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Here is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to install Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS, complete with setup instructions for the Concourse web UI, worker, and PostgreSQL backend database. READ ALSO: Advantages of Ubuntu VPS Servers for Your Business What is Concourse CI? Concourse CI is a modern, open-source continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) system designed to automate software build, test, and deployment workflows in a scalable, repeatable, and declarative manner. 🔍 Key Concepts of Concourse CI 1. Pipeline-Based Concourse uses pipelines as the fundamental unit of automation. Pipelines are written in YAML and describe every step in the software lifecycle—from fetching code to testing, building, and deploying. 2. Containers for Everything Every step runs in a stateless container, making builds highly reproducible and isolated. This ensures consistent environments across teams and systems. 3. Immutable and Declarative Concourse emphasizes immutability and declarative configuration, meaning pipelines always describe what should happen, not how, and won’t carry over state from previous runs unless explicitly defined. 🧩 Core Components Component Description Web UI and API server, handles authentication, job scheduling, and orchestration Worker Executes build tasks and steps in containers TSA (SSH) Secure tunnel between web and worker nodes PostgreSQL Backend database storing pipeline state and metadata Fly CLI Command-line tool used to manage pipelines, log in, and trigger builds 🚀 Why Use Concourse CI? ✅ Pros: Lightweight & container-native Built-in parallelism and task caching Strong GitOps support (pipelines stored as code) No vendor lock-in — fully open source Supports all languages, frameworks, and platforms ⚠️ Considerations: Learning curve for new users due to its unique model No native UI-based pipeline editor (CLI and YAML required) Requires PostgreSQL for operation 📌 Example Use Cases Continuous Integration for microservices Deployment pipelines to Kubernetes or cloud VMs Automated infrastructure testing with Terraform Building and publishing Docker images 🛠️ How to Install Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS This guide walks through installing Concourse CI on Ubuntu 22.04 or later, using a local PostgreSQL database and a single-node web + worker deployment. 📋 Prerequisites Before you begin: Ubuntu 22.04+ VPS with root or sudo access At least 2 GB RAM, 2 CPUs, and 10 GB+ disk space Open TCP ports: 8080 (web UI/API), 2222 (worker SSH), and 5432 (PostgreSQL) Domain name or static IP Install curl, wget, and unzip Update system packages sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install -y curl wget unzip postgresql postgresql-contrib To install Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps provided below: Install and Configure PostgreSQL Concourse uses PostgreSQL for pipeline and user data. Create PostgreSQL database and user sudo -u postgres psql Then, run the following commands inside the psql shell: CREATE DATABASE concourse; CREATE USER concourse WITH PASSWORD 'changeme'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE concourse TO concourse; \q Secure PostgreSQL to listen only on localhost: sudo sed -i "s/#listen_addresses 'localhost'/listen_addresses 'localhost'/" /etc/postgresql/*/main/postgresql.conf sudo systemctl restart postgresql Install Concourse CI Download the latest Concourse and Fly CLI wget https://github.com/concourse/concourse/releases/download/v7.11.0/concourse-7.11.0-linux-amd64.tgz wget https://github.com/concourse/concourse/releases/download/v7.11.0/fly-7.11.0-linux-amd64.tgz Extract and move binaries: tar -xvzf concourse-7.11.0-linux-amd64.tgz sudo mv concourse /usr/local/bin/ tar -xvzf fly-7.11.0-linux-amd64.tgz sudo mv fly /usr/local/bin/ Verify installation: concourse --version fly --version Generate Keys for Concourse Concourse uses RSA keys to secure communication between web and workers. mkdir -p ~/concourse-keys cd ~/concourse-keys ssh-keygen -t rsa -f host_key -N '' ssh-keygen -t rsa -f worker_key -N '' cp worker_key.pub worker_key.pub cp worker_key worker_key cp host_key host_key ssh-keygen -t rsa -f session_signing_key -N '' Create a Systemd Service File for Concourse Create a new systemd service unit: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/concourse-web.service