Server Installation

If you have a VPS/VDS, you can set up your own websockets server with Soketi.
If you don't have this option, you can use the Pusher API or install Soketi on a remote server.

How to install Soketi on a forum server?

Prepare nginx configuration

1. Open main nginx config (usually path is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf)
2. Paste the following code into the http section:

map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade {
    default upgrade;
    ''      close;
}

3. Open your domain configuration file.
4. Paste the following code to the bottom and save it:

server {
    # Comment if using an ssl certificate.
    listen 2096;
    listen [::]:2096;
    
    # Uncomment if using an ssl certificate.
    # listen 2096 ssl;
    # listen [::]:2096 ssl;
    # ssl_certificate      /path/to/your/certificate.pem;
    # ssl_certificate_key  /path/to/your/certificate.key;
    
    server_name your_domain.com;
    server_tokens off;
    root /path/to/your/forum;
    index index.php;

    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
    
    http2 on;
    charset utf-8;

    location / {
        proxy_pass             http://127.0.0.1:6001;
        proxy_read_timeout     60;
        proxy_connect_timeout  60;
        proxy_redirect         off;

        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

5. Restart nginx:

service nginx restart

Setup Soketi

Go to the forum directory:

cd /path/to/your/forum

Create a config for Soketi:

php cmd.php xf-websockets:create-soketi-config

Choose how to run Soketi

INFO

You now need to decide how to run the WebSocket server: either directly on your server or within a Docker container. Running Soketi in a Docker container offers several advantages:

• Avoiding conflicts with your server's environment settings.
• Compatibility with operating systems that don’t natively support Soketi (e.g., CentOS 7).

If you choose the Docker option, ensure that Docker is installed on your server beforehand.

Install native Soketi

To install native Soketi on your server, run the following command:

bash websockets install-soketi

Install Soketi Docker Image

To use Soketi in a Docker container, pull the Docker image by running:

bash websockets pull-docker-image

TIP

Now you need to run a daemon to keep Soketi running in background. Use either systemd or supervisor to run a daemon.

Run a Daemon with systemd

Daemon to run native Soketi

To install a systemd service which runs Soketi directly installed on the server, run the following command:

bash websockets install-systemd-service your_domain.com

Daemon to run Soketi in a Docker container

bash websockets install-systemd-service your_domain.com --docker

TIP

You can check the status of the daemon with the command:

systemctl status soketi.your_domain.com

Run a Daemon using supervisor

Daemon to run native Soketi

bash websockets install-supervisor-service your_domain.com

Daemon to run Soketi in a Docker container

bash websockets install-supervisor-service your_domain.com --docker

TIP

You can check the status of the daemon with the command:

supervisorctl status soketi.your_domain.com

How to install Soketi on a remote server?

Prepare nginx configuration

1. Open main nginx config (usually path is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf)
2. Paste the following code into the http section:

map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade {
    default upgrade;
    ''      close;
}

3. Open your domain configuration file.
4. Paste the following code to the bottom and save it:

server {
    # Comment if using an ssl certificate.
    listen 2096;
    listen [::]:2096;
    
    # Uncomment if using an ssl certificate.
    # listen 2096 ssl;
    # listen [::]:2096 ssl;
    # ssl_certificate      /path/to/your/certificate.pem;
    # ssl_certificate_key  /path/to/your/certificate.key;
    
    server_name your_domain.com;
    server_tokens off;
    root /path/to/your/forum;
    index index.php;

    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
    
    http2 on;
    charset utf-8;

    location / {
        proxy_pass             http://127.0.0.1:6001;
        proxy_read_timeout     60;
        proxy_connect_timeout  60;
        proxy_redirect         off;

        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

5. Restart nginx:

service nginx restart

Setup Soketi

1. Connect to the forum server.
2. Go to the forum directory:

cd /path/to/your/forum

3. Create a config for Soketi:

php cmd.php xf-websockets:create-soketi-config

4. Connect to the server where you want to run Soketi.
5. Upload the websockets file from the add-on archive to the server.
6. Go to the directory where you uploaded the file:

cd /path/to/your/websockets/file

7. Create src directory.

mkdir src

8. Upload the src/soketi.config.json file from the forum root directory to the src directory on the server.
9. Install native Soketi or Docker Image.
10. Run a daemon.
11. Open XenForo WebSockets options: ACP > Setup > Options > [021] XenForo WebSockets.
12. Paste the server IP or domain into the Pusher Host field (eg. ws.your_domain.com).

How to use the Pusher API?

1. Create an account on pusher.com.
2. Go to the Dashboard and click on the Get started button in the Channels section.
3. Create a new app:
   You can name it as you want.
   Choose the cluster that is closest to your server.
   The rest of the options don't matter.
4. Go to the "App Keys" tab.
5. Open XenForo WebSockets options: ACP > Setup > Options > [021] XenForo WebSockets.
6. Paste the values from the "App Keys" tab into the corresponding fields.
7. Save the options.