How to Install Cachet on Docker with Vultr's Marketplace App

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Introduction

Cachet is the free and open source status page for your API, service or company. Built with all of the features that you'd expect from a status page, Cachet comes with a powerful API, a metric system, multiple user support, two factor authentication for added security and is easy to get setup. A powerful, self-hosted alternative to StatusPage.io and Status.io. This article explains how to set up Cachet on a Ubuntu 20.04 x64 server using Vultr's one-click Docker Application and setting up your status page as a subdomain with CaddyServer so that you instantly have SSL enabled.

Install & Configure Prerequisites

Deploy the Docker Application from Vultr Marketplace.
Once your Cloud Server is installed, create an A record at your host that points status.example.com to your Vultr IP address where status.example.com is the domain you want to use for your CachetHQ installation URL.

$ apt-get update -y
$ apt-get install git
$ docker network create caddy

Install CachetHQ

Change into the /home directory.
```
$ cd /home
```

Clone the the CachetHQ repository.

$ git clone https://github.com/cachethq/Docker.git cachet-docker

Change into the /home/cachet-docker directory
```
$ cd cachet-docker
```
Open the docker-compose.yml file.
```
$ nano docker-compose.yml
```
Look for the following line:
```
cachet:
```
Add container_name: cachet below that line, so it looks like this:
```
cachet:
  container_name: cachet
```

In the environment: section, add - APP_URL=<https://subdomain.example.com> to the end, after - DEBUG=false. When finished, it will look like this:

environment:
  - DB_DRIVER=pgsql
  - DB_HOST=postgres
  - DB_PORT=5432
  - DB_DATABASE=postgres
  - DB_USERNAME=postgres
  - DB_PASSWORD=postgres
  - DB_PREFIX=chq_
  - APP_KEY=${APP_KEY:-null}
  - APP_LOG=errorlog
  - APP_ENV=${APP_ENV:-production}
  - APP_DEBUG=false
  - DEBUG=false
  - APP_URL=<https://subdomain.example.com>

Add the following section to the end of the file.

networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: caddy

Save and exit the file. The completed file should look like this:

version: "3"

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:12-alpine
    volumes:
      - /var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
    restart: always
  cachet:
    container_name: cachet
    build:
      context: .
    args:
      - cachet_ver=2.4
    ports:
      - 80:8000
    links:
      - postgres:postgres
    environment:
      - DB_DRIVER=pgsql
      - DB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - DB_DATABASE=postgres
      - DB_USERNAME=postgres
      - DB_PASSWORD=postgres
      - DB_PREFIX=chq_
      - APP_KEY=${APP_KEY:-null}
      - APP_LOG=errorlog
      - APP_ENV=${APP_ENV:-production}
      - APP_DEBUG=false
      - DEBUG=false
      - APP_URL=<https://subdomain.example.com>
    depends_on:
      - postgres
    restart: on-failure
    networks:
      default:
        external:
          name: caddy

Open the conf/nginx-site.conf file:
```
$ nano conf/nginx-site.conf
```
Add fastcgi_param HTTPS on; after the fastcgi_keep_conn on; line, so it looks like this:
```
fastcgi_keep_conn on;
fastcgi_param HTTPS on;
```
Save the file.
Run docker-compose build to build the images.
```
$ docker-compose build
```
Run docker-compose up to start the containers.
```
$ docker-compose up
```

Locate the ERROR line that displays the following error and take note of the APP_KEY given to you.

cachet_1    | ERROR: Please set the 'APP_KEY=base64:1b3Ni9TaOHdbliYWKPM+bqv7kSJ/BZx7PzAde1yPm+k=' environment variable at runtime or in docker-compose.yml and re-launch

Open the docker-compose.yml file.
```
$ nano docker-compose.yml
```
Locate the APP_KEY variable, which should look like this:
```
- APP_KEY=${APP_KEY:-null}
```
Replace the APP_KEY variable with what was given to you in the ERROR: line after running docker-compose up so it looks like below and save the file:
```
- APP_KEY=base64:1b3Ni9TaOHdbliYWKPM+bqv7kSJ/BZx7PzAde1yPm+k=
```
Run docker-compose build and docker-compose up -d again.

Configure CaddyServer for Auto SSL

Change into the /home directory.
```
$ cd /home
```
Create a new directory called caddy.
```
$ mkdir caddy
```
Change into the /home/caddy directory.
```
$ cd caddy
```
Create a new Caddyfile.
```
$ nano Caddyfile
```
Paste the following contents, replacing the domain with your domain you configured with DNS and save that file:
```
status.example.com {
        reverse_proxy cachet:8000
}
```
Create a docker-compose.yml file.
```
$ nano docker-compose.yml
```

Paste the following content:

version: '3.1'

services:
  caddy:
    ports:
      - 443:443
    image: caddy/caddy
    volumes:
      - ./caddy/data:/data
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
networks:
  default:
    external:
      name: caddy

Run the following command to initalize Caddy to get the certificates:
```
$ docker-compose up -d
```

Configure CachetHQ

In your web browser, navigate to https://status.example.com to start configuring your new Cachet status page.

Lock Down Your Server

Run the following command to open the ssh configuration and change your SSH port to a non-standard port number:
```
$ nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
```
Locate the following line that reads:
```
#Port 22
```
Uncomment out the line by removing the # symbol and change the port so it looks like this:
```
Port 2222
```
Save the file, update your firewall to accept the new port, and restart the firewall:
```
$ ufw allow 2222/tcp
$ service ssh restart
```

More Information

CachetHQ Documentation

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