Yourls Server Deployment Overview¶

Prerequisites¶

The following configuration parameters are required for the application to function correctly:

Parameter	Value
Operating System	Ubuntu
Available ports (internal)	`8080`
Available ports (external)	`443`
Internal path	`/`

FQDN of the final panel on hostkey.in domain¶

The domain name template for accessing the application is defined as follows:

Parameter	Value
Prefix	`yourls`
Domain	`hostkey.in`
Full template	`yourls{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in`

Files and Directories Structure¶

Main directories used in the system:

/opt/yourls — application root directory.
/opt/yourls/mysql-data — MySQL database data storage.
/root/nginx — Nginx reverse proxy configuration.
/data/nginx/user_conf.d — Nginx user configurations.

Application Installation Process¶

Deployment is performed by running containers via docker compose. The application consists of the core URL shortening service and a MySQL database. Once the main containers are up, a reverse proxy with SSL support is deployed.

Docker Containers and Execution¶

yourls service¶

Image name: yourls:latest
Container name: yourls{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in
Ports: 127.0.0.1:8080:8080
Environment variables:
- YOURLS_DB_HOST: mysql
- YOURLS_DB_NAME: yourls
- YOURLS_DB_USER: yourls
- YOURLS_DB_PASS: yourls
- YOURLS_SITE: https://yourls{Server_ID_from_Invapi}.hostkey.in
- YOURLS_USER: root
- YOURLS_PASS: {User password}
Restart policy: always

mysql service¶

Image name: mysql:8
Environment variables:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: yourls
- MYSQL_DATABASE: yourls
- MYSQL_USER: yourls
- MYSQL_PASSWORD: yourls
Volumes: /opt/yourls/mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
Restart policy: always

nginx service¶

Image name: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest
Environment variables:
- CERTBOT_EMAIL: [email protected]
Volumes:
- nginx_secrets:/etc/letsencrypt
- /data/nginx/user_conf.d:/etc/nginx/user_conf.d
Network mode: host
Restart policy: unless-stopped

Databases¶

The MySQL database runs in a separate container. Data is stored locally on the host in the /opt/yourls/mysql-data directory. The application connects to the database using the service name mysql.

Permissions Settings¶

To ensure security, the following access permissions are set:

Application directory /opt/yourls: owner root, group root, mode 0750.
MySQL data directory /opt/yourls/mysql-data: owner root, group root, mode 0750.
Configuration file yourls-compose.yml: owner root, group root, mode 0640.

Location of Configuration Files and Data¶

File/Directory Type	Path
Docker Compose configuration (application)	`/opt/yourls/yourls-compose.yml`
MySQL data	`/opt/yourls/mysql-data`
Nginx configuration	`/root/nginx/compose.yml`

Available Connection Ports¶

443 (HTTPS) — external access via the reverse proxy.
8080 (HTTP) — internal application access (restricted to interface 127.0.0.1).

Starting and Stopping the Application¶

Application container management is performed from the /opt/yourls directory:

Start: docker compose -f /opt/yourls/yourls-compose.yml up -d
Stop: docker compose -f /opt/yourls/yourls-compose.yml down

Reverse proxy management is performed from the /root/nginx directory:

Start: docker compose -C /root/nginx up -d
Stop: docker compose -C /root/nginx down

Reverse Proxies¶

The nginx-certbot container is used to provide HTTPS support. It utilizes an external volume nginx_secrets to store Let's Encrypt certificates. The proxy configuration is set up to redirect traffic from port 443 to the internal application port 8080.