mysite/public-onion/posts/matrix_setup/index.html

893 lines
63 KiB
HTML
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" dir="auto">
<head><meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
<title>Self-hosting Matrix &#43; Element Call with LiveKit: from zero to working (and the [not so!!] fun debugging along the way) | AlipourIm journeys</title>
<meta name="keywords" content="matrix, synapse, element-call, livekit, coturn, nginx, webrtc, self-hosting, debugging">
<meta name="description" content="How I set up a Matrix homeserver (Synapse) with TURN and Element Call using LiveKit, plus the exact debugging steps that took it from &#39;waiting for media&#39; to solid calls.">
<meta name="author" content="Iman Alipour">
<link rel="canonical" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/matrix_setup/">
<link crossorigin="anonymous" href="/assets/css/stylesheet.31b150d909186c48d6dbbf653acc2489945fa9ac2c8f8cd3fe8448e89e40fccf.css" integrity="sha256-MbFQ2QkYbEjW279lOswkiZRfqawsj4zT/oRI6J5A/M8=" rel="preload stylesheet" as="style">
<link rel="icon" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/favicon.ico">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/favicon-16x16.png">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/favicon-32x32.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/apple-touch-icon.png">
<link rel="mask-icon" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/safari-pinned-tab.svg">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#2e2e33">
<meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#2e2e33">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/matrix_setup/">
<noscript>
<style>
#theme-toggle,
.top-link {
display: none;
}
</style>
<style>
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--theme: rgb(29, 30, 32);
--entry: rgb(46, 46, 51);
--primary: rgb(218, 218, 219);
--secondary: rgb(155, 156, 157);
--tertiary: rgb(65, 66, 68);
--content: rgb(196, 196, 197);
--code-block-bg: rgb(46, 46, 51);
--code-bg: rgb(55, 56, 62);
--border: rgb(51, 51, 51);
}
.list {
background: var(--theme);
}
.list:not(.dark)::-webkit-scrollbar-track {
background: 0 0;
}
.list:not(.dark)::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb {
border-color: var(--theme);
}
}
</style>
</noscript><script>
(function () {
window.goatcounter = { endpoint: "/count" };
const s = document.createElement("script");
s.async = true;
s.src = "/js/count.js";
document.head.appendChild(s);
})();
</script>
<script>
(function () {
const GC = "";
const nf = new Intl.NumberFormat();
const SING = "visit";
const PLUR = "visits";
function ready(fn) {
if (document.readyState === "complete" || document.readyState === "interactive") setTimeout(fn, 0);
else document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", fn);
}
function gcPath() {
try {
return window.goatcounter && window.goatcounter.get_data
? window.goatcounter.get_data().p
: location.pathname;
} catch (_) {
return location.pathname;
}
}
async function fetchCount(path, period) {
try {
const q = new URLSearchParams({ t: String(Date.now()) });
if (period) q.set("start", period);
const url = `${GC}/counter/${encodeURIComponent(path)}.json?${q}`;
const r = await fetch(url, { credentials: "omit" });
if (r.status === 404) return 0;
if (!r.ok) throw 0;
const j = await r.json();
const n = Number(String(j.count).replace(/,/g, ""));
return Number.isFinite(n) ? n : 0;
} catch {
return null;
}
}
const labelVisits = (n) =>
n === null ? "—" : `${nf.format(n)} ${n === 1 ? SING : PLUR}`;
ready(async function () {
const post = document.querySelector(".post-single");
if (post) {
const meta = post.querySelector(
".post-header .post-meta, .post-header .entry-meta, .post-meta"
);
const visits = await fetchCount(gcPath());
if (meta) {
let span = meta.querySelector(".post-views");
if (!span) {
span = document.createElement("span");
span.className = "post-views";
meta.appendChild(span);
}
span.textContent = labelVisits(visits ?? 0);
}
}
const cards = document.querySelectorAll("article.post-entry");
await Promise.all(
Array.from(cards).map(async (card) => {
const meta = card.querySelector(".entry-footer, .post-meta");
const link = card.querySelector("a.entry-link, h2 a, .entry-title a");
if (!meta || !link) return;
try {
const u = new URL(link.getAttribute("href"), location.origin);
if (u.origin !== location.origin) return;
let span = meta.querySelector(".post-views");
if (!span) {
span = document.createElement("span");
span.className = "post-views";
meta.appendChild(span);
}
span.textContent = labelVisits((await fetchCount(u.pathname)) ?? 0);
} catch {}
})
);
const uvEl = document.getElementById("gc_site_visitors_week");
if (uvEl) {
const n = await fetchCount("TOTAL", "week");
uvEl.textContent = n === null ? "—" : nf.format(n);
}
});
})();
</script>
</head>
<body class="" id="top">
<script>
if (localStorage.getItem("pref-theme") === "dark") {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
} else if (localStorage.getItem("pref-theme") === "light") {
document.body.classList.remove('dark')
} else if (window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
}
</script>
<header class="header">
<nav class="nav">
<div class="logo">
<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/" accesskey="h" title="AlipourIm journeys (Alt + H)">AlipourIm journeys</a>
<div class="logo-switches">
<button id="theme-toggle" accesskey="t" title="(Alt + T)" aria-label="Toggle theme">
<svg id="moon" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24"
fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round"
stroke-linejoin="round">
<path d="M21 12.79A9 9 0 1 1 11.21 3 7 7 0 0 0 21 12.79z"></path>
</svg>
<svg id="sun" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24"
fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round"
stroke-linejoin="round">
<circle cx="12" cy="12" r="5"></circle>
<line x1="12" y1="1" x2="12" y2="3"></line>
<line x1="12" y1="21" x2="12" y2="23"></line>
<line x1="4.22" y1="4.22" x2="5.64" y2="5.64"></line>
<line x1="18.36" y1="18.36" x2="19.78" y2="19.78"></line>
<line x1="1" y1="12" x2="3" y2="12"></line>
<line x1="21" y1="12" x2="23" y2="12"></line>
<line x1="4.22" y1="19.78" x2="5.64" y2="18.36"></line>
<line x1="18.36" y1="5.64" x2="19.78" y2="4.22"></line>
</svg>
</button>
</div>
</div>
<ul id="menu">
<li>
<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/" title="Posts">
<span>Posts</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/phd_journey/" title="PhD_journey">
<span>PhD_journey</span>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/about/" title="About">
<span>About</span>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</header>
<main class="main">
<article class="post-single">
<header class="post-header">
<div class="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/">Home</a>&nbsp;»&nbsp;<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/">Posts</a></div>
<h1 class="post-title entry-hint-parent">
