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Learn How to Deploy Open edX on Ubuntu VPS! This article provides a start-to-finish, production-ready guide demonstrating how to deploy Open edX on Ubuntu VPS. This follows the official Tutor-based deployment, which is the recommended, supported, and upgrade-safe method. Overview Open edX is a large, microservice-based learning management system (LMS). The only sane way to deploy it in is with Tutor, which wraps Docker, Kubernetes-style configuration, upgrades, and plugins into a single workflow. SEE ALSO: How to Install Sakai LMS on AlmaLinux VPS This guide covers: VPS requirements Ubuntu preparation Docker & Tutor installation Open edX initialization HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt Admin + Studio access Production hardening Upgrade strategy How to Deploy Open edX on Ubuntu VPS To deploy Open edX on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps provided below: VPS Requirements (Minimum & Recommended) Minimum (testing / small schools) OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS/Ubuntu 24.04 LTS CPU: 2 vCPU RAM: 8 GB Disk: 50 GB SSD IPv4: Required Swap: Required Recommended (production) CPU: 4 vCPU+ RAM: 16 GB+ Disk: 100 GB NVMe Bandwidth: 1 TB+ Reverse DNS: Recommended (See: Guide) Prepare Ubuntu Update system sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo reboot Install base dependencies sudo apt install -y \ ca-certificates \ curl \ gnupg \ lsb-release \ unzip \ software-properties-common Install Docker (Required) (Main article: How to Install Docker Engine on Ubuntu VPS Server) Add Docker repository curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo bash Enable Docker sudo systemctl enable docker sudo systemctl start docker Allow your user to run Docker sudo usermod -aG docker $USER newgrp docker Verify: docker version Install Docker Compose Plugin mkdir -p ~/.docker/cli-plugins curl -SL https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v2.30.3/docker-compose-linux-x86_64 \ -o ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose chmod +x ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose Verify: docker compose version Install Tutor (Open edX Launcher) Tutor manages images, settings, plugins, upgrades, and backups. curl -L https://github.com/overhangio/tutor/releases/latest/download/tutor-Linux_x86_64 \ -o tutor chmod +x tutor sudo mv tutor /usr/local/bin/tutor Verify: tutor --version Choose Your Open edX Version List available releases: tutor images list Example (recommended stable): tutor images pull olive tutor config save --set OPENEDX_RELEASEolive Initial Tutor Configuration Run interactive setup tutor local launch You’ll be prompted for: LMS domain (e.g. learn.example.com) Studio domain (e.g. studio.example.com) Platform name Admin email Enable HTTPS (Let’s Encrypt) MySQL & Redis credentials (auto-generated) This step: Builds images Generates secrets Starts services Configures Nginx Enables HTTPS ⏳ This can take 10–25 minutes. Access Your Platform LMS (students) https://learn.example.com Studio (course authors) https://studio.example.com Default admin user Tutor creates an admin automatically. If needed, create another: tutor local createuser \ --username admin2 \ --email admin2@example.com \ --staff --superuser Open Required Firewall Ports If using UFW: sudo ufw allow 22 sudo ufw allow 80 sudo ufw allow 443 sudo ufw enable Enable HTTPS (If Skipped) If HTTPS was skipped during setup: tutor config save --set ENABLE_HTTPStrue tutor local restart Certificates auto-renew via Let’s Encrypt. Persistent Data Locations Tutor stores data safely outside containers: Component Path MySQL ~/.local/share/tutor/data/mysql MongoDB ~/.local/share/tutor/data/mongodb Media uploads ~/.local/share/tutor/data/media Config ~/.local/share/tutor/config.yml Back these up regularly. Performance & Production Hardening Enable swap (critical) sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile sudo chmod 600 /swapfile sudo mkswap /swapfile sudo swapon /swapfile echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab Tune Docker memory echo 'vm.overcommit_memory1' | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-openedx.conf sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/99-openedx.conf Plugins (Optional but Common) Enable MFE (Micro-Frontend UI) tutor plugins enable mfe tutor local restart Enable ecommerce tutor plugins enable ecommerce tutor local restart List plugins: tutor plugins list Upgrading Open edX Safely Pull new release tutor images pull Apply upgrade tutor local upgrade Zero data loss if volumes are intact. Common Management Commands Action Command Start platform tutor local start Stop platform tutor local stop Restart tutor local restart Logs tutor local logs -f Django shell tutor local run lms ./manage.py shell DB backup tutor local exec mysql mysqldump Troubleshooting Containers not starting docker ps -a tutor local logs --tail200 Rebuild images tutor images build openedx tutor local restart Reset config (last resort) tutor config save tutor local restart Final Notes Tutor is mandatory for real deployments Never edit containers directly Always back up ~/.local/share/tutor Avoid manual Docker Compose changes Use subdomains, not paths Conclusion You now know how to deploy Open edX on Ubuntu VPS.

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