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Learn how to Deploy Self-Hosted AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS! This article provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to deploy self-hosted AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS (20.04 or later). This walkthrough assumes you have sudo privileges on your VPS and a basic understanding of the Linux shell 🖥️. What is AppFlowy? AppFlowy is an open-source, AI-powered collaborative workspace designed for note-taking, project and task management, wikis, and much more—often described as a privacy-focused, customizable alternative to Notion. Key Features & Highlights Complete Data Control & Privacy AppFlowy emphasizes data privacy by enabling full offline use and self-hosting, giving users full control over their data without vendor lock-in. Cross-Platform Native Experience Built with Flutter (for UI) and Rust (for backend), AppFlowy offers fast, responsive, native apps across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android—and can even run completely offline. Rich Workspace Customization It supports a variety of content types—notes, code blocks, math equations, attachments, kanban boards, tables, calendars, wikis, and more—with flexible views, templates, and customization options. AI Integration Built-in AI features let you write smarter, generate ideas, get answers, and enhance productivity. You can use advanced models like GPT‑4, Claude 3 Sonnet, Llama 3, and Mistral 7B, either in the cloud or locally for maximum privacy. Strong Community & Open‑Source Foundations Licensed under AGPL-v3, AppFlowy is community-driven. It benefits from active development—tens of thousands of GitHub stars, hundreds of contributors, and a growing ecosystem of addons, templates, and themes. Self‑Hosting & Deployment Flexibility Users have full flexibility: deploy on their own servers via AppFlowy Cloud, Docker, or services like Supabase, ensuring both privacy and ease of deployment. Who Is AppFlowy For? Users seeking a privacy-first productivity tool with full offline and self-hosted capabilities. Those who want a Notion-like experience but with open-source transparency and customization flexibility. Developers or teams who want to extend the app through plugins, templates, and custom themes. Users interested in leveraging AI features in their note-taking and task workflows without sacrificing control over personal or organizational data. Summary Table Feature Benefit Open Source Transparent, community-driven development Self-Hostable Full control of data and setup configuration AI-Powered Content generation, summarization, productivity Cross-Platform Native apps on desktop and mobile Customizable Multiple content types, views, themes, and templates Privacy-Focused Local AI model support & offline functionality In summary, AppFlowy is a powerful, flexible, and secure productivity platform that combines the best of Notion-style organization with the freedom, transparency, and privacy of open-source software. Whether you're working solo or building tools for your team, AppFlowy gives you control and room to evolve. 🚀 Deploy Self-Hosted AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS To deploy self-hosted AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below: System Preparation Login to your VPS via SSH and execute the following commands: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install git curl unzip build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config libclang-dev cmake -y ✅ These packages are essential for building AppFlowy and managing dependencies. Install Rust AppFlowy is built using Rust and Flutter. First, install Rust: curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh source $HOME/.cargo/env rustup default stable Verify installation: rustc --version Install Flutter Clone the Flutter repository and add it to your path: git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git -b stable echo 'export PATH"$PATH:$HOME/flutter/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc Install Flutter dependencies: flutter doctor ⚠️ You may see some warnings (e.g., Android toolchain) — those can be ignored unless you plan to build mobile apps. Clone AppFlowy Repository git