Self-hosting Matrix &#43; Element Call with LiveKit: from zero to working (and the [not so!!] fun debugging along the way)
</h1>
<div class="post-description">
How I set up a Matrix homeserver (Synapse) with TURN and Element Call using LiveKit, plus the exact debugging steps that took it from &#39;waiting for media&#39; to solid calls.
</div>
<div class="post-meta"><span title='2025-08-26 00:00:00 +0000 UTC'>August 26, 2025</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;8 min&nbsp;·&nbsp;Iman Alipour
<span class="post-meta-item">
<a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/matrix_setup/#isso-thread" class="isso-comments-link">Comments</a>
</span>
</div>
</header>
<figure class="entry-cover">
<img loading="eager" src="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/images/matrix-cover.png" alt="Matrix, Signal but distributed">
<figcaption>Distributed end-to-end encrypted chat platform</figcaption>
</figure>
<div class="post-content"><blockquote>
<p>TL;DR: The call kept saying <strong>“waiting for media”</strong> because the browser never opened a WebSocket to LiveKit. The root cause was <strong>duplicate <code>Access-Control-Allow-Origin</code> headers</strong> on <code>/sfu/get</code> (CORS), which stopped the JWT response. Fixing CORS and ensuring the WS proxy worked (HTTP <strong>101</strong> in logs) solved it.</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="what-im-building">What I&rsquo;m building<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#what-im-building">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>A <strong>Matrix homeserver</strong> (Synapse) at <code>matrix.example.com</code> (replace with your domain).</li>
<li><strong>TURN/STUN</strong> (coTURN) for NAT traversal.</li>
<li><strong>Element Call</strong> backed by <strong>LiveKit</strong>, fronted by <code>rtc.example.com</code>.</li>
<li><strong>Nginx (host)</strong> as the single reverse proxy for everything.</li>
<li><strong>Cloudflare</strong> DNS (with <code>rtc.*</code> set to <strong>DNS-only</strong>, no orange cloud).</li>
<li><strong>UFW</strong> firewall opened for Matrix federation, TURN, and LiveKit media ports.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>I used Docker for Synapse, PostgreSQL, LiveKit and the JWT helper. I used <strong>host</strong> Nginx (not Nginx in Docker) to avoid port binding conflicts on 80/443/8448.</p></blockquote>
<hr>
<h2 id="prereqs">Prereqs<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#prereqs">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>DNS A/AAAA:
<ul>
<li><code>matrix.example.com</code> → your server (v4/v6)</li>
<li><code>rtc.example.com</code> → your server (v4/v6)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Certificates:
<ul>
<li><code>matrix.example.com</code> and <code>rtc.example.com</code> via Lets Encrypt on the host</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Cloudflare: <strong>DNS-only (grey cloud)</strong> for <code>rtc.example.com</code> so WebSockets &amp; UDP work without interference.</li>
<li>UFW / firewall open:
<ul>
<li>80/tcp, 443/tcp</li>
<li>8448/tcp (Matrix federation)</li>
<li>3478/tcp, 3478/udp and <strong>5349/tcp</strong> (TURN/TLS)</li>
<li><strong>LiveKit</strong>: 7881/tcp and <strong>5010050200/udp</strong> (or your chosen range)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Docker + docker compose installed.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h2 id="synapse--postgresql">Synapse + PostgreSQL<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#synapse--postgresql">#</a></h2>
<h3 id="1-the-postgresql-collation-gotcha">1) The PostgreSQL collation gotcha<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#1-the-postgresql-collation-gotcha">#</a></h3>
<p>Synapse prefers the database collation <strong><code>C</code></strong>. If your Postgres cluster was initialized with <code>en_US.utf8</code>, Synapse will error like:</p>
<div class="mermaid">Database has incorrect collation of &#39;en_US.utf8&#39;. Should be &#39;C&#39;</div>
<p><strong>Two ways to resolve:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Preferred (clean)</strong>: Re-initialize the Postgres <strong>cluster</strong> with <code>C</code> and <code>UTF-8</code>:</li>
</ul>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-yaml" data-lang="yaml"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># docker-compose.yml (excerpt for Postgres)</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">services</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">db</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">image</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">postgres:16</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">environment</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">POSTGRES_DB</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">synapse</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">POSTGRES_USER</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">synapse</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">POSTGRES_PASSWORD</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">&lt;strong-password&gt;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS</span>: <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;--locale=C --encoding=UTF8 --lc-collate=C --lc-ctype=C&#34;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">volumes</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> - <span style="color:#ae81ff">./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><blockquote>
<p>Requires wiping the volume and recreating the DB.</p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><strong>Pragmatic (works quickly)</strong>: In Synapses DB config, set <code>allow_unsafe_locale: true</code>. This bypasses the check. Its fine for hobby use; for production, prefer the clean <code>C</code> cluster.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="2-start-synapse-and-generate-config">2) Start Synapse and generate config<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#2-start-synapse-and-generate-config">#</a></h3>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>docker compose up -d db synapse
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Logs</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>docker compose logs --tail<span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#ae81ff">200</span> synapse
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Ensure Synapse prints your <strong>server_name</strong> and <strong>public base URL</strong> and stays up.</p>
<h3 id="3-create-an-admin-user">3) Create an admin user<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#3-create-an-admin-user">#</a></h3>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Exec into the running Synapse container:</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>docker compose exec synapse register_new_matrix_user <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -c /data/homeserver.yaml -u &lt;username&gt; -p &lt;password&gt; <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -a -k
