seeking server set up advice

[sixguns]

I recently discovered cloudron and find it so far agreeable but not all inclusive to what I'm seeking.

I'm hoping to share what I'm looking for and get advice.

I'm looking to rent a server and run Discourse, Wordpress , aVideo and need to be able to create email accounts for users to log into from assorted domains.

Doesn't seem cloudron can do all that alone and some type of panel is needed, plesk, easypanel etc

Am I wrong?

None of this is set up, I have hosting on different servers now and looking to get a dedicated server, maybe be able to add VM's or just dockers, again, need advice if possible.

I don't know much of anything related to hosting, I've been just getting by using apps like digital ocean and ssh in to do whatever is needed but now find the need to add accounts for others and keep the costs contained and operation simple as much as possible, likely those I'm helping will need help and I need to be able to when that comes up.

Thanks in advance

[james]

Hello @sixguns

• Discourse => https://www.cloudron.io/store/org.discourse.cloudronapp.html
• WordPress => https://www.cloudron.io/store/org.wordpress.cloudronapp.html
• aVideo is not available yet but there are alternatives like peer tube => https://www.cloudron.io/store/org.joinpeertube.cloudronapp.html

I would suggest you just try Cloudron Demo - credentials username cloudron and password cloudron.
https://my.demo.cloudron.io/

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

Doesn't seem cloudron can do all that alone

Cloudron does all that.
Manage Domain, Backups, Users, Apps and so on.

Start with the Demo, if you like what you see, start with e.g a Hetzner VPS and start small, start growing, scale up.

[sixguns]

Hello James thanks for the reply, I'm already using Cloudron and thinking of subscribing past the free tier but don't see how it will fulfill my needs.

My dilemma in part is being financially challenged, so I want to eliminated the need for additional software.

Cloudron beat two other wordpress installers I tried with cPanel hands down, so I'd rather put monthly subscriptions in Cloudron than cPanel based on that.

But cPanel allowed me to set up email (roundcube) for users easily, I was not able to do that in Cloudron.

From there neither offer a simple aVideo solution

You mention peertube, I gave it a try, it has nowhere near the features of aVideo but despite that I could not make it custom to suit.

Standard categories being the big obstacle, without more customization options I decided to pass on that.

Primary example, firearms best fits sports category but the rest of sports don't fit in with firearms, so a firearms category is needed, how do you federate custom categories?

So, I'm still looking at Cloudpanel and other options, but even if free is found simple is preferred, I don't even know if I can mix Cloudron with another panel?

Paid Cloudron seems to be able to eliminate my need for a transactional email provider so that will save some money.

I just don't yet see a clear solution.

TY

[james]

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

But cPanel allowed me to set up email (roundcube) for users easily, I was not able to do that in Cloudron.

How so? Roundcube is just an app. Same with SOGo or SnappyMail and so on.
Since you are limited by the non subscription you can't install more than 2 apps.
Where did you fail?

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

I don't even know if I can mix Cloudron with another panel?

No. You can view Cloudron like Ubuntu or Debian.
It manages the whole server, and it is not advised to install anything alongside.

Oh, and aVideo might be usable inside the Cloudron LAMP app.
See => https://forum.cloudron.io/post/108657
Not tested yet tho.

[sixguns]

@james said in seeking server set up advice:

SOGo

I just reinstalled as it's been awhile and I wasn't sure, I can't log-in, just loops "Wrong username or password."

That was set with any cloudron user. Unable to fix so I moved on

@james said in seeking server set up advice:

SnappyMail

Same, except "Can't connect to server Server message: Can't connect to host "tcp://localhost:143""

so again, moved on, I find these things often on panels I've tried, Softaculous was horrible for it

I was sampling different sftware options and errors typically just prompted me to keep searching rather than seek support help, didn't want to waste anyone's time while researching solutions I wasn't tied to, but, I am at a point where decisions need to be made and cloudron has made a good impression.

@james said in seeking server set up advice:

You can view Cloudron like Ubuntu or Debian

I don't understand how as it's on top of Ubuntu 24

So can cloudron be used on VM's created by virtualizor?

[ccfu]

@sixguns I don't think that James wanted to say that Cloudron is the same as Ubuntu or Debian, what he is trying to say is that Cloudron provides a UI for the underlying operating system in that it manages the entire server, including updates for Ubuntu. There are very few situations in which you should need to SSH into the server. In this respect it is actually similar to Plesk or Cpanel, whereas most other panels are focused purely on hosting.

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

I just reinstalled as it's been awhile and I wasn't sure, I can't log-in, just loops "Wrong username or password."

You need to log in with the email credentials which are the email address of the email account you are trying to log in to and the password of the cloudron user the email account belongs to.

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

So can cloudron be used on VM's created by virtualizor?

Try it and see. As long as you use hardware virtualisation (KVM) and Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 it should work.

Cloudron really should be able to do everything you are trying to do (apart from AVideo which is not currently available. Whilst it is a PHP application and could run in the LAMP app, it also requires root access to install additional libraries that could potentially interfere with the operation of Cloudron).

[sixguns]

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

the email account you are trying to log in to

How's that done when it's a new install and no accounts are created?

I would like to try that email out but haven't yet been in it.

And if I subscribe the email Cloudron provides can act as a transactional provider for Discourse right?

That saves me money too, puts points towards selecting Cloudron.

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

Try it and see

I've not played with Visualizer yet, but it "might" help with my aVideo needs too, at a minimum allow me to spin up a new VM, I don't know what LAMP is or how it might help run aVideo

I feel I'm getting closer and appreciate the replies.

[jdaviescoates]

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

How's that done when it's a new install and no accounts are created?

You have to create the mail boxes you want. Have a read of the docs.

[ccfu]

@sixguns How do you intend to try out email without an email account?

The documentation has the answers to many of your questions.

@sixguns said in seeking server set up advice:

And if I subscribe the email Cloudron provides can act as a transactional provider for Discourse right?

Cloudron can be used to send emails for the apps installed on it and also from externally hosted apps if you connect via SMTP. You just have to make sure that the everything is set up correctly for the domain(s), in particular SPF and PTR records. And obviously make sure that your server provider does not block port 25. The biggest "issues" with self-hosted email is establishing reputation and ensuring deliverability, but both of those can be easily overcome with Cloudron if you set things up properly.

[sixguns]

@jdaviescoates said in seeking server set up advice:

Have a read of the docs.

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

The documentation has the answers to many of your questions.

I only ever installed then opened the app, which provided a log-in dialog I "assumed" my Cloudron user should be able to log into, then I "assumed" I'd be able to create user accounts, IMO that's the intuitive approach, I never looked for any docs so if somehow I need to create a user account first, well.

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

make sure that your server provider does not block port 25

I'll keep that in mind before selecting one, been a crazy hunt, but good to know:

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

Cloudron can be used to send emails for the apps installed on it

thank you

[ccfu]

@sixguns The webmail apps Roundcube, SnappyMail and SoGo are simply frontends for the IMAP server, just like mail clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Mail accounts you intend to host on the Cloudron mailserver are created in Cloudron under "Email", which I would suggest is also intuitive

I don't want to influence your choice of hoster, but I have used Hetzner for many years without any problems.

[sixguns]

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

intuitive

I like that, thank you

@ccfu said in seeking server set up advice:

Hetzner

I just gave them a serious look and impressed with what I seen, will be looking again tomorrow, thanks again