On this page
BigBlueButton is an open source virtual classroom: video conferencing built around teaching, with a shared whiteboard, presentations, breakout rooms, polls and recordings. Our first guide installed it by hand on Ubuntu 16.04, package by package, because at the time that was the best way to understand what was happening. The project has since replaced all of that with one supported installer, and the manual steps from 2019 would now install software that no longer exists.
Which version to install
As of September 2026, BigBlueButton 3.0 is the production release, with the 3.0.x series still receiving updates. BigBlueButton 4.0 is in release candidates and the project doesn't recommend it for production yet. This guide installs 3.0.
The BigBlueButton HTML5 client
There is only one client now, and it is the HTML5 one. It runs in the browser over WebRTC, with no plugin and nothing for participants to install, and every 3.0 install gives you it by default. Guides that tell you to install a separate HTML5 client package, or to configure Flash screen sharing, describe a version that has not shipped in years. Finding one is a reliable sign that the rest of its instructions are stale too.
BigBlueButton system requirements
BigBlueButton is heavier than most conferencing software, and it expects a server to itself. The official minimum requirements:
| Requirement | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit, fresh install |
| CPU | 8 cores with good single-thread performance |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM with swap enabled |
| Disk | 500 GB with recordings, 50 GB without |
| Bandwidth | 250 Mbit/s symmetrical |
| Network | IPv4 and IPv6 |
| Ports | TCP 80 and 443, UDP 16384 to 32768 |
| DNS | A hostname pointing at the server, for the TLS certificate |
Compared with the 2019 guide, the minimums roughly doubled: that one called for a c5.xlarge with 4 cores and 8 GB. For AWS, the BigBlueButton documentation now suggests a compute-optimized c5a.2xlarge or larger.
Prepare the EC2 instance
- Launch an Ubuntu 22.04 LTS instance of at least
c5a.2xlarge, with a root volume sized for your recordings. If you haven't launched instances of that size before, check your vCPU quota first; raising the EC2 vCPU quota covers it. - Enable IPv6. BigBlueButton lists IPv6 as a requirement. Associate an IPv6 CIDR with the VPC and subnet, then assign an IPv6 address to the instance.
- Allocate an Elastic IP and associate it, so the address doesn't change after a stop.
- Security group: TCP 22 from your own IP, TCP 80 and 443 from anywhere, and UDP 16384 to 32768 from anywhere, for both IPv4 and IPv6.
- DNS: create an A record (and an AAAA record for IPv6) such as
bbb.example.compointing at the instance. Wait until it resolves before installing, because the installer requests a Let's Encrypt certificate.
EC2 is behind NAT, and that's fine
bbb-conf --setip and property-file edits the old guide described.
Run bbb-install
SSH in and become root, then run the bbb-install script from the 3.0 release branch:
sudo -i
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bigbluebutton/bbb-install/v3.0.x-release/bbb-install.sh | bash -s -- \
-w -v jammy-300 -s bbb.example.com -e admin@example.com -g-v jammy-300installs the latest BigBlueButton 3.0.x.-sis your hostname and-ethe email for Let's Encrypt.-wsets up the UFW firewall with the right ports.-ginstalls Greenlight 3, the web front end for creating rooms and signing in. Leave it out if you will integrate BigBlueButton into a learning platform such as Moodle instead.
The installer takes a while, typically under half an hour. It is safe to run the same command again later to upgrade to the latest 3.0.x.
BigBlueButton TURN server
If you already run a Coturn server, point BigBlueButton at it by adding -c turn.example.com:YOUR_SHARED_SECRET. Users on restrictive corporate or school networks need TURN to connect; installing Coturn on Ubuntu covers the server side.
Greenlight and the first admin
With Greenlight installed, create the first administrator from the server:
docker exec -it greenlight-v3 bundle exec rake admin:create['Admin Name','admin@example.com','REPLACE_WITH_A_STRONG_PASSWORD']Sign in at https://bbb.example.com, open the administrator panel, and set how new users register before you share the link. Open registration on a public server invites strangers to use your bandwidth.
Check and troubleshoot
sudo bbb-conf --check
sudo bbb-conf --status--status lists every BigBlueButton service and whether it is running. --check prints the configuration and a "Potential problems" section at the end, which is the first place to look when something fails. The most common issues on EC2:
- Audio or video fails for everyone: the UDP 16384 to 32768 range isn't open in the security group.
- Works on your network, fails for some users: they need TURN.
- Certificate errors after install: DNS wasn't pointing at the server when the installer ran. Fix DNS and run the installer again.
Still deciding between conferencing platforms? BigBlueButton vs Jitsi Meet compares the two for teaching and meetings, and adding Jitsi to Moodle shows the lighter-weight alternative for learning platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the system requirements for BigBlueButton 3.0?
A dedicated Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit server: 16 GB RAM with swap, 8 CPU cores, 500 GB disk with recordings (50 GB without), 250 Mbit/s symmetrical bandwidth, IPv4 and IPv6, TCP 80 and 443, UDP 16384 to 32768, and a hostname for the certificate.
Can I install BigBlueButton 3.0 on Ubuntu 24.04?
No. BigBlueButton 3.0 requires Ubuntu 22.04. BigBlueButton 4.0 is in release candidates as of September 2026 and not recommended for production yet; check its documentation for supported systems when it is released.
Does BigBlueButton still use the HTML5 client?
Yes, it is the only client. The older Flash client was removed years ago, so any guide that talks about installing a separate HTML5 client package or configuring Flash screen sharing describes a version you should not install.
Does BigBlueButton need a TURN server?
For users behind restrictive firewalls, yes. bbb-install can point BigBlueButton at an external Coturn server with the -c option, using the hostname and the shared secret configured on that server.
Which AWS instance type should I use for BigBlueButton?
The BigBlueButton documentation recommends compute-optimized instances, c5a.2xlarge or larger, which meets the 8 vCPU and 16 GB requirement. Size up for many concurrent sessions or heavy recording.
Is there an official BigBlueButton Docker install?
Not for the server itself. The supported path is the bbb-install script on a dedicated Ubuntu 22.04 host, because BigBlueButton expects control of the whole machine. Greenlight, the web front end, does run as a container alongside it.