</span></span></code></pre></div><blockquote>
<p>If you see “Unknown execution mode”, you probably ran the binary with the wrong entrypoint. Use <code>docker compose exec synapse …</code> against the running container.</p></blockquote>
<hr>
<h2 id="turn-coturn">TURN (coTURN)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#turn-coturn">#</a></h2>
<h3 id="1-avoid-bad-inline-comments">1) Avoid bad inline comments<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#1-avoid-bad-inline-comments">#</a></h3>
<p>If you see errors like:</p>
<div class="mermaid">ERROR: Unknown boolean value: # log to journald/syslog. You can use on/off, yes/no, 1/0, true/false.</div>
<p>…it means a <code>#</code> comment is on the <strong>same line</strong> as a boolean directive. Move comments to their own lines.</p>
<h3 id="2-minimal-turnserverconf">2) Minimal <code>turnserver.conf</code><a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#2-minimal-turnserverconf">#</a></h3>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-ini" data-lang="ini"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">listening-port</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">3478</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">tls-listening-port</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">5349</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">fingerprint</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">use-auth-secret</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">static-auth-secret</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">&lt;shared-secret&gt; # also set in Synapse</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">realm</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">example.com # used in creds generation</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">total-quota</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">0</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">bps-capacity</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">0</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">cli-password</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">&lt;admin-pass&gt;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">no-cli</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">cert</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/turn.example.com/fullchain.pem</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#a6e22e">pkey</span><span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/turn.example.com/privkey.pem</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># If behind NAT:</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># external-ip=&lt;public-ip&gt;/&lt;internal-ip&gt;</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><h3 id="3-wire-turn-into-synapse">3) Wire TURN into Synapse<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#3-wire-turn-into-synapse">#</a></h3>
<p>In <code>homeserver.yaml</code>:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-yaml" data-lang="yaml"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">turn_uris</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> - <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;turn:turn.example.com?transport=udp&#34;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> - <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;turn:turn.example.com?transport=tcp&#34;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> - <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;turns:turn.example.com:5349?transport=tcp&#34;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">turn_shared_secret</span>: <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;&lt;shared-secret&gt;&#34;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">turn_user_lifetime</span>: <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;1d&#34;</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Verify the homeserver issues TURN creds:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>TOKEN<span style="color:#f92672">=</span><span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;&lt;your matrix access token&gt;&#39;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;Authorization: Bearer </span>$TOKEN<span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client/v3/voip/turnServer | jq
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>You should see <code>uris</code>, a time-limited <code>username</code> and <code>password</code>.</p>
<hr>
<h2 id="nginx-host-for-synapse-and-federation">Nginx (host) for Synapse and federation<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#nginx-host-for-synapse-and-federation">#</a></h2>
<p>Create <code>/etc/nginx/conf.d/matrix.conf</code>:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-nginx" data-lang="nginx"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Client traffic on 443
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span><span style="color:#66d9ef">server</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">443</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span>; <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">[::]:443</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">server_name</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">matrix.example.com</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/matrix.example.com/fullchain.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate_key</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/matrix.example.com/privkey.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#75715e"># Proxy client &amp; admin APIs to Synapse (container) on 8008
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> <span style="color:#f92672">location</span> ~ <span style="color:#e6db74">^(/_matrix|/_synapse/client)</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_pass</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http://127.0.0.1:8008</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-For</span> $remote_addr;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-Proto</span> $scheme;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Host</span> $host;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">client_max_body_size</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">50M</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#75715e"># Advertise homeserver base + RTC focus (MSC4143) via .well-known
