Standalone Linux & Systemd (Without Docker)

For hosting environments running directly on the Linux host OS with systemd and standalone services.

Overview & Purpose

This guide is strictly for standalone deployments directly on Ubuntu/Debian bare-metal or cloud VPS instances where you choose NOT to use Docker containers. The JChat server process is supervised directly by Linux systemd, while PostgreSQL 18 and Redis 7 are managed as standalone host services or external cloud databases (e.g. AWS RDS).

Host Prerequisites

Before configuring systemd, ensure the host OS has required runtimes and services running:

1. Bun 1.4.0+ Runtime

Install Bun on the host machine: curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

2. Standalone PostgreSQL 18+ & Redis 7+

Install and enable local database services or prepare external connection URLs:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib redis-server
sudo systemctl enable --now postgresql redis-server

3. Deploy Pre-Compiled Standalone Bundle

Download your pre-compiled standalone distribution bundle (jchat-standalone-vX.Y.Z.zip) from your JChat Store Dashboard (under Purchases > Standalone (.zip)) and extract it to your deployment directory (e.g. /var/www/jchat):

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/jchat
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/jchat
unzip jchat-standalone-vX.Y.Z.zip -d /var/www/jchat

Systemd Service Configuration

Create a systemd unit file at /etc/systemd/system/jchat.service to keep JChat running 24/7 and automatically restart on reboot:

[Unit]
Description=JChat Enterprise Server (Standalone)
After=network.target postgresql.service redis.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=jchat
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/jchat
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/bun run start
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
EnvironmentFile=/var/www/jchat/.env

# Security Hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
ProtectSystem=full
LimitNOFILE=65536

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable & Start Service

Reload the systemd daemon, enable auto-start on boot, and verify the service status:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now jchat
sudo systemctl status jchat