Installation Guide

AliothPress works on any cloud hosting provider that supports Ubuntu and Cloud-Init. Here are the tested and recommended providers:

When creating a server, every provider will ask you to choose a plan (size). The plan determines how much CPU, RAM, and disk space your server has. Here’s what AliothPress needs:

When you upload an image, AliothPress automatically creates optimized versions in modern formats (WebP and AVIF) at multiple sizes, plus social media crops. This image processing is the most memory-intensive operation.

Plan names and prices change over time. Use these as a starting point — look for the closest match to 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM on your provider’s pricing page.

This guide uses Hetzner Cloud as an example. If you use a different hosting provider, the overall process is the same — only the names of the options may differ slightly.

Go to hetzner.com/cloud and click “Register”. Enter your email, create a password, and verify your email. You will need to add a payment method (credit card or PayPal).

After registration, you will see your Project dashboard. Click “+ Create Server”.

The server creation page has several sections. Here is exactly what to do in each one:

You will see a map of server locations: Nürnberg, Falkenstein, Helsinki, Singapore, Hillsboro, Ashburn.

Click the location closest to your audience. If your visitors are mostly in Europe, choose Nürnberg or Helsinki. For the US, choose Ashburn or Hillsboro.

You will see two tabs: “OS Images” and “Apps”. Make sure “OS Images” is selected.

Click on Ubuntu. In the version dropdown below it, select 26.04. This should already be the default.

You will see two categories: “Shared Resources” and “Dedicated Resources”.

Under Shared Resources, you will see two categories that work with AliothPress. Choose a plan with at least 2 vCPUs and 4 GB RAM:

1. Cost-Optimized (e.g. CX23, ~€4–5/mo) — older hardware with limited availability. A good starting point for personal projects or testing.
2. Regular Performance (e.g. CPX22, ~€7–8/mo) — newer hardware with stable availability. Recommended for business websites and production use.

Leave everything as default:

• Public IPv4 — checked ✅
• Public IPv6 — checked ✅
• Private Networks — unchecked

• If you already have an SSH key listed, select it to secure your server.
• f you don’t have a key yet, you can create one now by clicking "Add SSH Key" and following the on-screen instructions (this is the recommended, most secure method).
• Alternatively, you can skip this step. Hetzner will generate a temporary root password and send it to your email.

The following sections can be left empty — no action needed:

A firewall protects your server by blocking unwanted connections. You only need to allow three ports.

How to create a firewall:

1. In the Hetzner dashboard, click “Firewalls” in the left menu (under Cloud).
2. Click “Create Firewall”.
3. Add three Inbound Rules by clicking “+ Add Rule”.
4. Leave the Outbound section empty — all outgoing traffic is allowed by default.
5. Give the firewall a name (e.g., “web-server”) and click “Create Firewall”.

This is the most important step! Scroll down to the section called “Cloud config”. It is near the bottom of the page, right above the “Name” field.

You will see a text field with the placeholder text “Cloud-init configuration”.

What to do:

1. Find the file called cloud-init.sh in your AliothPress folder (the one you downloaded).
2. Open it with any text editor (Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac).
3. Select all text: press Ctrl+A (or Cmd+A on Mac).
4. Copy: press Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on Mac).
5. Click inside the Cloud config text field on the Hetzner page.
6. Paste: press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac).

Below Cloud config, you will see the “Name” field. Type any name for your server, for example “mysite”. This is just for your reference in the Hetzner dashboard.

Click the button “Create & Buy now”.

After the server is created, Hetzner will show you the server details page with the IP address (it looks like 203.0.113.42 or similar).

What to do:

1. Copy the IP address from the Hetzner dashboard.
2. Open your web browser.
3. Paste it into the address bar, add http:// in front, and press Enter: http://YOUR-SERVER-IP.

Example: http://203.0.113.42

You might see the following while waiting:

This is normal — it means your server is already responding, but AliothPress is still being configured. Wait a few minutes and refresh the page.

You will see the AliothPress Setup Wizard — a friendly form where you:

🌍 Choose your language — 31 languages available

🗄️Choose a database — SQLite or PostgreSQL

👤Create your admin account — pick a username, email, and password

✏️Name your site and optionally enter your license key

Click “Launch Your Site!” and you’re done.

Right now, your site is accessible via its IP address (e.g., http://203.0.113.42). To use your own domain name (e.g., mysite.com), you need to create two DNS records that point your domain and its www-variant to the server.

Here is what the DNS settings page looks like on Porkbun. Your registrar will have a very similar form:

1. Log in to your domain registrar (where you bought the domain).
2. Find “DNS Settings” or “Manage DNS Records”. On Porkbun, click the “DNS” button next to your domain.
3. Create two DNS records — both are required.
4. Click “Add” (or “Save” on other registrars).
5. Wait 5–30 minutes for the DNS to update.
6. Open http://mysite.com in your browser — your site should be there!

HTTPS makes your site secure and shows a lock icon 🔒 in the browser. Visitors trust sites with HTTPS more, and search engines rank them higher.

The good news: AliothPress has a built-in HTTPS setup. You don’t need to install anything or use the command line. It uses Let’s Encrypt — a free, trusted certificate provider.

Here is what the Domain & HTTPS settings look like in the AliothPress admin panel:

1. Make sure your domain is already connected (Step above) and loads your site via http://mysite.com.
2. Log into your AliothPress admin panel.
3. Go to Settings → Domain & HTTPS.
4. Enter your domain name (e.g., mysite.com) in the Domain Name field.
5. Click the “Enable HTTPS” button. That’s it!

AliothPress is free for non-commercial use — personal websites, blogs, educational projects, non-profits, and hobby projects. No license key is needed. The only requirement is that the “Powered by AliothPress” attribution link remains visible in the footer and system emails.

A license key is required for commercial use — business websites, online stores, paid services, lead generation, advertising, or client projects. Each license key is valid for one domain.

With an active license key:

• The “Powered by AliothPress” attribution is removed from the footer and emails
• Automatic updates become available

You can enter your license key during setup (step 4 of the wizard) or later in Settings → License & Updates. The license can be activated at any time.

With an active license: go to Settings → License & Updates, click “Check for Updates”. If a new version is available, click “Update Now” — everything happens automatically.

Here are solutions to the most common issues:

If you’re using a provider other than Hetzner, the installation process is the same. The only difference is where you paste the cloud-init script and which plan to choose. Here’s a quick reference: