Coolify on a VPS: Installation and First Deploy

To run Coolify on a VPS, you rent a Linux server that meets the official minimum of two CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM and 10 GB of free storage, log in as root, run Coolify’s install script and then create the admin account in the browser on port 8000. From there you connect a domain, link your Git repository and deploy apps and databases through the dashboard. The whole setup takes well under an hour; the ongoing work is updates and backups.

This guide follows the official Coolify installation documentation. Commands are taken from there; check the docs for changes before you start. If you are still choosing a tool, compare Coolify with Dokku and CapRover in self-hosted PaaS.

Step 1: Choose a server

Coolify’s documentation lists these minimum requirements for the server running Coolify:

Resource	Minimum according to Coolify docs
CPU	2 cores
Memory	2 GB
Storage	10 GB free
Architecture	amd64 or arm64

These numbers cover Coolify itself. Each app, each database and each build needs resources on top, and Docker images fill disks quickly. For a handful of small apps, more memory and a larger disk than the minimum are sensible.

For the operating system, the docs recommend LTS releases of Debian or Ubuntu; other distributions are supported too. Start with a fresh server that has nothing else installed. Suitable providers with data centres in Germany, Finland, France and elsewhere are covered in our VPS comparison for developers and Hetzner vs. DigitalOcean.

Step 2: Prepare access and DNS

1. Create the server with your SSH key rather than a password.
2. Note its public IPv4 address (and IPv6 if available).
3. At your DNS provider, create an A record for the dashboard, for example coolify.example.com, and optionally a wildcard record such as *.apps.example.com for your apps.

DNS changes can take a while to propagate, so do this before installing.

Step 3: Run the installer

Log in to the server as root via SSH. The installer requires root access, according to the documentation. Then run the official quick-install command:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

Source: Coolify docs, installation.

The script installs Docker and the components Coolify needs, then starts the dashboard. If you prefer to inspect a script before running it, download it first, read it, then execute it.

Step 4: Create the admin account immediately

When the installer finishes, open http://<your-server-ip>:8000 in the browser and register. Do this straight away: the Coolify documentation warns that whoever reaches the registration page first becomes the instance admin, and with it gains control over the server.

Use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication in the account settings if available.

Step 5: Give the dashboard a domain and HTTPS

In the dashboard settings, enter the domain you prepared in step 2 as the instance domain. Coolify’s proxy then requests a TLS certificate, and you reach the dashboard via https://coolify.example.com.

Afterwards, tighten the firewall. Keep SSH, HTTP and HTTPS open; restrict or close direct access to port 8000 once the domain works. Coolify’s documentation has a firewall section listing the ports its features need; check it against your setup rather than guessing.

Step 6: Deploy your first app

1. Connect Git: add a GitHub App or a deploy key so Coolify can read your repository.
2. Create a resource: choose the repository and branch. Pick the build method: Dockerfile if you have one, Docker Compose for multi-container stacks, or an automatic build for common languages.
3. Add a database: create PostgreSQL, MySQL or Redis as a separate resource and copy its internal connection string into your app’s environment variables.
4. Set the domain: enter app.example.com or a subdomain under your wildcard record. The certificate is issued automatically.
5. Deploy: start the first build and follow the logs. Enable automatic deployments on push if you want them.

If the app uses a standard Dockerfile, it remains portable: the same image runs on any hosted platform listed in Heroku alternatives.

Step 7: Backups and updates

Coolify makes deploying easy; keeping a server healthy is still your job.

• Database backups: configure scheduled backups and send them to S3-compatible object storage outside the server. Test a restore at least once.
• Server snapshots: many providers offer snapshots or backups of the whole VPS. Useful, but no replacement for database dumps.
• Operating system updates: enable unattended security updates or patch on a schedule.
• Coolify updates: read the release notes, then update from the dashboard.
• Monitoring: watch disk space in particular; old images and build caches accumulate.

What it costs

The bill is your server, object storage for backups and your own time. Whether that beats a hosted platform depends on how many apps you run and how you value admin hours; the PaaS cost calculator helps you compare.

Common pitfalls

• Ports already in use: another web server on ports 80 or 443 blocks Coolify’s proxy. Use a clean server.
• Disk full: builds fail silently when the disk is full. Clean up unused images regularly.
• DNS not pointing yet: certificate requests fail until the records resolve to the server.
• Everything on one machine: fine to start, but builds can slow down running apps. Add a second server when that happens.