How to host Flarum on Hetzner VM Instance - ServerAvatar

Flarum is an open-source forum software designed to serve communities of all sizes, providing essential functionalities for discussions, user interaction, and customization. Deploying Flarum on Hetzner is a reliable option due to its scalable infrastructure and straightforward deployment solutions. ServerAvatar streamlines the setup of Flarum on the Hetzner platform with user-friendly steps.

Create a Server in Hetzner

Getting Started with Hetzner:

Hetzner provides a range of services like dedicated hosting, virtual private servers, colocation services, and domain registration. Hetzner is known for having reliable systems and competitive prices in web hosting. Its services work well for both individual users and businesses that need strong hosting options.

Step 1: Login to Hetzner Cloud Console

• Go to the Hetzner Cloud website and sign in using your credentials.

Step 2: Create a New Project (Optional)

• If you don't have an existing project, create a new one by clicking on the New Project button.

• Enter a name for your project and click Add Project.

Step 3: Select a Project

• Select the project in which you wish to create your server.

Step 4: Create a New Hetzner Cloud Server

• Navigate to the Servers sub-menu and click on Add Server to begin creating your server.

Step 5: Configure your server

1. Select a Location: Select the data center location where you want to deploy your server. Choose the region that is closest to your target audience for better performance.
2. Select an Image: ServerAvatar supports both Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04. Therefore, choose one of these supported operating systems.
3. Select a Server Type: Hetzner provides various plans with different configurations of CPU, RAM, and storage. Select the server type based on your requirements. 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.
4. Select Networking: Select from three networking options for your server. Private networks allow you to securely connect servers within the same data center without going over the public internet.
5. SSH Key or Root Password: Select an SSH Key if you want to authenticate with an SSH key. This method is recommended over using a root password for enhanced security. If you choose SSH key authentication, Hetzner will disable password-based authentication by default. Otherwise, you will receive the root password via email.
6. Add a Firewall Rule: Configure firewall rules to control incoming and outgoing traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols for improved security.
7. Additional Options (Optional): Configure additional options such as Backups, Placement Groups, Volumes, Labels, and Cloud Config as per your Requirements.
8. Give a Server Name: Enter a server name for easy identification.
9. Finalize and Create: Review your configuration settings to ensure that everything is configured correctly. Click on the Create & Buy Now button.9. Finalize and Create: Review your configuration settings to ensure that everything is configured correctly. Click on the Create & Buy Now button.

Step 6: Access Your Server

• Once the server is deployed, it will appear on your Hetzner Cloud dashboard. Use the provided IP address and SSH key (if configured) to access your server via SSH. Now, You can connect your Server with ServerAvatar for Server management.

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 logged in to Flarum or Login 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.