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Stierhof at 13:04, 14 January 2026

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Stierhof at 13:02, 14 January 2026

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Stierhof at 11:53, 14 January 2026

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Stierhof at 11:37, 14 January 2026

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Stierhof: Created page with "The university hosts a matrix server which can be used with the university internal credentials. This page gives a quick introduction on how to setup 'element', the reference..."

2026-01-14T11:25:21Z

Created page with "The university hosts a matrix server which can be used with the university internal credentials. This page gives a quick introduction on how to setup 'element', the reference..."

New page

The university hosts a matrix server which can be used with the university internal credentials. This page gives a quick introduction on how to setup 'element', the reference implementation of the client. You can of course use other implementations (there are plenty) and similar steps probably apply to those as well. However, you are on your own! Also, element is by far the most feature complete as of now. You might want to consider that. For a list of other clients and general information about matrix check [https://matrix.org/ matrix.org].

There is also some information on the [https://www.rrze.fau.de/serverdienste/matrix/ RRZE page].

The rest of the page describes the setup on our cluster, it should be similar on your laptop (if you choose to install it there too) but better consider also reading up instructions for your system.

== First start of element ===

Element can be started like any other program, from the command line the simplest is to type <code>element-desktop</code>.

On first start you might be greeted with an error message about ''not finding save storage for secrets'' if so, this is already your first encounter with what makes the matrix system slightly more difficult than your off-the-shelf chat software. Here is the TLDR: Matrix is a distributed protocol, so no central authority. Therefore it is vital that every user can authenticate themself to a server and, more importantly, authenticate any other user. This is done by encryption keys (if you encrypt your emails, the very same mechanism is used).

To store keys a keyring is used (something like a managed safe, also for login credentials, credit card information, etc.). And for some reason this keyring storage might not be found correctly. To give element a hint type in a terminal
<pre>
element-desktop --password-store="gnome-libsecret"
</pre>
This should greet you with a window as shown in the image.

[[File:matrix-element-startup.png|400px|center]]

After the first start the option <code>--password-store</code> is no longer required as it should be configured in your preferences now.

== Login with FAU credentials ==

To login with your valid IdM account click on (you guessed it): '''Sign In'''. The next page asks you to specify a home server<ref>Again due to the non-centralized aspects of the matrix protocol there must be a server ''your'' identity is associated with. Think of it as your email server. Everyone with an email address can send you message, despite not being registered with the same email server.</ref>, to change it to the RRZE hosted server click on '''Edit''' and input <code>matrix.fau.de</code> in the opening window under ''Other homeserver''. After hitting continue you should see this

[[File:matrix-element-fau.png|400px|center]]

By clicking on ''Continue with FAU IdM''

==Notes==
<references/>
[[Category:Software]]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 [[File:matrix-element-startup.png|400px|center]]
 After the first start the option <code>--password-store</code> is no longer required as it should be configured in your preferences now.
@@ Line 28: / Line 27: @@
 [[File:matrix-element-fau.png|400px|center]]
-By clicking on ''Continue with FAU IdM'' you will be forwarded to a webpage<ref>If your default browser is firefox you might find it giving an error message. This is because of many different security ''features''. If the admin team has not yet figured out how to circumvent this, the simplest is to temporarily change the default browser to google-chrome. For this simply open google-chrome and change the setting with the opening pop-up. To change back to firefox run this command in a terminal <code>xdg-settings set default-web-browser firefox_firefox.desktop</code></ref>
+By clicking on ''Continue with FAU IdM'' you will be forwarded to the IdM webpage<ref>If your default browser is firefox you might find it giving an error message. This is because of many different security ''features''. If the admin team has not yet figured out how to circumvent this, the simplest is to temporarily change the default browser to google-chrome. For this simply open google-chrome and change the setting with the opening pop-up. To change back to firefox run this command in a terminal <code>xdg-settings set default-web-browser firefox_firefox.desktop</code></ref>. Login there to confirm your credentials and open elements from the drop-down (if it does not do it automatically).
 ==Securing Key==

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 The rest of the page describes the setup on our cluster, it should be similar on your laptop (if you choose to install it there too) but better consider also reading up instructions for your system.
-== First start of element ===
+== First start of element ==
 Element can be started like any other program, from the command line the simplest is to type <code>element-desktop</code>.
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 By clicking on ''Continue with FAU IdM'' you will be forwarded to a webpage<ref>If your default browser is firefox you might find it giving an error message. This is because of many different security ''features''. If the admin team has not yet figured out how to circumvent this, the simplest is to temporarily change the default browser to google-chrome. For this simply open google-chrome and change the setting with the opening pop-up. To change back to firefox run this command in a terminal <code>xdg-settings set default-web-browser firefox_firefox.desktop</code></ref>
 ==Notes==
 <references/>
 [[Category:Software]]