Latest News And Updates - Rad Web Hosting Blog

Learn How to Host a Discord Bot on Ubuntu VPS! This article provides a guide demonstrating how to host a Discord bot on Ubuntu VPS. Running your Discord bot on a VPS (Virtual Private Server) gives you full control, better uptime, and the ability to keep your bot online 24/7 without relying on your local computer. This guide walks you through the steps to host a Discord bot on Ubuntu VPS using Node.js or Python, securing the server, and keeping the bot running permanently with PM2 or systemd. Requirements Before you are able to host a Discord bot on Ubuntu VPS, you’ll need: An Ubuntu VPS (Ubuntu 22.04 recommended) SSH access to the server A Discord bot token Your bot source code Basic terminal knowledge Popular VPS providers include: DigitalOcean Vultr Linode AWS Lightsail Hetzner Rad Web Hosting VPS How to Host a Discord Bot on Ubuntu VPS To host a Discord bot on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below: Connect to Your Ubuntu VPS Use SSH to connect to the server from your local computer. ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP Example: ssh root@192.168.1.10 If this is your first login, confirm the fingerprint by typing: yes Update the Server Always update package lists and installed packages first. apt update && apt upgrade -y Optional but recommended: apt install curl wget git unzip -y Create a Non-Root User (Recommended) Running applications as root is unsafe. Create a new user: adduser discordbot Add the user to the sudo group: usermod -aG sudo discordbot Switch to the new user: su - discordbot Install Node.js or Python Choose the section based on your bot language. Install Node.js (Discord.js Bots) Install Node.js LTS: curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt install nodejs -y Verify installation: node -v npm -v Install Python (discord.py Bots) Install Python and pip: sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv -y Verify installation: python3 --version pip3 --version Upload Your Discord Bot Files There are several ways to upload your bot. Git Clone (Recommended) If your bot is on GitHub: git clone https://github.com/USERNAME/BOT-REPO.git Enter the folder: cd BOT-REPO SCP Upload From your local computer: scp -r ./mybot discordbot@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/home/discordbot/ SFTP Client Use an SFTP client like: FileZilla WinSCP Cyberduck Upload files into: /home/discordbot/ Install Dependencies Node.js Bots Inside your bot directory: npm install Python Bots Create a virtual environment: python3 -m venv venv Activate it: source venv/bin/activate Install dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt Configure Environment Variables Never hardcode your Discord token directly into source code. Create a .env file: nano .env Example: DISCORD_TOKENyour_bot_token_here Save and exit: CTRL + X Y ENTER Test the Bot Node.js node index.js Or: npm start Python python3 bot.py If everything is correct, your bot should appear online in Discord. Stop the bot with: CTRL + C Keep the Bot Running 24/7 If you close the terminal, the bot will stop unless you use a process manager. The best options are: PM2 systemd Using PM2 (Recommended for Beginners) Install PM2 globally: sudo npm install -g pm2 Start a Node.js Bot pm2 start index.js --name discord-bot Start a Python Bot pm2 start bot.py --interpreter python3 --name discord-bot View Running Processes pm2 list View Logs pm2 logs discord-bot Restart Bot pm2 restart discord-bot Stop Bot pm2 stop discord-bot Enable Auto-Start on Reboot pm2 startup Copy and run the command PM2 provides. Then save processes: pm2 save Your bot will now automatically restart after VPS reboots. Using systemd (Advanced) Create a service file: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/discordbot.service Example service configuration: DescriptionDiscord Bot Afternetwork.target Typesimple Userdiscordbot WorkingDirectory/home/discordbot/mybot ExecStart/usr/bin/node index.js Restartalways WantedBymulti-user.target Reload systemd: sudo systemctl daemon-reload Enable service: sudo systemctl enable discordbot Start service: sudo systemctl start discordbot Check status: sudo systemctl status discordbot Secure Your VPS Security is important when hosting public bots. Enable Firewall Install UFW: sudo apt install ufw -y Allow SSH: sudo ufw allow OpenSSH Enable firewall: sudo ufw enable Check status: sudo ufw status Disable Root SSH Login Edit SSH configuration: sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Find: PermitRootLogin yes Change to: PermitRootLogin no Restart SSH: sudo systemctl restart ssh Use SSH Keys Instead of Passwords Generate SSH keys locally: ssh-keygen Copy key to server: ssh-copy-id discordbot@YOUR_SERVER_IP Optional Enhancements Install Fail2Ban Protect against brute-force attacks: sudo apt install fail2ban -y Enable and start: sudo systemctl enable fail2ban sudo systemctl start fail2ban Monitor Resource Usage Install htop: sudo apt install htop -y Run: htop Auto-Deploy with GitHub You can automate deployments using: GitHub Actions Webhooks CI/CD pipelines Example deployment command: git pull origin main npm install pm2 restart discord-bot Troubleshooting Bot Offline Check logs: pm2 logs Or: journalctl -u discordbot -f Permission Errors Fix ownership: sudo chown -R discordbot:discordbot /home/discordbot/ Missing Dependencies Reinstall dependencies: npm install Or: pip install -r requirements.txt Port Already in Use Find process: sudo lsof -i :PORT Kill process: kill -9 PID Final Thoughts Hosting your Discord bot on an Ubuntu VPS gives you: 24/7 uptime Better performance Full control Improved reliability Easier scaling For most users, the ideal setup is: Ubuntu 22.04 Node.js LTS or Python 3 PM2 process manager UFW firewall SSH key authentication Once configured properly, your Discord bot can run continuously with minimal maintenance. Conclusion You now know how to host a Discord bot on Ubuntu VPS. Happy bot hosting!

Rad Web Hosting Blog

Recent Posts

Nothing Found

My Feed at https://radwebhosting.com

Services

Categories

Recent Posts

Save on VPS Hosting!

We’re Social!

Rad Web Hosting Blog