Enabling WebSockets in Faveo Helpdesk

MeshCentral

Introduction:

WebSockets provide a bidirectional communication protocol for real-time data exchange over a persistent connection. Pusher simplifies WebSocket integration, enabling seamless real-time communication between clients and the server for responsive, interactive applications.

WebSockets enable real-time updates in web apps, making UIs more responsive. Instead of polling for changes, data is sent over a WebSocket when updated on the server.

Server Level Changes:

Add the below contents to the supervisor conf file.

For Debian Based Systems:

1. Install Node.js
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Verify installation

node -v
npm -v
2. Configure Web Server

Choose based on which web server you are using.

If Using Apache

Enable Required Modules

a2enmod proxy proxy_http proxy_wstunnel rewrite ssl
systemctl restart apache2

Edit the SSL Virtual Host file

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/faveo-ssl.conf

Paste WebSocket Proxy Block inside <VirtualHost *:443> after SSL Block

ProxyPreserveHost On
SSLProxyEngine On

# WebSocket Proxy (for Socket.IO)
ProxyPass /fc/ http://localhost:6001/fc/ retry=0
ProxyPassReverse /fc/ http://localhost:6001/fc/

# Handle WebSocket upgrade
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
RewriteRule ^/fc/(.*) ws://localhost:6001/fc/$1 [P,L]

Restart Apache

systemctl restart apache2

If Using Nginx

Edit the SSL Virtual Host file

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/faveo.conf

Paste WebSocket Proxy server {} Block

# WebSocket Support
location /fc/ {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:6001/fc/;
    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_read_timeout 3600s;
    proxy_send_timeout 3600s;
}

Restart Nginx

systemctl restart nginx
3. Configure Supervisor

Open the Supervisor conf file with nano editor.

nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/faveo-worker.conf

Add the below configurations at the end of the file.

[program:faveo-websockets-subscribe]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=php /var/www/faveo/artisan socket:serve
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=root
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/faveo/storage/logs/socket-worker.log

[program:faveo-websockets-node]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=node /var/www/faveo/resources/assets/js/socket
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=root
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/faveo/storage/logs/node-server.log

Restart Supervisor

systemctl restart supervisor

Check the service status.

supervisorctl

For RedHat Based Systems:

1. Install Node.js
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo bash -
sudo yum install -y nodejs

Verify installation

node -v
npm -v
2. Configure Web Server

Choose based on which web server you are using.

If Using Apache

Install required Modules

yum install mod_proxy mod_proxy_wstunnel -y

Open the SSL Virtual Host file

/etc/httpd/conf.d/faveo-ssl.conf

Paste WebSocket Proxy Block inside <VirtualHost *:443> after SSL Block

ProxyPreserveHost On
SSLProxyEngine On

# WebSocket Proxy (for Socket.IO)
ProxyPass /fc/ http://localhost:6001/fc/ retry=0
ProxyPassReverse /fc/ http://localhost:6001/fc/

# Handle WebSocket upgrade
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
RewriteRule ^/fc/(.*) ws://localhost:6001/fc/$1 [P,L]

Restart Apache

systemctl restart apache2

If Using Nginx

nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Paste WebSocket Proxy server {} Block

# WebSocket Support
location /fc/ {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:6001/fc/;
    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_read_timeout 3600s;
    proxy_send_timeout 3600s;
}

Restart Nginx

systemctl restart nginx
3. Configure Supervisor

Open the Supervisor conf file with nano editor.

nano /etc/supervisord.d/faveo-worker.ini

Add the below configurations at the end of the file.

[program:faveo-websockets-subscribe]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=php /var/www/faveo/artisan socket:serve
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=root
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/faveo/storage/logs/socket-worker.log

[program:faveo-websockets-node]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=node /var/www/faveo/resources/assets/js/socket
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=root
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/faveo/storage/logs/node-server.log

Restart Supervisor

systemctl restart supervisord

Check the service status.

supervisorctl

Note that the user will be root only in both the cases.

Faveo GUI Changes:

Login to the Faveo HelpDesk and go to Admin Panel > Drivers > Websockets.

Select Pusher Settings icon ⚙️ and enter the following details:

Details:

  1. Host: Add your helpdesk domain name here (FQDN).
  2. SSL Certificate Path: Add your main SSL certificate path here.
  3. SSL Private Key: Add the Private Key for the helpdesk domain.
  4. SSL Passphrase: Add SSL Password if the SSL is password protected, if not leave this field blank.

Save the above details. The Websockets is configured on the Helpdesk at this stage.

Updated: