Prosody Installation Guide Installation Guide

Prosody is a free and open-source XMPP Server. Modern XMPP communication server

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 2 cores minimum (4+ cores recommended)

RAM: 2GB minimum (4GB+ recommended)

Storage: 1GB for installation

Network: 5222/5269 ports

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 5222/5269 (default prosody port)

Dependencies:

lua5.2, lua-socket, lua-expat

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install prosody
sudo dnf install -y prosody lua5.2, lua-socket, lua-expat

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now prosody

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=prosody
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
prosody --version || systemctl status prosody

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install prosody
sudo apt install -y prosody lua5.2, lua-socket, lua-expat

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now prosody

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 5222/5269

# Verify installation
prosody --version || systemctl status prosody

bash

# Install prosody
sudo pacman -S prosody

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now prosody

# Verify installation
prosody --version || systemctl status prosody

bash

# Install prosody
apk add --no-cache prosody

# Enable and start service
rc-update add prosody default
rc-service prosody start

# Verify installation
prosody --version || rc-service prosody status

bash

# Install prosody
sudo zypper install -y prosody lua5.2, lua-socket, lua-expat

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now prosody

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=prosody
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
prosody --version || systemctl status prosody

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install prosody

# Start service
brew services start prosody

# Verify installation
prosody --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install prosody

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'prosody_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service prosody start

# Verify installation
prosody --version || service prosody status

powershell

# Using Chocolatey
choco install prosody

# Or using Scoop
scoop install prosody

# Verify installation
prosody --version

bash

# Create configuration directory if needed
sudo mkdir -p /etc/prosody

# Set up basic configuration
sudo tee /etc/prosody/prosody.conf << 'EOF'
# Prosody Configuration
c2s_tcp_keepalives = true
EOF

# Test configuration
sudo prosody -t || sudo prosody configtest

# Reload service
sudo systemctl reload prosody

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R prosody:prosody /etc/prosody
sudo chmod 750 /etc/prosody

# Enable security features
# See security section for detailed hardening steps

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable prosody

# Start service
sudo systemctl start prosody

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop prosody

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart prosody

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload prosody

# Check status
sudo systemctl status prosody

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u prosody -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add prosody default

# Start service
rc-service prosody start

# Stop service
rc-service prosody stop

# Restart service
rc-service prosody restart

# Check status
rc-service prosody status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'prosody_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service prosody start

# Stop service
service prosody stop

# Restart service
service prosody restart

# Check status
service prosody status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start prosody
brew services stop prosody
brew services restart prosody

# Check status
brew services list | grep prosody

powershell

# Start service
net start prosody

# Stop service
net stop prosody

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service prosody
Stop-Service prosody
Restart-Service prosody

# Check status
Get-Service prosody

bash

# Configure performance settings
cat >> /etc/prosody/prosody.conf << 'EOF'
c2s_tcp_keepalives = true
EOF

# Apply system tuning
sudo sysctl -w net.core.somaxconn=65535
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog=65535

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart prosody

bash

# Configure clustering (if supported)
# See official documentation for cluster setup

# Basic load balancing setup example
# Configure multiple instances on different ports

nginx

upstream prosody_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:5222/5269;
    server 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 backup;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name prosody.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name prosody.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/prosody.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/prosody.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://prosody_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        # WebSocket support (if needed)
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName prosody.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://prosody.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName prosody.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/prosody.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/prosody.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:5222/5269/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:5222/5269/
    
    # WebSocket support (if needed)
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
    RewriteRule ^/?(.*) "ws://127.0.0.1:5222/5269/$1" [P,L]
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend prosody_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/prosody.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend prosody_backend

backend prosody_backend
    balance roundrobin
    option httpchk GET /health
    server prosody1 127.0.0.1:5222/5269 check
    server prosody2 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 check backup

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R prosody:prosody /etc/prosody
sudo chmod 750 /etc/prosody

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=prosody
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

# Configure fail2ban
sudo tee /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/prosody.conf << 'EOF'
[prosody]
enabled = true
port = 5222/5269
filter = prosody
logpath = /var/log/prosody/*.log
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
EOF

bash

# Generate SSL certificates
sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
    -keyout /etc/ssl/private/prosody.key \
    -out /etc/ssl/certs/prosody.crt

# Configure SSL in prosody
# See official documentation for SSL configuration

PostgreSQL Backend (if applicable)

bash

# Create database and user
sudo -u postgres psql << EOF
CREATE DATABASE prosody_db;
CREATE USER prosody_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE prosody_db TO prosody_user;
EOF