clone https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy.git cd AppFlowy Build AppFlowy Backend (Rust) cd appflowy_backend cargo build --release This builds the core backend binary you'll be using. Setup Backend Configuration Create a .env file in the appflowy_backend directory: cp .env.example .env nano .env Configure database type (default is sqlite). You can change DATABASE_URL if you want to use PostgreSQL. Example: DATABASE_TYPEsqlite DATABASE_URLappflowy.db APP_PORT8080 Run the Backend Server ./target/release/appflowy_backend This will start the backend API on port 8080. You can daemonize this using systemd or tmux later. Build the Frontend (Flutter Web) In a separate terminal: cd AppFlowy/frontend flutter config --enable-web flutter pub get flutter build web The static web files will be located at: build/web/ Serve the Frontend You can use a web server like Nginx to serve the frontend. Install Nginx: sudo apt install nginx -y Configure Nginx: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy Paste the following: server { listen 80; server_name your_domain_or_ip; root /path/to/AppFlowy/frontend/build/web; index index.html; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ 404; } location /api/ { proxy_pass http://localhost:8080/; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade; } } Enable site and restart Nginx: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx Setup systemd Service sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/appflowy.service Paste: DescriptionAppFlowy Backend Afternetwork.target ExecStart/home/youruser/AppFlowy/appflowy_backend/target/release/appflowy_backend WorkingDirectory/home/youruser/AppFlowy/appflowy_backend Restartalways Useryouruser WantedBymulti-user.target Enable & start the service: sudo systemctl daemon-reexec sudo systemctl enable appflowy sudo systemctl start appflowy Enable HTTPS with Let's Encrypt Let's now secure your AppFlowy instance with HTTPS using Let's Encrypt + Certbot. This step ensures encrypted traffic and higher trust for your self-hosted application. Prerequisites: You must own a domain name (e.g., yourdomain.com). The domain must point to your VPS IP via DNS A/AAAA record. Port 80 and 443 must be open in your firewall. Install Certbot (Nginx plugin): sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y Obtain and Configure HTTPS Certificate: sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com Follow the interactive prompts: It will find your Nginx config. Choose the redirect HTTP to HTTPS option when prompted. Auto-Renewal Test: sudo certbot renew --dry-run If successful, you're all set. Certbot will renew automatically via a cron job. Check Everything Now visit: https://yourdomain.com ✅ Ensure: You get a valid SSL certificate. The site redirects from HTTP to HTTPS. The frontend works and communicates with the backend via /api/. Troubleshooting Tips Problem Resolution Port 80 or 443 not open Run sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' Domain doesn't resolve Check DNS A/AAAA record with dig yourdomain.com +short SSL cert fails Ensure no typos in domain and that Nginx is running properly Backend 502 errors Check systemctl status appflowy and journalctl -xe logs Backup Strategy for Self-Hosted AppFlowy Let’s move on to setting up backups for your AppFlowy instance — critical for disaster recovery, upgrades, or server migrations. AppFlowy stores data in: SQLite database (default) OR PostgreSQL, depending on your config Binary builds and frontend assets (can be recompiled) Configuration files like .env, Nginx, systemd So, we focus on backing up: AppFlowy data (appflowy.db or PostgreSQL dump) Configuration files Optionally, full directory structure for cold backup Backup Script: backup_appflowy.sh #!