Installation Guide
After following this guide, you will have a fully functioning copy of Broadcast installed and running on your server.
Our installer will automatically handle the following:
- Installing the software
- Configuring the software
- Provisioning the SSL certificate
- Securing the server
- Handling automatic operating system updates
Prerequisites
To install Broadcast, you will need to have a fresh server installed with Ubuntu 24.04 (server edition).
You will also need to have a primary domain name which will be used to host the software. After installation, you can add additional domains per broadcast channel so that you can manage multiple properties from a single installation.
The minimum system requirements are:
- 2 GB of RAM
- 1 CPU Core
- 40 GB of disk space
However, we recommend the following system requirements if possible:
- 4 GB of RAM
- 2 CPU Cores
- 60+ GB of disk space
For hosting providers, we recommend:
- Hetzner (Get €20 credit with this signup link at Hetzner)
- Digital Ocean (Get $200 credit with this signup link at Digital Ocean)
- Linode (Get $100 credit with this signup link at Linode)
For the rest of the installation guide, we will assume you are using one of the above recommended providers.
If you are using a different provider, the installation will be similar if not the same. However, if you have any questions, please reach out to us from within the dashboard.
Installation
Installation is a straightforward process. It should take about 10 minutes to complete.
There are two parts to the installation:
- Server setup
- Domain name set up
Step 1: Create the server
In your VPS provider’s dashboard, create a new server.
NOTE: At the present moment, DO NOT USE an INTEL-based server (ie. a server with an Intel CPU). At the present moment, we have observed a problem where the Docker images used for the application does not run properly even though it is cross compiled to do so. A fix will be going out on October 21, 2024 and will be generally available October 22, 2024.
Choose Ubuntu 24.04 (server edition) as the operating system.
Make sure you can login as root or ubuntu user. At most providers, you will need to specify a local public SSH key during the creation of your VPS.
If you do not have a local public SSH key, click here for instructions on generating one.
If you are new to SSH keys, keep your keys in a safe place. Without your keys, you will no longer be able to access your server if anything goes wrong.
To login to your system, type the following in your local terminal:
ssh root@your-server-ip
Replace your-server-ip with the IP address of your server.
On some Ubuntu systems, you will need to login as ubuntu user instead of root.
To login as ubuntu, run the following command:
ssh ubuntu@your-server-ip
Once logged in, you can proceed to the next step. If you cannot login, please double check the IP address you entered.
Step 2: Install the software
If you are logged in as ubuntu, run the following command to switch to the root user:
sudo -i
After you are logged into your server as root, run the following command to install the software:
rm -rf /opt/broadcast && git clone https://github.com/Furvur/broadcast-script.git /opt/broadcast && cd /opt/broadcast && chmod +x broadcast.sh && ./broadcast.sh install
This will download and run our installer.
Step 3: Configure the software
You will need two pieces of information for the installation process:
- Your primary domain name
- Your license key
The license key can be found in your account dashboard and it is in the format XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XX. It contains lower case letters and numbers, and dashes.
Once you enter this information and the license is validated, the installer will proceed with the setup.
This should take about 5-10 minutes depending on your server’s performance and internet connection speed.
Step 4: Configure your domain name
While the installer is running, you should configure your domain name to point to the IP address of your server.
You will need to add an A record to your domain name to point to the IP address of your server.
In general, we recommend that you use a subdomain as the primary domain name for your installation.
For example, let’s say you own the domain name example.com, you can use broadcast.example.com as the primary domain name for the installation. This way, you can leave the “root” domain name of example.com for your website.
Once you add the A record, it may take up to 24 hours for the DNS records to propagate through the internet. If you are using Cloudflare, it will only take a few minutes.
Step 5: Verify the installation
Once the installation is complete, you can access your dashboard at https://[your primary domain].
When you access your dashboard for the first time, you will be prompte to create an admin user account and your first “broadcast channel”.
You can think of a broadcast channel as a “list” you want to maintain. Within a channel, you can transmit broadcasts (email blasts), create automation sequences, manage subscribers, and send transactional emails.
You will need to configure an SMTP server to transmit emails from Broadcast. You will need at least one SMTP server. However, Broadcast supports (and recommends) using multiple SMTP servers to improve deliverability of the type of emails you are sending. Please refer to our documentation guide for more information about this feature.
Conclusion
You have now successfully installed Broadcast on your server.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us from within the dashboard and we will be happy to help.
