pocketbase-deploy.md

How To Install PocketBase on Digital Ocean

Prerequisites

• A Digital Ocean account with an Ubuntu droplet (even the smallest $4 option works)
• Basic knowledge of using the command line and SSH
• A domain or subdomain (optional, for accessible URL with SSL)

Steps

1. Spin up a Digital Ocean droplet
   • Select a standard Ubuntu droplet; any size works for testing
2. Download the Linux AMD64 binary
   • Visit the PocketBase releases page (e.g., https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases)
   • Download the latest linux_amd64 zip file (e.g., pocketbase_0.8.0_linux_amd64.zip)
3. Extract and upload the binary to your droplet
   • Unzip the downloaded file on your local machine; it will produce two files: LICENSE and the executable “pocketbase”
   • Use rsync (or your preferred upload method) to transfer the binary to your droplet directory. For example: • rsync -avz -e ssh /local/path/to/pocketbase root@YOUR_DROPLET_IP:/root/pb
   • The example above uploads the binary into the /root/pb directory on your droplet.
4. Create a systemd service to run PocketBase continually
   • Open or create a new service file: • sudo vi /lib/systemd/system/pocketbase.service
   • Paste in the following content (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain or subdomain):

     -------------------------------------------
     [Unit]
     Description = PocketBase Service

     [Service]
     Type           = simple
     User           = root
     Group          = root
     LimitNOFILE    = 4096
     Restart        = always
     RestartSec     = 5s
     StandardOutput = append:/root/pb/errors.log
     StandardError  = append:/root/pb/errors.log
     ExecStart      = /root/pb/pocketbase serve --http="yourdomain.com:80" --https="yourdomain.com:443"

     [Install]
     WantedBy = multi-user.target
     -------------------------------------------

• Save and close the file.
  • Enable and start the service: • sudo systemctl enable pocketbase.service --now

5. Assign a readable URL
   • Instead of using an IP address, point your domain/subdomain to the droplet’s IP by configuring DNS via Digital Ocean’s networking tools (see DigitalOcean docs for adding domains)
   • PocketBase’s built-in HTTPS handling (via Let’s Encrypt) will work when your actual domain name is used in the service config.
6. Backup your PocketBase data
   • PocketBase stores data in the pb_data directory (by default in /root/pb/pb_data/)
   • For regular backups, consider using a tool like rclone combined with a cron job to periodically sync your pb_data folder to backup storage (such as DO Spaces)
   • Alternatively, tools like Litestream (for SQLite backups) can be explored

Tips

• Make sure to leave SSH (port 22) open when configuring UFW/firewall rules. For example: sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
• Although some may suggest using nginx or Apache as a reverse proxy, PocketBase includes its own HTTP/HTTPS server with automated certificate provisioning; you don’t need an additional web server for basic setups.
• Test your installation locally before deploying to production by running: • ./pocketbase serve This will start a local server on 127.0.0.1:8090 for exploration.

Next Steps

• Monitor the logs in /root/pb/errors.log to catch any issues early
• Experiment with PocketBase features locally and adjust your production configuration as needed
• Enhance security (e.g., update system packages, restrict file permissions) for a production environment