How to install - Fedora/RHEL/CentOS + Apache

Requirements

Fedora / RHEL 7+ / CentOS 7+ server/VPS with Apache, PHP5/PHP7 and MySQL/MariaDB
Access to that server via SSH as a root user
PHP shell_exec enabled in php.ini (alternatively see Websocket as a systemd service below)
telnet installed: yum install telnet
php_mysqli, php_curl & php_fileinfo extensions, php_json extension on PHP5

A websocket service and a websocket server are the same thing. We call the server part of our chat software a websocket service rather than a websocket server to easily distinguish it from web servers, MySQL servers, hosting servers, DHCP servers. Websocket service = websocket server = blabws-server-pro

With SELinux in enforcing mode, run getenforce = Enforcing you need Apache running in permissive mode which many experts consider a vulnerability. To enable SELinux permissive mode (for Apache only) run:

semanage permissive -a httpd_t

If no semanage: run yum install policycoreutils-python-utils or yum install policycoreutils-python

Step 1

Download blabws-server-pro 32-bit or 64-bit, unzip and upload the folder blabws-server-pro under your /opt directory so that the path to the blabws-server-pro executable file is: /opt/blabws-server-pro/blabws-server-pro

Make sure that the file is executable: chmod +x /opt/blabws-server-pro/blabws-server-pro or Filezilla » File Permissions » 755

Step 2

You need an Apache module called proxy_wstunnel. You can enable proxy_wstunnel from a frontend such as cPanel, or:

Open /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-proxy.conf and look for:

LoadModule proxy_wstunnel_module modules/mod_proxy_wstunnel.so

If not found, add the line at the end of the file and save.

Add to the config file of Apache outside VirtualHosts or inside the virtualhost directive of your website:

ProxyPass "/MyWsServer/" "ws://127.0.0.1:9002/"

Save, restart Apache: systemctl restart httpd

Step 3

Download BlaB! WS Pro (client), unzip the content in an empty folder and upload it to your server under your website root directory. CHMOD blabwspro/config.php to 666, blabwspro/attachments to 777 and navigate with your browser to YOUR-URL.COM/blabwspro/index.php and follow the instructions (3 steps only).

Step 4

At the end of the installation process you'll see a link to the Admin CP - go to Server, and set:

Port: remove 9002 and leave the box empty
ProxyPass token: MyWsServer
protocol: ws if you do not use SSL; wss if Apache is configured with SSL

Save with OKAY, start your server from BOARD » WEBSOCKET STATUS, press the ESC key to display the menu, hit EXIT to go to chat.

Done!

Websocket as a systemd service

Alternative: without telnet and shell_exec (client 19.01 and above)

Admin CP » Server » SystemdService click on systemd service and save the file when prompted: blabwsp.service
Upload blabwsp.service in /lib/systemd/system, if no such directory: /etc/systemd/system
Run systemctl start blabwsp and check if your chat is working properly
Run systemctl enable blabwsp to enable the service on boot

Page updated: 2025-02-07