This document is a vital resource for understanding the conditions and criteria required to maintain full support eligibility. It provides essential guidance for users and administrators to effectively manage and sustain their Rocket.Chat installations, ensuring they stay updated, secure, and fully operational. By following the guidelines outlined here, you can make informed decisions that enhance the security, efficiency, and longevity of your Rocket.Chat workspace.
Support window
Ensure that your workspaces are updated to the latest stable versions.
Each release of Rocket.Chat is supported for six months after its release date. Once this period expires, hosted services such as the Push Gateway and Marketplace will cease to function for that particular version. During the support window, Rocket.Chat focuses on delivering security patches and responding to support queries concerning configuration and usage for the versions specified. Any bugs that are not security-related will be addressed solely in future releases.
Refer to the Version Durability document to verify the final support date of each release version. Visit Guidelines for Updating Rocket.Chat to update your workspace.
Workspace requirements for support
To obtain official support, your workspaces must meet certain requirements to ensure the support request pertains to the Rocket.Chat application and not external factors.
Installation requirements
The installation should run the Docker image provided by Rocket.Chat to isolate external factors. This approach ensures efficient support by avoiding issues like missing or outdated dependencies and using non-official versions. Refer to the Docker deployment guide for details. If you are not using the Docker deployment, the support team will do their best to assist and may use their acquired knowledge to provide resolutions whenever possible. Keep in mind that the assistance will mostly be limited to Rocket.Chat and not to the deployment errors.
Additionally, installations must meet the system requirements for a stable Rocket.Chat environment.
Before the Rocket.Chat mobile app version reaches its end-of-life (EOL), it's crucial to upgrade to ensure you continue to receive official support and have the latest security features. This is particularly important for white-label app users, which might not receive automatic updates. Ensure you follow the version support dates to maintain optimum app performance and security standards.
MongoDB version requirements
Each Rocket.Chat release supports different MongoDB versions. Make sure that your workspaces are supporting the right versions. Following the official MongoDB documentation for upgrade guides is essential to ensure no versions are skipped during the upgrade process. The following table shows the Rocket.Chat releases and the corresponding MongoDB versions:
It's possible to bypass the MongoDB version check by using the environment variable
BYPASS_MONGO_VALIDATION=true. Bear in mind that this work around should be used only when extrictly necessary and may prevent some functionalities to work properly or even prevent the server to start.
Client app requirements
The list of supported software for browsers, desktop, and mobile apps can be found in the Minimum Requirements for Client Apps document.
Workspace monitoring and logs
Monitoring is required for all supported installations with Rocket.Chat supporting the Prometheus and Grafana monitoring stack.
While Rocket.Chat doesn't require server or database access, we might request access to logs to identify issues. Potential logs include server logs, web browser logs, and mobile logs.
What to do before deprecation
Before the end of the deprecation period for a Rocket.Chat version, we strongly recommend all the workspaces on Rocket.Chat plans to upgrade to a supported version for continued access to cloud services, mobile, and desktop apps.
If you do not wish to update, Rocket.Chat provides workspace owners with a variety of options for managing their workspaces in the manner of their choosing. You must implement the following alternatives to our cloud services and published apps:
Mobile and desktop apps: You must compile each app from our open-source code and publish your own builds to relevant app stores.
Push notifications: You will need to deploy your own push notification server.
Apps: You must develop and sideload your own applications instead of installing them through our Marketplace.
If you have any further questions or require additional clarification, we encourage you to contact our support team for expert assistance.