Install

Run the following commands on a fresh Ubuntu Focal 20.04 (x64) server:

wget https://cloudron.io/cloudron-setup
chmod +x cloudron-setup
./cloudron-setup

You can find referral links to get started on various cloud providers with free credits here.

Minimum Requirements

Cloudron requires at least 1GB RAM, 20GB Disk space. Make sure the firewall does not block port 80 (http) and 443 (https). Cloudron does not support running on ARM, LXC, Docker or OpenVZ.

Marketplace

Cloudron is available pre-installed as on various marketplaces - AWS, DigitalOcean, Linode, Netcup, Time4VPS and Vultr.

Security

You can pass --generate-setup-token to the setup script to generate a password that will be required to complete the setup. The password will be displayed when the script completes and is also saved in /etc/cloudron/SETUP_TOKEN.

Setup

Once installation is complete, navigate to https://<IP> in your browser and accept the self-signed certificate.

In Chrome, you can accept the self-signed certificate by clicking on Advanced and then click Proceed to <ip> (unsafe). In Firefox, click on Advanced, then Aceept the Risk and Continue.

At this point, the Cloudron setup wizard should appear.

Domain Setup

Provide a domain like example.com. The way Cloudron works is that the dashboard gets installed at my.example.com, and apps are installed under subdomains that you specify like git.example.com, chat.example.com, and so on.

It is perfectly safe to use a domain that is already in use as long as the my subdomain is available. When installing apps, Cloudron will never overwrite your existing DNS records and your existing subdomains will remain intact. It is also possible to use a subdomain like cloudron.example.com.

Next, select the DNS service in which the domain in hosted. If your service is not listed below, use the Wildcard or Manual option.

Primary domain

The first domain added on Cloudron is called the Primary Domain. The dashboard is made available under the my subdomain of the primary domain. More domains can be added after installation in the in the Domains view. The Primary Domain can be changed post installation.

NAT Loopback

If you are installing Cloudron on a home network, be sure to enable NAT loopback support on your router. By default, Cloudron will configure the DNS with the network's public (internet) IP and this option allows Cloudron to reach itself via the public IP.

Admin Account

Once DNS is setup, Cloudron will redirect to https://my.example.com. The browser address bar will show a green lock to indicate that the connection to your Cloudron is now secure.

Enter the adminstrator username, email and password for Cloudron.

The email address is used for password resets and notifications. It is local to your Cloudron and not sent anywhere (including cloudron.io).

Let's Encrypt requires a valid admin email

Cloudron sets up a Let's Encrypt account with the administrator's email. If this email address is not valid, Let's Encrypt will not issue certificates and Cloudron will fall back to using self-signed certs.

App Store Account

You are now ready to start installing apps! When you click on the App Store link in the UI, you will be prompted to create a cloudron.io account. This account is used to manage your subscription and billing.

Firewall Setup

Security is a core feature of Cloudron and the default installation is already setup to follow best practices. We do not recommend adding and modifying rules in iptables/ip6tables since Cloudron already does this. All unneeded ports are blocked. Ports are whitelisted as and when the apps you install require them.

To further harden security, we recommend: * configuring the VPS Firewall * securing SSH access