. Move the extracted directory to /opt:

mv mattermost /opt

5. Create a data directory for Mattermost and adjust permissions:

mkdir /opt/mattermost/data
chown -R mattermost:mattermost /opt/mattermost
chmod -R g+w /opt/mattermost

6. Edit the Mattermost configuration file:

nano /opt/mattermost/config/config.json

Define your Mattermost website URL in the configuration file:

"SiteURL": "http://mattermost.example.com",

Replace the following lines with the MySQL database configuration:

"DriverName": "postgres",
"DataSource": "postgres://mmuser:mostest@localhost/mattermost_test?sslmode=disable\u0026connect_timeout=10",

With:

"DriverName": "mysql",
"DataSource": "matteruser:password@tcp(localhost:3306)/matterdb?charset=utf8mb4,utf8\u0026readTimeout=30s\u0026writeTimeout=30s",

Save and close the file.

Create a Systemd Service File for Mattermost

To manage the Mattermost service, we’ll create a systemd service file. Run the following command:

nano /etc/systemd/system/mattermost.service

Add the following content to the file:

[Unit]
Description=Mattermost
After=syslog.target network.target mysqld.service

[Service]
Type=notify
WorkingDirectory=/opt/mattermost
User=mattermost
ExecStart=/opt/mattermost/bin/mattermost
PIDFile=/var/spool/mattermost/pid/master.pid
TimeoutStartSec=3600
LimitNOFILE=49152

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and close the file, then reload the systemd daemon:

systemctl daemon-reload

Start the Mattermost service and enable it to start at system reboot:

systemctl start mattermost
systemctl enable mattermost

Verify the status of the Mattermost service:

systemctl status mattermost

Check that the service is active and running without any errors.

Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy for Mattermost

To ensure secure access to Mattermost, it’s recommended to use Nginx as a reverse proxy. Follow these steps to configure Nginx:

1. Install Nginx:

dnf install nginx -y

2. Create an Nginx virtual host configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/mattermost.conf

Add the following configuration to the file:

server {
listen 80;
server_name mattermost.example.com;

include /etc/nginx/default.d/*.conf;

 location / {
 proxy_pass http://localhost:8065/;
 index index.html index.htm;
 }

 error_page 404 /404.html;
 location = /40x.html {}

 error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;
 location = /50x.html {}
}

Save and close the file. Verify the Nginx configuration for any errors:

nginx -t

If the output indicates that the configuration is correct, start and enable the Nginx service:

systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

Verify the status of the Nginx service:

systemctl status nginx

Ensure that the service is active and running without any issues.

Configure Firewall

To allow access to the Mattermost service, we need to open port 80 in the firewall. Run the following command:

firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent

Reload the firewall to apply the changes:

firewall-cmd --reload

Access Mattermost Web UI

Now that the installation and configuration are complete, you can access the Mattermost web interface using your domain name (e.g., http://mattermost.example.com). Follow these steps to set up your Mattermost account:

1. Provide your email address, admin username, and password.
2. Click on the “Create Account” button.
3. Click on “Create a team” to proceed.
4. Enter your desired team name and click “Next.”
5. Set your Mattermost team URL and click “Finish.”

Congratulations! You now have access to the Mattermost dashboard, where you can start collaborating with your team.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have covered the step-by-step process of installing Mattermost on Alma Linux 8. By following these instructions, you have successfully set up a self-hosted chat service that promotes efficient communication and collaboration within your organization. Mattermost offers a wide range of features to enhance productivity, making it an excellent alternative to other chat platforms. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us at Shape.host. We provide reliable and scalable Linux SSD VPS hosting solutions to empower businesses with secure cloud hosting services.