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![Dan Callahan](/assets/img/avatar_default.png)
The test runner isn't present in the `[all]` set of extras, so the previous instructions did not work without also installing `[test]`. Note that this does not include the `[lint]` extras, since those do not install on all supported Python versions (specifically, isort 5.x requires Python 3.6, while we still support 3.5). Instructions for that are included in our pull request template, so we should be fine there. I've also dropped the `--no-use-pep517` arg to `pip install` since it seems to have been added to address a temporary regression in pip 19.1 which was fixed in pip 19.1.1 the following month. Lastly, updated the example output of the test suite to set more realistic expectations around run time. Signed-off-by: Dan Callahan <danc@element.io>
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=========================================================
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Synapse |support| |development| |license| |pypi| |python|
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=========================================================
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.. contents::
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Introduction
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============
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Matrix is an ambitious new ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and
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VoIP. The basics you need to know to get up and running are:
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- Everything in Matrix happens in a room. Rooms are distributed and do not
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exist on any single server. Rooms can be located using convenience aliases
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like ``#matrix:matrix.org`` or ``#test:localhost:8448``.
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- Matrix user IDs look like ``@matthew:matrix.org`` (although in the future
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you will normally refer to yourself and others using a third party identifier
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(3PID): email address, phone number, etc rather than manipulating Matrix user IDs)
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The overall architecture is::
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client <----> homeserver <=====================> homeserver <----> client
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https://somewhere.org/_matrix https://elsewhere.net/_matrix
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``#matrix:matrix.org`` is the official support room for Matrix, and can be
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accessed by any client from https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html or
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via IRC bridge at irc://irc.freenode.net/matrix.
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Synapse is currently in rapid development, but as of version 0.5 we believe it
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is sufficiently stable to be run as an internet-facing service for real usage!
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About Matrix
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============
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Matrix specifies a set of pragmatic RESTful HTTP JSON APIs as an open standard,
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which handle:
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- Creating and managing fully distributed chat rooms with no
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single points of control or failure
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- Eventually-consistent cryptographically secure synchronisation of room
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state across a global open network of federated servers and services
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- Sending and receiving extensible messages in a room with (optional)
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end-to-end encryption
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- Inviting, joining, leaving, kicking, banning room members
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- Managing user accounts (registration, login, logout)
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- Using 3rd Party IDs (3PIDs) such as email addresses, phone numbers,
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Facebook accounts to authenticate, identify and discover users on Matrix.
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- Placing 1:1 VoIP and Video calls
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These APIs are intended to be implemented on a wide range of servers, services
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and clients, letting developers build messaging and VoIP functionality on top
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of the entirely open Matrix ecosystem rather than using closed or proprietary
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solutions. The hope is for Matrix to act as the building blocks for a new
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generation of fully open and interoperable messaging and VoIP apps for the
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internet.
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Synapse is a reference "homeserver" implementation of Matrix from the core
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development team at matrix.org, written in Python/Twisted. It is intended to
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showcase the concept of Matrix and let folks see the spec in the context of a
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codebase and let you run your own homeserver and generally help bootstrap the
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ecosystem.
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In Matrix, every user runs one or more Matrix clients, which connect through to
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a Matrix homeserver. The homeserver stores all their personal chat history and
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user account information - much as a mail client connects through to an
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IMAP/SMTP server. Just like email, you can either run your own Matrix
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homeserver and control and own your own communications and history or use one
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hosted by someone else (e.g. matrix.org) - there is no single point of control
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or mandatory service provider in Matrix, unlike WhatsApp, Facebook, Hangouts,
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etc.
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We'd like to invite you to join #matrix:matrix.org (via
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https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html), run a homeserver, take a look
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at the `Matrix spec <https://matrix.org/docs/spec>`_, and experiment with the
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`APIs <https://matrix.org/docs/api>`_ and `Client SDKs
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<https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html#client-sdks>`_.
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Thanks for using Matrix!
