How to host BookStack on Racknerd VPS - ServerAvatar

Bookstack is an open-source platform designed for organizations seeking to simplify the creation of status pages. It provides essential features for managing and sharing service statuses, ensuring ease of access for both administrators and users. For deploying BookStack, Racknerd is an ideal choice due to its reliable, and easy-to-use cloud infrastructure. ServerAvatar simplifies the deployment of BookStack on Racknerd VPS (Virtual Private Server) by providing a user-friendly interface that automates the setup process, making it accessible to users with various levels of technical expertise.

Create a VPS in Racknerd

Getting started with Racknerd:

Creating an account and setting up a cloud VPS on RackNerd is simpler than you might imagine! Just follow our easy, step-by-step guide, and you'll be ready to go quickly. Start managing your RackNerd services quickly and effortlessly with one of the top hosting providers. Let's get started!

What is Racknerd?

RackNerd is a top-notch hosting provider offering various services, from cloud servers to dedicated servers and colocation. With a reputation for affordability and reliability, RackNerd is a great choice for both individuals and businesses seeking scalable and efficient hosting solutions. They provide the infrastructure you need to manage and optimize your websites, applications, and other online services seamlessly.

Step 1: Setup Cloud VPS with Racknerd

• First, log in to your RackNerd account and navigate to the Services option. Next, click on Order New Services from the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Select the plan

• At this point, you'll see a variety of Shared Hosting plans in the Categories section on the left-hand side menu. We recommend choosing the KVM VPS plan. To proceed, simply click on the KVM VPS Hosting plan.
  • KVM VPS: KVM VPS (Kernel-based Virtual Machine Virtual Private Server) uses KVM technology to create virtualized environments with dedicated resources like CPU, RAM, and storage. This type of VPS offers high performance, security, and flexibility, making it perfect for hosting websites, applications, and other online services.

Step 3: Select KVM VPS Service

• At this stage, you'll find several options available in the KVM VPS section. You can choose any KVM VPS service that suits your needs, but we recommend selecting the AMD Ryzen Linux VPS service for the best performance.
• AMD Ryzen Linux VPS uses AMD Ryzen processors and the Linux operating system, providing high performance and reliability. It's ideal for websites, applications, and online services that require robust computing power and stability.

Step 4: Select your KVM VPS Configuration

• Here in the KVM VPS service, you'll find a range of plans designed to meet your specific requirements. Once you've selected your plan, simply click on Order Now to proceed with the next steps.

Step 5: Additional VPS Options

• Now, at this stage, you have to select additional options for your VPS. Here, you can select your billing cycle from annual or biennial payments. Furthermore, you can choose a location that is most suitable for you.
• Additionally, select your preferred operating system. Generally, the BookStack application requires Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or a later version for compatibility and support. We suggest Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit for the best performance.
• Click Continue to proceed to the next step.

Step 6: Review and Finalize Details

• you can review and confirm all the choices you've made for your VPS. Once you're satisfied with your selections, proceed to complete the payment process. Your VPS will be set up quickly and will be ready for use in a minimum amount of time.

• Congratulations! You have successfully created your Racknerd 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 BookStack wiki software with ServerAvatar

Step 1: Create a PHP application

On the ServerAvatar server panel, navigate to the Applications tab and click the Create button like the following image.

1. Fill up basic details

In the first step of the application creation, fill in the basic details, including, Application Name, select the application type, and type Primary Domain/Test Domain Name.

note that:

If you want to host BookStack on your domain, then make sure to point your domain to the current IP address of your server, and for that:

1. Log in to your domain provider site, where you buy your domain. Click here for more info about your domain name.
2. Access DNS Manager to edit your DNS records(contact the support team if you don’t find them)
3. Change the IP address of A Record of your website to the current server’s IP address. To host BookStack on your subdomain, for example, bookstack.yourdomain.com, create a new application with the subdomain as your primary domain and follow the same procedure. For accessing BookStack on the subdomain, you need to add your subdomain on A Record that points to the current IP address of your server. To point to an IPV6 address, you would need to use an AAAA record.

Click the Next Step to continue.

2. Select an application creation method

BookStack is an open-source project. It can be available on GitHub, so you can directly clone the repository with Serveravatar. In this step-

1. Select the Git method and GitHub as a service provider.
2. Mark on Public repository.
3. Type BookStack project URL from the GitHub BookStack project. You‘ll find it as shown in the following image.

4. Enter the release branch name in the branch field.
5. Type the below commands in the deployment script.

cp .env.example .env 

composer install --no-dev 

php artisan key:generate --force

3. Allocate system user

Allocate a system user for your BookStack application. You can create a new system user or select an existing system user.

Click the Next Step button to continue.

4. Other options

Select a PHP version for your application, and set Custom Webroot as Public in the respective field.

Click the Next Step button.

5. Review your application details

Review your application details and click the Create Application button.

Upon creating an application, the repository can be successfully cloned to your application Public_html folder.

Step 2: Create BookStack Database

To create a database for the BookStack application, go to the server panel, navigate to the Database tab, and click the Create button like the following image.

On the next screen, fill up the database details, including -

• Database Name
• Database Username
• Database Password

Click the Create Database to continue.

Step 3: Delete the .env.example file and Update the Database Information and App URL

To delete the .env.example file, go to Application Panel>>File Manager And access the public_html folder. Now click the Show Hidden Files box. The .env.example file can be shown at the top of the files, like the following image.

Now open the .env file and update the details with the database we created in the above step. It includes- DB_DATABASE: Database Name DB_USERNAME: Database Username DB_PASSWORD: Database Password

After that, update the app URL just above the file's database information. Note that if you install SSL on your application, type https:// before your domain name; otherwise, type http:// in the code.

Step 4: Update the Database Schema

It is necessary to keep your database up to date. And for that, log in to your application using an SSH connection. You can see the credentials in the application dashboard as the following image.

Note: Make sure the SSH connection toggle is enabled on your application.

Execute the following command in your terminal to log in to your application-

ssh Username@Host

Now go to your application path using “cd Application_Name/public_html” and execute the following command.

php artisan migrate - -force

After the successful migration of the database, access the URL of your application in the web browser.

Step 5: Login to BookStack

Upon accessing the URL, the login page will appear. You can now log in using the default admin details admin@admin.com and password of password. You can change these details immediately after logging in for the first time.

You’ll see the admin screen like the following image upon logging in.

You can now perform administrative tasks to manage your documentation and knowledge base website.