⚡️Quick start | Prerequisites > Configuring your DNS settings > Getting the playbook > Configuring the playbook > Installing
To set up Matrix on your domain, you'd need to do some DNS configuration.
In the sample vars.yml (examples/vars.yml), we recommend to use a short user identifier like @<username>:example.com.
To use such an identifier, you don't need to install anything on the actual example.com server. Instead, you need to instruct the Matrix network that Matrix services for example.com are redirected over to matrix.example.com. This redirection is also known as "delegation".
As we discuss in Server Delegation, server delegation can be configured in either of these ways:
- Setting up a
/.well-known/matrix/serverfile on the base domain (example.com) - Setting up a
_matrix._tcpDNS SRV record
For simplicity reasons, this playbook recommends you to set up server delegation via a /.well-known/matrix/server file, instead of using a DNS SRV record.
If you choose the recommended method (file-based delegation), you do not need to configure the DNS record to enable server delegation. You will need to add a necessary configuration later, when you finalize the installation after installing and starting Matrix services.
On the other hand, if you choose this method (setting up a DNS SRV record), you need to configure the additional DNS record as well as adjust SSL certificate handling. Take a look at this documentation for more information: Server Delegation via a DNS SRV record (advanced)
To serve the base domain (example.com) and Element Web with the default subdomain, adjust DNS records as below.
| Type | Host | Priority | Weight | Port | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | matrix |
- | - | - | matrix-server-IP |
| CNAME | element |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
As the table illustrates, you need to create 2 subdomains (matrix.example.com and element.example.com) and point both of them to your server's IP address (DNS A record or CNAME record is fine).
The element.example.com subdomain is necessary, because this playbook installs the Element Web client for you by default. If you'd rather instruct the playbook not to install Element Web (matrix_client_element_enabled: false when Configuring the playbook later), feel free to skip the element.example.com DNS record.
Be mindful as to how long it will take for the DNS records to propagate.
If you are using Cloudflare DNS, make sure to disable the proxy and set all records to "DNS only". Otherwise, fetching certificates will fail.
For other services which may need subdomain settings, see the table below and configure the DNS (CNAME) records accordingly.
| Used by component | Type | Host | Priority | Weight | Port | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension integration server | CNAME | dimension |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Jitsi video-conferencing platform | CNAME | jitsi |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Prometheus/Grafana monitoring system | CNAME | stats |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Go-NEB bot | CNAME | goneb |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Sygnal push notification gateway | CNAME | sygnal |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| ntfy push notifications server | CNAME | ntfy |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Etherpad collaborative text editor | CNAME | etherpad |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Hydrogen web client | CNAME | hydrogen |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Cinny web client | CNAME | cinny |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| SchildiChat Web client | CNAME | schildichat |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| wsproxy sms bridge | CNAME | wsproxy |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| Buscarron helpdesk bot | CNAME | buscarron |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| rageshake bug report server | CNAME | rageshake |
- | - | - | matrix.example.com |
| ma1sd identity server | SRV | _matrix-identity._tcp |
10 | 0 | 443 | matrix.example.com |
| Postmoogle/Email2Matrix email bridges | MX | matrix |
10 | 0 | - | matrix.example.com |
| Postmoogle email bridge | TXT | matrix |
- | - | - | v=spf1 ip4:matrix-server-IP -all |
| Postmoogle email bridge | TXT | _dmarc.matrix |
- | - | - | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; |
| Postmoogle email bridge | TXT | postmoogle._domainkey.matrix |
- | - | - | get it from !pm dkim |
To make ma1sd enable its federation features, you need to set up a _matrix-identity._tcp SRV record. Don't confuse this with the _matrix._tcp SRV record for server delegation. See the table above and this section for values which need to be specified.
When setting up a SRV record, if you are asked for a service and protocol instead of a hostname split the host value from the table where the period is. For example use service as _matrix-identity and protocol as _tcp.
To make Postmoogle enable its email sending features, you need to configure MX and TXT (SPF, DMARC, and DKIM) records. See the table above for values which need to be specified.