Matterbridge launchctl configuration (macOS)

Advanced configuration

Run matterbridge as system service with launchctl (macOS) and its own global node_modules directory

Optional: cleanup all previous setups

sudo rm -rf ~/Matterbridge
sudo rm -rf ~/.matterbridge
sudo rm -rf ~/.mattercert
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/etc/matterbridge
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist
sudo rm -f /var/log/matterbridge.log /var/log/matterbridge.err
sudo npm uninstall matterbridge -g

Verify node setup

node -v
npm -v

It should output something like:

v22.20.0
10.9.3

Check node path

which node

It should output something like:

/usr/local/bin/node

In this case you will need in the step below to replace MYNODEPATH with /usr/local/bin

First create the Matterbridge directories

This will create the required directories if they don't exist and install matterbridge in the matterbridge global node_modules directory

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/matterbridge
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/Matterbridge
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.matterbridge
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.mattercert
sudo chown -R root:wheel /usr/local/etc/matterbridge
sudo chown -R root:wheel /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global
sudo chmod -R 755 /usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global
sudo NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=/usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global npm install -g matterbridge --omit=dev

Then create a system launchctl configuration file for Matterbridge

• create a launchctl configuration file for Matterbridge

sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist

• add the following to the file, replacing MYNODEPATH with the path found in the step before:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
        <dict>
                <key>PATH</key>
                <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global/bin:MYNODEPATH</string>
                <key>NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX</key>
                <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global</string>
                <key>HOME</key>
                <string>/var/root</string>
                <key>NODE_PATH</key>
                <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global/lib/node_modules</string>
        </dict>
        <key>KeepAlive</key>
        <true/>
        <key>Label</key>
        <string>matterbridge</string>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
        <array>
                <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge/.npm-global/bin/matterbridge</string>
                <string>--homedir</string>
                <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge</string>
                <string>--service</string>
                <string>--nosudo</string>
        </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/var/log/matterbridge.err</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/var/log/matterbridge.log</string>
        <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
        <string>/usr/local/etc/matterbridge</string>
</dict>
</plist>

• stop matterbridge

sudo launchctl bootout system/matterbridge

• check the plist

sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist
sudo chmod 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist
sudo plutil -lint /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist
sudo plutil -convert xml1 /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist

• bootstrap matterbridge and enable it

sudo rm -f /var/log/matterbridge.log /var/log/matterbridge.err
sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/matterbridge.plist
sudo launchctl enable system/matterbridge

Start Matterbridge

sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/matterbridge

Stop Matterbridge

sudo launchctl bootout system/matterbridge

Restart Matterbridge

sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/matterbridge

Show Matterbridge status

sudo launchctl print system/matterbridge

Show Matterbridge status (only essentials)

sudo launchctl print system/matterbridge | grep -E "pid|state"

Enable Matterbridge to start automatically on boot

sudo launchctl enable system/matterbridge

Disable Matterbridge from starting automatically on boot

sudo launchctl disable system/matterbridge

View the log of Matterbridge in real time (this will show the log with colors)

sudo tail -n 1000 -f /var/log/matterbridge.log /var/log/matterbridge.err

Optional: automatically rotate logs (every 5 days or at 100 MB, keep 5 compressed backups)

sudo tee /etc/newsyslog.d/matterbridge.conf <<'EOF'
/var/log/matterbridge.log  root:wheel 640  5  102400  5  ZC
/var/log/matterbridge.err  root:wheel 640  5  102400  5  ZC
EOF
sudo newsyslog -v

Optional: remove the password prompt for sudo

sudo EDITOR=nano visudo

Add this line at the end of the file (replace USER with your macOS username):

USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Save and validate syntax:

sudo visudo -c

Optional: ask for password only each 60 minutes

sudo EDITOR=nano visudo

Add (or edit) this line anywhere in the file:

Defaults        timestamp_timeout = 60

Save and validate syntax:

sudo visudo -c