Configuring Apache2 (Unofficial)

Unofficial, community-maintained guides for configuring Apache as a proxy instead of NGINX.

Configuring Apache2 as a proxy for Mattermost Server (Unofficial)

Important

This unofficial guide is maintained by the Mattermost community and this deployment configuration is not yet officially supported by Mattermost, Inc. Community testing, feedback and improvements are welcome and greatly appreciated. You can edit this page on GitHub.

In order to use Apache as a reverse proxy for the mattermost server, you need to install and enable the following apache modules: mod_rewrite , mod_proxy, mod_proxy_http and mod_proxy_wstunnel. Follow the instructions from your linux distribution to do so.

The Apache2 proxy configuration is done through the /etc/apache2/sites-available directory. If you’re setting up Mattermost on a subdomain you’ll want to create a new configuration along the lines of mysubdomain.mydomain.com.conf.

Copy the default configuration file found in the same directory.

To configure Apache2 as a proxy

  1. SSH into your server.

  2. Make sure the apache modules mod_rewrite , mod_proxy, mod_proxy_http and mod_proxy_wstunnel are installed and enabled. If not, follow the instructions from your linux distribution to do so.

  3. Create/open the above mentioned file (000-default or a new subdomain configuration).

  4. Edit your configuration using the guide below:

    1. If you’re not setting up a subdomain your ServerName will simply be set to mydomain.com.
    2. ServerAlias can been added too if you want to capture www.mydomain.com.
    3. Remember to change the values to match your server’s name, etc.
    4. If you have enabled TLS in the Mattermost settings, you must use the protocol wss:// instead of ws:// in the RewriteRule.
    5. Save once finished.
<VirtualHost *:80>
  # If you're not using a subdomain you may need to set a ServerAlias to:
  # ServerAlias www.mydomain.com
  ServerName mysubdomain.mydomain.com
  ServerAdmin hostmaster@mydomain.com
  ProxyPreserveHost On

  # Set web sockets
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /api/v[0-9]+/(users/)?websocket [NC,OR]
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:UPGRADE} ^WebSocket$ [NC,OR]
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:CONNECTION} ^Upgrade$ [NC]
  RewriteRule .* ws://127.0.0.1:8065%{REQUEST_URI} [P,QSA,L]

  <Location />
        Require all granted
        ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:8065/
        ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:8065/
        ProxyPassReverseCookieDomain 127.0.0.1 mysubdomain.mydomain.com
  </Location>

</VirtualHost>

  1. Because you’ll likely have not set up the subdomain before now on Apache2, run a2ensite mysubdomain.mydomain.com to enable the site (do not run a2ensite mysubdomain.mydomain.com.conf).

  2. Restart Apache2

    • On Ubuntu 14.04 and RHEL 6: sudo service apache2 restart
    • On Ubuntu 16.04 and RHEL 7: sudo systemctl restart apache2

You should be all set! Ensure that your Mattermost config file is pointing to the correct URL and then ensure that once deployed your socket connection is not dropping.

Configuring Apache2 with SSL and HTTP/2 (Unofficial)

Important

This unofficial guide is maintained by the Mattermost community and this deployment configuration is not yet officially supported by Mattermost, Inc. Community testing, feedback and improvements are welcome and greatly appreciated. You can edit this page on GitHub.

In order to use Apache as a reverse proxy for the Mattermost Server, you need to install and enable the following apache modules: mod_rewrite , mod_proxy, mod_proxy_http, mod_headers, and mod_proxy_wstunnel. Follow the installation instructions for your Linux distribution.

Once you’ve configured Apache2 as a proxy for your Mattermost Server, the easiest way to enable SSL on Apache2 is via Let’s Encrypt and Certbot.

Note

If Let’s Encrypt is enabled, forward port 80 through a firewall, with Forward80To443 config.json setting set to true to complete the Let’s Encrypt certification.

Once installed, run $ certbot --apache and follow the guide. Afterwards you should find a new configuration file in /etc/apache2/sites-available which should follow the format mysubdomain.mydomain.com-le-ssl.conf.

When opened, edit it to look something like the following:

<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
        ServerName mysubdomain.mydomain.com
        ServerAdmin hostmaster@mydomain.com
        ProxyPreserveHost On
        RequestHeader set "X-Forwarded-Proto" expr=%{REQUEST_SCHEME}
        RequestHeader set "X-Forwarded-SSL" expr=%{HTTPS}

        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /api/v[0-9]+/(users/)?websocket [NC,OR]
        RewriteCond %{HTTP:UPGRADE} ^WebSocket$ [NC,OR]
        RewriteCond %{HTTP:CONNECTION} ^Upgrade$ [NC]
        RewriteRule .* ws://127.0.0.1:8065%{REQUEST_URI} [P,QSA,L]

        <Location />
                Require all granted
                ProxyPass http://127.0.0.1:8065/
                ProxyPassReverse http://127.0.0.1:8065/
                ProxyPassReverseCookieDomain 127.0.0.1 mysubdomain.mydomain.com
        </Location>

        # Generated by Certbot
        SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/mydomain.com/fullchain.pem
        SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/mydomain.com/privkey.pem
        Include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>

  1. Restart Apache2

    • On Ubuntu 14.04 and RHEL 6: sudo service apache2 restart
    • On Ubuntu 16.04 and RHEL 7: sudo systemctl restart apache2

  2. Test that the site is working, that WebSockets are working, and if you enabled HTTP redirect to HTTPS during Certbot installation that the redirect is working.

  3. Lastly, test your SSL configuration with https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html.

Using Certbot means that you shouldn’t have to do anything in the configuration of Mattermost.