Install relaii

Set up a Space on your server, create your owner account and invite your team. You’ll need access to the server and your domain’s DNS settings.

Before you start

A server running a current Ubuntu or Debian, with root access. Two cores and 2 GB of memory is enough to start.
A domain name — chat.example.no — with an A record (and an AAAA record if you have IPv6) pointing at that server.
Ports 80 and 443 reachable from the internet, so a certificate can be issued.
Optionally, SMTP credentials. Without them relaii runs, but invitations and password resets cannot be delivered.

Choose a domain you intend to keep. Your team will use it to sign in, and other Spaces will use it to identify your Space when you connect them.

Install

# installs Docker if it is missing, then the relaii CLI
curl -fsSL https://install.relaii.app | sudo sh

# asks for your domain, storage and SMTP, then brings everything up
sudo relaii install

Follow the prompts to enter your domain, storage settings and optional SMTP credentials. The installer checks your DNS, prepares the database and configures HTTPS. Wait for it to confirm that your Space is ready, then open the address shown.

Create the owner

Open https://chat.example.no in a browser. relaii will ask you to create the first account, and that account becomes the owner.

Create this account yourself before sharing the Space address with your team. Choose a unique password and keep the account details in a safe place. There is no default username or password.

Complete the setup steps to name your Space, choose who may register, review member permissions and create your first channel. You can also configure federation, storage limits and message retention.

Where files go

Attachments are stored on the server’s local disk by default. Open Admin → Storage to check usage, upload limits and remaining capacity. relaii keeps free space in reserve and refuses uploads that would exceed the storage limit.

To store new attachments in an S3-compatible bucket, add your bucket’s connection settings to /opt/relaii/.env and run sudo relaii restart. Replace the example values with those from your storage provider:

RELAII_STORAGE_BACKEND=s3
S3_ENDPOINT=https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com
S3_REGION=eu-north-1
S3_BUCKET=relaii-files
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=...
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
# MinIO, Ceph and most self-hosted gateways need this; AWS does not
S3_PATH_STYLE=false

Changing this setting affects new uploads. Existing files remain in their original storage and are still available, so keep the old storage accessible and included in your backups.

Check it over

sudo relaii doctor

Review the results and follow the suggested command for any failed check. The report covers your Space’s services, domain, HTTPS certificate, storage, email, federation and backup age.

Keeping it running

Run these commands on your server. Backup and update prompt for a backup passphrase; save it so you can restore the archive later.

sudo relaii backup     # database, config and federation identity, encrypted
sudo relaii update     # backs up first, and stops if that fails
sudo relaii logs -f    # follow the logs
sudo relaii status     # what is running

Keep a backup off the server. The encrypted archive includes your database, settings and encryption keys. Attachment files need a separate backup of the local storage or S3 bucket. Store the archive’s passphrase separately and follow the backup and recovery guide to check that you can recover your Space.

Full documentation Connect another Space