**Set up Discourse in the cloud in under 30 minutes** with zero knowledge of Rails or Linux shell using our [Discourse Docker image][dd]. We recommend [Digital Ocean][do], but these steps will work on any Docker-compatible cloud provider or local server.
Create your new Droplet. You will receive an email with the root password to your Droplet. (However, if you know [how to use SSH keys](https://www.google.com/search?q=digitalocean+ssh+keys), you may not need a password to log in.)
Connect to your Droplet via SSH, or use [Putty][put] on Windows:
ssh root@192.168.1.1
Replace `192.168.1.1` with the IP address of your Droplet.
You will be asked for permission to connect, type `yes`, then enter the root password from the email Digital Ocean sent you when the Droplet was set up. You may be prompted to change the root password, too.
- If you're using the minimum 1 GB install, you *must* [set up a swap file](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-swapfile-for-your-linux-server/13880).
- If you're using 2 GB+ memory, you can probably get by without a swap file.
This command installs the latest versions of Docker and Git on your server. Alternately, you can manually install the respective [Docker package for your OS](https://docs.docker.com/installation/).
- Set `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS` to your email address.
- Set `DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME` to `discourse.example.com`, this means you want your Discourse available at `http://discourse.example.com/`. You'll need to update the DNS A record for this domain with the IP address of your server.
- Place your mail credentials in `DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD`. Be sure you remove the comment `#` character and space from the front of these lines as necessary.
- If you are using a 1 GB instance, set `UNICORN_WORKERS` to 2 and `db_shared_buffers` to 128MB so you have more memory room.
After completing your edits, press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd><kbd>O</kbd> then <kbd>Enter</kbd> to save and <kbd>Ctrl</kbd><kbd>X</kbd> to exit.
# Email Is Important
**Email is CRITICAL for account creation and notifications in Discourse. If you do not properly configure email before bootstrapping YOU WILL HAVE A BROKEN SITE!**
- Already have a mail server? Great. Use your existing mail server credentials.
- No existing mail server, or you don't know what it is? No problem, create a free account on [SparkPost][sp] (10k emails/month) [Mailgun][gun] (10k emails/month), [Mailjet][jet] (200 emails/day) or [**Mandrill**][man], and use the credentials provided in the dashboard.
- For proper email deliverability, you must set the [SPF and DKIM records](http://help.mandrill.com/entries/21751322-What-are-SPF-and-DKIM-and-do-I-need-to-set-them-up-) in your DNS. In Mandrill, that's under Sending Domains, View DKIM/SPF setup instructions.
# Bootstrap Discourse
Save the `app.yml` file, and begin bootstrapping Discourse:
./launcher bootstrap app
This command takes about 8 minutes. It is automagically configuring your Discourse environment.
Congratulations! You now have your own instance of Discourse!
It should be accessible via the domain name `discourse.example.com` you entered earlier, provided you configured DNS. If not, you can also visit the server IP directly, e.g. `http://192.168.1.1`.
There is a reminder at the top about the `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS` you entered previously in `app.yml`; register a new account via one of those email addresses, and your account will automatically be made an Admin.
(If you *don't* get any email from your install, and are unable to register a new admin account, please see our [Email Troubleshooting checklist](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshooting-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326).)
You should see Staff topics and **READ ME FIRST: Admin Quick Start Guide**. This guide contains the next steps for further configuring and customizing your Discourse install as an administrator. Read it closely!
(If you are still unable to register a new admin account via email, see [Create Admin Account from Console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-admin-account-from-console/17274), but please note that *you will have a broken site* unless you get email working on your instance.)
- Turn on automatic security updates for your OS. In Ubuntu use the `dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades` command.
- If you are using a password and not a SSH key, be sure to enforce a strong root password. In Ubuntu use the `apt-get install libpam-cracklib` package.
You will get email reminders as new versions of Discourse are released. Please stay current to get the latest features and security fixes. To **upgrade Discourse to the latest version**, visit `/admin/upgrade` in your browser and click the Upgrade button.
The `launcher` command in the `/var/discourse` folder can be used for various kinds of maintenance:
```
Usage: launcher COMMAND CONFIG [--skip-prereqs]
Commands:
start: Start/initialize a container
stop: Stop a running container
restart: Restart a container
destroy: Stop and remove a container
enter: Use nsenter to enter a container
ssh: Start a bash shell in a running container
logs: Docker logs for container
bootstrap: Bootstrap a container for the config based on a template
rebuild: Rebuild a container (destroy old, bootstrap, start new)
cleanup: Remove all containers that have stopped for > 24 hours
Options:
--skip-prereqs Don't check prerequisites
--docker-args Extra arguments to pass when running docker
```
# Add More Discourse Features
Do you want...
* Users to log in *only* via your pre-existing website's registration system? [Configure Single-Sign-On](https://meta.discourse.org/t/official-single-sign-on-for-discourse/13045).
- Users to log in via Google? (new Oauth2 authentication) [Configure Google logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-google-oauth2-login-for-discourse/15858).
- Multiple Discourse sites on the same server? [Configure multisite](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multisite-configuration-with-docker/14084).
- A Content Delivery Network to speed up worldwide access? [Configure a CDN](https://meta.discourse.org/t/enable-a-cdn-for-your-discourse/14857). We recommend [Fastly](http://www.fastly.com/).
- Import old content from vBulletin, PHPbb, Vanilla, Drupal, BBPress, etc? [See our open source importers](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/master/script/import_scripts)
- A firewall on your server? [Configure firewall](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-a-firewall-for-discourse/20584)
- To embed Discourse [in your WordPress install](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse), or [on your static HTML site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/embedding-discourse-comments-via-javascript/31963)?
