Coolify v4 Self-Hosted PaaS

What is Coolify?

Coolify is an open-source, self-hosted Platform as a Service (PaaS) that serves as an alternative to Heroku, Netlify, and Vercel. Version 4 is a complete rewrite built with Laravel, Livewire, and Docker, offering a modern UI for deploying applications, databases, and services on your own infrastructure. It supports automatic SSL, Git integration, and one-click service deployments.

Prerequisites

• A VPS with at least 2 CPU cores and 2GB RAM (4GB recommended)
• Ubuntu 22.04 or newer / Debian 12+
• Root SSH access
• A domain name pointed to your server

Installing Coolify v4

# Run the official installer
curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

# The installer will:
# 1. Install Docker and Docker Compose
# 2. Set up the Coolify container stack
# 3. Configure Traefik as reverse proxy
# 4. Generate SSH keys for server management
# 5. Start the web UI on port 8000

Initial Setup

# Access the UI at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8000
# Create your admin account on first visit
# In Settings > General, set your instance FQDN
# Coolify auto-provisions SSL certificates via Traefik

Deploying Applications

From Git Repositories

# 1. Projects > Create New Resource > Application
# 2. Connect GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket
# 3. Select repository and branch
# 4. Coolify auto-detects framework:
#    - Dockerfile (uses it directly)
#    - package.json (Node.js via Nixpacks)
#    - requirements.txt (Python)
#    - composer.json (PHP/Laravel)
# 5. Set environment variables
# 6. Configure domain and SSL
# 7. Deploy

Docker Compose Deployments

# Create New Resource > Docker Compose
# Paste or link your docker-compose.yml
# Coolify handles networking, volumes, and SSL
# Connect domains to specific services in the stack

One-Click Services

Coolify offers 100+ one-click deployable services including PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, WordPress, Ghost, Plausible Analytics, Gitea, MinIO, and Uptime Kuma. Select from Projects > New Resource > Service, search, configure, and deploy with one click.

Environment Variables and Secrets

# Per-application variables in Application Settings
# Shared variables across apps: Settings > Shared Variables
# Reference shared vars: {{global.VARIABLE_NAME}}
# Toggle Build Variable for build-time vs runtime injection

Automatic Deployments

# Enable Auto Deploy in application settings
# Copy webhook URL and add to your Git provider
# Every push to the configured branch triggers deployment

# Preview deployments for pull requests
# Each PR gets its own URL: pr-123.yourdomain.com

Persistent Storage and Backups

# Configure volumes in Application Settings > Storages
# Add paths like /app/data mapped to Docker volumes
# Volumes persist across deployments

# Database backups are built-in:
# Resources > Database > Backups
# Configure schedule and S3-compatible storage

Monitoring and Notifications

# Real-time logs: Application > Logs
# Container metrics: Application > Monitoring
# Server dashboard: CPU, RAM, disk per server
# Notifications: Email, Slack, Discord, Telegram, webhooks

Security Hardening

• Change the default port 8000 or put behind a reverse proxy
• Enable two-factor authentication for admin accounts
• Configure webhook secrets for Git integrations
• Regularly update via the UI or re-running the install script
• Use environment variable encryption for sensitive values

Troubleshooting

# Check Coolify containers
docker ps --filter name=coolify

# View logs
docker logs coolify -f --tail 100

# Restart Coolify
docker restart coolify coolify-proxy coolify-realtime

# Reset admin password
docker exec coolify php artisan user:reset-password