Apps / Productivity
Matrix
Chat on a server you own
Synapse is a Matrix homeserver and Element is the client for it — end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice and video for your household or group, federating with the rest of the Matrix network if you want it to. Your messages sit in a database on this box, not on anybody's platform.
CategoryProductivity
Memory~1GB
Module
matrixInstalling it
Open the dashboard, find it in the App Store and press Install. Or from a terminal on the box:
sudo homebox install matrixWhere to open it
| Service | Port | First login |
|---|---|---|
| Element Matrix web client | :8182 | No account until you create one — registration is closed by default. |
| Synapse Matrix homeserver | :8448 | — |
Open it at your box's address with that port — the dashboard links to it directly once it is running.
Good to know
- The server name is permanent. It is baked into every user ID and every room, and changing it later means starting over — pick it before installing, not after
- Registration is closed after install. Create accounts with: homebox logs matrix, then
register_new_matrix_userinside the container - Federation needs port 8448 reachable and a .well-known file on the server-name domain. Without both, this works fine as a private island and cannot talk to matrix.org
- Lose the signing key in the config directory and the server can never be restored — every room it is in stops trusting it