Put your first app online

App template (wizard)

The get-started wizard is the shortest path. It starts from an app in the template catalogue, such as Ghost, Umami or n8n, and ends with that app running at an address you can open.

1. Pick an app and sign in

   On the templates website, open an app and press its Deploy button. It opens the console at /get-started with that app chosen. If you are not signed in, sign in or press Create an account; you come back to the wizard afterwards. On the Hosted instance, the link in the confirmation email signs you in and returns you here.

   cloudgate.octabyte.app/get-started?template=ghost

   

2. Choose where it runs

   The wizard asks Where should the app run?

   • If your Organization already has a Ready Server, press Use followed by its name, for example Use fra-1.
   • Get a server from Cloudgate (Hosted only): pick a location and a size, then Buy. The wizard shows Payment, Creating your server, Setting it up and Ready to use. You can leave the page; it carries on.
   • Use my own server: for a machine you already rent, such as a VPS. Fill in Your server (address, SSH port, SSH user, name). If the Organization has no SSH key yet, press Make a key, then copy the one-line command the wizard shows and run it on the server. It adds the key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. Press Save and continue, then Connect my server. Progress reads Signed in to your server, Installing what apps need, then Ready.

3. Fill in the details

   Answer the values the app asks for. Passwords and keys it needs are made for you. The summary, What Deploy makes, lists the Server, a New Project named after the app, and a web address marked Made for you.

   cloudgate.octabyte.app/get-started?template=ghost&path=own&server=…&step=deploy

   

4. Deploy and open it

   Press Deploy followed by the app’s name. Cloudgate creates the Project with a production Environment on that Server and, once the Server is ready, applies the setup as you. When it is running, press Open to visit it, or Open the Project to see what was made.

Your own code (console)

Your own code needs four things made by hand, in this order. Each step links to the guide page that covers it in full.

1. Add a Server

   Open Servers and press Add a Server. If you have no SSH key yet, open Manage SSH keys and press Generate one, then put the line it shows in the machine’s ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. Fill in the address, the SSH user (root, or a user with passwordless sudo) and the key, and press Add Server. On the Server’s Infrastructure tab, press Check now, then Run setup. Setup installs Docker, a Swarm and Traefik. See Add a Server.

   cloudgate.octabyte.app/servers

   

2. Make a Project and an Environment

   Open Projects, press New Project, name it (for example storefront) and press Create Project. On its Environments tab press New Environment, call it production, choose your Server as the Deploy target, and press Create Environment. See Projects and Environments.

3. Add an Application

   In the Environment, on Services, press Add an Application, name it web and pick the Server. On its Overview, open the Source card and press Change source: pick a connected git provider and a repository and branch, Any git URL, or a Docker image. Nixpacks, the default builder, works out how to build the code; a Dockerfile works too. See Applications.

4. Deploy and give it an address

   Press Deploy and watch the Deployment log. Then on the Domains tab press Add a domain and Generate one for me for a free sslip.io address, or type your own host. See Domains.

A folder (CLI)

The CLI uploads a folder to an Application and follows its Deployment to the end. Your Organization needs a Server or a Cloud account first; the Project can be one you made in the console (the previous tab) or one the CLI makes for you. Then:

1. Install the CLI

   You need Node 22 or newer.

   npm install -g @octabyte-io/cloudgate@next

2. Log in

   cloudgate login

   Open the address it prints, check the code and approve it in the console. Add --instance <address> for a self-hosted instance; without it, the CLI logs in to the Hosted instance.

3. Deploy the folder

   In your project folder:

   cloudgate deploy

   The first time, it asks which Project the folder belongs to, or offers Create a new Project, then whether it is one app or the whole Project, and remembers the answer. It leaves out what .gitignore lists and your .env files, uploads the rest (later deploys send only what changed), and prints the Deployment log until the Deployment ends. Then cloudgate status shows the Service and its Domains. See the CLI guide.