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> <span style="color:#f92672">location</span> = <span style="color:#e6db74">/.well-known/matrix/client</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">default_type</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">application/json</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Origin</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;*&#34;</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">return</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">200</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;</span>{<span style="color:#f92672">&#34;m.homeserver&#34;:{&#34;base_url&#34;:&#34;https://matrix.example.com&#34;},&#34;org.matrix.msc4143.rtc_foci&#34;:[{&#34;type&#34;:&#34;livekit&#34;,&#34;livekit_service_url&#34;:&#34;https://rtc.example.com&#34;}]}&#39;</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>}
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Federation on 8448
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span><span style="color:#f92672">server</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">8448</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http2</span>; <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">[::]:8448</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http2</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">server_name</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">matrix.example.com</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/matrix.example.com/fullchain.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate_key</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/matrix.example.com/privkey.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">location</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_pass</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http://127.0.0.1:8008</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-For</span> $remote_addr;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-Proto</span> $scheme;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Host</span> $host;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">client_max_body_size</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">50M</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>}
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Reload and sanity check:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>sudo nginx -t <span style="color:#f92672">&amp;&amp;</span> sudo systemctl reload nginx
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s https://matrix.example.com/.well-known/matrix/client | jq
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Also check Synapse supports RTC signaling (MSC4140) so clients actually use it:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client/versions | jq <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;.unstable_features.&#34;org.matrix.msc4140&#34;&#39;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># expect: true</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><hr>
<h2 id="element-call--livekit">Element Call + LiveKit<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#element-call--livekit">#</a></h2>
<p>Ill run <strong>LiveKit</strong> and the small <strong>JWT helper</strong> (Elements <code>elementcall_jwt</code>) in Docker. LiveKit handles media; the JWT helper mints access tokens for WebSocket connects.</p>
<h3 id="1-livekit-config-etclivekityaml-inside-container">1) LiveKit config (<code>/etc/livekit.yaml</code> inside container)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#1-livekit-config-etclivekityaml-inside-container">#</a></h3>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-yaml" data-lang="yaml"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">port</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">7880</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">bind_addresses</span>: [<span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;0.0.0.0&#34;</span>]
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">rtc</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">tcp_port</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">7881</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">port_range_start</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">50100</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">port_range_end</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">50200</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">use_external_ip</span>: <span style="color:#66d9ef">true</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">logging</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">level</span>: <span style="color:#ae81ff">info</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">turn</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">enabled</span>: <span style="color:#66d9ef">false</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#f92672">keys</span>:
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">lk_prod_1</span>: <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;REPLACE_WITH_A_64_CHAR_RANDOM_SECRET___________________________________&#34;</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><blockquote>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> the secret must be <strong>&gt;= 32 chars</strong>. The default <code>devkey</code> will trigger <code>secret is too short</code> warnings and wont work with the JWT helper.</p></blockquote>
<h3 id="2-elementcall_jwt-env">2) elementcall_jwt env<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#2-elementcall_jwt-env">#</a></h3>
<p>Run it with:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>LIVEKIT_URL=wss://rtc.example.com</code> <em>(root WS URL, <strong>no</strong> <code>/livekit/sfu</code> path)</em></li>
<li><code>LIVEKIT_KEY=lk_prod_1</code></li>
<li><code>LIVEKIT_SECRET=&lt;the long secret above&gt;</code></li>
<li><code>LIVEKIT_JWT_PORT=8080</code> (internal HTTP port the proxy will hit)</li>
<li>Optionally: <code>LIVEKIT_FULL_ACCESS_HOMESERVERS=*</code> during setup</li>
</ul>
<p>Check logs on start; it prints the LIVEKIT_URL it will advertise.</p>
<h3 id="3-nginx-host-for-rtcexamplecom">3) Nginx (host) for <code>rtc.example.com</code><a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#3-nginx-host-for-rtcexamplecom">#</a></h3>
<p>Create <code>/etc/nginx/conf.d/rtc.conf</code>:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-nginx" data-lang="nginx"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#66d9ef">server</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">443</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span>; <span style="color:#f92672">listen</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">[::]:443</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">ssl</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">server_name</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">rtc.example.com</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/rtc.example.com/fullchain.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">ssl_certificate_key</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/etc/letsencrypt/live/rtc.example.com/privkey.pem</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">access_log</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/var/log/nginx/rtc.access.log</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">combined</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#75715e"># 3a) JWT endpoint with clean CORS (avoid duplicate ACAO)
