**Set up Discourse in the cloud in under 30 minutes** with zero knowledge of Rails or Linux shell using our [Discourse Docker image][dd]. We recommend [Digital Ocean][do], but these steps will work on any Docker-compatible cloud provider or local server.
# Create New Cloud Server
[Sign up for Digital Ocean][do], update billing info, then create your new cloud server (Droplet).
- Enter your domain `discourse.example.com` as the name.
- The default of **1 GB** RAM works fine for small Discourse communities. We recommend 2 GB RAM for larger communities.
- The default of **Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64** works fine. At minimum, a 64-bit Linux OS with a kernel version of 3.10+ is required.
- 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.
Create your new Droplet. You will receive an email with the root password to your Droplet. (However, if you know [how to use SSH keys](https://www.google.com/search?q=digitalocean+ssh+keys), you may not need a password to log in.)
# Access Your Cloud Server
Connect to your Droplet via SSH, or use [Putty][put] on Windows:
ssh root@192.168.1.1
Replace `192.168.1.1` with the IP address of your Droplet.
You will be asked for permission to connect, type `yes`, then enter the root password from the email Digital Ocean sent you when the Droplet was set up. You may be prompted to change the root password, too.
# Set up Swap (if needed)
- If you're using the minimum 1 GB install, you *must* [set up a swap file](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-swapfile-for-your-linux-server/13880).
- If you're using 2 GB+ memory, you can probably get by without a swap file.
# Install Docker / Git
wget -qO- https://get.docker.com/ | sh
This command installs the latest versions of Docker and Git on your server. Alternately, you can manually install the respective [Docker package for your OS](https://docs.docker.com/installation/).
# Install Discourse
Create a `/var/discourse` folder, clone the [Official Discourse Docker Image][dd] into it, and make a copy of the config file as `app.yml`:
mkdir /var/discourse
git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker.git /var/discourse
cd /var/discourse
cp samples/standalone.yml containers/app.yml
# Edit Discourse Configuration
Edit the Discourse config file `app.yml`:
nano containers/app.yml
We recommend Nano because it's simple; just use your arrow keys to edit.
- Set `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS` to your email address.
- Set `DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME` to `discourse.example.com`, this means you want your Discourse available at `http://discourse.example.com/`. You'll need to update the DNS A record for this domain with the IP address of your server.
- Place your mail credentials in `DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD`. Be sure you remove the comment `#` character and space from the front of these lines as necessary.
- If you are using a 1 GB instance, set `UNICORN_WORKERS` to 2 and `db_shared_buffers` to 128MB so you have more memory room.
After completing your edits, press CtrlO then Enter to save and CtrlX to exit.
# Email Is Important
**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!**
- Already have a mail server? Great. Use your existing mail server credentials.
- No existing mail server, or you don't know what it is? No problem, create a free account on [SparkPost][sp] (10k emails/month) [Mailgun][gun] (10k emails/month), [Mailjet][jet] (200 emails/day) or [**Mandrill**][man], and use the credentials provided in the dashboard.
- For proper email deliverability, you must set the [SPF and DKIM records](http://help.mandrill.com/entries/21751322-What-are-SPF-and-DKIM-and-do-I-need-to-set-them-up-) in your DNS. In Mandrill, that's under Sending Domains, View DKIM/SPF setup instructions.
# Bootstrap Discourse
Save the `app.yml` file, and begin bootstrapping Discourse:
./launcher bootstrap app
This command takes about 8 minutes. It is automagically configuring your Discourse environment.
After that completes, start Discourse:
./launcher start app
Congratulations! You now have your own instance of Discourse!
It should be accessible via the domain name `discourse.example.com` you entered earlier, provided you configured DNS. If not, you can also visit the server IP directly, e.g. `http://192.168.1.1`.
# Register New Account and Become Admin
There is a reminder at the top about the `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS` you entered previously in `app.yml`; register a new account via one of those email addresses, and your account will automatically be made an Admin.
(If you *don't* get any email from your install, and are unable to register a new admin account, please see our [Email Troubleshooting checklist](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshooting-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326).)
You should see Staff topics and the Admin Quick Start Guide. It contains the next steps for further configuring and customizing your Discourse install. Read it closely.
(If you are still unable to register a new admin account via email, see [Create Admin Account from Console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-admin-account-from-console/17274), but please note that *you will have a broken site* unless you get email working on your instance.)
# 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.
- If you are using a password and not a SSH key, be sure to enforce a strong root password. In Ubuntu use the `apt-get install libpam-cracklib` package.
You will get email reminders as 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 `/admin/upgrade` in your browser and click the Upgrade button.
The `launcher` command in the `/var/discourse` folder can be used for various kinds of maintenance:
```
Usage: launcher COMMAND CONFIG [--skip-prereqs]
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 enter a container
ssh: Start a bash shell in a running container
logs: Docker logs for 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 prerequisites
--docker-args Extra arguments to pass when running docker
```
# 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? (new Oauth2 authentication) [Configure Google logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-google-oauth2-login-for-discourse/15858).
- Users to log in via Facebook? [Configure Facebook logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-facebook-login-for-discourse/13394).
- Users to log in via Twitter? [Configure Twitter logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-twitter-login-for-discourse/13395).
- Users to log in via GitHub? [Configure GitHub logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-github-login-for-discourse/13745)
- 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).
- HTTPS / SSL support? [Configure SSL](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allowing-ssl-for-your-discourse-docker-setup/13847).
- Multiple Discourse sites on the same server? [Configure multisite](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multisite-configuration-with-docker/14084).
- 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 old content from vBulletin, PHPbb, Vanilla, Drupal, BBPress, etc? [See our open source importers](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/master/script/import_scripts)
- A firewall on your server? [Configure firewall](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-a-firewall-for-discourse/20584)
- 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
[man]: https://mandrillapp.com
[sp]: https://www.sparkpost.com/
[ssh]: https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys
[meta]: https://meta.discourse.org
[do]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=5fa48ac82415
[jet]: https://www.mailjet.com/pricing
[gun]: http://www.mailgun.com/
[put]: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html