How to host Ackee on Hostinger VPS - ServerAvatar

Ackee is an open-source analytics platform designed to improve collaboration and communication within organizations. With customizable modules and themes, Ackee enables businesses to customize their analytics environment to meet specific needs without requiring extensive technical knowledge. It provides features for analyzing data, managing content, and enhancing community engagement. When it comes to hosting Ackee, Hostinger is preferred due to its scalable infrastructure and seamless deployment options. ServerAvatar makes the deployment of the Ackee application on the Hostinger platform an easy step-by-step process.

Create a VPS in Hostinger

Getting started with Hostinger:

Discover how simple it is to create an account and set up a cloud VPS on Hostinger, one of the top hosting providers. Follow our step-by-step guide to swiftly establish your account to deploy a server and complete its initial setup.

What Is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a popular web hosting company known for its affordable hosting solutions and user-friendly interface, offering services like domain registration, website hosting, and cloud hosting to help individuals and businesses manage their online presence effectively.

Step 1: Create an account

• Log in to your Hostinger account. If you don’t have an account, create an account on Hostinger.
• After login, Click on the VPS option as shown in the image below.

Step 2: Select the plan

• Next, you will see various plans offering different specifications for hosting your VPS. Select the plan that best fits your requirements.
• The minimum requirement for hosting Ackee is 2GB of RAM, although additional RAM will improve performance, and a minimum of 10GB of free disk space is recommended, but you might need more depending on the volume of analytics data. The exact requirements will depend on your usage and data storage needs. So, select the plan based on the complexity and traffic of your sites.

Step 3: Complete your Payment

• Now, you have to proceed to complete the payment for your VPS plan.

Step 4: Start with Setup

• Once the payment is complete, you will be redirected to the page to begin setting up your VPS. Click on the Start Now option to proceed.

Step 5: Select Location

• Next, you have to select the location for your server. Hostinger provides various locations for setting up your VPS.
• The general rule is to select the region that is closest to your audience. It means that for the majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to lower latency.

Step 6: Select an Operating System

• In this step, you need to select your server operating system. We recommend selecting Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your servers, these operating systems are required.

Step 7: Adding Additional Feature (Optional)

• The next option is to install an additional feature to your VPS. You can enable the malware scanner by selecting the provided checkbox. This step is optional; if you want to add it, select the checkbox and click on Continue.

Step 8: Login Method

• Next, you need to set a Root Password for your VPS and provide a Hostname. Additionally, you can add an SSH Key, which is optional. Once you have completed these steps, click on Continue.

Step 9: Finalise Details

• In the last step of this process, you need to verify the VPS information. Click on the Finish Setup option to complete the setup process.

• After clicking the Finish Setup button, You can see the Initiating Setup process as displayed in the image below.

Step 10: VPS Management and SSH Key Access

• Once the setup is complete, you will find the option to Manage VPS, allowing you to manage your VPS from its Custom Dashboard. Additionally, you will have the SSH Access option, which enables server access via Terminal.

• Congratulations! You have successfully created your Hostinger VPS, which is now ready to connect with ServerAvatar.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes the installation and configuration of various packages required to host your website. Usually, You have to write commands and modify configuration files. Luckily, With ServerAvatar, Your full server configuration and optimization can be automated.

Here are the three ways to automatically configure your server with ServerAvatar.

wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install

Install and Setup Ackee on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Ackee Application: Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction:

Ackee is a self-hosted, open-source analytics tool that offers privacy-focused insights into website and application usage. It provides features comparable to traditional analytics platforms while prioritizing user privacy.

Here are Some Key Features of Ackee Analytics include:

• Privacy-Focused
• Self-Hosted
• Dashboard and Reporting
• Customizable
• Open Source

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (v4.4 or higher)
• Nginx

Installation:

Step 1: Create an Application

Go to the Applications tab on the ServerAvatar server panel and click on the Create button as shown in the image below.

To proceed with the installation and deployment of Ackee, ensure you have met the prerequisites.

• Enter an Application Name of your choice.
• Specify a Domain (choose between a Test Domain or a Primary Domain).
  • Note: If you're hosting Ackee on your domain, make sure your domain is correctly pointed to your server's current IP address.

Now, Clone Ackee from the available public repository in Github.

• Method: Git
• Service Provider: Github
• Repository Type: Public
• Clone HTTPS URL: https://github.com/electerious/Ackee.git
• Branch: master

To proceed further, provide additional information.

• Select a Rendering Type: Server Side Rendering
• Port: 3000 (Choose an available port to avoid conflicts)
• Package Installation Command: npm install
• Start App Command: npm start

Click on the Create Application button. You will be redirected to the Application Installation Status page, where you can monitor the installation process and view command outputs.

Once, all of your entered commands run successfully you will be redirected to the Application Dashboard.

Step 2: Create Ackee Database

Go to the server panel, navigate to the Databases tab, and click on the Create button as shown in the following image.

On the following screen, complete the database details, including:

• Database Name
• Database Username
• Database Password

Step 3: Setup .env file

• Navigate to the Application Panel tab by clicking on the icon next to the application as shown in the below image.

• Now, go to the FIle Manager option and open the public_html folder.

• Create a new file and name it .env

• Now, open the .env file by clicking on it.

• Add the following configurations into the .env file, replacing placeholders with actual values:

  • ACKEE_MONGODB=mongodb://db_username:db_password@localhost:27017/db_name
  • ACKEE_USERNAME=username
  • ACKEE_PASSWORD=password
  • PORT=port number

• Now, visit your configured domain name and enter the username and password you entered in .env

Congratulations! You have successfully installed and deployed Ackee through ServerAvatar.