/bin/bash # CONFIGURATION BACKUP_DIR"$HOME/appflowy_backups" APPFLOWY_DIR"$HOME/AppFlowy" TIMESTAMP$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M") ARCHIVE_NAME"appflowy_backup_$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz" # SQLITE PATH (default case) SQLITE_FILE"$APPFLOWY_DIR/appflowy_backend/appflowy.db" # Create backup directory if not exists mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR" echo "Creating backup..." tar -czvf "$BACKUP_DIR/$ARCHIVE_NAME" \ "$SQLITE_FILE" \ "$APPFLOWY_DIR/appflowy_backend/.env" \ "$APPFLOWY_DIR/frontend/build/web" \ "/etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy" \ "/etc/systemd/system/appflowy.service" echo "Backup saved at: $BACKUP_DIR/$ARCHIVE_NAME" Instructions Save: nano backup_appflowy.sh Paste the code above. Make it executable: chmod +x backup_appflowy.sh Run manually: ./backup_appflowy.sh Schedule Automatic Backups (Daily via cron) crontab -e Add: 0 2 * * * /home/youruser/backup_appflowy.sh >> /home/youruser/backup_log.txt 2>&1 This runs daily at 2:00 AM. ☁️ Optional: Push Backup to Cloud (e.g., S3) You can add something like: aws s3 cp "$BACKUP_DIR/$ARCHIVE_NAME" s3://your-bucket-name/path/ Make sure to configure awscli with credentials beforehand. Restore Script for AppFlowy: restore_appflowy.sh Let’s now cover how to restore a backup of your AppFlowy installation. This is essential for: Recovering from system failure Migrating to a new VPS Reverting to a stable version This script assumes: You're restoring from a .tar.gz file created by backup_appflowy.sh You have a fresh or existing AppFlowy install directory (we'll overwrite parts of it) Script: restore_appflowy.sh #!/bin/bash # CONFIGURATION BACKUP_FILE"$1" APPFLOWY_DIR"$HOME/AppFlowy" SQLITE_FILE"$APPFLOWY_DIR/appflowy_backend/appflowy.db" if ]; then echo "Please provide a valid backup file (e.g., ./restore_appflowy.sh backup.tar.gz)" exit 1 fi echo "Stopping services..." sudo systemctl stop appflowy sudo systemctl stop nginx echo "Restoring backup from: $BACKUP_FILE" tar -xzvf "$BACKUP_FILE" -C / echo "Fixing file permissions..." chown "$USER":"$USER" "$SQLITE_FILE" chmod 600 "$SQLITE_FILE" echo "Restarting services..." sudo systemctl daemon-reexec sudo systemctl start appflowy sudo systemctl start nginx echo "Restore completed. Check your AppFlowy instance." Usage Instructions Save: nano restore_appflowy.sh Paste the code above and make it executable: chmod +x restore_appflowy.sh Run it like this: ./restore_appflowy.sh /home/youruser/appflowy_backups/appflowy_backup_2025-06-25_02-00.tar.gz Post-Restore Checklist Visit https://yourdomain.com Confirm all pages and blocks are intact Check backend logs for any migration errors: journalctl -u appflowy --no-pager Optional Enhancements 🧳 Backup and restore PostgreSQL instead of SQLite (if configured) 💽 Store backups remotely with rclone, scp, or rsync 📁 Use LVM or ZFS snapshots for full-disk recovery (advanced) Remote Monitoring Setup for AppFlowy Let’s now enhance the AppFlowy server with remote monitoring and alerting, so you’ll be notified of outages, backend failures, or resource exhaustion — all vital for production readiness. We’ll cover: System monitoring with Netdata Uptime monitoring with Uptime Kuma Optional: push notifications via Telegram, Email, or Discord Option A: System Health Monitoring with Netdata Netdata Highlights: Live CPU, memory, disk, and network graphs Tracks service processes (e.g., appflowy, nginx) Web dashboard (localhost or remote) Install Netdata: bash <(curl -Ss https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh) Visit your VPS at: http://your-server-ip:19999 Secure it by setting up Nginx reverse proxy + basic auth if desired. Option B: Uptime Kuma for Endpoint Monitoring What it does: Periodically pings your frontend (/) and backend API (/api/health) Alerts on downtime via email, Discord, Telegram, etc. Simple Docker-based deployment Install Uptime Kuma with Docker: sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose -y mkdir -p $HOME/uptime-kuma cd $HOME/uptime-kuma nano docker-compose.yml Paste: version: "3" services: uptime-kuma: image: louislam/uptime-kuma container_name: uptime-kuma restart: always ports: - "3001:3001" volumes: - ./data:/app/data Start it: docker-compose up -d Visit: http://your-server-ip:3001 Set up monitors: Frontend: https://yourdomain.com Backend: https://yourdomain.com/api/health (if your AppFlowy backend exposes health check) Optional: Enable Alerts (via Uptime Kuma) Go to Settings → Notification Settings Add channels: Telegram Bot Discord Webhook Email (SMTP) Tie alerts to individual monitors Monitoring systemd Services (Optional) Add service watchdog: sudo systemctl edit appflowy Add in block: Restartalways RestartSec5 Then reload: sudo systemctl