How to host Flarum on Contabo VM Instance - ServerAvatar

Flarum is a modern, open-source platform designed for simplicity and flexibility. It provides a user-friendly interface and a modular architecture, allowing users to customize and extend functionality through extensions. Deploying Flarum on Contabo is a reliable option due to its scalable infrastructure and straightforward deployment solutions. ServerAvatar makes the deployment of the Flarum application on the Contabo platform an easy step-by-step process.

Create VM Instance in Contabo

What Is Contabo?

Contabo is a web hosting company that provides a variety of internet hosting services. Founded in Germany in 2003, Contabo offers services such as:

1. VPS Hosting: Virtual Private Servers with scalable resources for various needs, from small projects to larger applications.
2. Dedicated Servers: Physical servers dedicated to a single user, offering high performance and control.
3. Web Hosting: Shared hosting solutions for websites, which include storage, bandwidth, and various management tools.
4. Object Storage: Scalable storage solutions for managing large amounts of data.
5. Domain Registration: Services for registering and managing domain names.

Contabo is known for its competitive pricing, high-performance hardware, and customer service, making it a popular choice for both individual users and businesses looking for reliable hosting solutions.

To set up a server in Contabo, begin by logging into your Contabo account. Once logged in, proceed with the following steps.

Step 1: Create an account on Contabo

Login to your Contabo account, select "VPS" from the dropdown menu, and then click on "Cloud VPS".

Step 2: Select your Cloud VPS plan

Contabo offers a variety of Cloud VPS options. The minimum requirements for hosting Flarum are 1GB or more of RAM for better performance and 1GB or more of disk space based on your data, backups, and additional files. The exact amount will depend on your usage and data storage needs.

Here, you should select the plan that best meets your requirements as shown in the below image.

Step 3: Select Region

• First, you need to select the term length (in months) according to your requirements.
• Next, you will need to select the location for your VPS. Contabo offers multiple options for selecting the location.
• It's recommended to select the region closest to your audience. This ensures that your sites load faster for the majority of your audience due to reduced latency.

Step 4: Select your Storage Type

Contabo provides different types of storage space, including both complimentary and paid options. Here, you should select the storage type based on your specific requirements. As shown in the image below.

Step 5: Select an Image or an OS

In this step, you need to select the Operating System for your cloud VPS. We recommend using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. Ubuntu is known for its ease of configuration and management. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your cloud VPS, these operating systems are recommended.

Step 6: Setting a Password

Here, it's recommended to create a strong password for your root user, as it holds all privileges on the Linux OS.

Step 7: Select Object Storage

Now, you need to select object storage space for backing up your VPS. You will find several options ranging from 250 GB to 1 TB. If you do not require object storage you can select the None option from the dropdown.

Step 8: Select Network

• In the Network section, you will find three options, You should select these according to your specific requirements:
  • Private Network
  • Bandwidth
  • IPv4

Step 9: Selecting Additional Options

• Backup Space: This option allows you to add additional storage space dedicated specifically for backups of your VPS data.
• Server Management: Contabo offers server management services where they handle the day-to-day operations of your VPS.
• Monitoring: This option provides monitoring services for your VPS. It includes monitoring server uptime, resource usage (CPU, RAM, disk), and network connectivity.
• SSL: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates are crucial for securing communication between your website and its visitors.

After completing all the necessary steps, click on the "Next" button to proceed to the payment method where you can finalize your details.

Step 10: Finalize Details

In this step, you can review all your selections for your Cloud VPS, finalize your details, and proceed with the payment. In a few minutes, your Cloud VPS will be ready. Now, we need to perform the initial configuration to host PHP-based frameworks and software.

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 Flarum on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Step1: Create Flarum Database

The Flarum installation process requires database Credentials. So, to create a MySQL database for Flarum, Access the Database tab on the ServerAvatar server panel to create a Database.

To create a Database, Enter the details, such as the Database Name, in the database creation form like the image below.

Successfully Created a Database.

Steps 2: Create a PHP Application

Access the Applications tab from the server panel to create a new PHP application for Flarum.

Now fill up the required details in the application form, as seen in the image below.

Note that:

If you want to host Flarum 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 Flarum on your subdomain, for example, flarum.yourdomain.com, create a new application with the subdomain as your primary domain and follow the same procedure. For accessing Flarum 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 Create Next Step.

Now, choose the method and service provider: Git and GitHub (follow as per the snapshot).

Continue the process by entering the necessary information as provided below:
Repository Type: Public
Clone HTTPS URL: https://github.com/flarum/flarum.git
Branch: master
Deployment script:

composer install

Proceed by clicking the "Next Step".

You can either create a new System User or select an existing one.

Next, choose PHP version 7.3 or above. For the custom Webroot should be public shown in the provided snapshot, as we're specifically seeking "index.php" or "index.html" within the custom setup.

Custom Webroot: public

Proceed to the next steps and ensure your details and requirements are accurately entered.

After confirming, click on "Create Application" to initiate the application creation process.

Step 3: Install and setup Flarum

Now access the site URL from the Application panel to install and set up Flarum.

We have already created a database for Flarum in step 1. To establish a connection between the database and the application, enter the database credential we have already made. You can access all your database credentials, like database name, username, and password, by accessing the database tab from the server panel.

1. Enter the following database credential we have already created in ServerAvatar:
   Forum Title: Any Name
   MySQL Host: localhost
   MySQL Database: Database name
   MySQL Username: Username of database
   MySQL Password: Database password
   Table Prefix: Change the database table prefix as you want

2. To create administrator enter the following details:
   Admin Username: any username
   Admin Email: any email
   Password: your password
   Confirm Password: Confirm your Password

NOTE: Please remember the credentials you entered above for logging into Flarum. Click Install Flarum.

You will directly login to Flarum or log in as admin with an admin username and password on the next page to access the admin panel.

Successfully install and setup Flarum on the server through the ServerAvatar.