Self-Hosting with No SSL Certificate

Prerequisites

• Server with at least 4GB memory and at least 1 CPU (as long as there is no contention), with Ubuntu  (22.04 LTS, or newer) as the OS.
• SMTP server for sending outgoing mail.

Instructions

• SSH into the server you are wishing to host Hudu on.
• Install Docker CE on the server. Setup instructions can be found here.
  • Do not use SNAP to install Docker - this will cause issues later on.

• Create a blank directory named hudu2 on the home directory. On Ubuntu, you can do this by typing:

  mkdir ~/hudu2

• Move into the directory. On Ubuntu:

  cd ~/hudu2

• Place a file named docker-compose.yml in the directory.
• Expand to copy content for docker-compose.yml file

  volumes:  
    postgres_data: {}
    app_data: {}
    redis_data: {}
  services:
    db:    
      image: 'postgres:17.2'    
      volumes:      
        - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
      env_file:
        - '.env'
      logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
      restart: unless-stopped
    redis:
      image: 'redis:latest'
      command: redis-server
      volumes:
        - redis_data:/var/lib/redis/data
      restart: unless-stopped
    app:    
      image: hududocker/hudu:latest
      env_file:
        - '.env'
      volumes:
        - app_data:/var/www/hudu2/public/uploads/
        - app_data:/var/www/hudu2/uploads/      
        - app_data:/var/lib/app/data
      depends_on:      
        - db
        - redis
      logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "100m"
      restart: unless-stopped
    worker:
      depends_on:
        - db
        - redis
      image: hududocker/hudu:latest
      command: bundle exec sidekiq -C config/sidekiq.yml
      volumes:
        - app_data:/var/www/hudu2/public/uploads/
        - app_data:/var/www/hudu2/uploads/
        - '.:/app'
      env_file:
        - '.env'
      logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "100m"
      restart: unless-stopped
    nginx:
      image: lscr.io/linuxserver/nginx
      container_name: nginx
      cap_add:
        - NET_ADMIN
      env_file: 
        - '.env'
      depends_on:
        - app
      volumes:
        - /var/www/hudu2/config:/config
      ports: 
        - 80:80
        - 443:443
      restart: unless-stopped

   

      Already have a production environment and want to update your docker-compose.yml file? Please visit our Upgrade Postgres in a Production Environment article for more information!

   

• Generate your .env file by running this command:

  cd ~/hudu2 && bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Hudu-Technologies-Inc/self-hosting/refs/heads/main/hudu-env-wizard.sh)

  • Follow the prompts to provide your subdomain and root domain.
  • Choose your preferred storage method (y for S3, n for local storage). If you select S3, you will be prompted to enter your S3 configuration details. These settings can always be edited later.
  • Warning: Never edit the generated encryption keys in this file. These keys are used to decrypt passwords and two-factor authentication data. Changing them will result in permanent data loss or errors when creating, viewing, or editing passwords and when using two-factor authentication.

• Edit your .env file, add the following line, and save the file:

  DISABLE_SSL=true

• When both files are residing within the directory, run the command to start your Hudu instance:

  sudo docker compose up -d

• Now, run to stop your Hudu instance:

  sudo docker compose down

• Navigate to /var/www/hudu2/config/nginx/:

cd /var/www/hudu2/config/nginx/

• Create a file named proxy.conf and add the content below:

  Expand to copy content for proxy.conf 

  ## Version 5/13/2026 - Changelog: proxy.conf file /var/www/hudu2/config/nginx/proxy.conf
  
  client_body_buffer_size 128k;
  
  # Timeout if the real server is dead
  proxy_next_upstream error timeout invalid_header http_500 http_502 http_503;
  
  # Advanced Proxy Config
  send_timeout 5m;
  proxy_read_timeout 240;
  proxy_send_timeout 240;
  proxy_connect_timeout 240;
  
  # TLS 1.3 early data
  # proxy_set_header Early-Data $ssl_early_data;
  
  # Basic Proxy Config
  proxy_set_header Host $host;
  proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
  # proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl off;
  proxy_redirect http:// $scheme://;
  proxy_http_version 1.1;
  proxy_set_header Connection "";
  # proxy_cookie_path / "/; HTTPOnly; Secure"; # enable at your own risk, may break certain apps
  proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_session;
  proxy_no_cache $cookie_session;
  proxy_buffers 32 4k;
  proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size 128;
  proxy_headers_hash_max_size 1024;
  

• Navigate to /var/www/hudu2/config/nginx/site-confs/:

  cd /var/www/hudu2/config/nginx/site-confs/

• Edit the file named default.conf and replace ALL of the contents with this file named default:
• Expand to copy the content for the default.conf file

  ## Version 5/14/2026 - Changelog: Default file for no-ssl
  
  # redirect all traffic to https
  server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    listen [::]:80 default_server;
    server_name _;
  
    root   /var/www/hudu2/public;
    index  index.html;
    
     location = /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server {
  	limit_except GET { deny all; }
  	client_max_body_size 1k;
  	#add_header Content-Type application/json;
  	proxy_http_version 1.1;
          proxy_set_header Connection "";
          proxy_set_header Host $host;
  	proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
  	proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
  	proxy_pass http://app:3000;
      }
  
      location = /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource {
  	limit_except GET { deny all; }
  	client_max_body_size 1k;
  	#add_header Content-Type application/json;
  	proxy_http_version 1.1;
          proxy_set_header Connection "";
  	proxy_set_header Host $host;
  	proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
  	proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          proxy_pass http://app:3000;
      }
  
      location /mcp {     
          proxy_read_timeout 3600s;     
          proxy_send_timeout 3600s;     
          proxy_buffering off;              
          proxy_cache off;     
          proxy_set_header Connection '';     
          proxy_http_version 1.1;
  	chunked_transfer_encoding off;
  	gzip off;
  	proxy_set_header Host $host;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
          proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
          proxy_pass http://app:3000;
      }
  
    location ~ /\. {
      deny all;
   }
    location ~* ^.+\.(rb|log)$ {
      deny all;
    }
    location /cable {        
        proxy_pass http://app:3000/cable;       
  	  proxy_http_version 1.1;      
  	  proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;        
  	  proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";        
  	  proxy_set_header Host $host;        
  	  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;         
  	  proxy_read_timeout 240s;    
  	  proxy_send_timeout 240s;         
  	  proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;        
  	  proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;        
  	  proxy_pass_request_headers on;        
  	  proxy_buffering off;        
  	  proxy_redirect off;        
  	  break;    
    }
    # send non-static file requests to the app server
    location / {
      try_files $uri @rails;
    }
  
    location @rails {
      include /config/nginx/proxy.conf;
      proxy_pass http://app:3000;
    }
  
  }
  
  # enable subdomain method reverse proxy confs
  include /config/nginx/proxy-confs/*.subdomain.conf;
  # enable proxy cache for auth
  proxy_cache_path cache/ keys_zone=auth_cache:10m;

• Navigate back to the hudu2 folder. On Ubuntu:

  cd ~/hudu2

• Start the instance again:

  sudo docker compose up -d

• Your Hudu should now be up and running! Visit your domain to confirm. If you see a Hudu sign-up screen, it's successful. Head over to the Hudu HQ Billing Portal for a license key.

• If you don't see this screen, contact support, and please provide logs:

  sudo docker compose logs

  • Please paste these into something like Pastebin.com

Additional Environment Options