**Set up Discourse in the cloud in under 30 minutes** with zero knowledge of Rails or Linux shell. One example
is [DigitalOcean][do], but these steps will work on any **Docker-compatible** cloud provider or local server. This
walkthrough will go through these in detail:
1. [Create new cloud server](#1-create-new-cloud-server)
2. [Access new cloud server](#2-access-your-cloud-server)
3. [Install Discourse](#3-install-discourse)
4. [Setting up email](#4-setting-up-email)
5. [Customize domain name](#5-customize-domain-name)
6. [Edit Discourse configuration](#6-edit-discourse-configuration)
7. [Start Discourse](#7-start-discourse)
8. [Register new account and become admin](#8-register-new-account-and-become-admin)
9. [Post-install maintenance](#9-post-install-maintenance)
10. [(Optional) Add more Discourse features](#10-optional-add-more-discourse-features)
> 🔔 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/).
### 1. Create New Cloud Server
Create your new cloud server, for example [on DigitalOcean][do]:
- The default of **the current supported LTS release of Ubuntu Server** works fine. At minimum, a 64-bit Linux OS with a
modern kernel version is required.
- The default of **1 GB** RAM works fine for small Discourse communities. We recommend 2 GB RAM for larger communities.
- The default of **New York** is a good choice for most US and European audiences. Or select a region that is geographically closer to your audience.
- Enter your domain `discourse.example.com` as the Droplet name.
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.
### 2. Access Your Cloud Server
Connect to your server via its IP address using SSH, or [Putty][put] on Windows:
ssh root@192.168.1.1
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.
### 3. Install Discourse
Clone the [Official Discourse Docker Image][dd] into `/var/discourse`.
sudo -s
git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker.git /var/discourse
cd /var/discourse
You will need to be root through the rest of the setup and bootstrap process.
### 4. Setting Up Email
> ⚠️ **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.
- No existing mail server? Check out our [**Recommended Email Providers for Discourse**][mailconfig].
- 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)
### 5. Customize Domain Name
> 🔔 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.
### 6. Edit Discourse Configuration
Launch the setup tool at
./discourse-setup
Answer the following questions when prompted:
Hostname for your Discourse? [discourse.example.com]:
Email address for admin account(s)? [me@example.com,you@example.com]:
SMTP server address? [smtp.example.com]:
SMTP port? [587]:
SMTP user name? [user@example.com]:
SMTP password? [pa$$word]:
Let's Encrypt account email? (ENTER to skip) [me@example.com]:
Optional Maxmind License key () [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]:
You'll get the SMTP details from your [email](#email) setup, be sure to complete that section.
Let's Encrypt account setup is to give you a free HTTPS certificate for your site, be sure to set that up if you want your site secure.
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.
### 7. Start Discourse
Once bootstrapping is complete, your Discourse should be accessible in your web browser via the domain name `discourse.example.com` you entered earlier.
### 8. Register New Account and Become Admin
Register a new admin account using one of the email addresses you entered before bootstrapping.
(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 registering your admin account, the setup wizard will launch and guide you through basic configuration of your Discourse.
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.
### 9. Post-Install Maintenance
- 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:
```
cd /var/discourse
git pull
./launcher rebuild app
```
The `launcher` command in the `/var/discourse` folder can be used for various kinds of maintenance:
``` text
Usage: launcher COMMAND CONFIG [--skip-prereqs] [--docker-args STRING]
Commands:
start: Start/initialize a container
stop: Stop a running container
restart: Restart a container
destroy: Stop and remove a container
enter: Use nsenter to get a shell into a container
logs: View the Docker logs for a container
bootstrap: Bootstrap a container for the config based on a template
rebuild: Rebuild a container (destroy old, bootstrap, start new)
cleanup: Remove all containers that have stopped for > 24 hours
Options:
--skip-prereqs Don't check launcher prerequisites
--docker-args Extra arguments to pass when running docker
```
### 10. (Optional) Add More Discourse Features
Do you want...
* 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)?
- Users to post replies via email? [Configure reply via email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/set-up-reply-via-email-support/14003).
- Automatic daily backups? [Configure backups](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-automatic-backups-for-discourse/14855).
- Free HTTPS / SSL support? [Configure Let's Encrypt](https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-lets-encrypt-cert-with-discourse-docker/40709). Paid HTTPS / SSL support? [Configure SSL](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allowing-ssl-for-your-discourse-docker-setup/13847).
- Use a plugin [from Discourse](https://github.com/discourse) or a third party? [Configure plugins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-a-plugin/19157)
- Multiple Discourse sites on the same server? [Configure multisite](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multisite-configuration-with-docker/14084).
- Webhooks when events happen in Discourse? [Configure webhooks](https://meta.discourse.org/t/setting-up-webhooks/49045).
- 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).
- A user friendly [offline page when rebuilding or upgrading?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-an-offline-page-when-rebuilding/45238)
- 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)?
Help us improve this guide! Feel free to ask about it on [meta.discourse.org][meta], or even better, submit a pull request.
[dd]: https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker
[ssh]: https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys
[meta]: https://meta.discourse.org
[do]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=5fa48ac82415
[put]: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
[mailconfig]: https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/docs/INSTALL-email.md