# Configure prosody to use PostgreSQL
# See official documentation for database configuration

bash

# Create database and user
sudo mysql << EOF
CREATE DATABASE prosody_db;
CREATE USER 'prosody_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON prosody_db.* TO 'prosody_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EOF

bash

# Kernel parameters
sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf << EOF
net.core.somaxconn = 65535
net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65535
net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 5000
vm.swappiness = 10
EOF

sudo sysctl -p

# Prosody specific tuning
c2s_tcp_keepalives = true

bash

# Configure system limits
sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf << EOF
prosody soft nofile 65535
prosody hard nofile 65535
prosody soft nproc 32768
prosody hard nproc 32768
EOF

yaml

# prometheus.yml configuration
scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'prosody'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:5222/5269']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'

bash

# Basic health check script
#!/bin/bash
if systemctl is-active --quiet prosody; then
    echo "Prosody is running"
    exit 0
else
    echo "Prosody is not running"
    exit 1
fi

bash

# Configure log rotation
sudo tee /etc/logrotate.d/prosody << 'EOF'
/var/log/prosody/*.log {
    daily
    rotate 14
    compress
    delaycompress
    missingok
    notifempty
    create 0640 prosody prosody
    postrotate
        systemctl reload prosody > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
    endscript
}
EOF

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Prosody backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/prosody"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Stop service (if required)
systemctl stop prosody

# Backup configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/prosody-config-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/prosody

# Backup data (adjust paths as needed)
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/prosody-data-$DATE.tar.gz" /var/lib/prosody

# Start service
systemctl start prosody

# Clean old backups (keep 30 days)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "*.tar.gz" -mtime +30 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop prosody

# Restore configuration
sudo tar -xzf /backup/prosody/prosody-config-*.tar.gz -C /

# Restore data
sudo tar -xzf /backup/prosody/prosody-data-*.tar.gz -C /

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R prosody:prosody /etc/prosody
sudo chown -R prosody:prosody /var/lib/prosody

# Start service
sudo systemctl start prosody

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u prosody -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/prosody/*.log

# Check configuration
sudo prosody -t || sudo prosody configtest

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/prosody
ls -la /var/lib/prosody

2. Connection refused:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 5222/5269
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep 5222/5269

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all
sudo iptables -L -n

# Test connection
telnet localhost 5222/5269
nc -zv localhost 5222/5269

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep lua5.2)
htop -p $(pgrep lua5.2)

# Check connections
ss -ant | grep :5222/5269 | wc -l

# Monitor I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep lua5.2)

bash

# Run in debug mode
sudo prosody -d
# or
sudo prosody debug

# Increase log verbosity
# Edit configuration to enable debug logging

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  prosody:
    image: prosody:latest
    container_name: prosody
    ports:
      - "5222/5269:5222/5269"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/prosody
      - ./data:/var/lib/prosody
    environment:
      - prosody_CONFIG=/etc/prosody/prosody.conf
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - prosody_net

networks:
  prosody_net:
    driver: bridge

yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: prosody
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: prosody
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: prosody
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: prosody
        image: prosody:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 5222/5269
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
          mountPath: /etc/prosody
      volumes:
      - name: config
        configMap:
          name: prosody-config
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: prosody
spec:
  selector:
    app: prosody
  ports:
  - port: 5222/5269
    targetPort: 5222/5269
  type: LoadBalancer

yaml

---
- name: Install and configure Prosody
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Install prosody
      package:
        name: prosody
        state: present
    
    - name: Configure prosody
      template:
        src: prosody.conf.j2
        dest: /etc/prosody/prosody.conf
        owner: prosody
        group: prosody
        mode: '0640'
      notify: restart prosody
    
    - name: Start and enable prosody
      systemd:
        name: prosody
        state: started
        enabled: yes
  
  handlers:
    - name: restart prosody
      systemd:
        name: prosody
        state: restarted

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update prosody

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade prosody

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu prosody

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade prosody

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update prosody

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade prosody

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/prosody-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/prosody

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart prosody

Regular Maintenance Tasks

bash

# Clean logs
find /var/log/prosody -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Verify integrity
sudo prosody --verify || sudo prosody check

# Update databases (if applicable)
sudo prosody-update-db

# Optimize performance
sudo prosody-optimize

# Check for security updates
sudo prosody --security-check

Official Documentation: https://docs.prosody.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/prosody/prosody

Community Forum: https://forum.prosody.org/

Wiki: https://wiki.prosody.org/

Comparison vs ejabberd, Openfire, Tigase, Metronome: https://docs.prosody.org/comparison

---

Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

Security Hardening

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Performance Optimization

Clustering and High Availability

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

SSL/TLS Configuration

Database Setup

PostgreSQL Backend (if applicable)

MySQL/MariaDB Backend (if applicable)

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Resource Limits

Monitoring

Prometheus Integration

Health Checks

Log Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Mode

Integration Examples

Docker Compose

Kubernetes Deployment

Ansible Playbook

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Additional Resources

Related Xmpp servers Guides

ejabberd Installation Guide

Openfire Installation Guide