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> <span style="color:#f92672">location</span> = <span style="color:#e6db74">/sfu/get</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_hide_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Origin</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Origin</span> $http_origin <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Vary</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;Origin&#34;</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Methods</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;POST,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">OPTIONS&#34;</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Headers</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;Accept,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Content-Type,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Content-Length,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Accept-Encoding,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-CSRF-Token,</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Authorization&#34;</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">if</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">(</span>$request_method = <span style="color:#e6db74">OPTIONS)</span> { <span style="color:#f92672">return</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">204</span>; }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Host</span> $host;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-Proto</span> $scheme;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_pass</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http://127.0.0.1:8070/sfu/get</span>; <span style="color:#75715e"># elementcall_jwt
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#75715e"># 3b) LiveKit WS &amp; HTTP (catch-all)
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> <span style="color:#f92672">location</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">/</span> {
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_http_version</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">1</span><span style="color:#e6db74">.1</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Upgrade</span> $http_upgrade;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Connection</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;upgrade&#34;</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Sec-WebSocket-Protocol</span> $http_sec_websocket_protocol; <span style="color:#75715e"># &#34;livekit&#34;
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Origin</span> $http_origin;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Host</span> $host;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_set_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">X-Forwarded-Proto</span> $scheme;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_buffering</span> <span style="color:#66d9ef">off</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_read_timeout</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">3600s</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> <span style="color:#f92672">proxy_pass</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">http://127.0.0.1:7880</span>; <span style="color:#75715e"># livekit
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"></span> }
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>}
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Reload and basic checks:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>sudo nginx -t <span style="color:#f92672">&amp;&amp;</span> sudo systemctl reload nginx
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># JWT preflight (should return a single ACAO header)</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -si -X OPTIONS https://rtc.example.com/sfu/get <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Origin: https://app.element.io&#39;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Access-Control-Request-Method: POST&#39;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Access-Control-Request-Headers: authorization, content-type&#39;</span> | sed -n <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;1,30p&#39;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Expected: one Access-Control-Allow-Origin and 200/204</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><blockquote>
<p><strong>Why I did this:</strong> I initially had <strong>two</strong> <code>Access-Control-Allow-Origin</code> headers (one added by the upstream, one by Nginx). Browsers reject that with “Access-Control-Allow-Origin cannot contain more than one origin”, so the JWT response never reached the client. Fixing CORS fixed everything.</p></blockquote>
<hr>
<h2 id="the-waiting-for-media-debugging-story-how-i-found-it">The “waiting for media” debugging story (how I found it)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#the-waiting-for-media-debugging-story-how-i-found-it">#</a></h2>
<p>Symptom: Element Call created rooms, but calls stayed on <strong>“waiting for media.”</strong></p>
<p>What worked:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>elementcall_jwt</code> could <strong>CreateRoom</strong> in LiveKit (seen in logs).</li>
<li>TURN creds endpoint returned time-limited credentials.</li>
</ul>
<p>What didnt appear:</p>
<ul>
<li>No <strong>HTTP 101</strong> lines in <code>rtc.access.log</code> → the <strong>browser never established a WebSocket</strong> to LiveKit.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="step-1-prove-the-ws-vhost-works-even-without-auth">Step 1: prove the WS vhost works (even without auth)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#step-1-prove-the-ws-vhost-works-even-without-auth">#</a></h3>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -v --http1.1 <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Connection: Upgrade&#39;</span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Upgrade: websocket&#39;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Sec-WebSocket-Key: dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ==&#39;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13&#39;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> https://rtc.example.com/rtc -o /dev/null
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Result: I got a <code>401</code> (expected), but importantly I saw a log line in <code>rtc.access.log</code>. So <strong>Nginx WS proxying was fine</strong>.</p>
<h3 id="step-2-check-the-browser-console">Step 2: check the browser console<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#step-2-check-the-browser-console">#</a></h3>
<p>The smoking gun in DevTools:</p>
<div class="mermaid">Access-Control-Allow-Origin cannot contain more than one origin.
