Self-Hosted Matrix Server Rebuild: Live Ops 001

I fired up a livestream to do something I’ve been putting off way too long: bringing my self-hosted Matrix server back from the dead, live, in real time, with no safety net.

The stream started simple enough — spin up a fresh VM, throw CentOS 7 on it to match the original environment (don’t @ me), and use the Matrix Docker Ansible Deploy project to get everything running again. The goal was straightforward: restore the old setup, get the Matrix bridges reconnected to Discord and Slack, and then figure out how to modernize the whole thing on something like Fedora or even OpenShift down the road.

What actually happened was a four-plus-hour deep dive into DNS records, SSL certificate headaches, and Namecheap doing Namecheap things. By the end, federation checks were almost passing — but a CNAME where an A record needed to be, and a certificate tied to a shared hosting account I couldn’t extract cleanly, kept the finish line just out of reach. Classic homelab energy.

The good news: the Matrix server itself was provisioned, configured, and responding. The bad news: itguyeric.com’s WordPress site is hosted via Namecheap EasyWP, which doesn’t let you pull your own certs — so the next logical step is migrating the WordPress site home and tackling the SSL setup properly.

If you’re running your own Matrix homeserver or thinking about it, this stream is a pretty honest look at what that process actually involves — including the parts that go sideways. No polished edits, no second takes.

Watch the full stream above, and if you want to follow along in real time next time, join the IT Guy Show room on Matrix or hop into the Discord. You can also subscribe to the audio version of the main show at podcast.itguyeric.com.