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This guide covers server selection, DNS and firewall preparation, the installation workflow, verification, troubleshooting, upgrades, and the point at which one VPS is no longer the right architecture.
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Is a VPS suitable for BigBlueButton?
A VPS is suitable when it provides predictable compute, networking, and root access. BigBlueButton is a real-time conferencing platform: it mixes audio, processes webcam streams, serves presentation content, records sessions, and handles WebRTC traffic at the same time. Those workloads are sensitive to CPU contention and network jitter, so the important distinction is not “VPS versus dedicated server” but shared resources versus dedicated or compute-optimized resources.
The BigBlueButton project recommends a clean, dedicated Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit server with no prior software installed. That can be a physical server or a cloud instance with dedicated CPU capacity. A shared hosting package that gives you only FTP and cPanel or Plesk access is unsuitable because installation and firewall configuration require root access.
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Do not install BigBlueButton beside an existing web stack. Apache, Nginx, Plesk, or another application already listening on ports 80 or 443 can prevent the installer from configuring the conferencing services and TLS correctly. Provision a new machine instead of trying to convert a busy general-purpose web server.
BigBlueButton 4.0 VPS requirements
The following values are the documented production baseline for BigBlueButton 4.0. They are starting requirements, not a guarantee of a particular participant count. Actual capacity depends on simultaneous audio and video use, recording activity, presentation complexity, network conditions, and other services you place on the host.
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|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 24.04, 64-bit | BigBlueButton 4.0 requires this release; older Ubuntu versions belong to older product releases. |
| Kernel | Linux kernel 6.x | Use the kernel supplied and supported by the target Ubuntu 24.04 installation. |
| CPU | 8 CPU cores with high single-thread performance | Real-time media and conferencing services respond poorly to oversubscribed or heavily throttled cores. |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM with swap | Leaves room for media services, the web interface, and temporary workload spikes. |
| Free disk | 500 GB when recording; 50 GB when recording is disabled | Recordings consume storage over time. The smaller figure is only for a no-recording deployment. |
| Container/runtime | Docker | The supported installation uses Docker-based components; do not assume a generic LAMP image is equivalent. |
| Web ports | TCP 80 and TCP 443 | Used for HTTP validation and HTTPS access to the service. |
| Media ports | UDP 16384–32768 | WebRTC media needs this range reachable through both the provider and host firewalls. |
| Bandwidth | At least 250 Mbit/s symmetric in the installation documentation | Upload and download capacity both matter because the server relays media. |
| Conservative bandwidth target | 1 Gbit/s in both directions in the project FAQ | Use the higher figure when many users will publish audio or video, or when the provider enforces burst limits. |
| Identity and addressing | A DNS hostname, valid TLS certificate, IPv4, and IPv6 | Browsers can block camera and microphone access when WebRTC is opened by an IP address without HTTPS. |
The two bandwidth figures are not contradictory promises. The installation page states a 250 Mbit/s symmetric minimum, while the FAQ gives a more conservative 1 Gbit/s recommendation. Treat 250 Mbit/s as the documented floor and check whether your expected concurrency, recording traffic, and provider plan justify the larger target.
How to choose a VPS plan
Start with plans marketed as dedicated-CPU, compute-optimized, or otherwise guaranteed not to share your cores unpredictably. The project’s own examples are DigitalOcean c-8, AWS c5a.2xlarge or larger, and Hetzner AX52 or CCX33. These are examples of suitable instance families, not a promise that every plan with a similar name has identical performance or network limits.
| Provider example named by the project | What to verify before ordering |
|---|---|
| DigitalOcean c-8 | Confirm the current plan has at least eight high-performance vCPUs, 16 GB or more of memory, sufficient free disk, the required UDP range, and the advertised sustained bandwidth. |
| AWS c5a.2xlarge or larger | Check the selected region, EBS capacity, IPv6 configuration, egress limits, and whether the instance’s network allowance fits your meeting load. |
| Hetzner AX52 or CCX33 | Verify the current hardware generation, storage allocation, IPv4 and IPv6 availability, traffic policy, and datacenter latency for your users. |
Compare offers on engineering characteristics rather than monthly price alone:
- CPU behavior: Prefer dedicated cores and high single-thread performance. “Eight vCPUs” on an oversubscribed plan may not behave like eight consistently available cores.
- Memory and swap: Order at least 16 GB of RAM and ensure swap can be configured. Do not count compressed memory or burst-only limits as a substitute for physical RAM.
- Storage: Recordings require durable free space. Check disk performance, snapshot behavior, and whether the advertised capacity is available after the operating system and provider agents are installed.
