How to Install Synapse on Ubuntu Server Latest

Synapse is a popular homeserver for Matrix, a decentralized communication protocol. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the installation process of Synapse on Ubuntu Server latest.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation, make sure that your Ubuntu Server is up-to-date. You can do this by running the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Additionally, you will need to set up a PostgreSQL database and create a new user and database for Synapse.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

First, we need to install the necessary packages for Synapse. Run the following command to install them:

sudo apt install python3-dev python3-pip libpq-dev libssl-dev

Step 2: Install Synapse

Next, we will install Synapse by using pip3. Run the following command to install Synapse:

sudo pip3 install matrix-synapse[all]

This command will install all the dependencies required by Synapse.

Step 3: Configure Synapse

By default, Synapse will look for its configuration file in the following directory:

/etc/matrix-synapse/

You can use the default configuration file by copying and editing the example configuration:

sudo cp /usr/share/matrix-synapse/example-configs/homeserver.yaml /etc/matrix-synapse/
sudo nano /etc/matrix-synapse/homeserver.yaml

Or, you can create a new configuration file from scratch.

Once you have a configuration file available, you will need to modify it to suit your needs.

Step 4: Create a Systemd Service

To start and stop Synapse conveniently, we will create a systemd service. Run the following command to create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/matrix-synapse.service

Then, copy and paste the following content into the file:

[Unit]
Description=Matrix Synapse

[Service]
Type=simple
User=synapse
WorkingDirectory=/opt/matrix-synapse
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/synctl start
ExecStop=/usr/local/bin/synctl stop

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit the file by pressing ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter.

Step 5: Start and Enable the Service

Now we can start and enable the service by running these commands:

sudo systemctl start matrix-synapse
sudo systemctl enable matrix-synapse

This will start Synapse and enable it to start automatically on system boot.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Synapse on Ubuntu Server latest. You can now customize your Synapse configuration and start using Matrix.