# Deployment options

The default Zulip installation instructions will install a complete
Zulip server, with all of the services it needs, on a single machine.

For production deployment, however, it's common to want to do
something more complicated. This page documents the options for doing so.

## Installing Zulip from Git

To install a development version of Zulip from Git, just clone the Git
repository from GitHub:

```bash
# First, install Git if you don't have it installed already
sudo apt install git
git clone https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git zulip-server-git
```

and then
[continue the normal installation instructions](install.md#step-2-install-zulip).
You can also [upgrade Zulip from Git](upgrade.md#upgrading-from-a-git-repository).

The most common use case for this is upgrading to `main` to get a
feature that hasn't made it into an official release yet (often
support for a new base OS release). See [upgrading to
main][upgrade-to-main] for notes on how `main` works and the
support story for it, and [upgrading to future
releases][upgrade-to-future-release] for notes on upgrading Zulip
afterwards.

In particular, we are always very glad to investigate problems with
installing Zulip from `main`; they are rare and help us ensure that
our next major release has a reliable install experience.

[upgrade-to-main]: modify.md#upgrading-to-main
[upgrade-to-future-release]: modify.md#upgrading-to-future-releases

## Zulip in Docker

In addition to the [standard installer](./install.md), Zulip has an
[official Docker image](https://github.com/zulip/docker-zulip).

How should you decide whether to use the Docker image? Our experience
is that Docker moderately increases the effort required to install,
maintain and upgrade a Zulip installation, especially for system
administrators that are not used to operating production services
using Docker.

So we recommend using the Docker image if and only if your
organization has a preference for deploying services using Docker.

Zulip's [backup tool][backups] supports migrating between Docker and a
standard installation, so you can change your mind later.

[backups]: https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/production/export-and-import.html#backups

## Zulip installer details

The [Zulip installer](install.md) does the following:

- Creates the `zulip` user, which the various Zulip servers will run as.
- Creates `/home/zulip/deployments/`, which the Zulip code for this
  deployment (and future deployments when you upgrade) goes into. At the
  very end of the install process, the script moves the Zulip code tree
  it's running from (which you unpacked from a tarball above) to a
  directory there, and makes `/home/zulip/deployments/current` as a
  symbolic link to it.
- Installs Zulip's various dependencies.
- Configures the various third-party services Zulip uses, including
  PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, Memcached and Redis.
- Initializes Zulip's database.

### Advanced installer options

The Zulip installer supports the following advanced installer options
as well as those mentioned in the
[install](install.md#installer-options) documentation:

- `--postgresql-version`: Sets the version of PostgreSQL that will be
  installed. We currently support PostgreSQL 13, 14, 15, and 16, with 16
  being the default.

- `--postgresql-database-name=exampledbname`: With this option, you
  can customize the default database name. If you do not set this. The
  default database name will be `zulip`. This setting can only be set
  on the first install.

- `--postgresql-database-user=exampledbuser`: With this option, you
  can customize the default database user. If you do not set this. The
  default database user will be `zulip`. This setting can only be set
  on the first install.

- `--postgresql-missing-dictionaries`: Set `postgresql.missing_dictionaries`
  ([docs][missing-dicts]) in the Zulip settings, which omits some configuration
  needed for full-text indexing. This should be used with [cloud managed
  databases like RDS][postgresql]. This option conflicts with
  `--no-overwrite-settings`.

- `--no-init-db`: This option instructs the installer to not do any
  database initialization. This should be used when you already have a
  Zulip database.

- `--no-overwrite-settings`: This option preserves existing
  `/etc/zulip` configuration files.

[missing-dicts]: system-configuration.md#missing_dictionaries

## Installing on an existing server

Zulip's installation process assumes it is the only application
running on the server; though installing alongside other applications
is not recommended, we do have [some notes on the
process](install-existing-server.md).

## Deployment hooks

Zulip's upgrades have a hook system which allows for arbitrary
user-configured actions to run before and after an upgrade; see the
[upgrading documentation](upgrade.md#deployment-hooks) for details on
how to write your own.

### Zulip message deploy hook

Zulip can use its deploy hooks to send a message immediately before and after
conducting an upgrade. To configure this:

1. Add `, zulip::hooks::zulip_notify` to the `puppet_classes` line in
   `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`
1. Add a `[zulip_notify]` section to `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`:
   ```ini
   [zulip_notify]
   bot_email = your-bot@zulip.example.com
   server = zulip.example.com
   stream = deployments
   ```
1. Add the [api key](https://zulip.com/api/api-keys#get-a-bots-api-key) for the
   bot user in `/etc/zulip/zulip-secrets.conf` as `zulip_release_api_key`:
   ```ini
   # Replace with your own bot's token, found in the Zulip UI
   zulip_release_api_key = abcd1234E6DK0F7pNSqaMSuzd8C5i7Eu
   ```
1. As root, run `/home/zulip/deployments/current/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply`.

### Sentry deploy hook

Zulip can use its deploy hooks to create [Sentry
releases][sentry-release], which can help associate Sentry [error
logging][sentry-error] with specific releases. If you are deploying
Zulip from Git, it can be aware of which Zulip commits are associated
with the release, and help identify which commits might be relevant to
an error.

To do so:

1. Enable [Sentry error logging][sentry-error].
2. Add a new [internal Sentry integration][sentry-internal] named
   "Release annotator".
3. Grant the internal integration the [permissions][sentry-perms] of
   "Admin" on "Release".
4. Add `, zulip::hooks::sentry` to the `puppet_classes` line in `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`
5. Add a `[sentry]` section to `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`:
   ```ini
   [sentry]
   organization = your-organization-name
   project = your-project-name
   ```
6. Add the [authentication token][sentry-tokens] for your internal Sentry integration
   to your `/etc/zulip/zulip-secrets.conf`:
   ```ini
   # Replace with your own token, found in Sentry
   sentry_release_auth_token = 6c12f890c1c864666e64ee9c959c4552b3de473a076815e7669f53793fa16afc
   ```
7. As root, run `/home/zulip/deployments/current/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply`.

