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Deploy with Snaps

Effective December 6, 2023, Rocket.Chat will cease support for connections from cloud services and official mobile/desktop apps to workspaces running legacy versions outside our support window. Users on unsupported legacy servers are advised to upgrade to the latest Rocket.Chat version to ensure continued access to cloud, mobile, and desktop applications. Each Rocket.Chat version is supported for six months post-release.
Snaps are a convenient way to rapidly deploy a Rocket.Chat instance for development or discovery purposes. We do not recommend snaps for managing production environment.
Installing software on Linux can now be done easily with the use of Snaps. They are self-contained packages with all necessary files and dependencies, ensuring easy installation and updates. Deploying Rocket.Chat with Snaps offers seamless deployment on any Linux distribution, providing a secure and isolated workspace. It also auto-updates when a new version of Rocket.Chat is released.
In this guide, you'll learn how to: 
​Deploy Rocket.Chat using Snap​
​Backup & Restore Rocket.Chat Snap data​
​Auto SSL with Snaps​
​Update Rocket.Chat Snap​
Preparation Steps
Prerequisites
A Linux-based system (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, etc.)
AVX/AVX2 supported CPU to run Mongo 5.0 for Rocket.Chat workspaces on version 6.0 & above.
Install Snaps
Snap is pre-installed in most modern Linux distributions. If it's not, see the Snaps installation guide.
Deploy Rocket.Chat with Snaps
To install Rocket.Chat with snap on Ubuntu, run the following command:
sudo snap install rocketchat-server
This command installs the latest available version on Rocket.Chat. You can also specify the installation by track.
To access your Rocket.Chat workspace, open a web browser and navigate to the specified ROOT URL (http://localhost:3000). Follow the configuration prompts to configure your workspace.​
Moving Between Major Releases
With Snap tracks, you can smoothly transition between major releases of Rocket.Chat (from 2.x to 3.x or from 3.x to 4.x). These tracks enable you to remain on a specific release while receiving updates exclusively for that particular track. For instance, you can confidently switch to a new major release with the following command:
sudo snap switch rocketchat-server --channel=4.x/stable
Snap tracks allow you to keep your Rocket.Chat server up-to-date with the latest features while choosing your preferred release version.
Configuring  Rocket.Chat with Snaps
To see the list of snap variables to configure for your Rocket.Chat server, run the following command:
snap get rocketchat-server
It displays a list of values like this:
Key                Value
backup-on-refresh  disable
ignore-errors      false
mongo-oplog-url    mongodb://localhost:27017/local
mongo-url          mongodb://localhost:27017/parties
port               3000
siteurl            http://localhost:3000
To set any of the variables, run this command:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server <variable-name>=<value>
Configuring MongoDB
From track 4.x, you can configure your MongoDB. The configuration file is located in /var/snap/rocketchat-server/current/mongod.conf.
For all the configuration options, see MongoDB's official documentation.​
Snap Backup and Restore
Snap Backup and Restore is a handy tool that allows you to create backups of your Rocket.Chat instance and restore them as needed.
Backup Rocket.Chat Snap Data
You can enable automatic backup on each snap refresh by executing this command:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server backup-on-refresh=enable
To backup the data on your snap installation,
Stop your rocketchat-server by running
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server stop
While the rocketchat-server service should be stopped, the rocketchat-mongo service should be kept running.
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-mongo status | grep Active
   Active: active (running) (...)
Execute the backup command:
sudo snap run rocketchat-server.backupdb
A successful backup will return this:
[+] A backup of your data can be found at /var/snap/rocketchat-server/common/backup/rocketchat_backup_<timestamp>.tar.gz
Start your rocketchat-server
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server start
Copy your backup to a different system for safekeeping.
Restore Rocket.Chat Snap Data
To restore your backed-up snap data,
Stop your rocketchat-server by running this command:
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server stop
While the rocketchat-server service should be stopped, the rocketchat-mongo service should be kept running.
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-mongo status | grep Active
   Active: active (running) (...)
Copy your backup file to the snap's common folder:
sudo cp rocketchat_backup.tgz /var/snap/rocketchat-server/common/
Run the restore command:
sudo snap run rocketchat-server.restoredb /var/snap/rocketchat-server/common/rocketchat_backup.tgz
If you are replacing an existing database, you get a warning message.
ATTENTION
Your current database WILL BE DROPPED prior to the restore!
Do you want to restore?
1) Yes
2) No
Choose your restore option.
If it is successfully done, you will see an output similar to:
[*] Extracting backup file...
[*] Restoring data...
[*] Preparing database...
[+] Restore completed! Please restart the snap.rocketchat services to verify.
Start your rocketchat-server
sudo service snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server start
Auto SSL with Snaps
Starting from release 0.73, the snap includes Caddy, which utilizes Let's Encrypt to enable TLS protection for your communications. Snap hooks ensure easy configuration of Caddy, including proper DNS setup, before starting Caddy with Let's Encrypt support. 
