Free, Open-source Chat for a conversation with a random interlocutor. The WebRTC technology is used, which performs a peer-to-peer connection.

How to install

1. clone https://github.com/andchir/openchatroulette.git
2. Open and edit configuration files: ".env" and "openchatroulette/src/environments/environment.prod.ts".
3. Back up your env files: cp .env .env_copy, cp openchatroulette/src/environments/environment.prod.ts openchatroulette/src/environments/environment.prod.ts_copy.
4. Install dependencies: cd openchatroulette -> npm install -> cd openchatroulette -> npm install.
5. Build static production files (html, css, js): npm run build.
6. Return to root folder: cd ... Download and unpack MaxMind's "GeoLite2-Country_xxx.tar.gz" to "geoip" folder.
7. Install process manager for NodeJS: sudo npm install -g pm2
8. Start server: pm2 start server/peer-server.js.
9. Open in browser: "https://yourdomain.com" or "http://localhost:9000".
10. Look application status: pm2 info peer-server or pm2 monit.

Optional

11. Install STUN/TURN server. For example: https://github.com/coturn/coturn
12. Open and edit file "openchatroulette/src/environments/environment.prod.ts".
    You can edit "stun_urls", "turn_urls", "turn_username", "turn_credential".
13. Build production files again: cd openchatroulette -> npm run build.

Admin area

URL: https://yourdomain.com/chatadmin or http://localhost:9000/chatadmin
Use ADMIN_USERNAME and ADMIN_PASSWORD from .env.

Nginx configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name website.domain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    listen [::]:443 ssl;
    server_name website.domain.com;
    
    client_max_body_size 250m;
    
    ssl_certificate          /etc/letsencrypt/live/mydomain/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key      /etc/letsencrypt/live/mydomain/privkey.pem;

    root /home/installer_user/openchatroulette/openchatroulette/dist/openchatroulette;
    
    # Default root path redirects to English version
    location = / {
        return 302 /en/;
    }

    # Language-specific paths (en, ru, fr, ua)
    location ~ ^/(en|ru|fr|ua)(/.*)?$ {
        alias /home/installer_user/openchatroulette/openchatroulette/dist/openchatroulette/\$1/;
        index index.html;
        try_files \$2 \$2/ /\$1/index.html;
    }

    # Peer server WebSocket/API proxy
    location / {
        proxy_pass https://localhost:9000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Libraries used

• Angular with NGXS
• TypeScript
• NodeJS
• PeerJS
• Bootstrap
• MaxMind GeoIP2
• other...

Development

Run in development mode:

npm run start

Extract localization:

npm run extract-i18n

GitHub Pages Deployment

You can deploy the frontend to GitHub Pages for a quick demo. Note that this uses the public PeerJS cloud server for signaling.

Automatic Deployment

1. Fork this repository
2. Go to Settings > Pages
3. Under "Build and deployment", select "GitHub Actions" as the source
4. The workflow will automatically deploy when you push to the main branch
5. Access your deployment at https://<username>.github.io/openchatroulette/

Manual Build for GitHub Pages

cd openchatroulette
npm install
npm run build:ghpages

The build output will be in openchatroulette/dist/openchatroulette/.

Limitations of GitHub Pages Deployment

• No country detection: GeoIP functionality requires the custom server
• No admin panel: The /chatadmin endpoint is server-side only
• Uses public PeerJS server: Uses 0.peerjs.com for WebRTC signaling instead of custom server
• Static files only: GitHub Pages cannot run the Node.js signaling server

For full functionality with country detection and admin panel, deploy the full application with the Node.js server as described in the main installation instructions.

MIT License