How to Install and Run Zulip on Debian VPS

This article provides a detailed step-by-step guide outlining how to install and run Zulip on Debian VPS.

What is Zulip?

Zulip is an open-source team chat platform designed to combine the best aspects of real-time messaging (like Slack or Discord) with the structured organization of email-style threads.

🔑 Key Features:

• Threaded Conversations (Topics):
  Each message is sent to a stream and organized into a topic, allowing for structured discussions that are easy to follow—even if you’re away for a while.
• Streams & Topics:
  Think of streams as channels (like in Slack), and topics as threads within those channels.
• Asynchronous + Real-time Communication:
  You can catch up on conversations without missing important context. Zulip makes it easy to reply to older messages without interrupting newer ones.
• Open Source & Self-hostable:
  Zulip is fully open-source and can be deployed on your own server, making it ideal for privacy-conscious teams or organizations with compliance needs.
• Integrations:
  Supports 100+ integrations (GitHub, Jenkins, Jira, etc.) and a full-featured API.
• Cross-platform Support:
  Available on web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and mobile (iOS, Android).
• Enterprise Features:
  LDAP/Active Directory support, SAML SSO, two-factor authentication, audit logs, and more.

✅ Best For:

• Remote teams needing organized, async-friendly communication
• Open-source communities
• Privacy-sensitive organizations (education, healthcare, government)
• Companies that outgrow Slack’s message chaos

🔍 Comparison:

In short, Zulip is a structured, flexible, and powerful chat platform built for teams that value organized conversations and open-source control.

🧰 Prerequisites

• A VPS running Debian 10, Debian 11, or Debian 12 (fresh install preferred)
• At least 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• Root or sudo access
• A domain name pointing to the VPS IP
• SMTP server credentials for email notifications
• Firewall access to ports: 80, 443

How to Install and Run Zulip on Debian VPS

To install and run Zulip on Debian VPS, follow the steps provided below:

1. Update System Packages

   Login as root via SSH and run the following commands:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

   Install common dependencies:

   sudo apt install -y curl wget git build-essential

2. Set Hostname and FQDN

   Set your hostname to match your domain:

   sudo hostnamectl set-hostname chat.example.com

   Edit /etc/hosts and add:

   127.0.0.1 chat.example.com chat

   Replace chat.example.com with your actual domain.

3. Install Docker and Docker Compose

   Zulip uses Docker for easier setup.

   curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh sudo sh get-docker.sh

   Add your user to the Docker group:

   sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

   Then log out and back in.

   Install Docker Compose:

   sudo apt install -y docker-compose

4. Download Zulip Docker Project

   Clone Zulip’s official Docker deployment repo:

   git clone https://github.com/zulip/docker-zulip.git cd docker-zulip

5. Configure Zulip Settings

   Create a copy of the Zulip settings template:

   cp /etc/zulip/settings.py /etc/zulip/settings.py.bak

   Edit the zulip/settings.py file:

   nano /etc/zulip/settings.py

   Update the following:

   EXTERNAL_HOST = 'chat.example.com' # Your domain EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.yourdomain.com' # Your SMTP server EMAIL_HOST_USER = 'you@yourdomain.com' EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = 'your_email_password' EMAIL_PORT = 587 EMAIL_USE_TLS = True

6. Set Up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

   Run the built-in Let’s Encrypt script:

   ./scripts/setup/ssl/setup-letsencrypt-certbot

   This will automatically obtain and configure an SSL certificate for your domain.

   If needed, you can manually generate SSL and copy certs to zulip/certs folder.

7. Start Zulip Services

   From the project root:

   docker-compose up -d

   This will spin up multiple Zulip containers (app, db, memcached, redis, etc.).

8. Create Initial User

   Once the services are up (you can check with docker ps), create the initial admin user:

   docker-compose exec zulip /home/zulip/deployments/current/manage.py create_realm \ --realm_name="My Organization" \ --realm_host=chat.example.com \ --email=admin@example.com

   Then create the admin password:

   docker-compose exec zulip /home/zulip/deployments/current/manage.py change_user_password admin@example.com

9. Access Zulip Web Interface

   Visit https://chat.example.com in your browser and log in with the admin credentials:
   

10. Enable Firewall and HTTPS Redirect

    Install and configure UFW:

    sudo apt install ufw sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 80,443/tcp sudo ufw enable

    Zulip should already redirect HTTP to HTTPS automatically via Nginx.

11. Maintenance Tips

    • Restart Zulip: docker-compose restart
    • Check logs: docker-compose logs -f
    • Backup volumes: Check docker-compose.yml for volume paths
    • Update Zulip: Pull latest repo and re-deploy

📌 Summary

Conclusion

You now know how to install and run Zulip on Debian VPS.