- Network controls: The provider must let you open TCP 80/443 and UDP 16384–32768. Some managed firewalls expose only a limited UDP range.
- Addressing: Confirm both IPv4 and IPv6, reverse-DNS options if needed, and the ability to attach your hostname.
- Backups and recovery: Snapshots are useful for the operating system, but recordings and databases still need an application-aware backup plan.
- Location: Choose a region close to your audience. Latency and routing quality affect interactive audio and video even when the nominal bandwidth is high.
Prepare DNS, TLS, and the clean server
1. Provision a new Ubuntu host
Create a new Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit VPS or dedicated server with the CPU, memory, disk, bandwidth, IPv4, and IPv6 listed above. Use an administrative account with sudo or root access. Do not reuse a machine that already hosts a website, reverse proxy, control panel, database cluster, or unrelated Docker workloads.
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2. Create the conferencing hostname
Choose a fully qualified hostname such as bbb.example.com and create an A record pointing to the server’s IPv4 address. Add an AAAA record for IPv6 when it is available and correctly routed. Check that both records resolve to this server before installation. Avoid changing the hostname after certificates and conferencing URLs have been issued.
3. Make ports available
In the VPS provider’s network firewall, allow TCP 80 and 443 and UDP 16384 through 32768 to the server. Apply the same policy in the host firewall. Keep SSH restricted to the administration addresses or VPN you actually use; it does not need to be open to the whole internet.
4. Confirm that the host is empty
Before running the installer, stop or remove services that bind 80 or 443, including Apache, Nginx, Plesk, and other application proxies. A clean image is safer than trying to diagnose port conflicts after a partial installation. Do not install a general web control panel first.
Install BigBlueButton 4.0
BigBlueButton distributes a version-specific bbb-install.sh installer. The branch and arguments change with the target release, so obtain the script from the official BigBlueButton 4.0 installation documentation and follow the options shown there for Ubuntu 24.04. The installer can include optional Greenlight or LTI components; select those only when you need them.
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- Log in to the clean server. Confirm it is running Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit and that the hostname resolves correctly from outside the VPS.
- Download the 4.0 installer. Use the script and release branch documented for BigBlueButton 4.0 rather than copying an older 2.x or 3.x command. Review optional arguments before executing it.
- Run the installer with administrative privileges. Supply the hostname and the email address used for certificate registration exactly as requested by the current script. Let it install the supported Docker and conferencing components instead of layering your own web stack over them.
- Allow the installation to complete. Do not close the session while packages, containers, certificates, and media services are being configured. A slow package mirror can make this take longer than expected.
- Restart the services. Run
sudo bbb-conf --restartafter the script finishes or whenever the documentation instructs you to restart the stack. - Run the built-in health check. Execute
sudo bbb-conf --check. Read every item under “Potential problems” rather than treating a completed installer as proof that the server is ready.
The installer’s optional front ends are separate decisions. Greenlight provides a web interface for creating and joining rooms; an LTI integration is appropriate when BigBlueButton is launched from a learning platform. You can operate the core server with another compatible front end, but that front end still needs correct HTTPS and API configuration.
Verify the installation before inviting users
Check the public URL
Open the hostname over HTTPS from a device outside the VPS network. The certificate should be valid for the exact hostname, with no browser warning or mixed-content error. Test from more than one network because a local DNS override can hide a public DNS mistake.
Test microphone and camera permissions
Join a test room and grant microphone and camera permissions. If the browser refuses access, first check that you are using the HTTPS hostname rather than an IP address. Also verify that UDP 16384–32768 is allowed in both firewall layers.
Test audio, video, and presentation sharing
Use at least two participants on separate networks. Test microphone join, echo cancellation, webcam publishing, screen or presentation sharing, and leaving and rejoining the room. Observe whether media remains stable when several users publish video at once.
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Test a short recording
If recording is enabled, record a brief session, stop it, and verify that the processing completes and the resulting file can be played. Check free disk space before and after. A server sized for 50 GB is appropriate only when recording is disabled; recorded meetings need the 500 GB planning baseline or an explicitly managed storage strategy.
Firewall, TURN, and restrictive networks
BigBlueButton needs the web ports for the application and the UDP range for real-time media. Opening only TCP 443 is not equivalent to opening the documented media range. Confirm that the provider firewall, host firewall, and any upstream corporate firewall all permit the same traffic.
Some participants connect from offices, schools, hotels, or mobile networks that block direct UDP. In those cases, plan a TURN server so WebRTC can relay media through a permitted path. TURN is a connectivity fallback, not a replacement for correctly opening the BigBlueButton media ports. Test it from the restrictive networks your audience actually uses.
