Description

Mattermost empowers organizations through secure, modern communication: open source team messaging and file sharing across web, mobile and PC, archiving, search and unlimited third-party integrations.

First steps with the Bitnami Mattermost Team Edition Stack

Welcome to your new Bitnami application running on Microsoft Azure! Here are a few questions (and answers!) you might need when first starting with your application.

What credentials do I need?

You need two sets of credentials:

• The application credentials that allow you to log in to your new Bitnami application. These credentials consist of a username and password.
• The server credentials that allow you to log in to your Microsoft Azure server using an SSH client and execute commands on the server using the command line. These credentials consist of an SSH username and key.

What is the administrator username set for me to log in to the application for the first time?

Username: user@example.com

What SSH username should I use for secure shell access to my application?

SSH username: bitnami

What are the default ports?

A port is an endpoint of communication in an operating system that identifies a specific process or a type of service. Bitnami stacks include several services or servers that require a port.

Remember that if you need to open some ports you can follow the instructions given in the FAQ to learn how to open the server ports for remote access.

Port 22 is the default port for SSH connections.

Bitnami opens some ports for the main servers. These are the ports opened by default: 80, 443.

How to start or stop the services?

Each Bitnami stack includes a control script that lets you easily stop, start and restart services. The script is located at /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh. Call it without any service name arguments to start all services:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh start

Or use it to restart a single service, such as Apache only, by passing the service name as argument:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart apache

Use this script to stop all services:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh stop

Restart the services by running the script without any arguments:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart

Obtain a list of available services and operations by running the script without any arguments:

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh

How to configure outbound email settings?

Follow these steps:

• Log in to Mattermost as an administrator.

• Browse to the "System Console".

• Navigate to the "Notifications -> Email" menu and set the values for your SMTP server. For example, to configure a Gmail server, use the values below. Remember to replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with your Gmail account username and password.
  • Enable Email Notifications: true
  • SMTP Server Username: USERNAME@gmail.com
  • SMTP Server Password: PASSWORD
  • SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
  • SMTP Server Port: 587
  • Connection Security: TLS

• Click "Test Connection" to validate the connection. If the connection succeeds, click "Save" to save the changes.

  

To configure the application to use other third-party SMTP services for outgoing email, such as Hotmail or Amazon SES, refer to the Mattermost official documentation.

To configure the application to use other third-party SMTP services for outgoing email, such as SendGrid or Mandrill, refer to the FAQ.

Troubleshooting Gmail SMTP issues

If you are using Gmail as the outbound email server and you are not able to send email correctly, Google may be blocking sign-in attempts from your apps or devices. Depending on whether or not you use Google Apps, the steps to correct this will differ.

For Google Apps users

If you are a Google Apps user, you will need your administrator to allow users to change the policy for less secure apps. If you are a Google Apps administrator, follow these steps:

• Browse to the Google Apps administration panel.

• Click on "Security" and then "Basic settings".

• Look for the section "Less secure apps" and then click on "Go to settings for less secure apps".

• Select "Allow users to manage their access to less secure apps".

For other Google users

If you do not use Google Apps, follow the steps in the following sections, depending on whether 2-step verification has been enabled on the account or not.

If 2-step verification has not been enabled on the account, follow these steps:

• Browse to the "Less secure apps" page and log in using the account you are having problems with. This option is typically required by many popular email clients, such as Outlook and Thunderbird, and should not be considered unsafe.

• Select the "Turn on" option.

  

If 2-step verification has been enabled on the account, you have to generate an app password. Follow these steps:

• Browse to the "App passwords" page.

• Click "Select app" and choose the app you're using.

• Click "Select device" and choose the device you're using.

• Click the "Generate" button.

• Enter the app password on your device.

• Click the "Done" button.

Here are other options you may try:

• Browse to the web version of Gmail and sign in to your account. Once you're signed in, try to enable access for the application again.

• Browse to the "Unlock Captcha" function page and sign in with your Gmail username and password.

• Disable IMAP from the Gmail web server interface and enable it again.

  

How to create a full backup of Mattermost Team Edition?

Backup

The Bitnami Mattermost Team Edition Stack is self-contained and the simplest option for performing a backup is to copy or compress the Bitnami stack installation directory. To do so in a safe manner, you will need to stop all servers, so this method may not be appropriate if you have people accessing the application continuously.

Follow these steps:

• Change to the directory in which you wish to save your backup:

    $ cd /your/directory
  

• Stop all servers:

    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh stop
  

• Create a compressed file with the stack contents:

    $ sudo tar -pczvf application-backup.tar.gz /opt/bitnami
  

• Restart all servers:

    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh start
  

You should now download or transfer the application-backup.tar.gz file to a safe location.