daemon-reexec sudo systemctl restart appflowy 📌 Summary of What You Now Have Monitoring Tool Purpose Access URL Netdata Resource & process monitoring http://your-ip:19999 Uptime Kuma Uptime checks & alerts http://your-ip:3001 systemd Automatic restarts on crash systemctl status appflowy Performance Tuning AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS We'll focus on optimizing: Rust backend performance Flutter web serving via Nginx System-level tuning (RAM, swap, ulimits) Database tuning (if using PostgreSQL) Performance Tuning AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS steps: Rust Backend Optimizations Compile with Optimizations (Already Done) AppFlowy's backend is compiled with: cargo build --release Ensure you always run the release binary (target/release/appflowy_backend). Systemd Restart Strategy Ensure backend restarts quickly after failures: Restartalways RestartSec3 Use Thread Pool (Optional) Rust async handling benefits from tuning thread pools. If AppFlowy exposes such configs in the future, you’d set: RUST_BACKTRACE0 RAYON_NUM_THREADS4 Nginx Tuning for Flutter Web Edit your Nginx site config: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy Apply performance headers and static caching: location / { try_files $uri $uri/ 404; add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age604800, immutable"; } location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|svg|woff2)$ { add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age31536000, immutable"; } Increase Worker Limits In /etc/nginx/nginx.conf: worker_processes auto; events { worker_connections 4096; multi_accept on; } Then reload: sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx System-Level Performance Tuning Boost Ulimits (file handles, processes): In /etc/security/limits.conf: * soft nofile 65535 * hard nofile 65535 Also, in /etc/systemd/system.conf: DefaultLimitNOFILE65535 Then apply: sudo systemctl daemon-reexec Manage Memory & Swap: Check RAM usage: free -h Enable swap if you have < 2GB RAM: sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile sudo chmod 600 /swapfile sudo mkswap /swapfile sudo swapon /swapfile echo "/swapfile none swap sw 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab Database Tuning (if using PostgreSQL) If you switched from SQLite to PostgreSQL, optimize with: Use pgtune presets: sudo nano /etc/postgresql/14/main/postgresql.conf Tune parameters like: shared_buffers 512MB work_mem 8MB maintenance_work_mem 64MB effective_cache_size 1GB max_connections 100 Restart PostgreSQL: sudo systemctl restart postgresql Validation: Monitor Performance Use htop, iotop, netstat, and journalctl for real-time analysis: htop iotop sudo journalctl -u appflowy -f You can also monitor request load in Nginx: sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log Run AppFlowy Behind a WireGuard VPN (Ubuntu VPS) Running AppFlowy behind a WireGuard VPN is a secure way to expose the service only to trusted clients (e.g., your laptop or office network), eliminating the need to open ports to the public internet. We'll configure: WireGuard server on the VPS A peer (your client device) AppFlowy + Nginx to bind only to VPN interface Security validation and firewall isolation To Run AppFlowy behind a WireGuard VPN, follow the steps below: Install WireGuard on the VPS sudo apt update sudo apt install wireguard -y Generate keys: wg genkey | tee privatekey | wg pubkey > publickey Save: cat privatekey cat publickey Configure WireGuard Server (/etc/wireguard/wg0.conf) sudo nano /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf Paste (replace YOUR_SERVER_PUBLIC_IP and keys): Address 10.0.0.1/24 ListenPort 51820 PrivateKey # Client (will be defined after client setup) PublicKey AllowedIPs 10.0.0.2/32 Enable IP forwarding: echo "net.ipv4.ip_forward 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf sudo sysctl -p Start WireGuard: sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0 sudo systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0 Configure Client Peer (Laptop or Remote Machine) Install WireGuard, then create client config: PrivateKey Address 10.0.0.2/24 DNS 1.1.1.1 PublicKey Endpoint YOUR_SERVER_PUBLIC_IP:51820 AllowedIPs 10.0.0.1/32 PersistentKeepalive 25 Start VPN tunnel: