Installation

This guide walks you through deploying solyto on your own server using Docker.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A server (VPS, dedicated, or home server) with at least 2 GB RAM and 10 GB storage
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Three domain names (or subdomains) pointing to your server’s IP address:
  • app.example.com — the frontend
  • api.example.com — the API
  • dav.example.com — CalDAV/CardDAV
• A valid email address for Let’s Encrypt TLS certificates
• Ports 80 and 443 open on your firewall

DNS setup

Point your three domain names to your server’s public IP address:

app.example.com   A   your.server.ip
api.example.com   A   your.server.ip
dav.example.com   A   your.server.ip

Wait for DNS propagation before continuing (usually a few minutes, up to 24 hours).

One-step install

The fastest way to install solyto is with the setup script:

curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/solyto/selfhosted/main/setup.sh?$(date +%s)" | bash

The setup script will:

1. Clone the selfhosted repo
2. Create required directories (storage/, bootstrap/cache/, etc.)
3. Prompt you interactively for:
   • API_DOMAIN — e.g. api.example.com
   • APP_DOMAIN — e.g. app.example.com
   • DAV_DOMAIN — e.g. dav.example.com
   • ACME_EMAIL — your email for Let’s Encrypt
4. Generate all required secrets (database passwords, app key, etc.)
5. Write everything to .env and ./secrets/

After the script finishes, start the services:

cd selfhosted
docker compose up -d

Manual install

If you prefer to do everything manually:

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/solyto/selfhosted.git
cd selfhosted

2. Create directories

mkdir -p storage/app/public
mkdir -p storage/framework/cache
mkdir -p storage/framework/sessions
mkdir -p storage/framework/views
mkdir -p storage/logs
mkdir -p bootstrap/cache
chown -R www-data:www-data storage/

3. Configure environment

Copy the example environment file and edit it:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your domain names, timezone, and preferences. See Configuration for all available options.

4. Generate secrets

Create the ./secrets/ directory and generate the required secret files:

mkdir -p secrets

# Application key
echo "base64:$(openssl rand -base64 32)" > secrets/app_key

# MariaDB
echo "solyto" > secrets/db_user
openssl rand -hex 32 > secrets/db_password
echo "solyto" > secrets/mariadb_user
openssl rand -hex 32 > secrets/mariadb_password
openssl rand -hex 32 > secrets/mariadb_root_password

# PostgreSQL (DAV)
echo "solyto_dav" > secrets/dav_db_user
openssl rand -hex 32 > secrets/dav_db_password
openssl rand -hex 32 > secrets/postgres_root_password

# Optional secrets (create empty files)
touch secrets/solyto_bot_webhook_token
touch secrets/solyto_bot_telegram_token
touch secrets/hardcover_api_key
touch secrets/ai_api_key
touch secrets/mailgun_secret
touch secrets/vapid_public_key
touch secrets/vapid_private_key
touch secrets/bgg_api_key
touch secrets/tmdb_access_token
touch secrets/imgproxy_key
touch secrets/imgproxy_salt

See Docker Secrets for details on each secret.

5. Start the services

docker compose up -d

Verify the installation

Check container status

docker compose ps

All services should show status Up or Up (healthy).

Check the API health endpoint

curl -s https://api.example.com/api/v1/health

A successful response means the API is running and connected to the database.

Access the app

Open https://app.example.com in your browser. You should see the solyto login page.

Creating your first user

The registration page is available at https://app.example.com/auth/register — create your account with a display name, email address, and a password (minimum 12 characters).

Alternatively, create a user from the command line:

docker exec -it <project>-api so users:create

Replace <project> with your PROJECT_NAME (default solyto). If you changed the project name, adjust the container name accordingly.

Next steps

• Configuration — fine-tune your environment variables
• Docker Secrets — set up optional integrations
• Upgrading — how to keep solyto up to date

Video guide

A step-by-step video of the install process is in the works and will be embedded here.

Video coming soonInstalling solyto on a fresh serverPoint your domains at the server, run the setup script, and start the stack.~10 min