Want to get started using the new Lobby feature? Want to learn how it works or see an example of what it should look like? This post will hopefully help you get started!
Great work, Jitsi developers!
The new lobby feature works perfectly!
First and foremost, the lobby feature has been released and works out of the box. Previously, it was under development and you had to install from unstable to get it working. That is a thing of the past. If you read other threads about the lobby feature, check the date first. If it’s before (approx.) 2020-07-21T04:00:00Z, the information may be dated. Keep that in mind. This was posted 2020-08-01T04:00:00Z.
Version Details
I just installed Jitsi Meet on a Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS lxc container with zero issues. Before installing Jitsi Meet, first install Prosody 0.11.5.
dpkg -l | grep jitsi
ii jitsi-meet 2.0.4857-1
ii jitsi-meet-prosody 1.0.4289-1
ii jitsi-meet-turnserver 1.0.4289-1
ii jitsi-meet-web 1.0.4289-1
ii jitsi-meet-web-config 1.0.4289-1
ii jitsi-videobridge2 2.1-273-g072dd44b-1
See it in action
The lobby feature is right there under the shield icon, 
, easy to find and use:
Once enabled, when a guest tries to enter they are presented with a new page before they can join:
If “Jackson” clicks on “Ask to Join”, the meeting moderator will see a prompt to “Allow” or “Reject”
Configuration Details
The requirements for the lobby feature seem straightforward.
To enable the lobby feature you must be sure the proper configuration is present in your server’s Prosody cfg file, typically located under /etc/prosody/conf.d/meet.example.com.cfg.lua.
Example Configuration
VirtualHost "meet.example.com"
...
modules_enabled = {
...
"conference_duration";
"muc_lobby_rooms";
}
c2s_require_encryption = false
lobby_muc = "lobby.meet.example.com"
main_muc = "conference.meet.example.com"
-- muc_lobby_whitelist = { "recorder.meet.example.com" }
...
Component "lobby.meet.example.com" "muc"
storage = "memory"
restrict_room_creation = true
muc_room_locking = false
muc_room_default_public_jids = true
...
Secure Domain (user logins • learn more)
2021-01-16T05:00:00Z Note: If you are running version 2.0.5390 or greater this the above configuration will work for secure domains. It is not necessary to add this to your “guest” / anonymous virtual host. See also.
Older Configuration for secure domains
For a secure domain, you need to add the lobby configuration under the guest VirtualHost (as opposed to the main VirtualHost & not both)
Make sure you do not have multiple lobby configurations under different
VirtualHostsections. This will prevent the lobby from working properly.
...
VirtualHost "guest.test.example.com"
authentication = "anonymous"
c2s_require_encryption = false
modules_enabled = {
"muc_lobby_rooms";
}
lobby_muc = "lobby.test.example.com"
main_muc = "conference.meet.example.com"
...
Component "lobby.test.example.com" "muc"
storage = "memory"
restrict_room_creation = true
muc_room_locking = false
muc_room_default_public_jids = true
Hope this helps!