To set up Auto SSL with Snaps for 4.x latest AMD64 snaps or 3.x latest ARM64 snaps,
Set the SiteUrl to your domain using the following command, esure it is prefixed with https:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server siteurl=https://<your domain>
Start Caddy and restart the snap services.
sudo systemctl enable --now snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy 
sudo snap restart rocketchat-server
To set up Auto SSL with Snaps for older snaps,
To enable TLS and Let's Encrypt certificates:
1.Input a URL starting with HTTPS
2.Own the domain name you would like to use.
3.Ensure the proper DNS record is set up to link your domain name to your public IP address. Keep in mind that it may take some time for DNS records to propagate.
Run the following commands to check that configuration is set up correctly before starting the services:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server caddy-url=https://<your-domain-name>
sudo snap set rocketchat-server caddy=enable
sudo snap set rocketchat-server https=enable
sudo snap run rocketchat-server.initcaddy
If no errors are found, it is safe to restart Rocket.Chat and Caddy:
sudo systemctl restart snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server.service
sudo systemctl restart snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy.service
In case you don't want to configure TLS for your site or want to remove TLS configuration:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server https=disable
sudo snap set rocketchat-server caddy-url=http://<your-domain-name>
sudo snap set rocketchat-server caddy=enable
sudo snap run rocketchat-server.initcaddy
If no errors were found, it is safe to restart Rocket.Chat and Caddy:
sudo systemctl restart snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-server.service
sudo systemctl restart snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy.service
To view the Caddy log,  run this command: 
sudo snap logs -f rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
Configure Caddy yourself or use another HTTP Proxy
For 4.x latest AMD64 snaps or 3.x latest ARM64 snaps,
Both caddy v2 and caddy v1 (EOL) is delivered in the snap, v2 is prioritized over v1.
To configure Caddy yourself, place the Caddyfile in the /var/snap/rocketchat-server/current/ directory and restart rocketchat-server.
sudo snap restart rocketchat-server
To use another reverse proxy, disable Caddy by running this command:
sudo systemctl disable snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
For older snap versions,
If you would like to use a different https proxy or prefer other options in your Caddy configuration, you can choose to disable Caddy by running this command:
sudo snap set rocketchat-server caddy=disable
Edit the Caddyfile found at /var/snap/rocketchat-server/current/Caddyfile and write your configuration.
Replace _caddy-url_ and _port_ with your site information. For example, suppose I have example-domain.com directed towards my server.
 If your DNS is not working, you could be instantly throttled by Let's Encrypt for up to a week. 
Be sure that your DNS has finished resolving before attempting to enable TLS. To test your DNS you can use http:
http://example-domain.com
​
reverse_proxy localhost:3000
Restart Caddy:
sudo systemctl reload snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
You can check that the Caddy service started correctly by running:
sudo systemctl status snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
Once that is tested and resolved, to get secured communications, you can remove the http://:
example-domain.com
​
reverse_proxy localhost:3000
​
Using an IP address will not work for automatically enabling TLS with a publicly-trusted certificate. You must use a valid hostname for a trusted certificate. See the official guide for more information. 
If you use an IP address, Caddy will still serve your site over TLS, but using a self-signed certificate.
Restart the Caddy service by running:
sudo systemctl reload snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
You can check that the Caddy service started correctly by running:
sudo systemctl status snap.rocketchat-server.rocketchat-caddy
If the configuration is succesfull, the website should now be easily accessible at https://example-domain.com.
Updating Rocket.Chat Snap
Before you proceed, see the general guidelines for updating Rocket.Chat.
With the Rocket.Chat snap installation, you'll always be on the latest track at the setup time, ensuring access to the latest releases.
It is highly advised to back up your data before upgrading.
Before a major version update, check the forum's announcement section. Major releases are often delayed by a couple of weeks to gather feedback and apply minor patches before the final release.
To force an update, run this command:
sudo snap refresh rocketchat-server
To update to a major version, switch to a specific track by executing this command:
sudo snap switch rocketchat-server --channel=x.x/stable
You'll then receive updates related to that track..
 Learn more about track changes in this discussion.
In addition to the latest track, Rocket.Chat offers three other channels: stable, candidate, and edge.  For more information on these channels, refer to the official guide.
To update to a new version, execute this command:
sudo snap refresh rocketchat-server --channel=x.x/stable
The channel format is "x.x/stable," where the first "x" represents the major version, and the second "x" remains unchanged. For example, for major version 6, the channel is "6.x/stable," and for major version 5, it's "5.x/stable." In each "6.x/stable" channel, you will receive all minor and patch release updates specifically for that major version (in this case, major version 6). 
If you have any concerns or issues with your deployment, see Snaps FAQ.
Last modified 10d ago