Do not expose administrative services unnecessarily. Keep SSH access limited, use key-based authentication, apply Ubuntu security updates, and review firewall rules after every provider or operating-system change. A conferencing server is internet-facing by design; its administration surface does not need to be.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Common installation and operation failures
“The installer reports a port conflict”
Find and remove the service already listening on TCP 80 or 443. Typical causes are Apache, Nginx, Plesk, or a reverse proxy installed in the base image. Reinstalling the script over the conflict usually creates more work; return to a clean host or remove the conflicting stack first.
“The certificate cannot be issued”
Check that the A and AAAA records point to the new server, that the hostname is publicly resolvable, and that TCP 80 and 443 reach the host. An old AAAA record can send certificate validation to the wrong machine even when IPv4 looks correct.
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“Users can join but audio or video is unstable”
Inspect UDP 16384–32768 in both firewalls, confirm the provider is not rate-limiting the instance, and compare behavior with a second network. CPU contention and insufficient sustained bandwidth can produce the same symptoms as a blocked media port, so check host load and provider metrics during a test meeting.
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Use the HTTPS hostname, not an IP address. Clear a previously denied browser permission and test again. If the hostname is secure but only some networks fail, investigate TURN and local firewall restrictions.
“The health check lists potential problems”
Run sudo bbb-conf --check again after each corrective change and resolve every warning you understand before production use. Pay particular attention to hostname, certificate, firewall, and service-status findings; a room that opens in one browser is not sufficient validation.
Recordings, storage, and backups
Recording changes the capacity calculation. The documented baseline is 500 GB of free disk with recording enabled and 50 GB when recording is disabled. The larger figure is planning space, not an automatic retention policy: recordings accumulate until you archive or delete them.
Keep operating-system snapshots separate from recording retention. A snapshot can help rebuild the VPS, but it may be too large or too slow for frequent recording backups. Decide how long recordings must be retained, where an independent copy will live, who can delete them, and how restoration will be tested. Monitor free space so a full disk does not interrupt recording processing or other services.
Upgrades and the BigBlueButton 3.0 boundary
BigBlueButton 4.0 requires Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit. Older BigBlueButton releases used older Ubuntu versions, and a direct in-place upgrade from BigBlueButton 3.0 on Ubuntu 22.04 to 4.0 on Ubuntu 24.04 is unsupported.
For that migration, provision a clean 4.0 server, configure its hostname and certificates, and migrate recordings using a documented backup and restore process. Treat the move as a new deployment rather than an operating-system upgrade. Keep the old server available until you have verified room access, user authentication, recording playback, and any Greenlight or LTI integration on the new host.
When one VPS is no longer enough
A single dedicated-CPU VPS is a sensible starting architecture for one organization or a modest number of simultaneous rooms. Larger deployments add components rather than simply increasing disk space. Depending on the workload, you may need Greenlight, Scalelite, a database, centralized backups, and a separate load-balancing design.
- More simultaneous rooms: Measure CPU, memory, network throughput, and media quality during realistic peak meetings before adding capacity.
- High availability: Design for failure of an individual conferencing node and document how DNS, load balancing, authentication, and recordings behave during recovery.
- Multiple servers: Keep shared state, databases, recordings, and backups consistent; adding a second VPS without an architecture for those dependencies does not create reliable failover.
- Geographic audiences: Evaluate latency and routing per region. A larger server in one location may perform worse than appropriately placed capacity closer to users.
Scale from measurements, not a participant-number promise copied from another installation. The published hardware baseline does not establish a universal maximum room size.
Quick Recap
Pre-launch checklist
- Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit is installed on a new, dedicated or compute-optimized host.
- The host has eight high-performance CPU cores, 16 GB RAM with swap, and the required free disk.
- A and AAAA records resolve to the server, and the chosen hostname is permanent.
- TCP 80/443 and UDP 16384–32768 are allowed in provider and host firewalls.
- The provider supplies at least the documented 250 Mbit/s symmetric bandwidth; expected usage has been checked against the FAQ’s 1 Gbit/s recommendation.
- No Apache, Nginx, Plesk, or other software occupies ports 80 or 443.
- The version-appropriate BigBlueButton 4.0 installer has been used, with only the required optional components.
sudo bbb-conf --restartcompletes, andsudo bbb-conf --checkhas no unresolved potential problems.- HTTPS, microphone, camera, presentation sharing, recording, and rejoin behavior have been tested from separate networks.
- SSH, updates, backups, recording retention, disk monitoring, and a recovery procedure are documented.
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