Running WAHA on Google Cloud Run – Feasibility and Considerations

[TheOneironaut]

Is it possible to deploy WAHA on a server like Google Cloud Run, meaning that the server would only run when specific requests are made?

For example, I want the server to activate only when I send a status message and remain inactive otherwise. Is this feasible, or does WAHA require continuous operation to process background tasks?

For context, I am using GOWS.

[devlikepro]

does WAHA require continuous operation to process background tasks

It doesn't, but you can do that. It'll take some time to synchronize the old data/keys/etc tho

If you work with exactly one session - you can start it by defining

WHATSAPP_START_SESSION=name
WAHA_WORKER_RESTART_SESSIONS=False

or

WHATSAPP_RESTART_ALL_SESSIONS=True

so you'll have container per session
Or you can run the whole container, but it'll restart all sessions

You can find some env variables here https://waha.devlike.pro/docs/how-to/config/#sessions

so it depends on your setup, but GOWS starts few seconds, like 5-15, depends on history data it needs to sync (it's important to sync it, because of the "Double Ratchet Algorithm" algorithm WA uses - it generates per-messages key based on old messages

Try testing it!

[hamiruldev]

where did you host/save the session file ? last time I try the session validate not more than 3-4 hour then it required to relogin

I use on volume and mount it

[TheOneironaut]

any logs for that case?

try getting GCE (VM) and start services there and mount volume as well (from the host, not from the remote bucket). If it'll still be "logout after 4 hours" - then it's IP issue. If not - then it's configuration issue

It shouldn't allow you to scale, WAHA doesn't distribute loads across workers, check out Horizontal Scaling with Sharding approach we suggest using to handle many sessions.

In this context, I understood that each worker has its own postgresql. Does the postgresql have to be on the same server or docker compose with the worker or can they be separated? I'm thinking of putting the postgresql on a separate server and moving the worker itself between servers as needed.

[devlikepro]

It can work with the same PostgreSQL server (not a database tho, each session create an unique database)

You need to set unique WAHA_WORKER_ID (like waha1, waha2) for each worker.
The worker will remember the sessions it has "working" and in case of any server (docker-container) restarts - it restarts only "assigned" (previously "Running") sessions to it.
Here's what "Running" means

Session names MUST be unique as well, DO NOT run the same session on different servers - it's up to you to control it in this setup.

Let me know if there's any questions!

[devlikepro]

Also you can run a single waha container just to have a dedicated Dashboard and connect all workers to it
https://waha.devlike.pro/docs/how-to/dashboard/#single-dashboard---multiple-servers
It'll also have "Hide Duplicates" toggle, so you can hide "STOPPED" sessions from workers if there's any WORKING on one worker

[TheOneironaut]

Session names MUST be unique as well, DO NOT run the same session on different servers - it's up to you to control it in this setup.

Is it possible to run one session on different servers but only one server is running at a time?

[devlikepro]

Is it possible to run one session on different servers but only one server is running at a time?

If you connect 2 workers to the same database server - only one worker must start a session. If the 2nd worker starts it - the session will be "flicking" FAILED=>WORKING status on both servers.
Meaning that with the session credentials (paired device via QR or Code) only 1 server can be active at one time (it's WA server side restrictions, not waha one)