sudo wg-quick up wg0 Verify connection from client: ping 10.0.0.1 Lock Down AppFlowy to VPN Only Restrict Backend: Edit .env in appflowy_backend: APP_PORT8080 APP_HOST10.0.0.1 Restart backend: sudo systemctl restart appflowy Restrict Nginx: Edit /etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy: server { listen 10.0.0.1:80; ... } Then reload: sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx Lock Down the Firewall Block public access: sudo ufw allow 51820/udp sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/24 to any port 80 sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/24 to any port 8080 sudo ufw deny 80/tcp sudo ufw deny 8080/tcp Enable UFW: sudo ufw enable Validate From your client (10.0.0.2): curl http://10.0.0.1 # AppFlowy frontend curl http://10.0.0.1:8080 # AppFlowy backend From public IP: curl http://your-vps-ip # Should fail (timeout or connection refused) Benefits of This Setup AppFlowy is only accessible via VPN (zero public exposure) Lightweight and fast via WireGuard Ideal for private/internal workflows or early-stage dev Let’s now set up remote backups over a WireGuard VPN — allowing your AppFlowy VPS to securely send backup files to a remote backup server (or NAS) without ever exposing any services to the public internet. Remote Backups over WireGuard VPN We'll configure: A backup server (WireGuard peer with SSH/SFTP) The VPS to connect to it via WireGuard An automated rsync-based backup script (Optional) cron job for scheduled backups Assumptions Role WireGuard IP Function AppFlowy VPS 10.0.0.1 Source of backups Backup Server 10.0.0.2 Remote storage via SSH/SFTP Set Up WireGuard on the Backup Server Install WireGuard: sudo apt install wireguard -y Generate keypair: wg genkey | tee privatekey | wg pubkey > publickey Configure /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf: Address 10.0.0.2/24 ListenPort 51820 PrivateKey PublicKey AllowedIPs 10.0.0.1/32 Start and enable WireGuard: sudo systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0 sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0 VPS WireGuard Config Update On the VPS /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf: PublicKey AllowedIPs 10.0.0.2/32 Endpoint :51820 PersistentKeepalive 25 Restart interface: sudo systemctl restart wg-quick@wg0 Ping the remote backup host: ping 10.0.0.2 Create Backup User on Backup Server On backup server: sudo adduser appflowy_backup Generate SSH key on VPS: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/backup_vpn_key Copy the public key to backup server: ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/backup_vpn_key.pub appflowy_backup@10.0.0.2 Test SSH login: ssh -i ~/.ssh/backup_vpn_key appflowy_backup@10.0.0.2 Rsync-Based Backup Script On the VPS, create: nano ~/rsync_appflowy_backup.sh Paste: #!/bin/bash APPFLOWY_DIR"$HOME/AppFlowy" BACKUP_TARGET_DIR"/home/appflowy_backup/appflowy_data" REMOTE_USER"appflowy_backup" REMOTE_HOST"10.0.0.2" SSH_KEY"$HOME/.ssh/backup_vpn_key" # Generate backup archive TIMESTAMP$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M") ARCHIVE"/tmp/appflowy_backup_$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz" tar -czf "$ARCHIVE" \ "$APPFLOWY_DIR/appflowy_backend/appflowy.db" \ "$APPFLOWY_DIR/appflowy_backend/.env" \ "$APPFLOWY_DIR/frontend/build/web" # Transfer over VPN using rsync rsync -avz -e "ssh -i $SSH_KEY" "$ARCHIVE" "${REMOTE_USER}@${REMOTE_HOST}:${BACKUP_TARGET_DIR}/" # Cleanup local archive rm -f "$ARCHIVE" echo "Backup sent to VPN peer at $REMOTE_HOST" Make executable: chmod +x ~/rsync_appflowy_backup.sh Automate via cron Run daily at 3:30 AM: crontab -e Add: 30 3 * * * /home/YOURUSER/rsync_appflowy_backup.sh >> /home/YOURUSER/backup_log.txt 2>&1 Final Security Notes SSH over WireGuard ensures private, encrypted file transfer Backup server can be completely firewalled from public Add fail2ban + key-only login for SSH hardening Interactive AppFlowy Install Script Here's an interactive version of the AppFlowy install script. It prompts the user to input server-specific values like: Hostname/domain name AppFlowy install directory Backend port Username to run the service This version improves user experience while keeping automation intact. Script: install_appflowy_interactive.sh #!