Restore

Follow these steps:

• Change to the directory containing your backup:

    $ cd /your/directory
  

• Stop all servers:

    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh stop
  

• Move the current stack to a different location:

    $ sudo mv /opt/bitnami /tmp/bitnami-backup
  

• Uncompress the backup file to the original directoryv

    $ sudo tar -pxzvf application-backup.tar.gz -C /
  

• Start all servers:

    $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh start
  

If you want to create only a database backup, refer to these instructions for MySQL and PostgreSQL.

How to upgrade Mattermost?

It is strongly recommended to create a backup before starting the update process. If you have important data, create and restore a backup to ensure that everything works properly.

Follow these steps to upgrade Mattermost:

• Stop the server:

   $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh stop mattermost
  

• Back up the current configuration files:

   $ sudo mkdir /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/backup/
   $ sudo cp /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/config/config.json /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/backup/
  

• Back up the database as described on the MySQL page.

• Back up the Mattermost data files:

   $ sudo cp -r /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/ /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/backup/server
  

• Download the latest version of Mattermost:

   $ cd /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/
   $ sudo wget https://releases.mattermost.com/X.X.X/mattermost-team-X.X.X-linux-amd64.tar.gz
  

• Remove previous Mattermost files (already backed up in previous steps).

   $ sudo rm -rf /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/*
  

• Uncompress the new version:

  $ sudo tar xzf mattermost-team-X.X.X-linux-amd64.tar.gz -C /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server --strip-components=1
  

• Restore the previous configuration file:

  $ sudo cp /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/backup/config.json /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/config/config.json
  

• Adjust file permissions:

  $ sudo chown -R root:root /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server
  $ sudo touch /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/logs/mattermost.log
  $ sudo chown -R bitnami:mattermost /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/logs
  $ sudo chmod g+w /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/server/logs/mattermost.log
  

• Restart the server:

  $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart mattermost
  

• Open the "System Console" and save a change. Doing this will upgrade your config.json schema to the latest version using default values for any new settings added.

How to create an SSL certificate?

You can create your own SSL certificate with the OpenSSL binary. A certificate request can then be sent to a certificate authority (CA) to get it signed into a certificate, or if you have your own certificate authority, you may sign it yourself, or you can use a self-signed certificate (because you just want a test certificate or because you are setting up your own CA).

• Generate a new private key:

   $ sudo openssl genrsa -out /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key 2048
  

• Create a certificate:

   $ sudo openssl req -new -key /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key -out /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/cert.csr
  

  IMPORTANT: Enter the server domain name when the above command asks for the "Common Name".

• Send cert.csr to the certificate authority. When the certificate authority completes their checks (and probably received payment from you), they will hand over your new certificate to you.

• Until the certificate is received, create a temporary self-signed certificate:

   $ sudo openssl x509 -in /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/cert.csr -out /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.crt -req -signkey /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key -days 365
  

• Back up your private key in a safe location after generating a password-protected version as follows:

   $ sudo openssl rsa -des3 -in /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key -out privkey.pem
  

  Note that if you use this encrypted key in the configuration file, Nginx won't be able to start. Regenerate the key without password protection from this file as follows:

   $ sudo openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key
  

Find more information about certificates at http://www.openssl.org.

How to enable HTTPS support with SSL certificates?

Bitnami images come with SSL support already pre-configured and with a dummy certificate in place. Although this dummy certificate is fine for testing and development purposes, you will usually want to use a valid SSL certificate for production use. You can either generate this on your own (explained here) or you can purchase one from a commercial certificate authority.

Once you obtain the certificate and certificate key files, you will need to update your server to use them. Follow these steps to activate SSL support:

• Use the table below to identify the correct locations for your certificate and configuration files.

  Variable	Value
  Current application URL	https://[custom-domain]/
  	Example: https://my-domain.com/ or https://my-domain.com/appname
  Nginx configuration file	/opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/APPNAME.conf
  Certificate file	/opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.crt
  Certificate key file	/opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server.key

• Copy your SSL certificate and certificate key file to the specified locations.

• Once you have copied all the server certificate files, you may make them readable by the root user only with the following commands:

   $ sudo chown root:root /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server*
  
   $ sudo chmod 600 /opt/bitnami/apps/APPNAME/conf/certs/server*
  

• Open port 443 in the server firewall. Refer to the FAQ for more information.

• Restart the Nginx server.

   $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart nginx
  

You should now be able to access your application using an HTTPS URL.

How to force HTTPS redirection with Nginx?

Modify the /opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/bitnami/bitnami.conf file so that it looks like this:

server {
      listen 80;
      server_name localhost;
      return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
      include "/opt/bitnami/nginx/conf/bitnami/bitnami-apps-prefix.conf";
  }

After modifying the Nginx configuration file:

• Open port 443 in the server firewall. Refer to the FAQ for more information.

