How to Install and Configure BigBlueButton 2.2

What is BigBlueButton?

BigBlueButton is a free software web conferencing system for Linux servers. Its intended use is online learning. BigBlueButton is an affiliate member of the Open Source Initiative.

BigBlueButton Features

BigBlueButton offers many different features. Apart from all these features, the best part of the project is that it is completely open-source and free for commercial use.

• Real-time sharing of audio, video, screen
• Save and share recordings
• Multiple rooms and sessions at the same time
• Unlimited participation
• Password protected sessions
• Public and private chats
• Many settings for rooms
• Upload of PDF and Microsoft Office documents
• Interactive whiteboard
• Integration with phone systems (using FreeSWITCH)

How to Install BigBlueButton 2.2

I decided to use Digital Ocean to install BigBlueButton on Ubuntu. Before the installation, I assumed that you have a Digital Ocean account, if not, you can register it via this link. (with this link, you will earn $100 for 60 days)

1. Create a new Droplet on Digital Ocean

• Choose an image: Ubuntu 18.04 (LTS) x64
• Choose a plan: 8CPUs / 16GB RAM (min. server requirements)
• Choose a datacenter region: Frankfurt (the nearest one)
• Authentication: Set a strong password of SSH
• Choose a hostname: bbb.batuhan.me (example)

Preview of the Droplet on Digital Ocean

2. Configure your domain on Cloudflare (optional)

• Log in to your Cloudflare account.
• Add a new “A Record” like below:

Adding New Record on Cloudflare

3. Connect your Droplet via SSH

batuhan $ ssh root@123.123.123.123

4. Run the command below:

batuhan@bbb.batuhan.me $ wget -qO- https://ubuntu.bigbluebutton.org/bbb-install.sh | bash -s -- -v bionic-230 -s bbb.batuhan.me -e hello@batuhan.me -w -g

The process above can take about 15–20 mins depends on your server’s resources.

Installation is done!

Accessing User Interface (Greenlight)

First, you need to set a new administrator account via SSH. The command below will generate the account automatically.

batuhan@bbb.batuhan.me $ docker exec greenlight-v2 bundle exec rake admin:create

You can reach Greenlight (user interface of BigBlueButton) via “bbb.batuhan.me/b” and you can log in with the credentials you just created.

Helpful Links

• Full documentation of BigBlueButton.
• Helpful documentation of Greenlight.
• Github repositories of the project.
• “How to use” documentation of bbb-conf.

Have a great day 👋