If you are deploying Zulip from Git, you will also need to:

1. In your Zulip project, add the [GitHub integration][sentry-github].
2. Configure the `zulip/zulip` GitHub project for your Sentry project.
   You should do this even if you are deploying a private fork of
   Zulip.
3. Additionally grant the internal integration "Read & Write" on
   "Organization"; this is necessary to associate the commits with the
   release.

[sentry-release]: https://docs.sentry.io/product/releases/
[sentry-error]: ../subsystems/logging.md#sentry-error-logging
[sentry-github]: https://docs.sentry.io/product/integrations/source-code-mgmt/github/
[sentry-internal]: https://docs.sentry.io/product/integrations/integration-platform/internal-integration/
[sentry-perms]: https://docs.sentry.io/product/integrations/integration-platform/#permissions
[sentry-tokens]: https://docs.sentry.io/product/integrations/integration-platform/internal-integration#auth-tokens

## Running Zulip's service dependencies on different machines

Zulip has full support for each top-level service living on its own machine.

You can configure remote servers for Memcached, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, Redis, and
Smokescreen in `/etc/zulip/settings.py`; just search for the service name in
that file and you'll find inline documentation in comments for how to configure
it.

All puppet modules under `zulip::profile` are allowed to be configured
stand-alone on a host. You can see most likely manifests you might
want to choose in the list of includes in [the main manifest for the
default all-in-one Zulip server][standalone.pp], though it's also
possible to subclass some of the lower-level manifests defined in that
directory if you want to customize. A good example of doing this is
in the [kandra Puppet configuration][zulipchat-puppet] that we use
as part of managing chat.zulip.org and zulip.com.

For example, to install a Zulip Redis server on a machine, you can run
the following after unpacking a Zulip production release tarball:

```bash
./scripts/setup/install --puppet-classes zulip::profile::redis
```

To run the database on a separate server, including a cloud provider's managed
PostgreSQL instance (e.g., AWS RDS), or with a warm-standby replica for
reliability, see our [dedicated PostgreSQL documentation][postgresql].

[standalone.pp]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/blob/main/puppet/zulip/manifests/profile/standalone.pp
[zulipchat-puppet]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/tree/main/puppet/kandra/manifests
[postgresql]: postgresql.md

## Using an alternate port

If you'd like your Zulip server to use an HTTPS port other than 443, you can
configure that as follows:

1. Edit `EXTERNAL_HOST` in `/etc/zulip/settings.py`, which controls how
   the Zulip server reports its own URL, and restart the Zulip server
   with `/home/zulip/deployments/current/scripts/restart-server`.
1. Add the following block to `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`:

   ```ini
   [application_server]
   nginx_listen_port = 12345
   ```

1. As root, run
   `/home/zulip/deployments/current/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply`. This
   will convert Zulip's main `nginx` configuration file to use your new
   port.

We also have documentation for a Zulip server [using HTTP][using-http] for use
behind reverse proxies.

[using-http]: reverse-proxies.md#configuring-zulip-to-allow-http

## Customizing the outgoing HTTP proxy

To protect against [SSRF][ssrf], Zulip 4.8 and above default to
routing all outgoing HTTP and HTTPS traffic through
[Smokescreen][smokescreen], an HTTP `CONNECT` proxy; this includes
outgoing webhooks, website previews, and mobile push notifications.
By default, the Camo image proxy will be automatically configured to
use a custom outgoing proxy, but does not use Smokescreen by default
because Camo includes similar logic to deny access to private
subnets. You can [override][proxy.enable_for_camo] this default
configuration if desired.

To use a custom outgoing proxy:

1. Add the following block to `/etc/zulip/zulip.conf`, substituting in
   your proxy's hostname/IP and port:

   ```ini
   [http_proxy]
   host = 127.0.0.1
   port = 4750
   ```

1. As root, run
   `/home/zulip/deployments/current/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply`. This
   will reconfigure and restart Zulip.

If you have a deployment with multiple frontend servers, or wish to
install Smokescreen on a separate host, you can apply the
`zulip::profile::smokescreen` Puppet class on that host, and follow
the above steps, setting the `[http_proxy]` block to point to that
host.

If you wish to disable the outgoing proxy entirely, follow the above
steps, configuring an empty `host` value.

Optionally, you can also configure the [Smokescreen ACL
list][smokescreen-acls]. By default, Smokescreen denies access to all
[non-public IP
addresses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network), including
127.0.0.1, but allows traffic to all public Internet hosts.

In Zulip 4.7 and older, to enable SSRF protection via Smokescreen, you
will need to explicitly add the `zulip::profile::smokescreen` Puppet
class, and configure the `[http_proxy]` block as above.

[proxy.enable_for_camo]: system-configuration.md#enable_for_camo
[smokescreen]: https://github.com/stripe/smokescreen
[smokescreen-acls]: https://github.com/stripe/smokescreen#acls
[ssrf]: https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Server_Side_Request_Forgery

### S3 file storage requests and outgoing proxies

By default, the [S3 file storage backend][s3] bypasses the Smokescreen
proxy, because when running on EC2 it may require metadata from the
IMDS metadata endpoint, which resides on the internal IP address
169.254.169.254 and would thus be blocked by Smokescreen.

If your S3-compatible storage backend requires use of Smokescreen or
some other proxy, you can override this default by setting
`S3_SKIP_PROXY = False` in `/etc/zulip/settings.py`.

[s3]: upload-backends.md#s3-backend-configuration