Setting up A Jitsi Meet Server on Azure

With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, video chat is on the rise, with people using tools like Zoom, WebEx, and others. One option is to use an open-source solution like Jitsi Meet, which provides both a public cloud version you can use easily, and a version you can host on your own.

Why host on your own? You should consider hosting on your own if:

• You’re concerned with security – hosting the software on your own ensures a third part is uninvolved.
• You want more hands on capability to change the specs on the server for performance based on when you’re using video software.
• You can control the location of the hardware, which depending on where everyone is located, may improve performance.

Server Creation and Jitsi Installation

First, create an Azure VM with the following:

• Running Ubuntu
• Open inbound ports 80, 443, and 22.
• SSH key access (recommended)

Once the VM is created, SSH into the server and install the Jitsi full suite:

when installing, you’ll be asked to configure jitsi-videobridge2, use the URL you plan to use for this Jitsi instance. Afterwards, generate a self-signed certificate (we’ll create one with Let’s Encrypt later).

To verify installation worked successfully, visit the IP address in a browser, making sure you use HTTPS.

Set up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

To set up SSL, you’ll need to set up a domain name for the server in place – you can either:

• Configure the Public IP assigned by Azure to create a domain name.
• Using the process above, but also creating an A or CNAME record for a purchase domain pointing to the server IP

Once this is done, you can run the following to automatically create a cert:

Reference

https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/blob/master/doc/quick-install.md#advanced-configuration