Matrix — All-in-One for Unraid

Synapse + coturn + Element Web + Synapse-Admin in one container.

   

What is this?

A plug-and-play Docker image that bundles a full Matrix stack — Synapse homeserver, coturn TURN/STUN server, Element Web client, and Synapse-Admin — into one Unraid container. No manual config-file editing, no SSH into the container required: enter your domain and database credentials in the template, the container handles the rest.

Highlights

• Synapse — the reference Matrix homeserver

• coturn — TURN/STUN server for voice/video calls behind NAT

• Element Web — the most-used Matrix web client

• Synapse-Admin — admin UI for user/room management

• All four services orchestrated by a single s6-overlay init

• Multi-arch: amd64 + arm64

• Image: ghcr.io/junkerderprovinz/matrix:latest

⚠️ Read this before you install — two prerequisites

The container is plug-and-play, but two things outside the container must be set up correctly or Synapse will refuse to start.

1. PostgreSQL must use the right locale. In your Postgres container console (psql -U postgres):

CREATE USER admin WITH PASSWORD 'yoursecretpassword';
CREATE DATABASE matrix
    ENCODING 'UTF8' LC_COLLATE='C' LC_CTYPE='C'
    TEMPLATE template0 OWNER admin;

Any other locale and Synapse refuses to start. Full details in the README section 3.

2. NPM Advanced config. Add this to your matrix.yourdomain.tld proxy host's Advanced → Custom Nginx Configuration:

client_max_body_size 100M;
proxy_read_timeout 600s;

Without it, large media uploads will fail and long-polling sync will time out.

Requirements

• Unraid 6.10+

• An existing reverse proxy (NPM, SWAG, Traefik, …) on the same network

• A PostgreSQL container (the template does not bundle one — by design)

• A domain you control with DNS access (for federation + TLS)

• ~1 GB RAM idle, more if you federate with large rooms

Posting a bug report

1. Unraid version + image tag

2. Whether you're federating (server_name matches the public domain?)

3. Output of docker logs --tail 300 matrix

4. Your reverse-proxy type and the relevant proxy-host config (redact secrets)

5. Postgres version + the exact CREATE DATABASE command you ran

GitHub issues with the same info are also welcome: github.com/junkerderprovinz/matrix/issues

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Unofficial community wrapper. Not affiliated with The Matrix.org Foundation or Element.

Edited June 6Jun 6 by Junker der Provinz

Would I be able to use a cloudflare tunnel or do I need to utilize a reverse proxy setup to access? Thanks in advance

23 hours ago, 01111000 said:

Would I be able to use a cloudflare tunnel or do I need to utilize a reverse proxy setup to access? Thanks in advance

Both work, you don't strictly need a reverse proxy.

A Cloudflare Tunnel is fine for client access and means zero open ports. Two things to know: Cloudflare caps uploads at 100 MB (the README already uses 100M, so that lines up), and for federation you still need the .well-known delegation to 443 (section 6 in the README). Voice/video (TURN) is UDP and can't go through a tunnel or proxy, so forward those ports either way.

A normal reverse proxy (NPM, what the README documents) is the cleaner option if you want federation plus bigger media. And if you ever use Cloudflare's orange-cloud proxy instead of a tunnel, set the Matrix subdomain to DNS only (grey cloud), the orange proxy breaks non-browser clients and federation.