How to host Matomo on Hostinger VPS - ServerAvatar

Matomo is a flexible open-source analytics platform recognized for its extensive functionalities and adaptability. With its various plugins and customizable features, it facilitates personalized analytics solutions without requiring advanced technical knowledge. Matomo empowers organizations to monitor and analyze website traffic, user interactions, and marketing campaign effectiveness. For deploying Matomo, Hostinger is an ideal choice due to its reliable, and easy-to-use cloud infrastructure. ServerAvatar simplifies the deployment of Matomo on Hostinger 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 Hostinger

Getting started with Hostinger:

Discover how simple it is to create an account and set up a cloud VPS on Hostinger, one of the top hosting providers. Follow our step-by-step guide to swiftly establish your account to deploy a server and complete its initial setup.

What Is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a popular web hosting company known for its affordable hosting solutions and user-friendly interface, offering services like domain registration, website hosting, and cloud hosting to help individuals and businesses manage their online presence effectively.

Step 1: Create an account

• Log in to your Hostinger account. If you don’t have an account, create an account on Hostinger.
• After login, Click on the VPS option as shown in the image below.

Step 2: Select the plan

• Next, you will see various plans offering different specifications for hosting your VPS. Select the plan that best fits your requirements.
• The minimum requirement for hosting the Matomo application is 1GB or more of RAM for better performance and 1GB or more of disk space required for additional space based on data volume and log retention. You can select another plan of higher configuration as per your requirements and usage.

Step 3: Complete your Payment

• Now, you have to proceed to complete the payment for your VPS plan.

Step 4: Start with Setup

• Once the payment is complete, you will be redirected to the page to begin setting up your VPS. Click on the Start Now option to proceed.

Step 5: Select Location

• Next, you have to select the location for your server. Hostinger provides various locations for setting up your VPS.
• 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 6: Select 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: Adding Additional Feature (Optional)

• The next option is to install an additional feature to your VPS. You can enable the malware scanner by selecting the provided checkbox. This step is optional; if you want to add it, select the checkbox and click on Continue.

Step 8: Login Method

• Next, you need to set a Root Password for your VPS and provide a Hostname. Additionally, you can add an SSH Key, which is optional. Once you have completed these steps, click on Continue.

Step 9: Finalise Details

• In the last step of this process, you need to verify the VPS information. Click on the Finish Setup option to complete the setup process.

• After clicking the Finish Setup button, You can see the Initiating Setup process as displayed in the image below.

Step 10: VPS Management and SSH Key Access

• Once the setup is complete, you will find the option to Manage VPS, allowing you to manage your VPS from its Custom Dashboard. Additionally, you will have the SSH Access option, which enables server access via Terminal.

• Congratulations! You have successfully created your Hostinger 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 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 a 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 on 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 the 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 clicking 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 a superuser, enter the following details:

Superuser login: dharmilshiroya
Password: your password
Password (Repeat): your password
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.