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turn server install guide improved
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223 changes: 101 additions & 122 deletions turnserver.md
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## Install and setup guide for a TURN Relay Server
# TURN Server Setup Guide

#### why? You may want to deploy one to ensure high compatiblity with remote guests. If you try to use the official VDO.Ninja TURN servers for a private deployment, you may find yourself getting kicked off.
## Understanding STUN vs TURN

This install script and config file was used with a standard virtual machine server loaded with Ubuntu 20. GCP/AWS servers might need slightly different settings.
WebRTC tries to establish peer-to-peer connections using the following methods, in order:
1. Direct connection
2. STUN - helps peers discover their public IP address and port
3. TURN - relays traffic between peers when direct/STUN connections fail

```
sudo apt-get update # update package lists
sudo apt-get install coturn -y # install coturn, the implementation of the TURN server
sudo vi /etc/default/coturn # open the coturn configuration in Vim (you can also use nano or any other editor)
```
...and we uncomment the line:
```
#TURNSERVER_ENABLED=1
```
….leaving it like this:
```
TURNSERVER_ENABLED=1
```
If we want to support TCP / TLS, we need an SSL certificate installed. Certbot has lots of issues to work around, but it's free. If you buy a cert some where else, you may need to convert your certificate to one that's compatible with coturn. Either way, adding TCP/TLS is a pain that isn't needed for 99% of the users out there.
```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot # Add the certbot repository
sudo apt-get install certbot -y # Install certbot required for the HTTPS certificate
sudo certbot certonly --standalone # only generate the HTTPS certificate without actually changing any configs
```
If you want to setup a firewall or configure an existing firewall, you can see the below setup and configurations. This can often be skipped for new Ubuntu installations, but I'll leave that up to you
```
sudo apt install net-tools
sudo ufw allow 3478/tcp # The default coturn TCP port
sudo ufw allow 3478/udp # The default coturn UDP port
sudo ufw allow 3479/tcp # Sometimes port+1 is used
sudo ufw allow 3479/udp # Sometimes port+1 is used
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp # The HTTPS TCP port
sudo ufw allow 443/udp # The HTTPS UDP port
sudo ufw allow 49152:65535/tcp
sudo ufw allow 49152:65535/udp
```
If we expect heavy usage of this server, like hundreds of connections, you might want to ensure your system supports enough open sockets. I'm not sure if this actually works or is needed, but you can see this article for example on how to increase the number of available sockets on Ubuntu: https://medium.com/@muhammadtriwibowo/set-permanently-ulimit-n-open-files-in-ubuntu-4d61064429a

If you do want to increase the connection limit, for larger systems, it's as follows:
```
ulimit -n 65535
sudo vim /etc/sysctl.conf
```
Add the following line to the file anywhere (with vim, press i to insert new text and :wq to save and exit)
```
fs.file-max = 65535
```
Once saved, you can apply the changes
```
sudo sysctl -p
```
And that should have set the connection limit to be higher now.
### STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT)
- Lightweight protocol that helps peers behind NAT discover their public IP address
- Low bandwidth usage as it only helps with connection discovery
- No relay costs, but doesn't work when peers are behind strict firewalls

Next, update turnserver.conf with passwords, domain names, and whatever else that needs changing. Example contents are provided below. Once you have updated it, start the TURN server and ensure it started correctly. At the bottom of this page is a sample conf file; I personally use `turnserver3.conf` (https://github.com/steveseguin/vdo.ninja/blob/master/turnserver3.conf), which is hosted in the main repo, for quick TURN deployments.
### TURN (Traversal Using Relays around NAT)
- Relays all traffic through the server when direct/STUN connections fail
- Higher bandwidth usage and server costs
- Required for peers behind symmetric NATs or strict firewalls
- More reliable but should only be used as a fallback

```
sudo vi /etc/turnserver.conf
```
Tip: For those doing their own LAN-deployment, you might want to add STUN-support to the TURN server while at it. Refer to the co-turn documentation for help there though.
## Quick Install

Next, once we have all the settings and configs setup, we can enable the system service for co-turn to auto-start on boot.
The installer script automates the complete TURN server setup process:

