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+# Setting up Synapse with Workers and Systemd
+
+This is a setup for managing synapse with systemd, including support for
+managing workers. It provides a `matrix-synapse` service for the master, as
+well as a `matrix-synapse-worker@` service template for any workers you
+require. Additionally, to group the required services, it sets up a
+`matrix-synapse.target`.
+
+See the folder [system](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/)
+for the systemd unit files.
+
+The folder [workers](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/systemd-with-workers/workers/)
+contains an example configuration for the `generic_worker` worker.
+
+## Synapse configuration files
+
+See [the worker documentation](../workers.md) for information on how to set up the
+configuration files and reverse-proxy correctly.
+Below is a sample `generic_worker` worker configuration file.
+```yaml
+{{#include workers/generic_worker.yaml}}
+```
+
+Systemd manages daemonization itself, so ensure that none of the configuration
+files set either `daemonize` or `worker_daemonize`.
+
+The config files of all workers are expected to be located in
+`/etc/matrix-synapse/workers`. If you want to use a different location, edit
+the provided `*.service` files accordingly.
+
+There is no need for a separate configuration file for the master process.
+
+## Set up
+
+1. Adjust synapse configuration files as above.
+1. Copy the `*.service` and `*.target` files in [system](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/systemd-with-workers/system/)
+to `/etc/systemd/system`.
+1. Run `systemctl daemon-reload` to tell systemd to load the new unit files.
+1. Run `systemctl enable matrix-synapse.service`. This will configure the
+synapse master process to be started as part of the `matrix-synapse.target`
+target.
+1. For each worker process to be enabled, run `systemctl enable
+matrix-synapse-worker@<worker_name>.service`. For each `<worker_name>`, there
+should be a corresponding configuration file.
+`/etc/matrix-synapse/workers/<worker_name>.yaml`.
+1. Start all the synapse processes with `systemctl start matrix-synapse.target`.
+1. Tell systemd to start synapse on boot with `systemctl enable matrix-synapse.target`.
+
+## Usage
+
+Once the services are correctly set up, you can use the following commands
+to manage your synapse installation:
+
+```sh
+# Restart Synapse master and all workers
+systemctl restart matrix-synapse.target
+
+# Stop Synapse and all workers
+systemctl stop matrix-synapse.target
+
+# Restart the master alone
+systemctl start matrix-synapse.service
+
+# Restart a specific worker (eg. generic_worker); the master is
+# unaffected by this.
+systemctl restart matrix-synapse-worker@generic_worker.service
+
+# Add a new worker (assuming all configs are set up already)
+systemctl enable matrix-synapse-worker@federation_writer.service
+systemctl restart matrix-synapse.target
+```
+
+## Hardening
+
+**Optional:** If further hardening is desired, the file
+`override-hardened.conf` may be copied from
+[contrib/systemd/override-hardened.conf](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/contrib/systemd/)
+in this repository to the location
+`/etc/systemd/system/matrix-synapse.service.d/override-hardened.conf` (the
+directory may have to be created). It enables certain sandboxing features in
+systemd to further secure the synapse service. You may read the comments to
+understand what the override file is doing. The same file will need to be copied to
+`/etc/systemd/system/matrix-synapse-worker@.service.d/override-hardened-worker.conf`
+(this directory may also have to be created) in order to apply the same
+hardening options to any worker processes.
+
+Once these files have been copied to their appropriate locations, simply reload
+systemd's manager config files and restart all Synapse services to apply the hardening options. They will automatically
+be applied at every restart as long as the override files are present at the
+specified locations.
+
+```sh
+systemctl daemon-reload
+
+# Restart services
+systemctl restart matrix-synapse.target
+```
+
+In order to see their effect, you may run `systemd-analyze security
+matrix-synapse.service` before and after applying the hardening options to see
+the changes being applied at a glance.