• Restart Nginx to apply the changes.

How to debug Nginx errors?

The Nginx log file is located at /opt/bitnami/nginx/log/error.log.

If you configured Nginx to use a privileged port (port number < 1024), check that the Nginx server is running as user daemon in the configuration file. This user should also have write privileges to the /opt/bitnami/nginx/log/ directory.

How to modify the allowed limit for uploaded files in the Nginx configuration?

The maximum size for uploaded files is set to 1MB by default in the Nginx configuration. You can add the following option at the end of this file /opt/bitnami/apps/APP_NAME/conf/nginx-app.conf to increase the allowed size for uploads. Replace the APP_NAME placeholder with the correct directory name.

client_max_body_size SIZE;

• Restart PHP-FPM and Nginx for the changes to take effect.

  $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart nginx
  $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart php-fpm
  

Updating the IP address or hostname

Mattermost Team Edition requires updating the IP address/domain name if the machine IP address/domain name changes. The bnconfig tool also has an option which updates the IP address, called --machine_hostname (use --help to check if that option is available for your application). Note that this tool changes the URL to http://NEW_DOMAIN/mattermost.

$ sudo /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/bnconfig --machine_hostname NEW_DOMAIN

If you have configured your machine to use a static domain name or IP address, you should rename or remove the /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/bnconfig file.

$ sudo mv /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/bnconfig /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/bnconfig.disabled

You can also change your hostname by modifying it in your hosts file. Enter the new hostname using your preferred editor.

$ sudo nano /etc/hosts

• Add a new line with the IP address and the new hostname. Here's an example. Remember to replace the IP-ADDRESS and DOMAIN placeholders with the correct IP address and domain name.

  IP-ADDRESS DOMAIN

How to create a Virtual Network peering?

To connect two instances internally you can enable a Virtual Network (VNet) peering from the Azure Portal. Depending if the instances were launched in the same or in different resource groups, there are two methods for performing a internal connection: sharing a virtual network or enabling a virtual network peering.

• Learn how to share a virtual network to join instances from the same resource group.
• Learn how to enable virtual network peering to join instances from different resource groups.

How to find the MySQL database credentials?

• Database username: root.
• Database password: The same as the application password. Find out how to obtain application credentials.

How to connect to the MySQL database?

You can connect to the MySQL database from the same computer where it is installed with the mysql client tool.

$ mysql -u root -p

You will be prompted to enter the root user password. This is the same as the application password.

How to debug errors in your database?

The main log file is created at /opt/bitnami/mysql/data/mysqld.log on the MySQL database server host.

How to change the MySQL root password?

You can modify the MySQL password using the following command at the shell prompt. Replace the NEW_PASSWORD placeholder with the actual password you wish to set.

$ /opt/bitnami/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -p -u root password NEW_PASSWORD

How to reset the MySQL root password?

If you don't remember your MySQL root password, you can follow the steps below to reset it to a new value:

• Create a file in /home/bitnami/mysql-init with the content shown below (replace NEW_PASSWORD with the password you wish to use):

   UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('NEW_PASSWORD') WHERE User='root';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
  

  If your stack ships MySQL v5.7.x, use the following content instead of that shown above:

   UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD('NEW_PASSWORD') WHERE User='root';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
  

  TIP: Check the MySQL version with the command /opt/bitnami/mysql/bin/mysqladmin --version or /opt/bitnami/mysql/bin/mysqld --version.

• Stop the MySQL server:

   $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh stop mysql
  

• Start MySQL with the following command:

   $ sudo /opt/bitnami/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --pid-file=/opt/bitnami/mysql/data/mysqld.pid --datadir=/opt/bitnami/mysql/data --init-file=/home/bitnami/mysql-init 2> /dev/null &
  

• Restart the MySQL server:

   $ sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart mysql
  

• Remove the script:

   $ rm /home/bitnami/mysql-init
  

How to upload files to the server with SFTP?

Although you can use any SFTP/SCP client to transfer files to your server, the link below explains how to configure FileZilla (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X), WinSCP (Windows) and Cyberduck (Mac OS X). It is required to use your server's private SSH key to configure the SFTP client properly. Choose your preferred application and follow the steps in the link below to connect to the server through SFTP.

How to upload files to the server

Troubleshooting Mattermost Team Edition

How to debug errors in Mattermost Team Edition?

The Mattermost Team Edition logs are stored at /opt/bitnami/apps/mattermost/htdocs/logs/mattermost.log.

Where can I learn more about Mattermost?

Learn more from the Mattermost website and the Mattermost Github repository.

Check out the following webinar to find out all the advantages of having an open source messaging application for your company: