Coolify Setup

Self-Hosted Coolify Setup Guide on Proxmox

This guide walks through setting up a Coolify Base Server and a Coolify Deploy Server (acting as your self-hosted VPS equivalent) on Proxmox using Debian 13 VMs. Everything is designed to stay fully self-hosted.

1. Setup Coolify Base Server

1. Use the community script to create the VM:
   https://community-scripts.org/scripts/debian-13-vm

2. Copy the run command and execute it on your Proxmox host.

3. Cloud-Init Note: If you enabled Cloud-Init, follow these instructions once the VM is running:
   ProxmoxVE Cloud-Init Discussion

4. Use Advanced Settings with the following values:

   • Virtual Machine ID: Choose your preferred ID
   • Machine Type: i440fx
   • Disk Size: 100G
   • Disk Cache: None
   • Hostname: coolify-base
   • CPU Model: KVM64
   • CPU Cores: 4
   • RAM Size: 8192 (8 GB)
   • Bridge: vmbr0 (should auto-detect your active interface)
   • MAC Address: Use the automatically assigned address
   • VLAN: Default
   • Interface MTU Size: Default
   • Cloud-Init: Enabled (see link above)
   • Start VM when completed: Yes

2. Setup Coolify Deploy Server

Repeat the same process as Step 1 for the deployment server.

1. Use the same community script:
   https://community-scripts.org/scripts/debian-13-vm

2. Use Advanced Settings with these values:

   • Virtual Machine ID: Choose your preferred ID
   • Machine Type: i440fx
   • Disk Size: 100G
   • Disk Cache: None
   • Hostname: coolify-deploy (or your preferred project name)
   • CPU Model: KVM64
   • CPU Cores: 4
   • RAM Size: 8192 (8 GB)
   • Bridge: vmbr0
   • MAC Address: Auto-assigned
   • VLAN: Default
   • Interface MTU Size: Default
   • Cloud-Init: Enabled
   • Start VM when completed: Yes

Note: This server functions as your self-hosted equivalent of a VPS used in most YouTube tutorials.

3. Install Coolify on the Base Server

1. SSH into the coolify-base VM.

2. Run the official installation script:

   curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | sudo bash
   

3. Follow along with this excellent walkthrough video for completing the setup: Christian's Coolify Setup Video

4. Nginx Proxy Manager Configuration (Optional but Recommended)

If you're routing Coolify through Nginx Proxy Manager, add the following under the Advanced tab in your proxy host:

proxy_read_timeout 60;
proxy_connect_timeout 60;
proxy_redirect off;

location /app {
    proxy_pass http://<coolifybaseIP>:6001;
}

location /terminal/ws {
    proxy_pass http://<coolifybaseIP>:6002;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
}

Replace with the internal IP address of your Coolify Base VM.

5. Setup Cloudflare Tunnels for Automated Deployments

1. Create a free Cloudflare account if you don't have one.

2. Follow the official guide (focus on manual steps):

3. Coolify Cloudflare Tunnels Guide

4. Use the manual method for setup.

5. If following Christian's video, Steps 1, 2, 4, and 5 should already be complete (Base ↔ Deploy connection).

6. Complete Step 3 in the docs. When selecting the environment, choose Docker. Copy the generated docker run command.

7. Modify the Cloudflare tunnel command to look like this:

docker run -d \
  --name cloudflare-tunnel \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  cloudflare/cloudflared:latest \
  tunnel --no-autoupdate run --token 123aBc...your-long-token...

8. SSH into your Coolify Deploy server and run the modified command.

9. Return to Coolify UI → Servers → coolify-deploy → Cloudflare Tunnel.

10. Paste your long tunnel token and the SSH domain (e.g., ssh.yourdomain.com), then connect.