/bin/bash set -e echo "AppFlowy VPS Installation Script (Interactive Mode)" echo "-------------------------------------------------------" # INTERACTIVE INPUT read -rp "Enter your domain name or server IP (e.g., example.com): " DOMAIN_OR_IP read -rp "Enter AppFlowy install directory (default: \$HOME/AppFlowy): " INSTALL_DIR INSTALL_DIR"${INSTALL_DIR:-$HOME/AppFlowy}" read -rp "Enter backend port (default: 8080): " BACKEND_PORT BACKEND_PORT"${BACKEND_PORT:-8080}" read -rp "Enter the Linux username to run AppFlowy (default: $(whoami)): " RUN_USER RUN_USER"${RUN_USER:-$(whoami)}" echo -e "\n Installing dependencies..." sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install -y git curl unzip build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config libclang-dev cmake nginx echo "🔧 Installing Rust..." curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y source "$HOME/.cargo/env" echo "Installing Flutter..." git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git -b stable "$HOME/flutter" echo 'export PATH"$PATH:$HOME/flutter/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc flutter config --enable-web flutter doctor || true echo "Cloning AppFlowy to $INSTALL_DIR..." git clone https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy.git "$INSTALL_DIR" echo "Building backend..." cd "$INSTALL_DIR/appflowy_backend" cp .env.example .env sed -i "s|APP_PORT.*|APP_PORT$BACKEND_PORT|" .env cargo build --release echo "Building frontend..." cd "$INSTALL_DIR/frontend" flutter pub get flutter build web echo "Configuring Nginx for $DOMAIN_OR_IP..." NGINX_CONF"/etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy" sudo tee "$NGINX_CONF" > /dev/null < /dev/null < How to Use Save the script: nano install_appflowy_interactive.sh Paste the content above. Make it executable: chmod +x install_appflowy_interactive.sh Run: ./install_appflowy_interactive.sh Interactive .env Generator for AppFlowy Backend Let’s now build a version of the installer that interactively generates a complete .env file for the AppFlowy backend, including options for: Database backend: SQLite or PostgreSQL Backend binding address and port CORS origins (if you're reverse proxying or separating frontend/backend) Storage directory override Script: generate_env_interactive.sh #!/bin/bash echo "AppFlowy .env File Generator" echo "------------------------------" # DATABASE CHOICE read -rp "Use SQLite or PostgreSQL? (sqlite/postgres) : " DB_TYPE DB_TYPE"${DB_TYPE:-sqlite}" if ]; then read -rp "Enter PostgreSQL connection string (e.g., postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/db): " DB_URL else DB_URL"appflowy.db" fi # BINDING ADDRESS read -rp "Backend bind address (e.g., 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0 or VPN IP) : " APP_HOST APP_HOST"${APP_HOST:-127.0.0.1}" # PORT read -rp "Backend port : " APP_PORT APP_PORT"${APP_PORT:-8080}" # CORS CONFIG read -rp "Allowed frontend origin for CORS (e.g., http://localhost:3000 or https://yourdomain.com) : " CORS_ORIGIN CORS_ORIGIN"${CORS_ORIGIN:-*}" # STORAGE DIR read -rp "Custom data storage directory (leave blank for default): " STORAGE_DIR # GENERATE FILE ENV_FILE".env" echo "Writing $ENV_FILE..." cat > "$ENV_FILE" <> "$ENV_FILE" fi echo ".env file generated successfully!" cat "$ENV_FILE" What This Covers Variable Description DATABASE_TYPE sqlite or postgres DATABASE_URL Path or connection string APP_HOST Binding IP (0.0.0.0, 127.0.0.1, VPN IP) APP_PORT Listening port CORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN Permitted origins for frontend calls APP_STORAGE_DIR Optional override for where to store app data How to Use Save the script: nano generate_env_interactive.sh Paste the contents above. Make executable and run inside appflowy_backend: chmod +x generate_env_interactive.sh cd ~/AppFlowy/appflowy_backend ./generate_env_interactive.sh This will generate a .env file ready for cargo build and systemd execution. Let’s now fully integrate the .env generator into the main install script and add input validation for: Hostnames and IPs Ports (must be 1–65535) PostgreSQL URI format Acceptable database types (sqlite/postgres) Unified + Validated AppFlowy Installer: install_appflowy_full.sh #!