How to host YOURLS on UpCloud Cloud Server - ServerAvatar

YOURLS is an open-source URL-shortening platform known for its features and flexibility. With a range of plugins and customizable options, YOURLS supports personalized URL-shortening solutions without requiring deep technical knowledge. YOURLS allows users to efficiently create and manage short links, offering features for link tracking, custom URL generation, and analytics. UpCloud 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 UpCloud platform.

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 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.
• If your site is new and has low traffic, begin with a smaller plan. As your project gains more visitors, you can upgrade the plan to handle the increased traffic.

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 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