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📡 simplex-selfhost

One-command setup for a self-hosted SimpleX Chat stack: SMP relay, XFTP file server, and TURN server for voice calls.

One script. A fully working private messenger on your own server.
No registration. No phone numbers. No surveillance.

⚡ Quick Start

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ntorgov/simplex_bundle/refs/heads/master/installer.sh | bash

The script will ask a few questions (server address, ports, storage quota) and bring everything up automatically.

🧩 What Gets Installed

Service Image Purpose Default Port
SMP Server simplexchat/smp-server Message relay 993 (IMAPS)
XFTP Server simplexchat/xftp-server File & media transfer 995 (POP3S)
coturn coturn/coturn STUN/TURN for voice calls 3478

Ports 993 and 995 are intentionally chosen — they belong to the email protocol range (IMAPS/POP3S) and are almost never blocked by ISPs, unlike SimpleX's default port 5223.

📋 Requirements

  • Linux server (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended)
  • Docker (>= 20.x)
  • docker-compose or the docker compose plugin
  • openssl (usually pre-installed)
  • A public IP address or domain name

🔧 What the Script Does

  1. Checks dependencies — docker, docker-compose, openssl
  2. Interactively asks for parameters: server address, ports, storage quota
  3. Generates a random password for the TURN server
  4. Creates ~/simplex/docker-compose.yml and ~/simplex/credentials.txt
  5. Pulls images and starts the containers
  6. Prints ready-to-use strings to paste into the SimpleX Chat app

🛡️ Firewall

After installation, open the required ports:

ufw allow 993/tcp    # SMP relay
ufw allow 995/tcp    # XFTP files
ufw allow 3478/tcp   # TURN (voice)
ufw allow 3478/udp   # TURN (voice)
ufw allow 49152:65535/udp  # TURN media range

📱 Configuring the App

After a successful install, the script prints the ready-made addresses. Add them to SimpleX Chat:

SMP and XFTP Servers

Settings → Network & Servers → SMP Servers (same for XFTP):

smp://<fingerprint>@your-server.com:993
xftp://<fingerprint>@your-server.com:995

Get the exact addresses with fingerprint from the logs:

docker logs simplex-smp 2>&1 | grep "Server address"
docker logs simplex-xftp 2>&1 | grep "Server address"

TURN for Voice Calls

Settings → Privacy & Security → WebRTC ICE Servers → disable defaults → add:

turn:simplex:YOUR_PASSWORD@your-server.com:3478?transport=udp
turn:simplex:YOUR_PASSWORD@your-server.com:3478?transport=tcp
stun:your-server.com:3478

The password is stored in ~/simplex/credentials.txt.

🔄 Management

cd ~/simplex

# Status
docker compose ps

# Logs for all services
docker compose logs -f

# Logs for a specific service
docker compose logs -f smp-server

# Stop
docker compose down

# Update images
docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

🗂️ File Structure

~/simplex/
├── docker-compose.yml       # service configuration
├── credentials.txt          # passwords and addresses (chmod 600)
├── smp/
│   ├── config/              # SMP server keys and config
│   └── logs/                # SMP logs and data
├── xftp/
│   ├── config/              # XFTP server keys and config
│   ├── logs/                # XFTP logs
│   └── files/               # file storage

⚠️ Back up smp/config/ca.key — this is the CA key for your SMP server. If lost, clients will no longer trust the server and will need to be reconfigured.

🔒 Security

  • The TURN password is randomly generated on each install (openssl rand)
  • credentials.txt is created with 600 permissions (owner only)
  • SMP and XFTP servers use their own TLS certificates (auto-generated on first run)
  • Message and file contents are never accessible to the server — end-to-end encryption happens on the client side

❓ FAQ

Does this work in countries with heavy censorship?
Yes. Ports 993 and 995 belong to the email protocol range (IMAPS/POP3S) and are almost never blocked. Port 5223 (SimpleX default) often gets blocked — which is why we don't use it.

Do I need a domain, or is an IP address enough?
An IP address is fine. Just enter your server's IP when the installer asks.

What about push notifications?
SimpleX push notifications are routed through simplex.im servers. If those are unreachable, switch the app's background mode to "Periodically" — the app will poll your SMP server directly without contacting any third-party servers.

How do I find the fingerprint of my SMP server?

docker logs simplex-smp 2>&1 | grep "Server address"

📄 License

MIT — do whatever you want, attribution appreciated.

Made with ❤️ for those who value privacy