> 🔔 Don't have 30 minutes to set this up? For a flat one-time fee of $150, the community can install Discourse in the cloud for you. [Click here to purchase a self-supported community install](https://www.literatecomputing.com/product/discourse-install/).
Create your new Droplet. You may receive an email with the root password, however, [you should set up SSH keys](https://www.google.com/search?q=digitalocean+ssh+keys), as they are more secure.
Either use the root password from the email DigitalOcean sent you when the server was set up, or have a valid SSH key configured on your local machine.
> ⚠️ **Email is CRITICAL for account creation and notifications in Discourse.** If you do not properly configure email before bootstrapping YOU WILL HAVE A BROKEN SITE!
> 💡 Email here refers to [Transactional Email](https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+transactional+email) not the usual email service like Gmail, Outlook and/or Yahoo.
- Already have a mail server? Great. Use your existing mail server credentials. (Free email services like Gmail/Outlook/Yahoo do not support transactional emails.)
- To ensure mail deliverability, you must add valid [SPF and DKIM records](https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+spf+dkim) in your DNS. See your mail provider instructions for specifics.
- If you're having trouble getting emails to work, follow our [Email Troubleshooting Guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshooting-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326)
> 🔔 Discourse will not work from an IP address, you must own a domain name such as `example.com` to proceed.
- Already own a domain name? Great. Select a subdomain such as `discourse.example.com` or `talk.example.com` or `forum.example.com` for your Discourse instance.
- No domain name? Get one! We can [recommend NameCheap](https://www.namecheap.com/domains/domain-name-search/), or there are many other [great domain name registrars](https://www.google.com/search?q=best+domain+name+registrars) to choose from.
- Your DNS controls should be accessible from the place where you purchased your domain name. Create a DNS [`A` record](https://support.dnsimple.com/articles/a-record/) for the `discourse.example.com` hostname in your DNS control panel, pointing to the IP address of your cloud instance where you are installing Discourse.
This will generate an `app.yml` configuration file on your behalf, and then kicks off bootstrap. Bootstrapping takes between **2-8 minutes** to set up your Discourse. If you need to change these settings after bootstrapping, you can run `./discourse-setup` again (it will re-use your previous values from the file) or edit `/containers/app.yml` manually with `nano` and then `./launcher rebuild app`, otherwise your changes will not take effect.
Once bootstrapping is complete, your Discourse should be accessible in your web browser via the domain name `discourse.example.com` you entered earlier.
(If you are unable to register your admin account, check the logs at `/var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/rails/production.log` and see our [Email Troubleshooting checklist](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshooting-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326).)
After completing the setup wizard, you should see Staff topics and **READ ME FIRST: Admin Quick Start Guide**. This guide contains advice for further configuring and customizing your Discourse install.
- We strongly suggest you turn on automatic security updates for your OS. In Ubuntu use the `dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades` command. In CentOS/RHEL, use the [`yum-cron`](https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/using-yum-cron) package.
- If you are using a password and not a SSH key, be sure to enforce a strong root password. In Ubuntu use the `apt install libpam-cracklib` package. We also recommend `fail2ban` which blocks any IP addresses for 10 minutes that attempt more than 3 password retries.
- **Ubuntu**: `apt install fail2ban`
- **CentOS/RHEL**: `sudo dnf install fail2ban`
- If you need or want a default firewall, [turn on ufw](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-a-firewall-for-discourse/20584) for Ubuntu or use `firewalld` for CentOS/RHEL.
> 💡 Discourse will send you an email notification when new versions of Discourse are released. Please stay current to get the latest features and security fixes.
To **upgrade Discourse to the latest version**, visit `https://discourse.example.com/admin/upgrade` in your browser and click the Upgrade button.
Alternatively, you can ssh into your server and rebuild using:
* Users to log in *only* via your pre-existing website's registration system? [Configure Single-Sign-On](https://meta.discourse.org/t/official-single-sign-on-for-discourse/13045).
- Users to log in via [Google](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-google-oauth2-login-for-discourse/15858), [Twitter](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-twitter-login-for-discourse/13395), [GitHub](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-github-login-for-discourse/13745), or [Facebook](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-facebook-login-for-discourse/13394)?
- Use a plugin [from Discourse](https://github.com/discourse) or a third party? [Configure plugins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-a-plugin/19157)
- A Content Delivery Network to speed up worldwide access? [Configure a CDN](https://meta.discourse.org/t/enable-a-cdn-for-your-discourse/14857). We recommend [Fastly](http://www.fastly.com/).
- Import/migrate old content from vBulletin, PHPbb, Vanilla, Drupal, BBPress, etc? [See our open source importers](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/main/script/import_scripts) and our [migration guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-migrate-from-one-platform-forum-to-discourse/197236).
- To embed Discourse [in your WordPress install](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse), or [on your static HTML site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/embedding-discourse-comments-via-javascript/31963)?
