How to host Kanboard on UpCloud Cloud Server - ServerAvatar

Kanboard is an open-source application designed to streamline project management tasks for teams. It includes essential features for creating tasks, managing projects, and tracking progress, ensuring a seamless experience for both team members and project stakeholders. When selecting a hosting solution for Kanboard, UpCloud stands out as a reliable option with scalable infrastructure and simple deployment solutions. ServerAvatar makes the deployment of the Kanboard application on the UpCloud platform straightforward through a simplified process.

Create a Server in UpCloud

Getting Started with UpCloud:

UpCloud is a high-performance VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting platform designed for developers, businesses, and IT professionals. Renowned for its speed and reliability, UpCloud features the unique MaxIOPS storage technology, delivering performance significantly faster than traditional SSDs. This makes it an excellent choice for applications with high I/O demands, such as databases and web hosting. With its user-friendly control panel, UpCloud simplifies server management, making it an attractive option for anyone needing superior VPS hosting solutions.

To deploy any application on UpCloud, we must first set up a server. Therefore, our initial step will be to deploy a server and complete its initial setup.

Step 1: Server Deployment

• Log in to your Upcloud account. If you don’t have an account, create an account on UpCloud.
• Then, Navigate to Server → Server List and click on the Deploy Server button, as shown in the image below.

Step 2: Select Location

• The first thing you have to do is select the location for your server. UpCloud provides different options for selecting the location.
• 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 3: Select the plan for your Server

• Here you have to select the plan of your Droplet. UpCloud offers a variety of plans. Select the one that best meets your requirements.
• The minimum requirements for hosting Kanboard are 1GB or more of RAM for better performance and minimal storage is required, but ensure you have enough space for data and backups. If you are just getting started with the project, You can start with a small configuration and then upgrade it according to future requirements.

Step 4: Add New Storage Device

• In the Storage section, you can attach new storage devices as needed. Your initial storage is based on the selected server plan. You can attach up to 16 storage devices, each with a maximum size of 4 TB.
• To add more disks, click the "Add new device" button and adjust the storage size with the slider. You can modify the storage configuration later by adding, removing, or resizing disk devices.

Step 5: Automated Backups

• You can also enable Automated Backups by clicking the toggle button on the right side. You can choose from Day, Week, Month, or Year plans.
• After selecting the appropriate plan, you can set a backup schedule using the drop-down menu below.

Step 6: Choose 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: Select Network Configuration

• In this step, by default network configurations are set that include IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and a private Utility Network connection is set. You can customize these settings and attach your private network by clicking on the “Attach Private Network” option.

Step 8: Additional Options

• In this step, you can enable or disable IPv6 support and metadata service. Also, you can set the desired TimeZone and select between network and display adapters.
• If it suits you, we suggest keeping these options at their default settings.

Step 9: Select Login Method

• Now you have to select the Login method. There are two types of login methods. They are:
  1. Authentication via SSH Keys
  2. Authentication via One-Time Password
• If you are using SSH keys for authentication, It is the best option. You can also click on the “Add New” button to import your keys.
• If you do not know what is SSH key, You can go with the One-Time password method. You have to set a new password after the first time you log into this server.
• Make sure to set a strong password for your root user, which is the most powerful user with all the privileges on Linux OS. You can select the convenient way to have the password.

Step 10: Enter Initialization Script

• The Initialization scripts are user-defined automation scripts supported by all Linux public templates. When you select one of your stored scripts, it will appear in the edit field.
• You can make changes to the scripts or write a new one. The server will execute the script during the first bootup.

Step 11: Finalise Details

• In the last step of this process, We have to enter the Host Name, Server Name, and number of servers you want to deploy. Click on the Deploy button to create a server.

• In a few minutes, You will have the Server up and running.
• Now, We have to perform the initial step to allow the Serveravatar port from the firewall configuration.
• To allow the Serveravatar port from firewall configuration, Click on the Server → Server List Option and then click on the icon next to your server as shown in the below image.

• Now, navigate to the Firewall Section and Click on “Add Rule”.

• Create a rule to allow ServerAvatar Communication Port - 43210 as shown in the below image. Click on the Ok to add the firewall rule.

• Now, click on the “Save Changes” button to save the changes to Firewall Rules as shown in the below image.

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 Kanboard on cloud using ServerAvatar

Step1: Create Kanboard Database

The Kanboard installation process requires database Credentials. So, to create a MySQL database for Kanboard, 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.

Congratulations! You've successfully created your database.

Step 2: Create a PHP Application

Access the Applications tab from the server panel to create a new PHP application for Kanboard. Now, create an application, click on the Applications tab, then click the Create button on the server panel.

To create an application and proceed with the installation and deployment of Kanboard. You need to feel the prerequisite for Kanboard.

Please select an application name of your choice. Afterward, input the domain name where you'd like to direct your URL. You have the choice between a test domain or a primary domain. If you decide on the test domain, you can use ".serveravatar" as a test domain extension. This flexibility ensures you can make the perfect selection for your project.

Note that:

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

Now, you will clone Kanboard through the available repository in GitHub. so,
Select a method: Git
Select a Service Provider: GitHub
Select a Repository Type: Public
Clone HTTPS URL: https://github.com/kanboard/kanboard.git
Branch: main

Let's take the next step in creating your application. Now, you need to set up deployment scripts. These are the manually entered commands that will run automatically after you've cloned the repository.

Installing Kanboard requires running manual scripts or commands in the deployment process.

Deployment Scripts:

cp config.default.php config.php

To proceed further, select checkbox labeled "Show Advanced Options". You'll find this checkbox right below the deployment scripts section.

The next step is to create a system user for your application. You have the option to either select an existing user or create a new one dedicated to this application.

Now, let's select the PHP version. Choose PHP version 8.1 or a newer version if available. Regarding the custom webroot for Kanboard, it should be blank(do not write) as illustrated in the provided snapshot. We are specifically looking for either an "index.php" or "index.html" file within this custom setup.

Select PHP Version: PHP version 7.4 or higher
Custom Webroot: (leave it blank)

With all these settings in place, go ahead and click on the "Create Application" button to complete the procedure.

Congratulations! You've successfully created your application.

Step 3: Config Database with Application

In this step, we're connecting the database we created in Step 1 with the application from Step 2. To configure the database, we need to edit the config.php file.

To edit the config file, you can access the public_html directory from your file manager or navigate through the directory path.

Proceed to open it. Inside, you'll need to enter the database credentials that were created 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 driver, database name, username, hostname, and password, by accessing the database tab from the server panel.

Enter the following database credential we have already created in ServerAvatar:
DB_DRIVER: MySQL
DB_USERNAME: Username of database
DB_PASSWORD: Database password
DB_HOSTNAME: localhost
DB_NAME: Database name

Don't forget to save the changes you've made to the "config.php" file.

The next step is, to update your directory permission.

Congratulations! Successfully deployed Kanboard on the server through the ServerAvatar.

You can access it by visiting your domainname in your web browser.

Step 4: Access Kanboard Web UI

Now, access the site URL from the Application panel to log into Kanboard.

To login, use following credentials:
Username: admin
Password: admin

You successfully logged into Kanboard. You should get to a dashboard like below.

Reset admin password

To reset your admin login credentials follow the given path: Admin > Users Management > admin > Change password.

Input current and new passwords for admin users.

Congratulations! Successfully install and setup Kanboard on the server through the ServerAvatar.

Check Kanboard documentation for more information related to installation and functionalities.

Thank you for choosing ServerAvatar! We warmly welcome you to our vibrant community of ServerAvatar.