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Support
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=======
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For support installing or managing Synapse, please join |room|_ (from a matrix.org
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account if necessary) and ask questions there. We do not use GitHub issues for
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support requests, only for bug reports and feature requests.
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.. |room| replace:: ``#synapse:matrix.org``
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.. _room: https://matrix.to/#/#synapse:matrix.org
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Synapse Installation
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====================
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.. _federation:
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* For details on how to install synapse, see `<INSTALL.md>`_.
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* For specific details on how to configure Synapse for federation see `docs/federate.md <docs/federate.md>`_
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Connecting to Synapse from a client
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===================================
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The easiest way to try out your new Synapse installation is by connecting to it
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from a web client.
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Unless you are running a test instance of Synapse on your local machine, in
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general, you will need to enable TLS support before you can successfully
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connect from a client: see `<INSTALL.md#tls-certificates>`_.
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An easy way to get started is to login or register via Element at
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https://app.element.io/#/login or https://app.element.io/#/register respectively.
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You will need to change the server you are logging into from ``matrix.org``
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and instead specify a Homeserver URL of ``https://<server_name>:8448``
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(or just ``https://<server_name>`` if you are using a reverse proxy).
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If you prefer to use another client, refer to our
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`client breakdown <https://matrix.org/docs/projects/clients-matrix>`_.
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If all goes well you should at least be able to log in, create a room, and
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start sending messages.
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.. _`client-user-reg`:
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Registering a new user from a client
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------------------------------------
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By default, registration of new users via Matrix clients is disabled. To enable
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it, specify ``enable_registration: true`` in ``homeserver.yaml``. (It is then
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recommended to also set up CAPTCHA - see `<docs/CAPTCHA_SETUP.md>`_.)
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Once ``enable_registration`` is set to ``true``, it is possible to register a
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user via a Matrix client.
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Your new user name will be formed partly from the ``server_name``, and partly
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from a localpart you specify when you create the account. Your name will take
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the form of::
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@localpart:my.domain.name
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(pronounced "at localpart on my dot domain dot name").
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As when logging in, you will need to specify a "Custom server". Specify your
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desired ``localpart`` in the 'User name' box.
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ACME setup
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==========
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For details on having Synapse manage your federation TLS certificates
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automatically, please see `<docs/ACME.md>`_.
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Security Note
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=============
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Matrix serves raw user generated data in some APIs - specifically the `content
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repository endpoints <https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/latest.html#get-matrix-media-r0-download-servername-mediaid>`_.
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Whilst we have tried to mitigate against possible XSS attacks (e.g.
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https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/1021) we recommend running
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matrix homeservers on a dedicated domain name, to limit any malicious user generated
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content served to web browsers a matrix API from being able to attack webapps hosted
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on the same domain. This is particularly true of sharing a matrix webclient and
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server on the same domain.
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See https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/1977 and
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https://developer.github.com/changes/2014-04-25-user-content-security for more details.
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Upgrading an existing Synapse
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=============================
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The instructions for upgrading synapse are in `UPGRADE.rst`_.
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Please check these instructions as upgrading may require extra steps for some
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versions of synapse.
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.. _UPGRADE.rst: UPGRADE.rst
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.. _reverse-proxy:
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Using a reverse proxy with Synapse
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==================================
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It is recommended to put a reverse proxy such as
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`nginx <https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_proxy_module.html>`_,
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`Apache <https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_proxy_http.html>`_,
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`Caddy <https://caddyserver.com/docs/quick-starts/reverse-proxy>`_ or
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`HAProxy <https://www.haproxy.org/>`_ in front of Synapse. One advantage of
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doing so is that it means that you can expose the default https port (443) to
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Matrix clients without needing to run Synapse with root privileges.
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For information on configuring one, see `<docs/reverse_proxy.md>`_.
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Identity Servers
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================
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Identity servers have the job of mapping email addresses and other 3rd Party
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IDs (3PIDs) to Matrix user IDs, as well as verifying the ownership of 3PIDs
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before creating that mapping.
