add initial instructions to README

README.md

@@ -1 +1,72 @@
-# matrix-homeserver-docker-compose
+# Matrix Synapse (Docker Compose)
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+1. [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
+2. [Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/)
+3. A domain
+
+## Setup
+
+### Create a `.env` file
+
+1. Create a copy of `.env.example`:
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+```
+
+2. Replace `VOLUME_PATH` variable if you wish to change where volume data is stored
+
+3. Replace `SERVER_NAME` variable with your Matrix server's domain name (e.g. `matrix.example.com`)
+
+4. Replace `TZ` variable with your timezone
+
+5. Create the required PostgreSQL secret file `postgres_password.txt` and insert a secure password (you should consider restricting access to this file)
+
+### Generate `homeserver.yaml`
+
+1. Run the following command to use the `matrixdotorg/synapse` image to generate a `homeserver.yaml` file (replace `$VOLUME_PATH` and `$SERVER_NAME` with the values you set in your [.env](.env) file):
+
+```bash
+sudo docker run -it --rm \
+    --mount type=bind,src=$VOLUME_PATH/data,dst=/data \
+    -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=$SERVER_NAME \
+    -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=no \ # Change to yes if you wish to report stats to Matrix
+    matrixdotorg/synapse:latest generate
+```
+
+The `homeserver.yaml` file should now exist at `$VOLUME_PATH/data/homeserver.yaml`
+
+2. Open the newly created `homeserver.yaml` in your favourite editor
+
+3. Locate the following lines in the config:
+
+```yaml
+database:
+  name: sqlite3
+  args:
+    database: /data/homeserver.db
+```
+
+4. Replace these lines with the following (replace `secretpassword` with the password you put into [postgres_password.txt](postgres_password.txt)):
+
+```yaml
+database:
+  name: psycopg2
+  txn_limit: 10000
+  args:
+    user: synapse_user
+    password: secretpassword
+    database: synapse
+    host: postgres
+    port: 5432
+    cp_min: 5
+    cp_max: 10
+```
+
+5. Bring up the containers!
+
+```bash
+sudo docker-compose -p matrix-synapse up -d
+```