Fetch API cannot load https://rtc.example.com/sfu/get due to access control checks.</div>
<p>The browser refused the JWT call due to duplicated <strong>ACAO</strong> headers, so no token → no WebSocket connect.</p>
<p><strong>Fix:</strong> in Nginx I added:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-nginx" data-lang="nginx"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#66d9ef">proxy_hide_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Origin</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#66d9ef">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Access-Control-Allow-Origin</span> $http_origin <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#66d9ef">add_header</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">Vary</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;Origin&#34;</span> <span style="color:#e6db74">always</span>;
</span></span></code></pre></div><p>…and ensured no other <code>add_header</code> created duplicates. After that, <code>/sfu/get</code> succeeded and the WebSocket to <code>wss://rtc.example.com</code> immediately followed (I saw <strong>HTTP 101</strong> in the logs).</p>
<h3 id="step-3-confirm-livekit-side">Step 3: confirm LiveKit side<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#step-3-confirm-livekit-side">#</a></h3>
<p>Once the WS was up, LiveKit logs showed participants joining (not just <code>RoomService.CreateRoom</code>), and calls were established.</p>
<hr>
<h2 id="useful-verification-commands">Useful verification commands<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#useful-verification-commands">#</a></h2>
<div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Synapse features (expect MSC4140 true)</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client/versions | jq <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39;.unstable_features.&#34;org.matrix.msc4140&#34;&#39;</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Well-known with RTC focus</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s https://matrix.example.com/.well-known/matrix/client | jq
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># TURN creds (with your access token)</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -s -H <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;Authorization: Bearer </span>$TOKEN<span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">\
</span></span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#ae81ff"></span> https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client/v3/voip/turnServer | jq
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># JWT health</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -si -X POST https://rtc.example.com/sfu/get
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># LiveKit simple HTTP probe</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>curl -si https://rtc.example.com | head
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Nginx logs (look for 101 Switching Protocols when a call starts)</span>
</span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/rtc.access.log | grep <span style="color:#e6db74">&#39; 101 &#39;</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div><hr>
<h2 id="common-pitfalls-i-hit-these-so-you-dont-have-to">Common pitfalls (I hit these so you dont have to)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#common-pitfalls-i-hit-these-so-you-dont-have-to">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Host Nginx vs Docker Nginx:</strong> If you already run Nginx on the host, dont also bind 80/443/8448 in a Docker Nginx — youll get <code>bind() ... already in use</code> and restart loops. Use <strong>host</strong> Nginx to reverse proxy to containers.</li>
<li><strong>Nginx <code>http2</code> directive:</strong> Old Nginx may not support the <code>http2</code> directive on <code>listen</code>. Use <code>listen 443 ssl;</code> (and add <code>http2</code> if your version supports it).</li>
<li><strong>Certificate name mismatch:</strong> Make sure <code>rtc.example.com</code>s vhost uses a certificate <strong>for that exact hostname</strong> (initially I had the <code>matrix.*</code> cert on <code>rtc.*</code> and curl complained).</li>
<li><strong>Postgres collation:</strong> Either initialize the cluster with <code>C</code> or use <code>allow_unsafe_locale: true</code> in Synapse DB config to get running quickly.</li>
<li><strong>CORS duplication on <code>/sfu/get</code>:</strong> Only ONE <code>Access-Control-Allow-Origin</code> header. If the upstream adds it too, use <code>proxy_hide_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin;</code> on the Nginx location.</li>
<li><strong>Cloudflare:</strong> Use <strong>DNS-only</strong> for <code>rtc.*</code>. Proxies can interfere with WS and UDP paths.</li>
<li><strong>Firewall:</strong> Open the LiveKit UDP range and TURN ports on both v4 and v6.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h2 id="final-checklist-print-me">Final checklist (print me)<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#final-checklist-print-me">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> <code>https://matrix.example.com/.well-known/matrix/client</code> returns <strong>both</strong> <code>m.homeserver.base_url</code> and <code>org.matrix.msc4143.rtc_foci</code> pointing to <code>https://rtc.example.com</code>.</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> <code>/_matrix/client/versions</code> shows <code>&quot;org.matrix.msc4140&quot;: true</code>.</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> <code>/sfu/get</code> <strong>preflight</strong> returns <strong>one</strong> <code>Access-Control-Allow-Origin</code> and <strong>200/204</strong>.</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> Starting a call creates <strong>HTTP 101</strong> entries to <code>wss://rtc.example.com</code> in <code>rtc.access.log</code>.</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> LiveKit logs show <strong>participants joining</strong> (not just CreateRoom).</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> <code>/voip/turnServer</code> returns time-limited TURN credentials.</li>
