Preinstallation

Prerequisites

Before beginning the installation, ensure you have:

System Requirements

• Operating System: Debian 12 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• Memory: Minimum 4GB RAM
• CPU: 2 cores or more
• Network: 1 Gbit/s bandwidth or higher
• Storage:
  • Minimum 20GB SSD (NVMe preferred) for standard installation
  • Minimum 100GB SSD if using local storage
• Domain name

Recommended Cloud Providers

Note: When provisioning your server, select Debian 12 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS as your operating system.

Domain Registration

Purchase a domain from any reputable registrar such as:

• Cloudflare (Recommended for built-in CDN and security features)
• Namecheap
• GoDaddy

Setup Instructions

1. DNS Configuration

Configure your domain's DNS settings to point to your server:

1. Locate your server's IP address from your cloud provider's dashboard
2. Add the following DNS records:

Example configuration for yourdomain.com:

Type  Name           Value
A     api           203.0.113.1
CNAME  api           yourdomain.com

Important: DNS changes may take up to 48 hours to propagate globally, though typically complete within 15-30 minutes.

2. Web Server Installation

We use Caddy as the web server for its:

• Automatic HTTPS certificate provisioning
• Modern security defaults
• Simple configuration syntax

Connect to your server via SSH:

ssh root@your-server-ip

Install Caddy

# Update package index and install prerequisites
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl

# Add Caddy repository
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | \
    sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list

# Install Caddy
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

Configure Caddy

1. Create the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

2. Add the following configuration:

{$YOUR_SUBDOMAIN_NAME} {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
    encode gzip
}

{$YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME} {
    # Meilisearch endpoint
    handle /indexes/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:7700 {
            header_up Host {http.reverse_proxy.upstream.hostport}
        }
    }

    # Main application
    handle /* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3001
    }

    encode gzip
}

3. Replace the placeholders:

• {$YOUR_SUBDOMAIN_NAME}: Your API subdomain (e.g., api.yourdomain.com)
• {$YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME}: Your main domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)

4. Apply the configuration:

sudo systemctl reload caddy

Note: Caddy will automatically obtain and manage SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt.

Verification

To verify your setup:

1. Check Caddy status:

sudo systemctl status caddy

2. Verify DNS resolution:

dig +short yourdomain.com
dig +short api.yourdomain.com

3. Test HTTPS accessibility:

curl -I https://yourdomain.com
curl -I https://api.yourdomain.com

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

• DNS not resolving: Wait for DNS propagation or verify DNS records
• Caddy not starting: Check logs with sudo journalctl -u caddy
• SSL certificate issues: Ensure ports 80 and 443 are accessible

Ports Not Accessible

Ensure ports 80 and 443 are accessible:

# Configure firewall
sudo apt install ufw
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow http
sudo ufw allow https
sudo ufw enable

For additional support, check the Caddy documentation or open an issue in our repository.