Error installing Miro SFU

[jdaviescoates]

@nebulon I was reporting the fact that the error had gone away, but then it came back again.

I figured the fix must've already been released (and hence why the error went away), but thanks for the update that the fix for that error hasn't actually been released yet!

(but something has obviously changed wrt to that error as before it always happened, whereas apparently now it's only intermittent).

[nebulon]

Right, so the issue is, that docker uses/used random free ports for logging on the system and sometimes those conflict with the port range for mirotalk. This is why it "randomly" happens. The fix is in the platform, pending a Cloudron release, not a mirotalk package.

[shrey]

@nebulon
Just tried setting up the MiroTalk SFU for the first time.

I'm a bit surprised that it's marked as stable, as currently, it's pretty impractical trying to get it to work.
Because:

1. I was able to get it to work only after repeated cycles of editing the port, and starting Installation.
2. Even when installed, when i try to restart the app after a modification in the config.js file, the same vicious cycle starts again.

Is there no workaround for now?

[jdaviescoates]

@shrey Are you on Cloudron 7.7.2? Because I think the port clash issue is supposed to have been fixed on that.

[shrey]

@jdaviescoates yes, I'm on 7.7.2

[nebulon]

If this happens again maybe you can run ss -lpn | grep 40092 (change the port depending on the reported port clash). Then check the process id and identify which process/container is occupying that port. So maybe there are other processes which randomly pick ports and caus the conflict, which are not tracked by the platform yet.

[jdaviescoates]

@nebulon said in Error installing Miro SFU:

If this happens again maybe you can run ss -lpn | grep 40092

Run that where exactly?

[nebulon]

on the host system. You may also use other tools like lsof to figure out which process is occupying that port by chance

[jdaviescoates]

@nebulon said in Error installing Miro SFU:

on the host system

That still isn't very clear, but I think you mean SSH into the server, and run it there, right?

I don't even have this problem at present, just asking for the greater good

[nebulon]

Yes sorry for the confusion, so I mean SSH into the Ubuntu server itself (in contrast to a webterminal into the app container).

[jdaviescoates]

I just spotted that my MiroTalk has errored out with this again:

Docker Error: (HTTP code 500) server error - driver failed programming external connectivity on endpoint 16628ecd-d520-4174-ab00-d1eee973101a (8041bbc62efcf050c988cabb0c91fb4d516ac1b3076532b1d284c4f34fadf506): failed to bind port 0.0.0.0:40020/tcp: listen tcp4 0.0.0.0:40020: bind: address already in use

Hitting the retry button in repair didn't work the first time, but it did work the second time

[nebulon]

Yes this is a known issue we have seen rarely. Somehow docker hasn't freed up the port yet. A retry fixes the issue, but we haven't been able to reproduce this reliably for debugging and fixing.

[Meuschke]

@nebulon for me the retry won't fix that issue. Do you want to take a look? I have got Version v9.0.0 and after automatic backup the app start failed yesterday. Today I restarted the whole Server, but the app start keeps failing.

[jdaviescoates]

@Meuschke what if you just install a completely new instance of the app? Does it work then?

[Meuschke]

@jdaviescoates I haven't tried yet. But I think this will work. But I thought it was a good way to test and debug, because retry don't fix the error.

[joseph]

I think this issue was boiled down to the usage of ephermeral ports . That port which you are trying to install mirotalk in is in use by some other process . See https://forum.cloudron.io/topic/14259/sftpgo-or-mirotalk-sfu-not-starting-because-they-use-ephemeral-ports/ . In essence, use ports < 32767 . The coming version already shows a warning when you try this range.

[Meuschke]

@joseph I didn't know that. Thank you. I will reinstall.

[MiroTalk]

@joseph said in Error installing Miro SFU:

I think this issue was boiled down to the usage of ephermeral ports . That port which you are trying to install mirotalk in is in use by some other process . See https://forum.cloudron.io/topic/14259/sftpgo-or-mirotalk-sfu-not-starting-because-they-use-ephemeral-ports/ . In essence, use ports < 32767 . The coming version already shows a warning when you try this range.

In case MiroTalk SFU support also WebRTCServer mode:

How to Enable WebRTCServer Mode in MiroTalk SFU (Use Fewer Ports)

If you want to reduce the number of ports used by MiroTalk SFU and make it easier to scale, you can enable the WebRTCServer Mode. This mode lets the internal WebRTC server handle all the media traffic, meaning you don’t need big port ranges anymore.

---

️ Step-by-Step Setup

1. Open your environment file
   In your file manager (or terminal), open the env file for your MiroTalk SFU instance.

2. Add the following line

   SFU_SERVER=true
   

3. Understand the new port behavior

   • If you start from port 25000, here’s what happens:

     • 1 CPU → 1 worker → uses port 25000
     • 2 CPUs → 2 workers → use ports 25000–25001
     • and so on…

   Each worker uses only one port, not a whole range.
   The WebRTCServer manages all internal media traffic automatically.
   MiroTalk SFU keeps working just like before only the port handling changes.

4. Restart your instance
   After saving the env file, restart your MiroTalk SFU instance.

---

Benefits

• Fewer open ports → simpler firewall setup
• Less chance of port conflicts
• Better scalability → easy to scale by CPU count
• Cleaner and more secure port configuration

---

🧠 Notes

This mode is still being tested, but early results look promising.
You can learn more about the WebRTCServer concept here:
Mediasoup Discussion: WebRTCServer and Port Binding