Install Mattermost Server using the tarball#

Available on all plans

Self-hosted deployments

Minimum system requirements:

  • Hardware: 1 vCPU/core with 2GB RAM (support for up to 1,000 users)
  • Database: PostgreSQL v12+
  • Network:
    • Application 80/443, TLS, TCP Inbound
    • Administrator Console 8065, TLS, TCP Inbound
    • SMTP port 10025, TCP/UDP Outbound

You can install the Mattermost Server on any 64-bit Linux system using the tarball. This is the most flexible installation method, but it comes with the highest effort, normally favored by advanced system administrators.

Mattermost Academy Learn about deploying Mattermost using a tarball

Tip

If you are running the Mattermost Server and database on a single system, we recommend the Mattermost Omnibus install method as this greatly reduces setup and ongoing maintenance, and uses the Mattermost PPA for updates. More modern installation methods such as the Mattermost Helm Chart or Kubernetes Operator are available and are highly recommended.

Note

You need a PostgreSQL database. See the database preparation documentation for details on this prerequisite.

A Mattermost deployment includes 3 steps: download, install, and setup.

Download#

In a terminal window, ssh onto the system that will host the Mattermost Server.

Using wget, download the Mattermost Server release you want to install.

wget https://releases.mattermost.com/10.3.1/mattermost-10.3.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz

wget https://releases.mattermost.com/9.11.6/mattermost-9.11.6-linux-amd64.tar.gz

If you are looking for an older release, Enterprise and Team Edition releases can be found in our version archive documentation.

Install#

Install the Mattermost Server by extracting the tarball, creating users and groups, and setting file/folder permissions.

First extract the tarball:

tar -xvzf mattermost*.gz

Now move the entire folder to the /opt directory (or whatever path you require):

sudo mv mattermost /opt

Note

If you choose a custom path, ensure this alternate path is used in all steps that follow.

By default the Mattermost Server uses /opt/mattermost/data as the folder for files. This can be changed in the System Console during setup (even using alternative storage such as S3). Create the default storage folder:

sudo mkdir /opt/mattermost/data

Now set up a user and group called mattermost:

sudo useradd --system --user-group mattermost

Note

If you choose a custom user and group name, ensure it is used in all the steps that follow.

Set the file and folder permissions for your installation:

sudo chown -R mattermost:mattermost /opt/mattermost

Give the mattermost group write permissions to the application folder:

sudo chmod -R g+w /opt/mattermost

You will now have the latest Mattermost Server version installed on your system. Starting and stopping the Mattermost Server is done using systemd. Create the systemd unit file:

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

As root, edit the systemd unit file to add the following lines:

[Unit]
Description=Mattermost
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=notify
ExecStart=/opt/mattermost/bin/mattermost
TimeoutStartSec=3600
KillMode=mixed
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
WorkingDirectory=/opt/mattermost
User=mattermost
Group=mattermost
LimitNOFILE=49152

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file and reload systemd using sudo systemctl daemon-reload. Mattermost Server is now installed and is ready for setup.

Note

If you are installing the Mattermost server on the same system as your database, you may want to add both After=postgresql.service and BindsTo=postgresql.service to the [Unit] section of the systemd unit file.

Setup#

Before you start the Mattermost Server, you need to edit the configuration file. A default configuration file is located at /opt/mattermost/config/config.json.

We recommend taking a backup of this default config ahead of making changes:

sudo cp /opt/mattermost/config/config.json /opt/mattermost/config/config.defaults.json

Configure the following properties in this file:

  • Set DriverName to "postgres". This is the default and recommended database for all Mattermost installations.

  • Set DataSource to "postgres://mmuser:<mmuser-password>@<host-name-or-IP>:5432/mattermost?sslmode=disable&connect_timeout=10" replacing mmuser, <mmuser-password>, <host-name-or-IP>, and mattermost with your database name.

  • Set your "SiteURL": The domain name for the Mattermost application (e.g. https://mattermost.example.com).

After modifying the config.json configuration file, you can now start the Mattermost server:

sudo systemctl start mattermost

Verify that Mattermost is running: curl http://localhost:8065. You should see the HTML that’s returned by the Mattermost Server.

The final step, depending on your requirements, is to run sudo systemctl enable mattermost.service so that Mattermost will start on system boot.

Updates#

Updating your Mattermost Server installation when using the tarball requires several manual steps. See the upgrade Mattermost Server documentation for details.

Remove Mattermost#

If you wish to remove the Mattermost Server for any reason, you must stop the Mattermost Server, back up all important files, and then run this command:

sudo rm /opt/mattermost

Note

Depending on your configuration, there are several important folders in /opt/mattermost to backup. These are config, logs, plugins, client/plugins, and data. We strongly recommend you back up these locations before running the rm command.

You may also remove the Mattermost systemd unit file and the user/group created for running the application.

Frequently asked questions#

Why doesn’t Mattermost start at system boot?#

To have the Mattermost Server start at system boot, the systemd until file needs to be enabled. Run the following command:

sudo systemctl enable mattermost.service

Why does Mattermost fail to start at system boot?#

If your database is on the same system as your Mattermost Server, we recommend editing the default /lib/systemd/system/mattermost.service systemd unit file to add After=postgresql.service and BindsTo=postgresql.service to the [Unit] section.

Can I run Mattermost without a proxy?#

Yes. Mattermost binds to 443 instead of 8065. The Mattermost binary requires the correct permissions to do that binding. You must activate the CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE capability to allow the new Mattermost binary to bind to ports lower than 1024 by running the following command:

sudo setcap cap_net_bind_service=+ep ./mattermost/bin/mattermost

Note

  • We highly recommend using a proxy in front of Mattermost server for up to 200 concurrent users. If you have fewer than 200 concurrent users, you can set up TLS. If you’re exceeding 200 concurrent users, you’ll need a proxy, such as NGINX, in front of Mattermost to manage the traffic.