<li><input disabled="" type="checkbox"> Cloudflare set to <strong>DNS-only</strong> for <code>rtc.*</code>. UFW allows 7881/tcp and your LiveKit UDP range.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h3 id="credits--tooling">Credits &amp; tooling<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#credits--tooling">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Matrix Synapse, coTURN, LiveKit, Element Call.</li>
<li><code>curl</code>, <code>jq</code>, <code>docker compose logs</code>, Nginx access logs. These are your best friends.</li>
<li>The debugging breakthrough was catching CORS errors in the browser console and looking for <strong>HTTP 101</strong> in Nginx logs.</li>
</ul>
<p>Happy calling! 🎉</p>
<hr>
<div class="signature-block" style="margin-top:1rem">
<p><strong>Downloads:</strong>
<a href="/sources/posts/matrix_setup.md">Markdown</a> ·
<a href="/sources/posts/matrix_setup.md.asc">Signature (.asc)</a>
</p><details class="signature">
<summary>View OpenPGP signature</summary>
<pre style="font-size:0.85em; overflow-x:auto; padding:0.75rem;">-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
iQIzBAABCgAdFiEEVaKl3oR5K6zGyu4/tYgoUOBMjSoFAmpkbuQACgkQtYgoUOBM
jSpglxAArFNgxheR8m2r6QvtoEuHJwI51WQteu&#43;0un0FiIfHKtFPcXd2HiVqzODu
YZvIGCAecMURQMRvrgB8cO3ebY8Yi9EECnC1sHsluE05GOuro5Htja7TbsGxwTc3
PIe&#43;zju7lIhTHonqLogUyyunhWxOfg1RCaSjp3n6k/r2iEamgKu6Cihrv54wstGa
SVJbwubie1D9TPcXU3ynC&#43;ynNBcmVevFl7g/X7Ie8Pw0SP1dJF&#43;we5iVqUrZgPO2
AudHlWRm13j7Xifv/JxqymkZV1XiShIY8Mb0Ju8m5&#43;HjkoIaZDtSfFyt&#43;AwPdHDQ
m3sMXA7yZUvy&#43;pXtziwrOnHFAez22goAr9Ar9KcwGQgRvyxKuuKIuTq&#43;yxtCuXBF
fPWo5pL0rMtIfwRyaiiX9bwV&#43;WbBXNhghTPnaxuQ3CWkLdiwaycI7xPDAg8FzFAR
7yoN0vqhKSvZlAL1OQS&#43;4yRcXnguq7UY9UF&#43;drG0f0QpC3aht1QgrJ04gvDp2BOk
ymmlxCxUWQrFSqDThjv7WFCclamKTimCODKWvIG6sjQcJuLCg9CXRl&#43;ZMvwobQqH
Tv8cm8PMimqJppUodB3Ig5zP3ZkVcK8uFm5XqoUnasqDVLLJaRcCu&#43;Qt4h9gZ2w6
Q3Q6K/zPZcKEIrwJfczWotSgG0g8dnuMUUYALWTbRrGjN0mgCss=
=yHZZ
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
</pre>
</details><p><em>Verify locally:</em></p>
<pre style="font-size:0.85em; overflow-x:auto; padding:0.75rem;">torsocks curl -fSLO http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/sources/posts/matrix_setup.md
torsocks curl -fSLO http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/sources/posts/matrix_setup.md.asc
gpg --verify matrix_setup.md.asc matrix_setup.md
</pre>
</div>
</div>
<footer class="post-footer">
<ul class="post-tags">
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/matrix/">Matrix</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/synapse/">Synapse</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/element-call/">Element-Call</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/livekit/">Livekit</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/coturn/">Coturn</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/nginx/">Nginx</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/webrtc/">Webrtc</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/self-hosting/">Self-Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/tags/debugging/">Debugging</a></li>
</ul>
<nav class="paginav">
<a class="prev" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/hedge_doc/">
<span class="title">« Prev</span>
<br>
<span>Self-Hosting HedgeDoc with Docker &#43; Nginx &#43; Let&#39;s Encrypt</span>
</a>
<a class="next" href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/posts/hello-world/">
<span class="title">Next »</span>
<br>
<span>Hello World</span>
</a>
</nav>
</footer><div class="comments-switch" style="display:flex;gap:.5rem;margin:.5rem 0 1rem;">
<button id="btn-isso" type="button" aria-pressed="true">Anonymous (Isso)</button>
<button id="btn-giscus" type="button" aria-pressed="false">GitHub (Giscus)</button>
<a href="https://github.com/AlipourIm/blog-comments/discussions/categories/comments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open on GitHub ↗</a>
</div>
<div id="panel-giscus" style="display:none">
<section id="giscus-thread"></section>
</div>
<div id="panel-isso">
<section id="isso-thread"
data-isso-id="/posts/matrix_setup/"
data-title="Self-hosting Matrix &#43; Element Call with LiveKit: from zero to working (and the [not so!!] fun debugging along the way)">
<noscript>Javascript needs to be activated to view comments.</noscript>
</section>
<script
src="/isso/js/embed.min.js"
data-isso="/isso/"
data-isso-css="false"
data-isso-lang="en"
data-isso-max-comments-nested="5"
data-isso-sorting="newest"
async>
</script>
<small class="isso-powered" style="display:block;margin:.5rem 0;color:var(--secondary,#888)">
Comments powered by <a href="https://isso-comments.de" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isso</a>
</small>
</div>
<script>
(function () {
var panelIsso = document.getElementById('panel-isso');
var panelGisc = document.getElementById('panel-giscus');
var issoBtn = document.getElementById('btn-isso');
var giscBtn = document.getElementById('btn-giscus');
var gLoaded = false;
function isDark() {
var pref = localStorage.getItem('pref-theme');
if (pref === 'dark') return true;
if (pref === 'light') return false;
var html = document.documentElement, body = document.body;
if (
(html.classList && html.classList.contains('dark')) ||
(body.classList && body.classList.contains('dark')) ||
html.getAttribute('data-theme') === 'dark' ||
body.getAttribute('data-theme') === 'dark' ||
(html.classList && html.classList.contains('theme-dark')) ||
(body.classList && body.classList.contains('theme-dark'))
) return true;
return window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;
}
function gTheme(){ return isDark() ? 'dark_dimmed' : 'noborder_light'; }
