How to Set Up Discourse Forum on a VPS

What Is Discourse?

Discourse is a modern, open-source forum and community platform built for civilized discussion. It features real-time updates, rich notifications, trust levels, and excellent moderation tools. Discourse uses Docker for deployment, making installation straightforward on a Breeze.

Requirements

• A Breeze with at least 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended for active communities)
• Ubuntu 22.04 or later
• A domain name with DNS pointed to your Breeze
• An SMTP email service configured for sending

Step 1: Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

Step 2: Clone the Discourse Docker Manager

sudo mkdir -p /var/discourse
sudo git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker.git /var/discourse
cd /var/discourse

Step 3: Run the Setup Script

sudo ./discourse-setup

The interactive setup will ask for:

• Hostname — your forum domain (e.g., forum.yourdomain.com)
• Admin email — used to create the first admin account
• SMTP settings — server, port, username, and password for outbound email
• Memory settings — allocate based on your Breeze's available RAM

Step 4: Build and Launch

After configuration, the setup script automatically builds the Docker container and starts Discourse. This process takes 5 to 10 minutes. Once complete, visit your domain to create your admin account using the email you specified.

Maintenance Commands

# Rebuild after configuration changes
cd /var/discourse
sudo ./launcher rebuild app

# View logs
sudo ./launcher logs app

# Stop and start
sudo ./launcher stop app
sudo ./launcher start app

Tips

• Enable HTTPS by adding a Let's Encrypt email in app.yml
• Set up daily backups from the admin panel under Settings > Backups