Install on your VPS server

For under $10 p/m you can host Operational in a rock-solid environment.

Here’s how.

Install on a fresh VPS server

This is the fasted method to install Operational. This method requires that

You have setup a VPS server and are logged in as root
You have configured 2 domain names(one for frontend, one for backend) for your instance.

Once configured, run this inside your VPS as root:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/operational-co/operational.co/master/bin/setup-vps.sh -o setup-vps.sh && sudo bash setup-vps.sh

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This script will:

Install nginx
Install nodejs
Install pm2
Install mysql
Install certbot
Configure nginx and certbot
Pull the repo and install dependencies
Create .env files
Start the server

Install manually on your VPS

These are the steps you need to follow if you want to install Operational manually.

Step 1. Setup a VPS server

We recommend Hetzner for the most bang-for-your-buck.

Alternatives like Digital Ocean, OVHCloud, Linode, Vultr etc are also good.

Step 2. Install requirements

You’ll need to have nginx installed and configured.

You’ll also need a domain name that’s linked to your server. A subdomain is also fine.

The application itself requires:

nodejs 18.x minimum
mysql 8.x

Install these and make sure nodejs and mysql service* is running.

Step 3. Install application

Install by either:

Running the script on our homepage.

or,

Running git clone https://github.com/operational-co/operational.co.git (you’ll need git to be installed on your server)

or,

Or download the zip package of the application from https://github.com/operational-co/operational.co and upload it to your server. Then unzip it.

Step 4. Configure the application

Do this only if you aren’t going with the first installation option.

Go to the application folder, then to /backend and create a .env file.
Fill the .env file with your details(I’ve outlined this at the bottom of this page**)
Then run npm run build.
Then run npm run start. If you’ve installed pm2, run pm2 start index.js instead.
Now go back one folder and go to /app
Create a .env file here. Fill in the .env file with your details(I’ve outlined this at the bottom of the page)
Then run npm run build.

Step 5. Configuring nginx

You’ll need to create two sites. One for the backend and one for the app(static spa)

By default, backend runs on port 2000. Create a reverse proxy on nginx for port 80 to port 2000

For the app, configure nginx to serve /app/dist folder.

Step 6. Create your account

Once everything is setup, open your frontend(url depends on how you’ve setup nginx to serve the app/dist folder)

The onboarding process should startup. Follow the steps here and create your account.

Once created, you should be able to track events.

*Configuring mysql

Make sure you have created a database and assigned a user to the database.

Get the connection string ready.

**Env for backend

Vapid

Generate Vapid details from vapidkeys

Then replace VAPID_EMAIL, VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY and VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY with those details.

Vapid details are optional but we recommend setting them for push notifications.

Api url Set this to the url of your backend, eg: https://ops-api.mydomain.com

App url Set this to the url of your app, eg: https://ops.mydomain.com

Port By default, PORT is 2000. But feel free to change it to another one.

Secret Enter a random string in the SECRET.

DATABASE_URL="mysql_connection_string"

VAPID_EMAIL="mailto:shashwat.amin@yahoo.com"
VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY="BP3td0Ocfd62J-Ggu7ma4SzWIwd5auBSG2rYD4K1uYOU1Q_LfVEKh9oYQqRLx6IITBHTIObZvAzXOJEzAmRGaoU"
VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY="XAi5fu38VfY_Nm7JssLDxrpdHVRUPjtugWAlAqakKp4"

API_URL=""

APP_URL=""

NODE_ENV="production"

PORT="2000"
SECRET=""

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You don’t need to modify the rest

Install locally Docker