/bin/bash set -euo pipefail echo "AppFlowy Interactive Installation Script (with .env and Validation)" echo "-----------------------------------------------------------------------" # INPUT FUNCTIONS function ask_domain_or_ip() { while true; do read -rp "Enter your domain name or server IP (e.g., example.com): " DOMAIN_OR_IP if +|\b({1,3}\.){3}{1,3}\b)$ ]]; then break else echo "Invalid domain or IP address. Try again." fi done } function ask_backend_port() { while true; do read -rp "Enter backend port (default: 8080): " BACKEND_PORT BACKEND_PORT"${BACKEND_PORT:-8080}" if +$ && "$BACKEND_PORT" -ge 1 && "$BACKEND_PORT" -le 65535 ]]; then break else echo "Invalid port number. Must be between 1–65535." fi done } function ask_db_type() { while true; do read -rp "Use SQLite or PostgreSQL? (sqlite/postgres) : " DB_TYPE DB_TYPE"${DB_TYPE:-sqlite}" if ]; then break else echo "Please enter either 'sqlite' or 'postgres'." fi done } function ask_postgres_url() { while true; do read -rp "Enter PostgreSQL connection string (e.g., postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/db): " DB_URL if +\/.+$ ]]; then break else echo "Invalid PostgreSQL URL format." fi done } # USER PROMPTS ask_domain_or_ip read -rp "Enter AppFlowy install directory (default: \$HOME/AppFlowy): " INSTALL_DIR INSTALL_DIR"${INSTALL_DIR:-$HOME/AppFlowy}" ask_backend_port read -rp "Backend bind address (e.g., 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0) : " APP_HOST APP_HOST"${APP_HOST:-127.0.0.1}" read -rp "Allowed frontend origin for CORS (e.g., https://domain.com) : " CORS_ORIGIN CORS_ORIGIN"${CORS_ORIGIN:-*}" read -rp "Optional: custom data storage dir (leave blank for default): " STORAGE_DIR read -rp "Enter Linux user to run AppFlowy (default: $(whoami)): " RUN_USER RUN_USER"${RUN_USER:-$(whoami)}" ask_db_type if ]; then ask_postgres_url else DB_URL"appflowy.db" fi # INSTALLATION echo "Installing dependencies..." sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git curl unzip build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config libclang-dev cmake nginx echo "Installing Rust..." curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y source "$HOME/.cargo/env" echo "Installing Flutter..." git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git -b stable "$HOME/flutter" echo 'export PATH"$PATH:$HOME/flutter/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc flutter config --enable-web flutter doctor || true echo "Cloning AppFlowy..." git clone https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy.git "$INSTALL_DIR" # .env GENERATION cd "$INSTALL_DIR/appflowy_backend" echo "Generating .env file..." cat > .env <> .env echo ".env file created:" cat .env # BUILD & DEPLOY echo "Building backend..." cargo build --release echo "Building frontend..." cd "$INSTALL_DIR/frontend" flutter pub get flutter build web echo "Configuring Nginx for $DOMAIN_OR_IP..." NGINX_CONF"/etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy" sudo tee "$NGINX_CONF" > /dev/null < /dev/null < Summary of Improvements ✅ Full .env creation with validation ✅ Prompted selection between SQLite/PostgreSQL ✅ Regex checks for ports, hostnames, and DB URLs ✅ Works with Nginx binding to VPN/private interfaces Finalized AppFlowy Install Script With: ✅ Interactive config & validation ✅ .env file generation ✅ Certbot auto-SSL + HTTP→HTTPS redirect ✅ Packaged for curl | bash execution Deployable Script: Hosted Install (e.g., install_appflowy.sh) Here’s the final version of the script you can host on your own GitHub Gist, S3, or server and invoke like: curl -fsSL https://yourdomain.com/install_appflowy.sh | bash #!/bin/bash set -euo pipefail echo "AppFlowy Secure Installer with Certbot (Full Setup)" echo "------------------------------------------------------" # INPUT VALIDATION FUNCTIONS function ask_domain() { while true; do read -rp "Domain name (must resolve to this VPS): " DOMAIN if +\.{2,})$ ]]; then break else echo "Invalid domain format."; fi done } function ask_port() { while true; do read -rp "Backend port : " PORT PORT"${PORT:-8080}" if +$ && "$PORT" -ge 1 && "$PORT" -le 65535 ]]; then break else echo "Invalid port (1–65535)"; fi done } function ask_db_type() { while true; do read -rp "Database type (sqlite/postgres) : " DB DB"${DB:-sqlite}" ] && break || echo "❌ Choose sqlite or postgres" done } function ask_pg_url() { while true; do read -rp "PostgreSQL URL: " DB_URL +\/.