Paste the following content: DescriptionConcourse CI web Afterpostgresql.service Requirespostgresql.service Userroot Restartalways EnvironmentCONCOURSE_POSTGRES_HOST127.0.0.1 EnvironmentCONCOURSE_POSTGRES_USERconcourse EnvironmentCONCOURSE_POSTGRES_PASSWORDchangeme EnvironmentCONCOURSE_POSTGRES_DATABASEconcourse EnvironmentCONCOURSE_EXTERNAL_URLhttp://YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP:8080 EnvironmentCONCOURSE_SESSION_SIGNING_KEY/root/concourse-keys/session_signing_key EnvironmentCONCOURSE_TSA_HOST_KEY/root/concourse-keys/host_key EnvironmentCONCOURSE_TSA_AUTHORIZED_KEYS/root/concourse-keys/worker_key.pub ExecStart/usr/local/bin/concourse web WantedBymulti-user.target Replace YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP with your actual IP or domain. Then create the worker service: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/concourse-worker.service Paste the following: DescriptionConcourse CI worker Afterconcourse-web.service Requiresconcourse-web.service Userroot Restartalways EnvironmentCONCOURSE_WORK_DIR/opt/concourse/worker EnvironmentCONCOURSE_TSA_HOST127.0.0.1:2222 EnvironmentCONCOURSE_TSA_PUBLIC_KEY/root/concourse-keys/host_key.pub EnvironmentCONCOURSE_TSA_WORKER_PRIVATE_KEY/root/concourse-keys/worker_key ExecStart/usr/local/bin/concourse worker WantedBymulti-user.target Enable and Start Concourse sudo mkdir -p /opt/concourse/worker sudo systemctl daemon-reexec sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable concourse-web sudo systemctl enable concourse-worker sudo systemctl start concourse-web sudo systemctl start concourse-worker Check status: sudo systemctl status concourse-web sudo systemctl status concourse-worker Access Concourse Web Interface Visit: http://YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP:8080 You’ll see the login prompt. Use Fly CLI Authenticate and target your Concourse instance: fly -t main login -c http://YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP:8080 You can now create and upload pipelines. How to Set Up SSL for Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS What This Guide Covers: Installing Nginx Setting up reverse proxy to Concourse on port 8080 Securing with Let's Encrypt SSL certificate (auto-renewed) To set up SSL for Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below: Install Nginx and Certbot sudo apt update sudo apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx Configure DNS (If Using a Domain) Ensure your domain (e.g. ci.example.com) is pointed to your server's IP via A record. Set Up Nginx Reverse Proxy Edit (or create) a new Nginx server block: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/concourse Paste the following configuration: server { listen 80; server_name ci.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8080; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } } Enable the site: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/concourse /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl reload nginx Obtain a Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate Replace ci.example.com with your actual domain name: sudo certbot --nginx -d ci.example.com Certbot will: Configure HTTPS in your Nginx file Set up an automatic redirect from HTTP to HTTPS Schedule auto-renewals Verify and Test Visit: https://ci.example.com You should now see the secure Concourse web interface with a valid SSL certificate. To check certificate auto-renewal: sudo certbot renew --dry-run Optional: Harden SSL Edit your Nginx config for stronger SSL security: ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5; Troubleshooting Tips Port 80 and 443 must be open on your firewall: sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' If using a VPS provider firewall (like AWS security groups), ensure ports 80/443 are allowed. 🏁 Done! You now have: A production-ready Concourse CI instance Secured with HTTPS Auto-renewing Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates Optional: Clean Up Remove downloaded tar files: rm -f concourse-*.tgz fly-*.tgz ✅ Final Notes This is a single-node setup, best for small teams or dev testing For production: separate web/worker nodes, high availability PostgreSQL, and TLS is advised Store secret values using Vault, CredHub, or SSM Conclusion You now know how to install Concourse CI on Ubuntu VPS.

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