Getting started with bigbluebutton

[Hai Hoang]

Hey guys so i just getting started learning about bigbluebutton and i have few question, can someone help me with it?

1. I saw in bigbluebutton offical docs, they tell you to use the bbb-install script. But i also found the docker https://github.com/bigbluebutton/docker setup, so can i use this for production? 

2. Using the bbb-install script you have to download the deb files to install, but my company machine are not connect to internet, is there another way to build the files from source and make changes to the script to install it? 

3. I also read about scalelight and saw its architect (https://github.com/blindsidenetworks/scalelite) my question is: Does scalelite use the same postgres as other bbb instances in the pool? Can i also scale scalelite itself for HA? If scalelite all run using container can i deploy it on k8s (if not can i install it alongside the bbb instances because my instances are pretty big in resource)

4. Trying to setup bbb using  https://github.com/bigbluebutton/docker got the frontend working fine, but clicking the start new meeting keeps return error (This action can't be completed. Please try again") How to fix this??

Really appreciate anyhelp, i can't wrap my head around this for a few days :(

[Jean Pluzo]

Hi,

1. the safest way is to use the script, but I have heard there are some who have deployed the docker version succesfully. If you do try the docker version we would love to hear some feedback.

2. yes. You could download the whole BBB repo, copy/move it to the server you're about to install, and build it yourself.

3. no, Scalelite uses a postgre containerized image. BBB uses mongodb if you install it via the script. I think there was an attempt to make Scalelite (SL) HA, but I'm not sure. SL itself doesn't need many resources like a BBB server does, but I would suggest you install it in its own VM

4. Like I said, safest way is to use the script. I've read many posts complaining about the docker version not working (for them) or not knowing how to resolve a specific problem.

Regards,

J.

[Hai Hoang]

Hi Jean, 

First of all, thank you so much for the answer, really appreciate it

I have some follow up question if you don't mind

1. Can you walk me through how to build dependency from source? Does building docker image work the same?
2. Do i need external Redis and Postgres for BBB and scalite nodes? Does BBB and scalite write a lot to DB?
3. Does scalite handle every traffic and then forward to the backend BBB node like a Application LB? Or it only creates room then frontend will connect directly to BBB? In case of watching recording will frontend call to scalite or directly to BBB?
4. What's the purpose of greenlight? If i use moodle or canvas to create room through BBB i don't need it right?

5. Does Turn server (https://docs.bigbluebutton.org/administration/turn-server/) and Proxy server (https://docs.bigbluebutton.org/administration/cluster-proxy/) have to create in another server? I have a bunch of physical server for BBB node but would nice if i can utilize it for other service? If not i'm happy to create another VM for it

Thanks you so much <3 

Vào lúc 13:35:53 UTC+7 ngày Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 6, 2025, Jean Pluzo đã viết:

[Jean Pluzo]

Hi again,

1. can't really help you there. Haven't done a build in a very long time. But you should teak a look at the code, since a lot of it are shell scripts. And no, building a dependency is not the same as building a docker image, although there are some similarities.

2. each one (BBB, SL) have their own DBs. I would recommend against setting up your own Redis and/or Postgre DBs since they're included in the setup scripts (SL uses an extra postgre docker image, BBB installs it's own mongoDB).

3. SL polls now and then a/the BBB server/s. It's my experience that, once a meeting has started in a BBB node/server, SL only polls this BBB node to see that everything's ok.

4. GL is a frontend for BBB. BBB is your backend. There are other frontends like b3scale, PILOS, GL, etc. Canvas and Moodle can also work as a frontend but (of course) do much more. GL is specifically designed to be a lightweight frontend.

5. since version 2.6 (or 2.7) BBB includes its own stun/turn server. You can have an external stun/turn server. Whichever path you choose is up to you. Can't really say much about a cluster proxy since I haven't had the need to  setup one of those.

(for the community: feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in some points.)

Regards,

J.