How to host YOURLS on AWS Lightsail VM Instance - ServerAvatar

YOURLS is an open-source URL-shortening platform known for its features and flexibility. It allows users to efficiently create and manage short links, offering features for link tracking, custom URL generation, and analytics. With a range of plugins and customizable options, YOURLS supports personalized URL-shortening solutions without requiring deep technical knowledge. AWS Lightsail is a dependable hosting option for YOURLS, providing scalable infrastructure and simple deployment solutions. ServerAvatar makes it easy and user-friendly to deploy the YOURLS application on the AWS Lightsail platform.

Create VM Instance in AWS Lightsail

To create a server in AWS Lightsail, First log in to the AWS Lightsail console. Once you are there, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Go to the Instance Creation Form

To access the instance creation form, Go to the AWS Lightsail dashboard and click on the orange button with the Create Instance text. See the following image for reference.

Step 2: Select the Location of your Instance

First of all, You have to select the location for your instance. It is always better to select a location closest to your major traffic source. It will decrease the latency for the majority of your website visitors.

If you want to change the location of your server, You can simply update the current region in your AWS account.

Step 3: Select the OS for your Instance

After selecting the location, Select the operating system for your instance. In this case, First, click on OS Only and then select Ubuntu 20.04 as an operating system just like the following image.

Step 4: Select SSH Key and Launch Script (Optional/Advanced)

This is an optional step. Here you can set the Launch script and the main SSH key for your server. If you don't understand the launch script and SSH keys, Just ignore this step.

Step 5: Select the Plan

In this step, select the size of your VM instance. AWS Lightsail provides lots of different options when it comes to plans and pricing. The plan and pricing selection completely depend on the requirements of your site(s). The minimum requirement for hosting YOURLS application is 1GB of RAM, more is recommended for smoother performance, especially if you’re running other services on the server. The exact amount will depend on your usage and data storage needs. So, select the plan based on the complexity and traffic of your sites.

Step 6: Verify and Create the Instance

Finally, Enter the name of your instance, and the number of instances you want to create and assign the tags accordingly for identification. Once done, click on the Create Instance button to start the instance creation process.

It might take a few minutes to deploy the instance. Once done, follow the below-given step to update the firewall rules for the VM instance.

Step 7: Update Firewall Rules

ServerAvatar requires 43210 port open. In total, You need to keep the following ports open on the instance.

• 22 (SSH): To access your server via SSH.
• 80 (HTTP): To access your sites on HTTP.
• 443 (HTTPS): To access your sites on HTTPS.
• 43210 (ServerAvatar): To allow communication between ServerAvatar and your instance.

To update the firewall rules for a specific instance, Go to the AWS Lightsail dashboard and click on the name of the instance you want to update. Then go to the Networking section and add the missing firewall rules. After updating the firewall rules, the networking section of your Instance should look like the following 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 YOURLS on Cloud using ServerAvatar

Getting Started With YOURLS:

YOURLS is a powerful set of PHP scripts that allows you to run Your Own URL Shortener on your server. This gives you full control over your links, provides detailed statistics, supports plugins, and much more, all in a free and open-source package.

Key Features:

• Open Source: YOURLS is open-source, so you can modify and use it according to your needs.
• Extensible: You can extend its functionality using various Plugins available in the YOURLS environment.
• Total Control: YOURLS allows you to manage your short links, putting your branding front and center by using your own domain or subdomain.
• Detailed Insights: Get detailed insights into link performance with YOURLS' comprehensive statistics and analytics, helping you understand how your links are performing.

Requirements:

• Web Server: YOURLS requires Apache version 2.4 or greater, with the mod_rewrite module enabled.
• PHP: PHP version 7.4 or greater is needed for YOURLS to work correctly. If you plan on using the YOURLS API, make sure the PHP cURL extension is enabled.
• Database: MySQL 5.0 or greater & MariaDB 10.0 or greater for storing link data.
• HTTPS Support: For security reasons, it's recommended to host your YOURLS installation on a server with HTTPS support.

Install and Setup YOURLS on Cloud using ServerAvatar:

Step 1: Create an Application

• To create a new Custom application for YOURLS, navigate to the Applications tab on the server panel. Click on the Create button on the server panel to start the process of application creation.

• On the following screen, fill in the Application details, including:

  • Application Name: enter your Application Name.
  • Select Domain: Select between a Test Domain or a Primary Domain as per your requirements.
  • Enter Domain: Enter your Application Domain.
  • Method: Select Git as your application method.
  • Service Provider: Select GitHub as service provider for cloning the repository.
  • Repository Type: Public
  • Clone HTTPS URL: https://github.com/YOURLS/YOURLS.git
  • Branch: master

• After filling out the details, click on the Create Application button as shown in the image.

• Now, your Application is ready. You can see your Application in the Dashboard.

Step 2: Create a Database

• To create a Database that stores your confidential data, Go to the Dashboard and click on the Databases option. Enter Your Database name and just hit on the “Create a Database” button as shown in the image below.

• After successfully creating a Database, you can see your Database in the Databases Dashboard.

Step 3: Copy config.php File

• Go to Application Dashboard and navigate to File Manager open the public_html folder by clicking on it.

• In the public_html folder navigate to the User folder. Select the config-sample.php file in the user folder and click on the copy icon as shown in the image below.

• In the pop-up of Copy File enter the location for the file to copy at /public_html/user/config.php and click on the Copy button as shown in the below image.

Step 4: Update config.php File

• After copying the config.php file, open it and modify fields such as Database Name, Database Username, Password, and YOURLS Site.

• To find your database credentials, navigate to the Databases section in the server panel and click on the manage users icon next to the database you have set up for your application.

• You can see your Database credentials as shown in the image below.

Step 5: Access YOURLS

• Now, to access the YOURLS application, open the web browser. Enter the domain of your site and add /admin after the domain as mentioned in the below example.

  • Example: http://your-application-domain/admin

• It will redirect you to the Yourls application's installation page.

• Now, Click on the Install YOURLS Button.

• After completing the Installation process, You will see the go to YOURLS Administration Page as shown in the below image.

• You can log in to the YOURLS Administration page using the username and password.
  • Username: Your Username
  • Password: Your Password