This is our service file; it should exist.
```
sudo vi /usr/lib/systemd/system/coturn.service
```
To ensure it's enabled, try this:
```
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable coturn
```
```bash
# Download the installer
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveseguin/vdo.ninja/develop/turnserver_install.sh.sample
mv turnserver_install.sh.sample turnserver_install.sh
chmod +x turnserver_install.sh

To start the co-turn service and to see if it had any errors:
```
sudo systemctl restart coturn
sudo systemctl status coturn
# Run the installer
sudo ./turnserver_install.sh
```
You can then validate that things are working at the following site:

https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/peerconnection/trickle-ice/

An example URL is `turn:turnserver.mydomain.com:3478`
or for TCP/TLS, try `turns:turnTLS.mydomain.com:443`
The installer will:
1. Install coturn and dependencies
2. Configure system limits for high connection loads
3. Set up base TURN/STUN configuration
4. Optionally configure SSL/TLS support
5. Create systemd service for auto-start
6. Configure proper permissions

note: If you run into error 701 issues with your TURN server, check that the coturn service has access to your new SSL certificates:
see this issue with coturn: https://github.com/coturn/coturn/issues/268
## Basic Configuration Explained

You might also want to consider buying a better certificiate, as not all Google-related projects properly support certbot certificates, including libwebrtc. see [this issue ticket](https://github.com/coturn/coturn/issues/240#issuecomment-648550885). If you go this route, see [turnserver2.conf](https://github.com/steveseguin/vdo.ninja/blob/master/turnserver2.conf) for an example config.
The basic configuration (`turnserver_basic.conf`) provides a minimal but functional TURN server:

Next, we may want to update the User and Group values in our service file to be "root". This seems to be a quick hacky fix for the issue with Lets Encrypt. .. I welcome a better solution tho. If you move the certs somewhere else, or buy proper certificates, then the default turnserver user/group will work.
```conf
listening-port=3478 # Standard STUN/TURN port
fingerprint # Required for WebRTC
lt-cred-mech # Long-term credential mechanism
user=username:password # Authentication credentials
stale-nonce=600 # Nonce timeout in seconds
realm=turn.example.com # Your server's domain
server-name=turn.example.com
no-multicast-peers # Security measure
dh2066 # Strong DH params
no-stdout-log # Disable stdout logging
```

Ultimately though, if you are still getting the 701 error -- just test to see if the TURN service works; if it does, the error can probably be ignored.
## SSL/TLS Support (Optional)

The installer can configure SSL/TLS support which:
- Enables TURNS (TURN over TLS) on port 443
- Automatically obtains and renews SSL certificates via certbot
- Configures automatic certificate reload without server restart

The following are the contents of an example /etc/turnserver.conf file from above
```
## sudo vi /etc/turnserver.conf
## Testing Your Server

listening-port=3478
## TLS needs an SSL certificate and domain, but enables TCP
tls-listening-port=443
Test your TURN server at: https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/peerconnection/trickle-ice/

# min-port=49152
# max-port=65535
Example configurations to test:
- STUN/TURN: `turn:your-domain:3478`
- TURNS (if SSL enabled): `turns:your-domain:443`

realm=turn.obs.ninja
server-name=turn.obs.ninja
## Firewall Configuration

## webrtc likes to use this
fingerprint
Required ports:
- 3478 TCP/UDP (STUN/TURN)
- 443 TCP/UDP (TURNS, if enabled)
- 49152:65535 TCP/UDP (Media relay ports)

## Lets just use Google since its more reliable
no-stun
## Advanced Usage

lt-cred-mech
user=SOMESUERNAME:SOMEPASSWQORD
### Reloading SSL Certificates
```bash
sudo systemctl --signal=SIGUSR2 kill coturn
```

stale-nonce=600
### Checking Server Status
```bash
sudo systemctl status coturn
```

## depreciated in newer coturn
# no-loopback-peers
### Updating Configuration
1. Edit `/etc/turnserver.conf`
2. Restart service: `sudo systemctl restart coturn`

## prevents hackers from hacking
no-multicast-peers
## Common Issues

## 1-gbps/100 users = ~ 1-mbps each with this setting then
total-quota=100
1. **Permission denied errors**
- The installer handles this by setting proper capabilities
- Manual fix: `sudo setcap cap_net_bind_service=+ep /usr/bin/turnserver`

cert=/etc/letsencrypt/live/turn.obs.ninja/fullchain.pem
pkey=/etc/letsencrypt/live/turn.obs.ninja/privkey.pem
2. **SSL certificate errors (701)**
- Verify certificate permissions
- Check certificate paths in configuration
- Ensure certificates are readable by turnserver user

## Tweaks to fix some lets encrypt errors
cipher-list="ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384"
no-sslv3
no-tlsv1
no-tlsv1_1
# no-tlsv1_2
dh2066
## Production Considerations

# no-udp
# no-tcp
1. **System Limits**
The installer configures higher system limits for production use:
- File descriptors: 65535
- System max files: 65535

# verbose
no-stdout-log
2. **Monitoring**
- Monitor bandwidth usage
- Watch for high CPU/memory usage
- Track active connections

## optional
proc-user=root
proc-group=root
3. **Security**
- Regularly update credentials
- Monitor for abuse
- Keep coturn and SSL certificates up to date

```
## Support

For those who are using Certificates with their coturn installations, you can use `sudo systemctl --signal=SIGUSR2 kill coturn` to reload the certs in coturn without restarting and disconnecting current users. This can be especially useful for certbot users, who need to update every few months; triggering the command after certbot runs could make life easy.
For issues or questions:
- Create an issue on the VDO.Ninja GitHub repository
- Join the VDO.Ninja Discord community

Anyways, setting this all up is easier said then done. My suggestion is to start simple, get that working, and if needed, improve from there. good luck!
## References
- [Coturn Documentation](https://github.com/coturn/coturn/wiki/turnserver)
- [WebRTC Samples](https://webrtc.github.io/samples/)
- [VDO.Ninja GitHub](https://github.com/steveseguin/vdo.ninja)
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