function loadGiscus() {
if (gLoaded) return;
var s = document.createElement('script');
s.src = 'https://giscus.app/client.js';
s.async = true;
s.crossOrigin = 'anonymous';
s.setAttribute('data-repo','AlipourIm/blog-comments');
s.setAttribute('data-repo-id','R_kgDOQGARyA');
s.setAttribute('data-category','Comments');
s.setAttribute('data-category-id','DIC_kwDOQGARyM4Cw3x-');
s.setAttribute('data-mapping','pathname');
s.setAttribute('data-strict','0');
s.setAttribute('data-reactions-enabled','1');
s.setAttribute('data-emit-metadata','0');
s.setAttribute('data-input-position','bottom');
s.setAttribute('data-lang','en');
s.setAttribute('data-theme', gTheme());
document.getElementById('giscus-thread').appendChild(s);
function reTheme(){
var iframe = document.querySelector('iframe.giscus-frame');
if (iframe && iframe.contentWindow) {
iframe.contentWindow.postMessage(
{ giscus: { setConfig: { theme: gTheme() } } },
'https://giscus.app'
);
}
}
var tbtn = document.getElementById('theme-toggle');
if (tbtn) tbtn.addEventListener('click', function(){ setTimeout(reTheme, 0); });
var mo = new MutationObserver(function(){ reTheme(); });
mo.observe(document.documentElement, { attributes:true, attributeFilter:['class','data-theme'] });
mo.observe(document.body, { attributes:true, attributeFilter:['class','data-theme'] });
gLoaded = true;
}
function show(which) {
var showIsso = which === 'isso';
panelIsso.style.display = showIsso ? 'block' : 'none';
panelGisc.style.display = showIsso ? 'none' : 'block';
if (issoBtn) issoBtn.setAttribute('aria-pressed', showIsso ? 'true' : 'false');
if (giscBtn) giscBtn.setAttribute('aria-pressed', showIsso ? 'false' : 'true');
if (!showIsso) loadGiscus();
}
if (issoBtn) issoBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e){ e.preventDefault(); show('isso'); });
if (giscBtn) giscBtn.addEventListener('click', function(e){ e.preventDefault(); show('giscus'); });
show('isso');
})();
</script>
</article>
</main>
<footer class="footer">
<span>&copy; 2026 <a href="http://fjthpp2h3mj2rup25r3psmqamutnkbvxbpltlohdthw6fscgo3t6bpad.onion/">AlipourIm journeys</a></span> ·
<span>
Powered by
<a href="https://gohugo.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hugo</a> &
<a href="https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PaperMod</a>
</span>
</footer>
<a href="#top" aria-label="go to top" title="Go to Top (Alt + G)" class="top-link" id="top-link" accesskey="g">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 12 6" fill="currentColor">
<path d="M12 6H0l6-6z" />
</svg>
</a>
<div class="site-meta-row" style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:.75rem;flex-wrap:wrap;">
<a href="/index.xml" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS"
class="rss-link" style="display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:.35rem;">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"
stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round">
<path d="M4 11a9 9 0 0 1 9 9" />
<path d="M4 4a16 16 0 0 1 16 16" />
<circle cx="5" cy="19" r="1" />
</svg>
<span>RSS</span>
</a>
<span aria-hidden="true">·</span>
<span>Visitors this week: <span id="gc_site_visitors_week"></span></span>
</div>
<script>
let menu = document.getElementById('menu')
if (menu) {
menu.scrollLeft = localStorage.getItem("menu-scroll-position");
menu.onscroll = function () {
localStorage.setItem("menu-scroll-position", menu.scrollLeft);
}
}
document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="#"]').forEach(anchor => {
anchor.addEventListener("click", function (e) {
e.preventDefault();
var id = this.getAttribute("href").substr(1);
if (!window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches) {
document.querySelector(`[id='${decodeURIComponent(id)}']`).scrollIntoView({
behavior: "smooth"
});
} else {
document.querySelector(`[id='${decodeURIComponent(id)}']`).scrollIntoView();
}
if (id === "top") {
history.replaceState(null, null, " ");
} else {
history.pushState(null, null, `#${id}`);
}
});
});
</script>
<script>
var mybutton = document.getElementById("top-link");
window.onscroll = function () {
if (document.body.scrollTop > 800 || document.documentElement.scrollTop > 800) {
mybutton.style.visibility = "visible";
mybutton.style.opacity = "1";
} else {
mybutton.style.visibility = "hidden";
mybutton.style.opacity = "0";
}
};
</script>
<script>
document.getElementById("theme-toggle").addEventListener("click", () => {
if (document.body.className.includes("dark")) {
document.body.classList.remove('dark');
localStorage.setItem("pref-theme", 'light');
} else {
document.body.classList.add('dark');
localStorage.setItem("pref-theme", 'dark');
}
})
</script>
<script>
document.querySelectorAll('pre > code').forEach((codeblock) => {
const container = codeblock.parentNode.parentNode;
const copybutton = document.createElement('button');
copybutton.classList.add('copy-code');
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copy';
function copyingDone() {
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copied!';
setTimeout(() => {
copybutton.innerHTML = 'copy';
}, 2000);
}
copybutton.addEventListener('click', (cb) => {
if ('clipboard' in navigator) {
navigator.clipboard.writeText(codeblock.textContent);
copyingDone();
return;
}
const range = document.createRange();
range.selectNodeContents(codeblock);
const selection = window.getSelection();
selection.removeAllRanges();
selection.addRange(range);
try {
document.execCommand('copy');
copyingDone();
} catch (e) { };
selection.removeRange(range);
});
if (container.classList.contains("highlight")) {
container.appendChild(copybutton);
} else if (container.parentNode.firstChild == container) {
} else if (codeblock.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.nodeName == "TABLE") {
codeblock.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.appendChild(copybutton);
} else {
codeblock.parentNode.appendChild(copybutton);
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>