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**They are not where accounts or credentials are stored - these live on home
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servers. Identity Servers are just for mapping 3rd party IDs to matrix IDs.**
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This process is very security-sensitive, as there is obvious risk of spam if it
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is too easy to sign up for Matrix accounts or harvest 3PID data. In the longer
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term, we hope to create a decentralised system to manage it (`matrix-doc #712
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<https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/712>`_), but in the meantime,
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the role of managing trusted identity in the Matrix ecosystem is farmed out to
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a cluster of known trusted ecosystem partners, who run 'Matrix Identity
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Servers' such as `Sydent <https://github.com/matrix-org/sydent>`_, whose role
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is purely to authenticate and track 3PID logins and publish end-user public
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keys.
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You can host your own copy of Sydent, but this will prevent you reaching other
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users in the Matrix ecosystem via their email address, and prevent them finding
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you. We therefore recommend that you use one of the centralised identity servers
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at ``https://matrix.org`` or ``https://vector.im`` for now.
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To reiterate: the Identity server will only be used if you choose to associate
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an email address with your account, or send an invite to another user via their
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email address.
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Password reset
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==============
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Users can reset their password through their client. Alternatively, a server admin
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can reset a users password using the `admin API <docs/admin_api/user_admin_api.rst#reset-password>`_
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or by directly editing the database as shown below.
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First calculate the hash of the new password::
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$ ~/synapse/env/bin/hash_password
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Password:
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Confirm password:
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$2a$12$xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Then update the ``users`` table in the database::
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UPDATE users SET password_hash='$2a$12$xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
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WHERE name='@test:test.com';
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Synapse Development
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===================
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Before setting up a development environment for synapse, make sure you have the
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system dependencies (such as the python header files) installed - see
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`Installing from source <INSTALL.md#installing-from-source>`_.
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To check out a synapse for development, clone the git repo into a working
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directory of your choice::
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git clone https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse.git
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cd synapse
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Synapse has a number of external dependencies, that are easiest
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to install using pip and a virtualenv::
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python3 -m venv ./env
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source ./env/bin/activate
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pip install -e ".[all,test]"
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This will run a process of downloading and installing all the needed
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dependencies into a virtual env.
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Once this is done, you may wish to run Synapse's unit tests, to
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check that everything is installed as it should be::
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python -m twisted.trial tests
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This should end with a 'PASSED' result::
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Ran 1266 tests in 643.930s
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PASSED (skips=15, successes=1251)
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Running the Integration Tests
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=============================
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Synapse is accompanied by `SyTest <https://github.com/matrix-org/sytest>`_,
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a Matrix homeserver integration testing suite, which uses HTTP requests to
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access the API as a Matrix client would. It is able to run Synapse directly from
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the source tree, so installation of the server is not required.
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Testing with SyTest is recommended for verifying that changes related to the
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Client-Server API are functioning correctly. See the `installation instructions
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<https://github.com/matrix-org/sytest#installing>`_ for details.
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Troubleshooting
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===============
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Need help? Join our community support room on Matrix:
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`#synapse:matrix.org <https://matrix.to/#/#synapse:matrix.org>`_
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Running out of File Handles
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---------------------------
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If synapse runs out of file handles, it typically fails badly - live-locking
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at 100% CPU, and/or failing to accept new TCP connections (blocking the
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connecting client). Matrix currently can legitimately use a lot of file handles,
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thanks to busy rooms like #matrix:matrix.org containing hundreds of participating
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servers. The first time a server talks in a room it will try to connect
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simultaneously to all participating servers, which could exhaust the available
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file descriptors between DNS queries & HTTPS sockets, especially if DNS is slow
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to respond. (We need to improve the routing algorithm used to be better than
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full mesh, but as of March 2019 this hasn't happened yet).
