Skip to content

Preparing an ESS Pro PoC

A Proof of Concept is run in preparation of a subscription sale, with the goal of demonstrating the required ESS Pro capabilities. This page covers what to prepare and decide before installing — the actual install steps live in Setting up ESS Pro.

Tip

Please reach out to our Element Sales Team if you want to run a PoC for Element Server Suite Pro. For background on the platform, see Introduction to ESS Pro.

Before you begin

Create an account on element.io

Register at customer.element.io. The Sales Team enables your account so you can pull the ESS Pro Helm chart and images from registry.element.io. The same EMS credentials are used for helm registry login during the install.

Communication via Matrix room

The account team creates a dedicated Matrix room and invites you. Send them your MXID. If you don't have one yet, sign up at app.element.io.

Decisions to make before you install

Each item below has consequences for hostnames, certificates or values files in the install. Decide them up front to avoid rework.

Server name

The second half of every MXID (@alice:server-name.tld). It cannot be changed later without resetting the database — see Prerequisites. If the domain is already in use elsewhere, see external /.well-knowns.

Where Kubernetes runs

Single-node K3s on a VM is the quickest path — see Kubernetes single node setup with K3s. Any other distribution works too.

VM sizing

K3s itself only needs 2 vCPU / 2 GB (Resource requirements), but a realistic PoC running Synapse Pro, MAS, Element Web/Admin and Matrix RTC together is comfortable on 8 vCPU / 32 GB / 100 GB.

DNS records and ports

See DNS and Ports for the full list (server name + Synapse, MAS, Matrix RTC, Element Web, Element Admin, plus TCP 80/443 and Matrix RTC's 30881/TCP and 30882/UDP).

Certificate strategy

cert-manager + Let's Encrypt, wildcard or per-host secrets, or external TLS termination. All three are covered in Certificates.

Database

The integrated PostgreSQL is fine for a PoC. For anything heading to production, plan to use a dedicated PostgreSQL instance.

Authentication

Local users in MAS are the default — see Configuring users. For LDAP or OIDC, see Configuring Authentication.

Telemetry reporting mode

Telemetry is enabled by default from ESS Pro 26.4 onwards. Decide whether the PoC reports automatically or on demand — see Telemetry.

Optional components to demonstrate

Each is disabled by default and adds values files to the install — knowing in advance what the PoC has to show keeps cert and DNS work to a single pass. See the full component list for context.

Advanced IAM

LDAP/SCIM-driven user lifecycle, group sync, room membership automation.

Secure Border Gateway

Application-level firewall for closed federation.

AuditBot

Compliance recording of room events as JSON, on disk or S3.

AdminBot

Central supervision of all rooms via Element Admin.

Hookshot

Bridges to GitHub, GitLab, Jira, OpenProject and webhooks.

Sygnal

Sovereign push gateway. Only for custom mobile apps or restricted networks.

Ready to install?

Pre-install checklist

Confirm each of these before running helm upgrade --install:

  1. MXID communicated to the Element Sales Team
  2. EMS account registered at element.io and ESS Pro access confirmed
  3. VM or Kubernetes cluster provisioned with adequate resources
  4. Server name chosen — it cannot be changed later
  5. DNS records and firewall ports in place — see DNS and Ports
  6. Certificate strategy chosen — see Certificates
  7. registry.element.io credentials retrieved and helm registry login working
  8. Optional components scoped for the PoC
  9. Database approach chosen (integrated vs. dedicated PostgreSQL)

Once every box is ticked, continue with Setting up ESS Pro →. Don't hesitate to reach out to your Element Sales Team for support.