+$ ]] && break || echo "❌ Invalid format" done } # PROMPTS ask_domain read -rp "Install dir : " INSTALL_DIR INSTALL_DIR"${INSTALL_DIR:-$HOME/AppFlowy}" ask_port read -rp "Bind address : " HOST HOST"${HOST:-127.0.0.1}" read -rp "Allowed CORS origin : " CORS CORS"${CORS:-*}" read -rp "Service user : " USER USER"${USER:-$(whoami)}" ask_db_type ] && ask_pg_url || DB_URL"appflowy.db" read -rp "Optional: custom storage dir: " STORAGE_DIR # INSTALL DEPENDENCIES sudo apt update sudo apt install -y git curl unzip build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config libclang-dev cmake nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx echo "Rust..." curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y source "$HOME/.cargo/env" echo "Flutter..." git clone https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git -b stable "$HOME/flutter" echo 'export PATH"$PATH:$HOME/flutter/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc flutter config --enable-web flutter doctor || true echo "AppFlowy repo..." git clone https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy.git "$INSTALL_DIR" # CREATE .env cd "$INSTALL_DIR/appflowy_backend" cat > .env <> .env # BUILD cargo build --release cd "$INSTALL_DIR/frontend" flutter pub get flutter build web # NGINX SETUP NGINX_CONF"/etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy" sudo tee "$NGINX_CONF" > /dev/null < /dev/null < Deployment Instructions Host it on your server or repo: Place the script at https://yourdomain.com/install_appflowy.sh Make it downloadable and executable: curl -fsSL https://yourdomain.com/install_appflowy.sh | bash Bonus: Harden for Production Use ufw allow OpenSSH && ufw allow 'Nginx Full' && ufw enable Set fail2ban for SSH brute-force protection Add systemd watchdogs (Restartalways) for resilience GitHub-Ready Installer Package for AppFlowy We'll generate: ✅ install_appflowy.sh — full secure interactive installer ✅ uninstall_appflowy.sh — clean uninstaller ✅ README.md — deployment instructions ✅ Optional .gitignore, license metadata Suggested Repo Structure appflowy-installer/ ├── install_appflowy.sh ├── uninstall_appflowy.sh ├── README.md └── .gitignore install_appflowy.sh ✅ Already created in previous step. Make sure it has chmod +x and starts with a shebang (#!/bin/bash). uninstall_appflowy.sh #!/bin/bash echo "This will stop and remove AppFlowy, configs, and Nginx entries" read -rp "Continue? (y/n): " confirm ] && exit 0 echo "Stopping services..." sudo systemctl stop appflowy sudo systemctl disable appflowy sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/appflowy.service echo "Removing Nginx config..." sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/appflowy sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-available/appflowy sudo systemctl reload nginx read -rp "Delete AppFlowy install directory? (default: $HOME/AppFlowy) : " deldir if ]; then rm -rf "$HOME/AppFlowy" fi echo "Uninstall complete." README.md # AppFlowy Self-Hosted Installer This script installs a secure, production-ready version of (https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) with HTTPS, systemd, and Nginx support. ## Features - Interactive `.env` generation - SQLite or PostgreSQL support - Certbot TLS/SSL via Let's Encrypt - Private or VPN-based Nginx binding - Systemd service configuration - Optional uninstaller script ## Quick Start ```bash curl -fsSL https://yourdomain.com/install_appflowy.sh | bash Requirements Ubuntu 20.04+ VPS with sudo access A registered domain pointing to your server Ports 80 and 443 open (UFW: sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full') Uninstall ./uninstall_appflowy.sh Security The script supports: HTTPS via Certbot CORS config Non-root system user Private VPN binding (127.0.0.1 or 10.0.0.x) License MIT License — feel free to fork and adapt. --- ## 📄 `.gitignore` (Optional) ```gitignore *.tar.gz *.db .env backup_*.sh *.log Deployment You can now host the repo at: GitHub/GitLab (with raw URL support) Your own HTTPS server Or make a GitHub Gist for single-script mode Conclusion You now know how to deploy self-hosted AppFlowy on Ubuntu VPS.

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