# Mattermost is an open source, on-prem Slack-alternative

Mattermost modernizes team communication without locking in your data to a single provider. 

Offer your end users messaging and file sharing across PCs and phones with archiving and instant search--without losing control of your data. 

## All team communication in one place, searchable and accessible anywhere

Please see the [features pages of the Mattermost website](http://www.mattermost.org/features/) for images and further description of the functionality listed below: 

#### Sharing Messaging and Files

- Send messages, comments, files and images across public, private and 1-1 channels
- Personalize notifications for unreads and mentions by channel and keyword
- Use #hashtags to tag and find messages, discussions and files

#### Archiving and Search 

- Import Slack user accounts and channel archives
- Search public and private channels for historical messages and comments 
- View recent mentions of your name, username, nickname, and custom search terms

#### Anywhere Access

- Use Mattermost from web-enabled PCs and phones
- Attach sound, video and image files from mobile devices 
- Define team-specific branding and color themes across your devices

#### Enterprise Compatible

- Self-host Mattermost entirely within your organization's insfrastructure
- GitLab Mattermost omnibus supports install to over 100,000 organizations using GitLab
- LDAP/Active Directory connectivity to Mattermost enabled via GitLab Single-Sign-On

## Learn More

- [Product Vision and Target Audiences](http://www.mattermost.org/vision/) - What we're solving and for whom are we building
- [Mattermost Forum](http://forum.mattermost.org/) - For technical questions and answers
- [Issue Tracker](http://www.mattermost.org/filing-issues/) - For reporting bugs
- [Feature Ideas Forum](http://www.mattermost.org/feature-requests/) - For sharing ideas for future versions 
- [Contributuion Guidelines](http://www.mattermost.org/contribute-to-mattermost/) - For contributing code or feedback to the project

Follow us on Twitter at [@MattermostHQ](https://twitter.com/mattermosthq).

## Installing Mattermost

There are multiple ways to install Mattermost depending on your needs. 

#### Quick Start Install for Product Evaluation 

- [Local Machine Install and Upgrade with Docker](doc/install/single-container-install.md) - Explore product functionality using a single-container Docker install on a local machine, including Mac OSX, Ubuntu, or Arch Linux). Optionally set up email and upgrade your instance using DockerHub. 

- [AWS EBS Install and Upgrade with Docker](doc/install/aws-ebs-setup.md) - Explore product functionality using a single-container Docker install for Amazon Web Services Elastic Beanstalk. Optionally set up email and upgrade your instance using DockerHub. 

#### Development Install 

- [Developer Machine Setup](doc/install/dev-setup.md) - Setup your local machine development environment using Docker on Mac OSX or Ubuntu. 
 
#### Production Deployment (for Beta2 and later)

Prior to production installation, please review [Mattermost system requirements](doc/install/requirements.md). 

- [GitLab Mattermost Production Installation](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-mattermost) - Install Mattermost for production environments bundled with GitLab, a leading open source Git repository, using an omnibus package for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Debian 7, Debian 8, and CentOS 6 (and RedHat/Oracle/Scientific Linux 6), CentOS 7 (and RedHat/Oracle/Scientific Linux 7). 

For technical questions and answers, please visit the [Mattermost forum](http://forum.mattermost.org).