Deploy Gotify Push Server on Ubuntu VPS

This article provides a guide to deploy Gotify push server on Ubuntu VPS.

What is Gotify Push Server?

Gotify is a self-hosted, open-source server for sending and receiving real-time messages and push notifications via WebSockets. It features a web interface for managing applications and is commonly used to send alerts to mobile devices or browsers. It is lightweight, Docker-based, and acts as a private, self-managed alternative to services like Pushover.

Self-hosted push notifications give you full control over your messaging infrastructure—no third-party dependencies, no per-message fees, and complete privacy. In this guide, we’ll walk through deploying Gotify on an Ubuntu VPS, optimized for performance, security, and long-term reliability.

This deployment approach uses:

• Native Gotify binary (lightweight & efficient)
• systemd service management
• Nginx reverse proxy with HTTPS
• Production-ready configuration

🧩 What You’ll Need

Before starting, ensure you have:

• An Ubuntu 22.04 / Ubuntu 24.04 VPS (from Rad Web Hosting or similar)
• A domain or subdomain (e.g. push.yourdomain.com)
• Root or sudo access
• Ports 80 and 443 open

🚀 How to Deploy Gotify Push Server on Ubuntu VPS

To deploy Gotify push server on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below:

1. 🌐 Point Your Domain (Guide)

   Create an A record:

   push.yourdomain.com → YOUR_SERVER_IP
   

2. ⚙️ Update System & Install Dependencies

   sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade
   sudo apt -y install wget unzip nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx
   

3. 📁 Create Directory Structure

   sudo mkdir -p /opt/gotify
   sudo mkdir -p /etc/gotify
   sudo mkdir -p /var/log/gotify
   

4. ⬇️ Install Gotify Binary

   cd /tmp
   wget https://github.com/gotify/server/releases/latest/download/gotify-linux-amd64.zip
   unzip gotify-linux-amd64.zip
   sudo mv gotify-linux-amd64 /opt/gotify/gotify
   sudo chmod +x /opt/gotify/gotify
   

5. 📝 Configure Gotify

   Create config file:

   sudo nano /etc/gotify/config.yml
   

   Paste:

   server:
     listenaddr: "127.0.0.1"
     port: 1245
     ssl:
       enabled: false
   
   database:
     dialect: sqlite3
     connection: data/gotify.db
   
   defaultuser:
     name: admin
     pass: "ChangeThisNow-To-A-StrongPassword!"
   
   passstrength: 10
   uploadedimagesdir: data/images
   pluginsdir: data/plugins
   registration: false
   

   Secure it:

   sudo chmod go-rw /etc/gotify/config.yml
   

6. 🔧 Create systemd Service

   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gotify.service
   

   [Unit]
   Description=Gotify Push Server
   Requires=network.target
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   User=root
   WorkingDirectory=/opt/gotify
   ExecStart=/opt/gotify/gotify
   StandardOutput=append:/var/log/gotify/gotify.log
   StandardError=append:/var/log/gotify/gotify-error.log
   Restart=always
   RestartSec=3
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

   Enable and start:

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable gotify
   sudo systemctl start gotify
   

7. 🔍 Verify Service

   ss -tulpn | grep 1245
   curl http://127.0.0.1:1245
   

   Check logs:

   sudo tail -f /var/log/gotify/gotify.log
   

8. 🌍 Configure Nginx Reverse Proxy

   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/gotify
   

   upstream gotify {
       server 127.0.0.1:1245;
   }
   
   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name push.yourdomain.com;
   
       location / {
           proxy_pass http://gotify;
           proxy_http_version 1.1;
   
           proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
           proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
           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 http;
           proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
   
           proxy_read_timeout 1m;
       }
   }
   

   Enable it:

   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/gotify /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
   sudo nginx -t
   sudo systemctl reload nginx
   

9. 🔒 Enable HTTPS (Let’s Encrypt)

   sudo certbot --nginx -d push.yourdomain.com
   

   Choose redirect to HTTPS when prompted.

10. 🔑 First Login

    
    Visit:

    https://push.yourdomain.com
    

    Login with:

    Username: admin
    Password: (your configured password)
    

    

11. 📲 Send Your First Notification

    Create an application in the Gotify UI and grab the token.

    Test:

    curl -X POST "https://push.yourdomain.com/message?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
      -F "title=Test" \
      -F "message=Gotify is working!" \
      -F "priority=5"
    

    

Gotify Plugins

These community-contributed plugins help extend Gotify.

• Gotify-SMTP: A standalone plugin that allows Gotify to act as an SMTP server, capturing emails and converting them into push notifications.
• Authentik Plugin: Specifically designed to process webhooks from Authentik, formatting login events for administrators.
  • SEE ALSO: Install Authentik IdP on Debian VPS
• Webhooks Plugin: Extends Gotify’s ability to handle various incoming webhook formats.
• Jellyfin Plugin: A plugin for the Jellyfin media server that forwards its internal alerts directly to Gotify.
• CrowdSec Notification Plugin: An integration that forwards security alerts from CrowdSec to Gotify.

🛠️ Management Commands

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart gotify

Status:

sudo systemctl status gotify

Logs:

sudo tail -f /var/log/gotify/gotify.log

🔐 Production Hardening Tips

• Use a strong admin password
• Keep registration: false (prevents abuse)
• Bind Gotify to 127.0.0.1 only
• Use firewall rules (UFW or CSF)
• Enable automatic security updates
• Back up /opt/gotify regularly

💡 Why Run Gotify on a VPS?

Running Gotify on a VPS from Rad Web Hosting gives you:

• ⚡ High-performance SSD infrastructure
• 🔒 Full control over notifications and data
• 🌎 Global uptime reliability
• 🛠️ Custom automation & integrations

Perfect for:

• Monitoring alerts
• DevOps pipelines
• Billing systems (WHMCS, etc.)
• Internal messaging systems

🚀 Final Thoughts

Gotify is one of the simplest and most powerful self-hosted notification systems available. With this setup, you now have a secure, scalable push server running on your own infrastructure.

Conclusion

You now know how to deploy Gotify push server on Ubuntu VPS.