Quick Install

End-to-end install on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 VPS. Time to first boot: about 10 minutes.

1. Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
# log out and back in so the group change takes effect

Verify:

docker --version
docker compose version

2. Get the CourseMaker source

CourseMaker is shipped as a source repository — docker compose up --build builds the image locally. Clone it onto the server:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/coursemaker
sudo chown "$USER":"$USER" /opt/coursemaker
cd /opt/coursemaker
git clone https://github.com/<your-org>/coursemaker.git .

tip

Replace <your-org> with the repository URL your vendor gave you. If you received a tarball instead, tar xzf coursemaker.tar.gz -C /opt/coursemaker --strip-components=1.

3. Generate secrets

CourseMaker needs two random 32-byte secrets:

echo "BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32)"
echo "ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)"

:::danger Back up ENCRYPTION_KEY before continuing. This key encrypts every Stripe / Bunny / SMTP credential the client will paste into the admin UI. If you lose it, the credentials are unrecoverable even if the database is intact. Store it in a password manager or a secrets vault before pasting it into .env. :::

4. Create `.env`

Copy the template and fill it in:

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Required values:

NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://learn.client.com
BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://learn.client.com
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=<paste the value you generated>
ENCRYPTION_KEY=<paste the value you generated>

POSTGRES_USER=coursemaker
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<choose a strong password>
POSTGRES_DB=coursemaker

APP_HOST_PORT=4210

NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL and BETTER_AUTH_URL should be the public HTTPS URL the client will use. Do not include a trailing slash.

See Environment Reference for the full list of variables.

5. Bring the stack up

docker compose up -d --build

The first build takes 3–5 minutes (it pulls Bun + Node base images and runs next build). Subsequent builds are cached.

Watch the migrations run:

docker compose logs -f app

Look for Migrations complete followed by Ready in <ms>ms. The app is now listening on 127.0.0.1:4210.

6. Put a reverse proxy in front

Install Caddy (simplest option):

sudo apt install -y caddy

Edit /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

learn.client.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:4210
}

sudo systemctl reload caddy

Caddy fetches a Let's Encrypt cert on first request. For Nginx, HAProxy, or Cloudflare Tunnels see Reverse Proxy Recipes.

7. Smoke test

curl -I https://learn.client.com

Expected: HTTP/2 200. Open the URL in a browser — you should see the CourseMaker landing page with a Sign Up button.

The deployment is up. Hand the URL to the client and walk them through First Admin Account.

1. Install Docker​

2. Get the CourseMaker source​

3. Generate secrets​

4. Create .env​

5. Bring the stack up​

6. Put a reverse proxy in front​

7. Smoke test​

Next​