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Matrix Synapse

Synapse is the reference server implementation for the federated Matrix chat protocol, officially published as a Docker image for self-hosting a homeserver.

Target: Any Docker hostCommunicationOfficial homepage ↗Official docs ↗
This guide is synthesized from Matrix Synapse's own official documentation, linked above — always cross-check exact package/version names there before running these commands on a production server, since distro and project versions move over time.

  1. 1Generate the Synapse configuration

    Use the official image's 'generate' command to create config files in a persistent Docker volume. SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME and SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS are mandatory.

    docker run -it --rm \ --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data \ -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=my.matrix.host \ -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=yes \ matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate

  2. 2Start the Synapse container

    docker run -d --name synapse \ --mount type=volume,src=synapse-data,dst=/data \ -p 8008:8008 \ matrixdotorg/synapse:latest

  3. 3Check the logs

    docker logs synapse

  4. 4Move to PostgreSQL for production

    The default SQLite backend is only meant for testing. Synapse's docs recommend connecting it to a separate PostgreSQL database for any real deployment, configured in the generated homeserver.yaml.

  5. 5Put it behind a reverse proxy

    For federation and client access over HTTPS, place Synapse behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Traefik) terminating TLS and forwarding to port 8008, as described in Synapse's reverse-proxy documentation.