jitsi-meet

Installs and configures the Jitsi Meet videoconferencing software.

Requirements

You should have DNS pointed at the server already, and SSL keys. If you don't have SSL keys for the domain yet, consider using the excellent thefinn93.letsencrypt Ansible role to obtain (free!) SSL certs from LetsEncrypt.

You will also need to expose ports 443 TCP and 10000 UDP for the Jitsi Meet components to work. By default the role will use ufw to allow these ports. If you use another host-based firewall solution such as iptables, set jitsi_meet_configure_firewall: false. If you use AWS or similar, you'll need to expose those ports in the associated Security Group.

Role Variables

# The default cert files are /var/lib/prosody/localhost.{crt,key}
# NOT setting them here, because empty strings for custom certs will
# cause the custom Nginx config tasks to be skipped.
jitsi_meet_ssl_cert_path: ''
jitsi_meet_ssl_key_path: ''

# Without SSL, "localhost" is the correct default. If SSL info is provided,
# then we'll need a real domain name. Using Ansible's inferred FQDN, but you
# can set the variable value explicitly if you use a shorter hostname
# If automatic Nginx configuration is disabled, also use FQDN, since presumably
# another role will manage the vhost config.
jitsi_meet_server_name: "{{ ansible_fqdn if (jitsi_meet_ssl_cert_path or not jitsi_meet_configure_nginx) else 'localhost' }}"

# Only "anonymous" auth is supported, which lets anyone use the videoconference server.
jitsi_meet_authentication: anonymous

# The Debian package installation of jitsi-meet will generate secrets for the components.
# The role will read the config file and preserve the secrets even while templating.
# If you wish to generate your own secrets and use those, override these vars, but make
# sure to store the secrets securely, e.g. with ansible-vault or credstash.
jitsi_meet_videobridge_secret: ''
jitsi_meet_jicofo_secret: ''
jitsi_meet_jicofo_password: ''

# Default auth information, used in multiple service templates.
jitsi_meet_jicofo_user: focus
jitsi_meet_jicofo_port: 5347

# The default config file at /etc/jitsi/videobridge/config claims the default port
# for JVB is "5275", but the manual install guide references "5347".
# https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/blob/master/doc/manual-install.md
jitsi_meet_videobridge_port: 5347

# If Jitsi Videobridge is behind a NAT, set these values to make ICE work
jitsi_meet_videobridge_nat:
  local_ip: ''
  public_ip: ''

# A recent privacy-friendly addition, see here for details:
# https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/issues/422
# https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/pull/427
jitsi_meet_disable_third_party_requests: true

# Screensharing config for Chrome. You'll need to build and package a browser
# extension specifically for your domain; see https://github.com/jitsi/jidesha
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_chrome_method: 'ext'
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_chrome_ext_id: 'diibjkoicjeejcmhdnailmkgecihlobk'

# Path to local extension on disk, for copying to target host. The remote filename
# will be the basename of the path provided here.
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_chrome_extension_filename: ''

# Screensharing config for Firefox. Set max_version to '42' and disabled to 'false'
# if you want to use screensharing under Firefox.
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_firefox_ext_id: 'null'
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_firefox_disabled: true
jitsi_meet_desktop_sharing_firefox_max_version_ext_required: '-1'

# These debconf settings represent answers to interactive prompts during installation
# of the jitsi-meet deb package. If you use custom SSL certs, you may have to set more options.
jitsi_meet_debconf_settings:
  - name: jitsi-meet
    question: jitsi-meet/jvb-hostname
    value: "{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}"
    vtype: string
  - name: jitsi-meet
    question: jitsi-meet/jvb-serve
    value: "false"
    vtype: boolean
  - name: jitsi-meet-prosody
    question: jitsi-meet-prosody/jvb-hostname
    value: "{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}"
    vtype: string

# Role will automatically install configure ufw with jitsi-meet port holes.
# If you're managing a firewall elsewise, set this to false, and ufw will be skipped.
jitsi_meet_configure_firewall: true

# Role will automatically install nginx and configure a vhost for use with jitsi-meet.
# If you prefer to manage web vhosts via a separate role, set this to false.
jitsi_meet_configure_nginx: true

Screen sharing

Jitsi Meet supports screen sharing functionality via browser extensions. Only the party sharing the screen needs the extension installed—other participants in the meeting will be able to view the shared screen without installing anything. You'll need to build your own browser extension for Chrome and/or Firefox. See the Jidesha documentation for detailed build instructions. This role has only been tested with custom Chrome extensions.

Chrome forbids installation of extensions from unapproved websites, so you must download the .crx file directly, then navigate to chrome://extensions and drag-and-drop the extension to install it. If you want to grant another participant screen-sharing support, share the URL for the extension with them via the Jitsi Meet text chat pane.

Dependencies

It's technically not a dependency, but you should check out thefinn93.letsencrypt for astoundingly easy SSL certs.

Example Playbook

Including an example of how to use your role (for instance, with variables passed in as parameters) is always nice for users too:

- name: Configure jitsi-meet server.
  hosts: jitsi
  vars:
    # Change this to match the DNS entry for your host IP.
    jitsi_meet_server_name: meet.example.com
  roles:
    - role: thefinn93.letsencrypt
      become: yes
      letsencrypt_email: "webmaster@{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}"
      letsencrypt_cert_domains:
        - "{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}"
      tags: letsencrypt

    - role: ansible-role-jitsi-meet
      jitsi_meet_ssl_cert_path: "/etc/letsencrypt/live/{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}/fullchain.pem"
      jitsi_meet_ssl_key_path: "/etc/letsencrypt/live/{{ jitsi_meet_server_name }}/privkey.pem"
      become: yes
      tags: jitsi

Running the tests

This role uses Molecule and ServerSpec for testing. To use it:

pip install molecule
gem install serverspec
molecule test

You can also run selective commands:

molecule idempotence
molecule verify

See the Molecule docs for more info.

License

MIT

Author Information

Freedom of the Press Foundation