How to host Matomo on Digitalocean Droplet - ServerAvatar

Create Server in Digitalocean

Digitalocean is one of the most popular cloud platform right now. It offers on-demand cloud computing for various use cases as well as some managed solutions. We can deploy any PHP based applications on Digitalocean Droplets. Droplets are the servers or cloud computing instances in Digitalocean. If you want to learn everything about droplet management in Digitalocean in-depth, We recommend you to read our Digitalocean guide.

To deploy any application on Digitalocean, We first need a Droplet. So, we will first create a droplet and perform the initial set up.

Step 1: Go to the Create Droplets page.

Log in to your Digitalocean account and click on the Create button given on the top-right corner of the page. From the drop down menu, click on the Droplets option to see a droplet creation form.

Step 2: Choose Region

On the Droplet creation page, You will see lots of sections to select lots of things. We will go step by step.

The first thing you have to do is select the region for your droplet. Digitalocean provides lots of options when it comes to selecting the location. The general rule is to select the region that is closest to your audience. It means that for majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to lower latency.

Step 3: Choose an Image or an OS

In this step, you have to select the operating system for your droplet. We recommend you to use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. Ubuntu is easy to configure and manage. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your droplets, These operating systems are requirement.

Step 4: Choose the size of the Droplet

Here you have to choose the size of your Droplet. As we mentioned above, Digitalocean provides many different types of droplets. Select the one that fits best for your project.

If your site is brand new and does not have much traffic, start with a small plan. Once the project starts getting traction, you can upgrade the plan to handle more visitors on the site.

Step 5: Choose Authentication Method

Now you have to select the authentication method. There are two types of authentication methods. They are:

1. Authentication via SSH Keys
2. Authentication via Password

If you are using SSH keys for authentication, It is the best option. If you do not know what is SSH keys, You can go with the password method. Make sure to set the strong password for your root user, which is the most powerful user with all the privileges on Linux OS.

Step 6: Selecting Additional Options

There are three additional options you can choose. They are optional but important in different use cases. The additional options are:

1. Monitoring: It is a free feature by Digitalocean. It allows you to see additional monitoring data for your server.
2. Backups: We recommend you to enable full server backups if you are going to deploy in production environment. The cost of the backups depends on the size of the droplet.
3. Managed Database: You do not need a Managed database if you are using ServerAvatar to manage sites on a droplet. A managed database is a pre-configured MySQL Droplet.

Step 7: Finalise Details

In the last step of this process, We have to enter the name of the droplet, number of droplets you want to create, Define any tags, and select the project. Enter all the details and click on the Create Droplet button to create a droplet.

In a few minutes, You will have the Droplet up and running. Now, We have to perform the initial configuration on the Droplet to host PHP based frameworks and software.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes 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 optimisation 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 Matomo on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Step1: Create Matomo Database

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

Database successfully created.

Steps 2: Create PHP Application

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

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

Note that:

If you want to host Matomo 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 Matomo on your subdomain, for example, matomo.yourdomain.com, create a new application with the subdomain as your primary domain and follow the same procedure. For accessing Matomo 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 to 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/matomo-org/matomo.git
Branch: 5.x-dev
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 7.2 or above. For the custom Webroot, keep the field empty, as shown in the provided snapshot, as we're specifically seeking "index.php" or "index.html" within the custom setup.

Custom Webroot: (keep this field empty)

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 Matomo

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

MATOMO INSTALLER

The welcome message screen is displayed upon accessing the URL, as depicted in the snapshot.

Click next to process further with the system check tab, which will open where you have two options: copy the system check or download the system check. According to your convenience, save or save system check. It is essential to keep it with you in case Matomo support team asks you for this information.

DATABASE SETUP

We have already created a database for Matomo 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.

Enter the following database credential we have already created in ServerAvatar:

Login: Username of database
Password: Database password
Database Name: Database name

Process further by click on Next.

CREATE SUPERUSER

We have successfully configured the database with Matomo. Now, we create a superuser to log into Matomo after successfully installing and setting up Matomo.

To create superuser, enter the following details:

Superuser login: dharmilshiroya
Password: yourpassword
Password (Repeat): yourpassword
Email: dharmilshiroya2456@gmail.com

Please remember the credentials you entered above for logging into MATOMO.

SET UP THE WEBSITE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ANALYZE

Now, Enter the details of the websites you would like to track or analyze with Matomo. For example, I have tried to track and analyze the website URL on which we deploy the Matomo. Please enter your website URL and the name you want to analyze. Here, Matomo provides the advanced option for you who want to use it to analyze e-commerce websites (E-commerce enabled) or Others. If your website is on E-commerce, select E-commerce enable in the E-commerce menu, as seen in the snapshot.

We had set up a website that you like to track and analyze. We have almost completed the setup process.

The next step is JavaScript tracking code. Do not change anything in the code. Just click on next.

We have successfully installed and set up Matomo on the Server through ServerAvatar. You can see a congratulatory message on your screen.

Now, log in to Matomo using the superuser credentials we created for the superuser. Please enter the credentials that you provided.

We have successfully deployed Matomo on Server on ServerAvatar.

Tip:- It will run on HTTP, but to run it on HTTPs ServerAvatar provides a one-click solution to switch to HTTPs for that, go to the SSL Certificate in the application panel and click on force HTTP to HTTPs.