UptimeKuma stands out as an open-source monitoring platform known for its extensive capabilities and flexibility. It empowers organizations to effectively monitor and optimize website uptime, performance metrics, and server health. With a range of customizable features and integrations, UptimeKuma supports customized monitoring solutions without requiring advanced technical expertise. When selecting a hosting provider for UptimeKuma, DigitalOcean is preferred for its scalable infrastructure and straightforward deployment options. ServerAvatar simplifies the deployment of the UptimeKuma application on the DigitalOcean platform through an intuitive deployment process.
Create Server in Digitalocean
Digitalocean is one of the most popular cloud platforms 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 about droplet management in-depth in Digitalocean, 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 setup.
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 find several sections for selecting different options. We will proceed step by step.
The first thing you have to do is select the region for your droplet. Digitalocean provides several 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 the majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to low 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. These operating systems are a requirement if you are using ServerAvatar to manage your droplets. Ubuntu is easy to configure and manage.
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. Choose a plan that fits your budget and meets your application's requirements. With ServerAvatar, You can also host multiple applications on a single DigitalOcean VPS.
The minimum requirement is 1GB or more of RAM for handling more extensive monitoring tasks and 1GB or more of disk space to accommodate the application, logs, and data. The exact amount will depend on your usage and data storage needs.
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 as follows:
- Authentication via SSH Keys
- Authentication via Password
Using SSH keys for authentication is the best option. If you are not familiar with SSH keys, you can choose the password method. Make sure to set a 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 from. They are optional but important in different use cases. The additional options are:
- Monitoring: It is a free feature by Digitalocean. It allows you to see additional monitoring data for your server.
- Backups: We recommend you to enable full server backups if you are going to deploy in a production environment. The cost of the backups depends on the size of the droplet.
- 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, and the 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 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.
Connect a server using a direct method
- Login/Register to ServerAvatar account, click the Create button from the right side of the screen, and select Server from the dropdown.
- Select Direct Method in the serve connecting method section.
- Type the Server Name as per your choice.
- Select a Tech Stack as per your need. You can either select Apache, Nginx, OpenLiteSpeed or Node Stack.
- Select a Database: MySQL, MariaDB or MongoDB.
- Enable the toggle if you want to install the latest LTS version of node.js on your server.
- Select a Management plan and click the Connect Now button.
- You’ll see the command on your screen. Login to your server using an ssh connection and execute that command as a root user.
- The server connection process will be started on your ServerAvatar account after executing the command.
Connect a server using integration
- Login/Register to your ServerAvatar account, navigate to the Integration tab from the sidebar of the panel, and access Cloud Platform from the dropdown.
- Now Select a cloud platform you want to link with ServerAvatar.
- The popup form will appear on your screen. Enter details to link your cloud provider account. The integration method is different based on the cloud provider you select.
- You can integrate five different cloud provider platforms with ServerAvatar, which is-
Check the above link of cloud platforms to know more about integrating cloud platforms with ServeAvatar.
Connect a server using commands
Step 1. Login to your server using root user
Once you create a server as per your requirements, connect to your server using an ssh connection and execute the below three commands as a root user in your server console area.
wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install
Step 2. Select a web server
It will ask you which web server you would like to install on your server: Apache, Nginx, OpenLiteSpeed or Node Stack. Type anyone that you would like to install on your server and hit the enter button.
Step 3. Claim your server
Completing the process will give you a link to claim your server.
Open the link on your browser to access the ServerAvatar server panel.
Deploy Self-Hosted Monitoring Tool Uptime Kuma on Cloud using ServerAvatar
Note: You must have a Server connected in Node Stack.
What is Uptime Kuma?
Uptime Kuma is a tool that helps you keep track of whether your websites or servers are up and running smoothly. It's free and can be hosted on your own servers or in the cloud. With Uptime Kuma, you can monitor things like website responses, specific keywords on pages, or basic network services. If something goes wrong, it can alert you through different channels. In simple terms, it's like having a personal watchdog for your online presence.
This guide will walk you through how to install the self-hosted monitoring tool UptimeKuma with ServerAvatar.
Features Of Uptime Kuma
- Monitoring uptime for HTTP(s) / TCP / HTTP(s) Keyword / HTTP(s) Json Query / Ping / DNS Record / Push / Steam Game Server / Docker Containers
- Fancy, Reactive, Fast UI/UX
- Notifications via Telegram, Discord, Gotify, Slack, Pushover, Email (SMTP), and 90+ notification services, click here for the full list
- 20-second intervals
- Multi Languages
- Multiple status pages
- Map status pages to specific domains
- Ping chart
- Certificate info
- Proxy support
- 2FA support
Prerequisites
- Node.js (v18 / v20.4)
- NPM (v9)
- Pm2
Step 1: Create An Application
On the ServerAvatar server panel, navigate to the Applications tab and click the Create button like the following image.
To proceed with the installation and deployment of UptimeKuma, ensure you have met the prerequisites.
- Enter an Application Name of your choice.
- Specify a Domain (choose between a Test Domain or a Primary Domain).
Note: If hosting Uptime Kuma on your own domain, ensure your domain points to your server's current IP address.
Select the following options:
Method: One Click Application: UptimeKuma
Now, click on Show Advanced Options to create a new system user or select an existing one based on your needs.
Click on the Create Application button. You will be redirected to the Application Installation Status page where you can monitor the installation process and view command outputs.
Once all commands run successfully you will redirect to the Application Dashboard.
Visit your domain to access your Uptime Kuma application.
Now, create your admin account for Uptime Kuma.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed and deployed Uptime Kuma through ServerAvatar.