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If you hit this failure mode, we recommend increasing the maximum number of
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open file handles to be at least 4096 (assuming a default of 1024 or 256).
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This is typically done by editing ``/etc/security/limits.conf``
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Separately, Synapse may leak file handles if inbound HTTP requests get stuck
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during processing - e.g. blocked behind a lock or talking to a remote server etc.
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This is best diagnosed by matching up the 'Received request' and 'Processed request'
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log lines and looking for any 'Processed request' lines which take more than
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a few seconds to execute. Please let us know at #synapse:matrix.org if
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you see this failure mode so we can help debug it, however.
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Help!! Synapse is slow and eats all my RAM/CPU!
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-----------------------------------------------
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First, ensure you are running the latest version of Synapse, using Python 3
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with a PostgreSQL database.
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Synapse's architecture is quite RAM hungry currently - we deliberately
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cache a lot of recent room data and metadata in RAM in order to speed up
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common requests. We'll improve this in the future, but for now the easiest
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way to either reduce the RAM usage (at the risk of slowing things down)
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is to set the almost-undocumented ``SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR`` environment
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variable. The default is 0.5, which can be decreased to reduce RAM usage
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in memory constrained enviroments, or increased if performance starts to
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degrade.
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However, degraded performance due to a low cache factor, common on
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machines with slow disks, often leads to explosions in memory use due
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backlogged requests. In this case, reducing the cache factor will make
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things worse. Instead, try increasing it drastically. 2.0 is a good
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starting value.
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Using `libjemalloc <http://jemalloc.net/>`_ can also yield a significant
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improvement in overall memory use, and especially in terms of giving back
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RAM to the OS. To use it, the library must simply be put in the
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LD_PRELOAD environment variable when launching Synapse. On Debian, this
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can be done by installing the ``libjemalloc1`` package and adding this
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line to ``/etc/default/matrix-synapse``::
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LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjemalloc.so.1
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This can make a significant difference on Python 2.7 - it's unclear how
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much of an improvement it provides on Python 3.x.
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If you're encountering high CPU use by the Synapse process itself, you
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may be affected by a bug with presence tracking that leads to a
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massive excess of outgoing federation requests (see `discussion
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<https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3971>`_). If metrics
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indicate that your server is also issuing far more outgoing federation
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requests than can be accounted for by your users' activity, this is a
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likely cause. The misbehavior can be worked around by setting
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``use_presence: false`` in the Synapse config file.
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People can't accept room invitations from me
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--------------------------------------------
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The typical failure mode here is that you send an invitation to someone
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to join a room or direct chat, but when they go to accept it, they get an
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error (typically along the lines of "Invalid signature"). They might see
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something like the following in their logs::
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2019-09-11 19:32:04,271 - synapse.federation.transport.server - 288 - WARNING - GET-11752 - authenticate_request failed: 401: Invalid signature for server <server> with key ed25519:a_EqML: Unable to verify signature for <server>
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This is normally caused by a misconfiguration in your reverse-proxy. See
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`<docs/reverse_proxy.md>`_ and double-check that your settings are correct.
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.. |support| image:: https://img.shields.io/matrix/synapse:matrix.org?label=support&logo=matrix
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:alt: (get support on #synapse:matrix.org)
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:target: https://matrix.to/#/#synapse:matrix.org
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.. |development| image:: https://img.shields.io/matrix/synapse-dev:matrix.org?label=development&logo=matrix
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:alt: (discuss development on #synapse-dev:matrix.org)
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:target: https://matrix.to/#/#synapse-dev:matrix.org
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.. |license| image:: https://img.shields.io/github/license/matrix-org/synapse
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:alt: (check license in LICENSE file)
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:target: LICENSE
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.. |pypi| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/matrix-synapse
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:alt: (latest version released on PyPi)
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:target: https://pypi.org/project/matrix-synapse
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.. |python| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/matrix-synapse
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:alt: (supported python versions)
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:target: https://pypi.org/project/matrix-synapse
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