Server Management

Admin Room Guide

Manage your Conduit server from any Matrix client. No SSH required.

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Your first account is automatically an admin. The Admin Room appears automatically after you log in to Element.

What is the Admin Room?

The Admin Room is your control center for managing your Conduit Matrix server. Instead of running commands over SSH, you send messages in a special Matrix room. This means you can manage your server from:

How to Find It

  1. Log in to Element with your admin account
  2. Look for "Conduit Admin Room" in your room list
  3. It appears automatically — no need to create or join it
  4. If you don't see it, try refreshing or logging out/in again

Command Reference

All commands are sent as messages. Replace conduit with your server name and example.com with your actual domain.

Command Description
@conduit:example.com help Show all available commands
@conduit:example.com list-local-users List all users on your server
@conduit:example.com create-user <username> <password> Create a new user account
@conduit:example.com reset-password <user_id> Reset a user's password
@conduit:example.com deactivate-user <user_id> Deactivate a user account
@conduit:example.com allow-registration true/false Enable or disable self-registration
@conduit:example.com list-rooms List all rooms on your server
@conduit:example.com list-media Show media storage statistics
@conduit:example.com purge-media <mxc_uri> Delete specific media file
@conduit:example.com show-config Display current server configuration
@conduit:example.com memory-usage Show server memory usage
@conduit:example.com clear-database-caches Clear database caches
@conduit:example.com clear-service-caches Clear service caches
@conduit:example.com disable-room <room_id> Disable a room
@conduit:example.com enable-room <room_id> Re-enable a disabled room

Common Tasks

➕ Add a New User

@conduit:example.com create-user alice SecurePassword123

The user can then log in at https://app.element.io with @alice:example.com

🔑 Reset a User's Password

@conduit:example.com reset-password @alice:example.com

Conduit generates a random password and sends it back in the admin room. You cannot choose your own — sign in with the generated password, then change it from your Matrix client's settings if needed.

✅ Enable Self-Registration

@conduit:example.com allow-registration true

Share your registration token (found in /opt/conduit/CREDENTIALS.txt) with users. Remember to close registration when done:

@conduit:example.com allow-registration false

đŸšĢ Deactivate a User

@conduit:example.com deactivate-user @spam-bot:example.com

📊 Check Server Statistics

@conduit:example.com memory-usage @conduit:example.com list-local-users @conduit:example.com list-rooms

Password Recovery

If you forgot your admin password, you can reset it from the server:

sudo bash conduit-deploy.sh
# Choose: Services → Password Recovery (option p)

# The script will:
# 1. Ask which account to reset
# 2. Temporarily enable emergency access
# 3. Create a temp account, send reset command in Admin Room
# 4. Conduit generates a random new password
# 5. Deactivate temp account, remove emergency access
# 6. Show you the new credentials
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This is the only task that requires SSH access. Everything else can be done from the Admin Room in your Matrix client.

How does Password Recovery work?

Conduit has a built-in safety feature called Emergency Password. The script:

  1. Generates a random emergency password and enables it in the server config
  2. Logs in as the server's built-in @conduit:example.com account
  3. Creates a temporary account and invites it to the Admin Room
  4. Sends reset-password — Conduit generates a random new password
  5. Deactivates the temp account, removes emergency password, restarts server

The emergency password exists for less than a minute and is randomly generated each time. After the script finishes, the backdoor is completely gone and the temp account is deactivated.

Note: Conduit generates the new password automatically — you can't choose your own. Sign in with the generated password, then change it from your client's settings.

Security Notes

Troubleshooting

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Admin Room not showing up?
  1. Log out and log back in to your Matrix client
  2. Force refresh (Element Web: Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R)
  3. Check server logs: sudo docker logs conduit
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Commands not working?
  • Type the full command exactly as shown
  • Replace example.com with your actual domain
  • User IDs must include @ prefix and :domain suffix
  • Check that Conduit is running: sudo docker ps

Need Your Registration Token?

cat /opt/conduit/CREDENTIALS.txt

Or check the .env file:

sudo cat /opt/conduit/.env | grep REGISTRATION_TOKEN